Stranger in a Strange Land

«Then stare now, dears — that's why George, bless his sweet soul in Heaven, put them on me. To be stared at and studied. Here under my chin is the birth of our prophet, the holy Archangel Foster — just an innocent babe and not knowing what Heaven had in store for him. But the angels knew — see 'em there around him? The next scene is his first miracle, when a younger sinner in the country school he went to shoot a poor little birdie … and he picked it up and stroked it and it flew away unharmed. Now I have to turn my back.» She explained that George had not had a bare canvas when the great opus was started — how with inspired genius George had turned «Attack on Pearl Harbor» into «Armageddon,» and «Skyline of New York» into «The Holy City.»

«But,» she admitted, «even though every inch is sacred pictures now, it did force George to skip around to record in living flesh each milestone in the earthly life of our prophet. Here you see him preaching on the steps of the ungodly theological seminary that turned him down — that was the first time he was arrested, the beginning of the Persecution. And on around, on my spine, you see him smashing idolatrous images … and next you see him in jail, with holy light streaming down. Then the Faithful Few bust into the jail — »

(The Reverend Foster had realized that, in upholding religious freedom, brass knucks, clubs, and a willingness to tangle with cops outweighed passive resistance. His was a church militant from scratch. But he had been a tactician; battles were fought where the heavy artillery was on the side of the Lord.)

« — and rescue him and tar and feather the false judge who put him there. Around in front — Uh, you can't see much; my bra covers it. A shame.»

(«Michael, what does she want?»)

(«Thou knowest. Tell her.»)

«Aunt Patty,» Jill said gently, «you want us to look at all your pictures. Don't you?»

«Well … it's just as Tim says in the bally, George used all the skin I have in making the story complete.»

«If George went to all that work, he meant them to be seen. Take off your costume. I told you that I wouldn't mind working our act stark naked — and ours is just entertainment. Yours has a purpose … a holy purpose.»

«Well …If you want me to.» She sang a silent hallelujah! Foster was sustaining her — with blessed luck and George's pictures she would have these dear kids seeking the light.

«I'll unhook you.»

(«Jill — »)

(«No,Michael?» )

(«Wait.»)

With stunned astonishment Mrs. Paiwonski found that her spangled briefies and bra were gone! Jill was unsurprised when her negligee vanished and only mildly surprised when Mike's robe disappeared; she chalked it up to his catlike good manners.

Mrs. Paiwonski gasped. Jill put her arms around her. «There, dear! It's all right. Mike, you must tell her.»

«Yes, Jill. Pat — »

«Yes, Smitty?»

«You said my tricks were sleight-of-hand. You were about to take off your costume — so I did it for you.»

«But how? Where is it?»

«Same place Jill's wrapper is — and my robe. Gone.»

«Don't worry, Patty,» put in Jill. «We'll replace it. Mike, you shouldn't have done it.»

«I'm sorry, Jill. I grokked it was all right.»

«Well … perhaps it is.» Aunt Patty wasn't too upset — and would never tell; she was carnie.

Mrs. Paiwonski was not worried over two scraps of costume, nor by nudity, hers or theirs. But she was greatly troubled by a theological problem. «Smitty? That was real magic?»

«I guess you would call it that,» he agreed, using words exactly.

«I'd rather call it a miracle,» she said bluntly.

«Call it that if you like. It wasn't sleight-of-hand.»

«I know that.» She was not afraid, Patricia Paiwonski was not afraid of anything, being sustained by faith. But she was uneasy for her friends. «Smitty — look me in the eye. Have you made a pact with the Devil?»

«No, Pat, I have not.»

She continued to search his eyes. «You aren't lying — »

«He doesn't know how to lie, Aunt Patty.»

« — so it's a miracle. Smitty … you are a holy man!»

«I don't know, Pat.»

«Archangel Foster didn't know until his teens … even though he performed miracles before then. You are a holy man; I can feel it. I think I felt it when I first met you.»

«I don't know, Pat.»

«I think he may be,» admitted Jill. «But he doesn't know. Michael … we've told too much not to tell more.»

«“Michael”!» Patty repeated suddenly. «Archangel Michael, sent to us in human form.»

«Patty, please! If he is, he doesn't know it — »

«He wouldn't necessarily know. God performs His wonders in His own way.»

«Aunt Patty, will you please let me talk?»

Shortly Mrs. Paiwonski knew that Mike was the Man from Mars. She agreed to treat him as a man — while stating that she kept her own opinion as to his nature and why he was on Earth — Foster had been truly a man while on Earth but had been also and always an archangel. If Jill and Michael insisted that they were not saved, she would treat them as they asked to be treated — God moves in mysterious ways.