'Ready?'
'You're taking me out on a date, remember? Somewhere interesting, so we won't be bored with each other.'
Zane had really had more talking in mind, for their last dialogue had affected him profoundly, but he didn't care to say that. True, aspects of their talk had been uncomfortably candid, and the notion of her paying off the demon still bothered him. But a portion of his self-doubt and disgust had eased significantly after their last meeting, and he hoped for similar positive impact in future. After all, how could he object to anything about her, after what he had done at the hospital? That had made ugly headlines on Earth as well as in Purgatory!
He looked at Luna's paintings as he waited for her. They were beautiful. She was much more of an artist than he had been. The colors were clear and true, and the auras realistic. It was hard to believe that a person whose soul was presently slated for damnation in Hell could do such excellent work. He was getting to like Luna better — and that realization caused him to wonder again why the Magician had wanted the two of them to know each other. Surely it was not merely because they were compatible or had a common interest in auras.
Luna reappeared — and this time she was stunning. Before, clothes had converted her most of the way from neutral to attractive; this time they had completed the transition. Bright blue topaz glinted from a band placed in her hair, and green emerald was set in her slippers; the rest of her between these two made the beauty of the gems pale.
'How do you like me now?' she inquired archly. He was cautious. 'I thought you didn't really care for me. Why are you making yourself so lovely?'
She grimaced prettily. 'I told you my deepest sins, and you didn't reject me. That's worth something.'
'Because I'm no better!' he replied. 'How can I condemn you? You were helping your father, while I — '
'Was helping your mother,' she finished, completing the rehearsal of their excuse for being together, which somehow seemed necessary for each of them. 'We're both well tainted. Anyway, until we know what my father had in mind, there's no sense in letting it go. I confess you're not the man I would have chosen on my own — '
'And you aren't the woman I was slated for — '
'Do you think Fate had her fickle finger in this?'
'I know she did. She put me in the office of Death by arranging the thread of my life to terminate right when my predecessor was getting careless. I suppose Fate even steered me past Molly Malone, where I got the gun I used. Whether Fate would have done this without the behest of your father, I don't know.'
'Never trust a woman,' Luna said seriously. 'Fate least of all.'
Zane smiled. 'I'm a fool. I do trust Fate. She helped me get started as Death. The truth is, my life was hardly worth it before. Of course, I know I'm nothing special as Deaths go.'
'I would hate to encounter something special in Deaths, then,' she murmured. 'That episode at the hospital — and I think I recognize your touch in that Miami riot, too.'
Zane smiled. 'It was no riot. But it illustrated the point. I let too many clients go free, when I can, and I take some I'm not supposed to, and I waste time talking to others, trying to make it easier for them. The Purgatory News Center is having a field day with my exploits. I don't know what Purgatory did for humor in the news before I came along.'
'You're too well-meaning, and too trusting.'
Zane looked at her, and was daunted again by her sheer beauty. 'Surely I can trust you, though!'
'No.'
'No? I don't understand.'
'Put on your Death cape,' Luna said abruptly.
Zane glanced at her again, startled. 'I don't know. This is personal, and I don't like to mix — '
'I want a date with Death,' she insisted. She turned her face to him and looked him in the eyes and smiled, and her eyes seemed lambent. He could not deny her, though he knew it was deliberate artifice.
'My suit is in the car,' he said. 'But — do you really want to be seen with Death?'
'No such worry. People don't see Death unless they are clients.'
Not entirely true, but close enough. Zane proffered her his arm, and they walked out to the Death mobile.
The night was dark, with a drizzle threatening. He fetched his cape and gloves and shoes from the car and donned them.
'Now you are truly elegant,' Luna said. 'I never realized before how handsome a well-dressed skeleton could be. Kiss me, Death.'
'But my face is not — '
She leaned into him and kissed his lips. 'Oh, you're right!' she exclaimed after a moment. 'A bare skull! Alas, poor Yorick, I kissed him. An infinite jest!' She brushed off her mouth with one hand as if removing sand.
'Death is no pleasant date to most people,' Zane said, disturbed by her attitude. What was motivating her? 'You should see the mail I get.'
She smiled as if this were a pleasant invitation. 'Yes, let's see your mail. Do you actually answer it?'
'Yes,' he said, embarrassed. 'It seems only right. No one seeks out Death, in any manner, without good reason.'
'That's touching. You are a decent man. Show me a letter.'
Zane reached into the dash compartment and brought out a letter, turning on the interior light of the car so they could read it. It was written in a rather neat juvenile script; it normally took many years for a person to reduce his script to adult illegibility. Children tended to write letters more than adults — at least they did to his office — for what reason he couldn't quite fathom. