Albert stuck his head in. "Saint Alec, there"s an angel here looking for you."
"Coming!"
The angel was waiting just outside for the reason that he was taller than the doorway and not inclined to stoop. "You are Saint Alexander Hergensheimer?"
"That"s me."
"Your inquiry concerning a creature designated Margrethe Svensdatter Gunderson: The report reads: Subject was not caught up in the Rapture, and has not shown up in any subsequent draft. This creature, Margrethe Svensdatter Gunderson, is not in Heaven and is not expected. That is all."
Chapter 23.
I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and Thou regardest me not.
Job 30:20
SO OF course I eventually wound up in, Saint Peter"s office at the Gate of Judah - having chased all over Heaven first. On Hazel"s advice I went back to the Gate of Asher and looked up that co-op "Find Your Friends and Loved Ones".
"Saint Alec, angels don"t pa.s.s out misinformation and the records they consult are accurate. But they may not have consulted the right records, and, in my opinion, they would not have searched as deeply as you would search if you were doing it yourself -angels being angels. Margie might be listed under her maiden name."
"That was what I gave them!"
"Oh. I thought you asked them to search for "Margie Graham"?"
"No. Should I go back and ask them to?"
"No. Not yet. And when you do - if you must don" ask again at this information booth. Go directly to St Peter"s office. There you"ll get personal attention from other humans, not from angels."
"That"s for me!"
"Yes. But try first at "Find Your Friends and Loved Ones". That"s not a bureaucracy; it"s a co-op made up of volunteers, all of them people who really care. That"s how Steve found me after he was killed. He didn"t know my family name and I hadn"t used it for years, anyhow. He didn"t know my date and place of death. But a little old lady at "Find Your Friends" kept right on searching females named Hazel until Steve said "Bingo!" If he had just checked at the main personnel office - Saint Peter"s - they would have reported "insufficient data, no identification"."
She smiled and went on, "But the co-op uses imagination. They brought Luke and me together, even though we hadn"t even met before we died. After I got tired of loafing I decided that I wanted to manage a little restaurant it"s a wonderful way to meet people and make friends. So I asked the co-op and they set their computers on "cook", and after a lot of false starts and wrong numbers it got Luke and me together and we formed a partnership and set up The Holy Cow. A similar search got us Albert."
Hazel, like Katie Farnsworth, is the sort of woman who heals just by her presence. But she"s practical about it, too, like my own treasure. She volunteered to launder-my dirty clothes and lent me a robe of Steve"s to wear while my clothes dried. She found me a mirror and a cake of soap; at long last I tackled a five-day (seven-year?) beard. My one razor blade was closer to being a saw than a knife by then, but a half hour"s patient honing using the inside -of a gla.s.s tumbler (a trick I had learned in -seminary) restored it to temporary usefulness.
But now I needed a proper shave even though I had shaved - tried to shave - a couple of hours ago. I did not know how long I had been on this hunt but I did know that I had shaved four times... with cold water, twice without soap, and once by Braille - no mirror. Plumbing had indeed been installed for us fleshly types... but not up to American Standard quality. Hardly surprising, since angels don"t use plumbing and don"t need it, and since the overwhelming majority of the fleshly ones have little or no experience with inside plumbing.
The people who man the co-op were as helpful as Hazel said they would be (and I don"t think my fancy halo had anything to do with it) but nothing they turned up gave me any clue to Margrethe, even though they patiently ran computer searches on every combination I could think of.
I thanked them and blessed them and headed for Judah Gate, all the way across Heaven, thirteen hundred and twenty miles away. I stopped only once, at the Square of, the Throne, for one of Luke"s heaven burgers and a cup of the best coffee in New Jerusalem, and some encouraging words from Hazel. I continued my weary search feeling, much bucked up.
The Heavenly Bureau of Personnel occupies two colossal palaces on the right as you come through the gate. The first and smaller is for BC admissions; the second is for admissions since then, and included Peter"s office suite, on the second floor. I went straight there.
A big double door read SAINT PETER - Walk In, so I did. But not into his office; here was a waiting room big enough for Grand Central Station. I pushed through a turnstile that operated by pulling a ticket out of a slot, and a mechanical voice said, "Thank you. Please sit down and wait to be called."
My ticket read "2013" and the place was crowded; I decided, as I looked around for an empty seat, that I was going to need another shave before my number would come up.
