A prairie moon opened like a Spanish abanico. Tannhauser sat close to Artie's campfire, thumbing through an old book. Artie had draped his bedroll upon the dry earth and stretched out, boot toes describing a lazy dihedral.
"He was an angel." Artie said. "A flesh and blood angel."
"Jah. I haf heard of such."
"If we'd not been witness, I'd say nonsense!"
"Jah, nonsense." Absorbed in his reading.
"What book is that?"
"Enoch."
The transfiguration of Leah's corpse defied everything in Artie's known world. Within moments she became a thing of pure light, and as she passed on, the strange young man with raven hair and eyes of burning obsidian stood guard. It was so Bibical. A hallucination of some sort, Artie thought all the while.
*
Celestial Brother handed Artie his beloved Engagement Stone. A relic left behind. "Keep this while you live."
Artie blinked. Hoarsely he replied, "I will."
Tannhauser announced from the doorway. "Mein Gott! This is sorcery!"
"It is that," agreed Leah's guardian. Packing his brawn, he strode into the crashing night.
*
There would be no return to Bountiful.
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