Christmas in the City - Jill Barnett Page 0,1

to another, until Lilli found the perfect hiding spot deep inside a plump cumulus cloud, where glittering icicles framed a shining silver lining. She grabbed Florie's hand and dragged her inside.

Florie glanced around with an uncertain look. "Do you think Saint Peter will find us?"

"Of course not. This is the perfect place to hide. I found it when I spent those months silver polishing. No one thinks there's a lining in this cloud."

"You're certain?"

"I hid in here the last time."

"Oh." Florie paused, then gave her a knowing look. "The time you were trying to fly and ran headfirst into Jacob's ladder."

Lilli hung her head. "If only all the archangels hadn't been standing on it at the time."

"Gabriel still has a tweak in his halo."

"I know. I've never been able to look him in the eye again." Lilli looked at her friend, and after a quiet moment admitted, "Well, you know . . . that wasn't exactly the time I was talking about."

Florie stared at Lilli with suspicious eyes. "What else have you done?"

"You promise never to tell?"

Florie nodded solemnly.

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

"I already am dead."

Lilli squirmed for a second, then said, "So am I, but if they ever find out about those ancient scrolls ..."

"You lost the scrolls? The sacred scrolls?"

She nodded.

"How could you lose the scrolls?"

"Well, I didn't exactly lose them."

Florie just stared at her.

"I dropped them," Lilli admitted.

"Where?"

Lilli's face took on a sick look. "Deep in the Dead Sea."

Florie's mouth hung open.

"I just wanted to move them out of the way. Then I tripped." After a long silent second, Lilli sighed and raised her chin, a hopeful look on her face. "But someone will find them ... someday."

Florie gave her a skeptical glance, then shivered. "I worry about you, Lilli. You really need to stop trying to perform the perfect miracle. She craned her neck around the long frosted icicles that framed the entrance and looked outside. "You're certain no one can see us in here?"

Lilli patted her friend's hand reassuringly. "Trust me. Look. See how our wings blend with the sparkling ice and silver? And our robes are white. My hair is so light blond that it won't show."

She looked at Florie's dark hair and frowned. "Just keep your head down." She shoved Florie's head under her wing.

A moment later Florie sneezed. She sniffed and rubbed her nose.

Lillie looked at her. "Are you that cold?"

"No. It was just one of these." She held up one of Lilli's wing feathers.

Lilli's face fell a little.

Florie gave Lilli's wing feathers a reassuring stroke. Four more feathers fell out. "You can't help it if you're the only angel with a molting season."

Lilli rested a chin in her hand and her wings drooped.

"I believe that's why you have so much trouble flying."

Lilli gave a huge sigh. "But I can't blame molting feathers for the reason I can't sing one heavenly note, or play the trumpet, or perform a miracle."

There was a long lapse of telling quiet, until, from the distance came the lovely lyrical sound of harp music. It grew louder and louder. And closer.

Florie gasped, and both angels ducked down.

"Glo . . . oh-oh-oh . . . oh-oh-oh . . . oh-oh-oh ... ria! In ex-cel-seees dey-ohhh," sang a group of clarion-clear voices.

"Shhhh!" Lilli raised a finger to her lips as they huddled closer together. "It's a chorus of archangels."

There was a loud clunk and the angels stopped singing right in front of Lilli's hiding spot. Both novices were so still they barely breathed…followed by another plunk, then a sharp boing!

A tall regal archangel named Mesopotamia flinched and looked over her shoulder. "Are those your harp strings breaking, Israfel?"

Another shorter angel nodded, frowning at her golden harp. "Four of them have broken just this very moment. Look here."

The archangels stared at the harp. One by one, five more harp strings snapped.

There was a long pause before Mesopotamia glanced around. "If I didn't know better, I'd think Lillian was around here somewhere."

All the archangels scanned the surrounding clouds while Lilli and Florie huddled in frightened silence. A second later there was a huge crash of lightning. Then another.

Everyone froze.

"My gates!" Saint Peter's thunderous roar echoed through Heaven. "My gates!"

There was an eternal moment of silence. Then...

“Lillian!" Saint Peter shouted.

Lilli blanched.

"Lill-lee-UNN! Come here! Immediately!"

"Uh-oh," Florie whispered.

"Shhhhh. He can't possibly find us."

Saint Peter shouted her name again.

And again.

Louder.

An icicle broke, landing with a tinkle at Lilli's feet. For a brief moment there was utter stillness.

A burst of light flashed through Heaven,