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have died.”
    “You one of those so-called psychics?”
he sneered. “Nothing but the devil’s work in things like
that.”
    She shook her head. “I don’t tell the
future and I can’t read your mind,” she said. “What I do is help people who are
caught between this life and the next. I help them so they can move on and go
to heaven.”
    He shook his head. “Seems to me you are
talking to the wrong person. I know more about heaven and getting to heaven
than you could even imagine. I am a third generation minister and I know my
place and my calling. There has just been a mistake, that’s all. God is going
to be calling me home directly. See if he don’t .”
    Mary didn’t think God made mistakes,
but she realized this gentleman was not in the right frame of mind for that kind
of message.
    “Well, perhaps you’re right,” she said.
“I wish you well on your journey, then. But, if you do find you need to talk to
someone, I’ll be happy to visit with you.”
    She could almost feel the wall he was
building between the two of them.
    “I thank you kindly, but I can tell
you, you won’t be needed. Now, I’ve got to get back to the church because I
know that’s where God is searching for me.”
    “Best of luck,” she said, wishing there
was something else she could do for him.
    “Young lady, I don’t need luck. I’ve
got the Lord,” he replied, turning away from her.
    He walked a few steps and turned. “I’m
a little new at this business,” he admitted sheepishly. “But I’ve got to
believe I don’t have to walk everywhere I want to go.”
    Mary smiled. “From what I’ve been told,
if you can just picture a place in your mind, you can go there.”
    He nodded. “Once again, thank you
kindly.”
    He closed his eyes, sighed with
satisfaction and then faded away.
    Mary shook her head. “I wonder if I’ll
ever see him again.”
    Within ten minutes she had driven to
Rosie’s home. Both Stanley’s car and Bradley’s cruiser were in the driveway, so
Mary opted to leave her car at the curb.
    She looked up and down the quiet
residential block. Most of the Christmas lights that usually had been removed
by fastidious home owners by this time of year were still blinking under
several feet of snow. Between record high snowfalls and record low
temperatures, most people hadn’t minded extending the holiday season a little
longer.
    Mary carefully walked to the front
door, avoiding patches of ice, and knocked once before she let herself in.
    Rosie’s home looked and smelled like a
cozy country cottage. The scent of cinnamon and cloves assailed your nose the
moment you walked through the threshold. Cheery overstuffed loveseats and
chairs in bright floral prints, Thomas Kincaid prints, rag rugs on polished
wood floors and glazed pots in primary colors with bright dried flower bouquets
decorated the great room. Flames from a gas fireplace put the finishing touch
on the scene. As you walked from room to room, you could see the love and care
that was put into each accessory and piece of furniture. It was like something
out of a Country Beautiful magazine.
    Mary loved Rosie’s home because not
only did Rosie decorate with hearth and heart in mind, she also understood
comfort. Mary hung her coat of the rack near the door and slipped off her
boots. Rosie, Stanley and Bradley were sitting in a cozy corner of the room
near the fireplace.
    “Mary, dear,” Rosie called. “What happened?
What took you so long?”
    Mary joined them, picking an ottoman
closest to the fireplace to let the warmth seep through her cold body. “I met a
fairly confused ghost outside the theater,” she explained. “I didn’t feel I
should leave him alone, so I followed him back to the hospital.”
    “A confused
ghost?” Stanley asked. “What’s there to be confused about? When
you’re dead, you’re dead.”
    “Well, yes, that’s true. But sometimes
when you die, you don’t quite realize you’re dead,” she said. “And when you