Evangeline's Ghost: Houdini

Evangeline’s

Ghost:

HOUDINI

by

C. A. PACK

www.artiquapress.com

NOT A PROLOGUE

Have you ever watched a television program that started off with something like, "Previously on your favorite show—?"

That’s what this is: a reminder of what came before the adventure in this book—not quite a prologue but more like a recap, which touches on a few highlights.

So, here goes:

Previously in Code Name Evangeline and Evangeline’s Ghost, MI6 recruited Lady Victoria Mèliés as a spy after Nazis took her brother prisoner on the eve of World War II. She proved to be a good spy; a great spy; a wonderfully seductive and talented lady spy who used her feminine wiles to their best advantage for the good of England.

When the war ended, Victoria agreed to testify against certain Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg Trials. For her protection, MI6 insisted her testimony be taken using only her code name: Evangeline. Unfortunately, someone leaked that information, and a sniper ended Evangeline’s life as she walked into the building.

Before she literally knew what hit her, she found herself standing in line at the Pearly Gates. People kept staring at her forehead. It felt like a bullet hole, but she couldn’t tell for sure because her mirror was in her handbag, and she had arrived at the Pearly Gates without it. Even more infuriating, Saint Peter kept calling her Evangeline—her code name—completely disrespecting her given name. By the end of their first encounter, she had worn Saint Peter down, and he reluctantly allowed her to return to Earth to bring her killer to justice.

That’s when Evangeline learned the hard way that being a ghost isn’t easy. She managed to teach herself a lot through trial and error, unfortunately, her learning experiences didn’t sit well with the Collective (all the souls in Heaven) or the Celestial Hierarchy (upper management). They said humans witnessed her bumbling, which resulted in ghostly vapor trails and unexplained telekinetic object movement.

Even though humans may act brazen and hip, they actually scare pretty easily.

On more than one occasion, Evangeline had to be pulled back from Earth and dumped in the Court of Dominions, so she could explain her actions. Many members labeled her a troublemaker and called her high maintenance. Frankly, it’s a miracle the Celestial Hierarchy allowed her to return to Earth.

Then, Evangeline did something wonderful. Something heroic. Something miraculous. She uncovered a plot to assassinate President Harry S. Truman and saved his life.

After that, even Saint Peter agreed her experience as a spy would go to waste if the Celestial Hierarchy failed to recruit her into the USSA’s MWG-OA-SS3.

What is the USSA’s MWG-OA-SS3, you ask?

Read on….

CHAPTER ONE

Everything was status quo at the Pearly Gates.

Saint Peter was dispensing destinies at the head of Line One, when he spotted Evangeline dragging a quarter-mile long heavenly document.

Ethereal treatises are usually lighter than gossamer because they automatically scroll as the words changed. However, the Celestial Hierarchy had ruled that Evangeline’s incident report should be more than a mere collection of her extracted memories. Instead, they told her to document the attempted assassination of President Truman ‘for the archives.’ Her instructions included making detailed lists of all the people involved and their histories; all locations involved including maps, specs, blueprints, and their histories; as well as a second-by-second description of Evangeline’s every thought, action, and reaction from the moment she first arrived at the Pearly Gates to the moment she began archiving what happened. She also had to create an index and a complete, but short, synopsis for beings who did not want to read the entire debriefing. The result was the epitome of minutiae.

It was a test. Every soul—including Evangeline—saw it as an experiment to see if she would embellish the truth or withhold information. The Collective believes bad habits are hard to break, and they wanted to make sure Evangeline would fit in at MWG-OA-SS3.

That’s the USSA’s—or Universal Secret Service Agency’s—code for Milky Way Galaxy: Orion Arm: Solar System: Third Planet, or as Evangeline and Saint Peter knew it, Earth. It had been Evangeline’s home when she was alive and would serve as her home base now that she was dead but not gone.

The incident report, instead of being on a filmy piece of gossamer that looked like glass cloth with writing on it, had to be written on a heavy parchment scroll that had unwound to more than thirteen hundred feet in length. And some of the newer souls, who were not quite sure where they were yet, tripped over it and in some cases, fell down.

Saint Peter called on a battalion of angels to stand guard over the newly departed, and help displaced souls climb over or detour around the snaking parchment.

There has to be a better way to do this, Evangeline complained. For a group of beings who know my every thought even before I think it, I find this sort of red tape unproductive and archaic.

Heaven is a very old place, he answered telepathically. What you think of as ‘archaic,’ the Collective thinks of as ‘time-tested.’ And what you call ‘unproductive,’ the big C believes is ‘good business practice.’ Am I to assume by your very presence here you have completed your paperwork?

"I have, except for one point. When I was standing outside Le Havre House, I caught a momentary glimpse of a man I thought I knew. His name is—or was—Christian Butler, and he used to be an operative for MI6, as well as a Wing Commander for the Royal Air Force, until he was killed in action.