I was still looking when a nun bustled up to me, and ducked a knee in a quick curtsy. "Holy one, may I serve you?" I did not know enough about the costumes worn by Roman Catholic orders to know what sisterhood she belonged to, but she was dressed in what I would call "typical" - long black dress down to her ankles and to her wrists, white, starched deal over her chest and around her neck and. covering her ears, a black headdress covering everything else and giving her the silhouette of a sphinx, a big rosary hanging around her neck... and an ageless, serene face topped off by a lopsided pince-nez. And, of course, her halo.
The thing that impressed me most was that she was here. She was the first proof I had seen that papists can be saved. In seminary we used to argue about that in late-night bull sessions... although, the official position Of my Church was that certainly they could be saved, as long as they believed, as we did and were born again Jesus. I made a mental note to ask her when and how she had been born again - it would be, I was sure, an inspiring story.
I said, "Why, thank you, Sister! That"s most kind of you. Yes, you can help me - that is, I hope you can. I"m Alexander Hergensheimer and I"m trying to find my wife. This is the place to inquire, is it not? I"m new here."
"Yes, Saint Alexander, this is the place. But you did want to see Saint Peter, did you not?"
"I"d like to pay my respects. If he"s not too busy."
"I"m sure he will want to see you, Holy Father. Let me tell my Sister Superior." She picked up the cross on her rosary, appeared to whisper into it, then looked up. "Is that spelled H,E,R,G,E,N,S,H,E,I,M,E,R, Saint Alexander?"
"Correct, Sister."
She spoke again to the rosary. Then she added, to me, "Sister Marie Charles is secretary, to Saint Peter. I"m her a.s.sistant and general gopher." She smiled. "Sister Mary Rose."
"It is good to meet you, Sister Mary Rose. Tell me about yourself. What order are you?"
"I"m a Dominican, Holy Father. In life I was a hospital administrator in Frankfurt, Germany. Here, where there is no longer a need for nursing, I do this work because I like to mingle with people. Will you come with me, sir?"
The crowd parted like the waters of the Red Sea, whether in deference to the nun or to my gaudy halo, I cannot say. Maybe both. She took me to an unmarked side door and straight in, and I found myself in the office of her boss, Sister Marie Charles. She was a tall nun, as tall as I am, and handsome - or "beautiful" may be more accurate. She seemed younger than her a.s.sistant... but how is one to tell with nuns? She was seated at a big flattop desk piled high and with an old-style Underwood typewriter swung out from its side. She got up quickly, faced me, and dropped that odd curtsy.
"Welcome, Saint Alexander! We are honored by your call. Saint Peter will be with you soon. Will you be seated? May we offer you refreshment? A gla.s.s of wine? A Coca-Cola?"
"Say, I would really enjoy a Coca-Cola! I haven"t had, one since I was on earth."
"A Coca-Cola, right away." She smiled. "I"ll tell you a secret. Coca-Cola is Saint Peter"s one vice. So we always have them on ice here."
A voice came out of the air above her desk - a strong" resonant baritone of the sort I think of as a good preaching voice - a voice like that of "Bible" Barnaby, may his name be blessed. "I heard that, Charlie. Let him have his c.o.ke in here; I"m free now."
"Were you eavesdropping again, Boss?"
"None of your lip, girl. And fetch one for me, too."
Saint Peter was up and striding toward the door with his hand out as I was ushered in. I was taught in church history that he was believed to have been about ninety when he died. Or when he was executed (crucified?) by the, Romans, if he was. (Preaching has always been a chancy vocation, but in the days of Peter"s ministry it was as chancy as that of a Marine platoon sergeant.)
This man looked to be a strong and hearty sixty, or possibly seventy - an outdoor man, with a permanent" suntan and the scars that come from sun damage. His hair and beard were full and seemed never to have been cut, streaked with grey but not white, and (to my surprise) he appeared to have been at one time a redhead. He was well muscled and broad shouldered, and his hands were calloused, as I learned when he gripped my hand. He was dressed in sandals, a brown robe of coa.r.s.e wool, a halo like mine, and a d.i.n.ky little skullcap resting in the middle of that fine head of hair.
I liked him on sight.
He led me around to a comfortable chair near his desk chair, seated me before he sat back down. Sister Marie Charles was right behind us with two c.o.kes on a tray, in the familiar pinchwaist bottles and with not-so-familiar (I had not seen them for years) c.o.ke "gla.s.ses with the tulip tops and the registered trademark. I wondered who had the franchise in Heaven and how such business matters were handled.
He said, "Thanks, Charlie. Hold all calls."
"Even?"
"Don"t be silly. Beat it." He turned to me. "Alexander, I try to greet each newly arrived saint personally. But somehow I missed you."
"I arrived in the middle of a mob, Saint Peter. Those from the Rapture. And not at this gate. Asher Gate."