She searched the parchment for the section she needed. Now in section 92D, part A, paragraph 17, clause 62, it asks me to name all the people I saw standing on the grounds of Le Havre House on the night of the explosion. But you see, I don’t want to add Christian’s name to the document, if he wasn’t there. Would you happen to know if it was, indeed, Christian whom I saw?

That is such a really great name, don’t you agree? Up here at the Pearly Gates, we like names like Christian and Angelique, and even Evangeline if you must know, but don’t let it go to your head.

You didn’t answer my question.

What are you, a barrister? You may not have noticed this, but I outrank you. And in many situations, what you just said would be considered insubordination. Do you know what happens to souls who are insubordinate? I shudder to even think about it. A mild rumble of thunder reverberated around them.

You still haven’t answered my question.

Yes. Yes. Yes, it was Christian Butler. What’s it to you?

Why was he there?

Why are any souls roaming around on Earth past their expiration date? He’s out to avenge his death.

But the man responsible for his death died on the same day. He was a kamikaze pilot who crashed his plane into the aircraft carrier Christian was assigned to. Why would Christian need to avenge his death?

You are two of a kind! Your friend’s argument was that the man who ordered his death is not the same person as the man who died. He’s looking for the officer who ordered the pilot to crash into the ship he was on, causing his death. That’s not going to be easy for him to prove.

Maybe we could work together? I bet I could help Christian. And he could help me.

I’m onto your game, missy. I know the two of you knew each other in the ‘biblical’ sense. And now that Nigel Townsend has gone to meet his maker, you’re looking for a new toe-curler.

Evangeline felt herself blush. She hoped being dead would help mask it, but she saw Saint Peter smirk.

At least we wish he had gone to meet his maker, Saint Peter continued. Townsend seems to think he should be part of the USSA on a permanent basis. But that’s none of your concern. Why can’t you people understand that’s not how the Collective works?

I’m not interested in Nigel, right now. I’m interested in Christian.

Ooh… Fickle!

I’m not fickle. I’m just asking if I could work with Christian? Is there someone I should see, besides you, to find out if that’s possible?

Line 777.

Saint Peter looked at the person behind Evangeline. Next!

CHAPTER TWO

Line 777 lay at the opposite end of the Pearly Gates, far away from where Evangeline now stood. During her journey there, she had the added burden of dragging the unwieldy scroll behind her. She tried imagining herself already there, but her recently perfected teleporting power had been temporarily stripped from her repertoire of ghostly skills.

After what seemed like an interminable amount of time, she reached Line 776. It was the last queue. Rather than find her way back to Saint Peter, she got on the back of the line. Surely, the person in charge of this line would know what happened to Line 777.

It took forever to get to the front of the line, however, Evangeline used the time to make sure she had dotted every ‘i’ and crossed every ‘t’ on her parchment.

Finally, she looked at the seraphim in charge. Instead of possessing a corporeal body, the seraphim existed as an ethereal white flame.

The document. A frisson of fear made her shudder. If she handed her document over to a flame, surely it would burn, and all her hard work would turn to ash. She would be forced to start from the beginning. Maybe I should return to Saint Peter’s line?

Then, she remembered what had happened just before she received the ability to save President Truman. Without forethought, she had expressed belief in a higher power, and her request had been granted.

She handed the scroll to the seraphim. She immediately found herself suspended within the center sphere of the court of the Dominions.

The Collective busied themselves comparing her memories to the statements she had written in the document. An exact match!

In a flash, she again stood in front of Saint Peter.

He looked bemused. Will wonders never cease?

What happened?

The Collective approved your recollection of the assassination attempt on President Truman. So, instead of allowing you to return to earth, merely to avenge your murder, the Collective just approved your admittance into the USSA MWG-OA-SS3. You’ll be working with a partner.

He gestured behind her. I believe you’ve already met?

When she turned, she found Christian Butler standing there.

Vix!

"Evangeline." She and Saint Peter uttered her name simultaneously.

He caressed her cheek. "Mon âme sœur."

How fitting that she’s your ‘soul mate,’ considering you’re both nothing more than disembodied souls, wandering the universe.

"L’amour de ma vie, et ma mort." Christian kissed Evangeline gently on the lips.

Saint Peter made a face. Stop with the sweet nothings, already. And really, the ‘love of your death?’ Who says stuff like that?

It didn’t matter. Evangeline was in seventh heaven.

Saint Peter got down to business. You each have a personal goal to fulfill—avenging your respective, untimely deaths. But you will also be on a mission for the USSA MWG-OA-SS3.

You keep saying that, but I don’t know what it is. Evangeline complained. It sounds like an American naval vessel.

Saint Peter deciphered the acronym for them adding, We want you to help a young soul, fourteen-year-old Gabriella. Her father went missing after traveling to America to work on a special illusion with the magician, Harry Houdini. That isn’t his real name, by the way, but I’m sure you’ll find that out as you go along.

Gabriella, who’s from France, lied about her age so she could get a job aboard the cruise ship, RMS Majestic, as a chambermaid. That was her ticket to America, and once she got there, she set out in earnest to look for her father. She thought she was getting close when she was murdered. I thought you would be the ideal choice to assist young Gabriella.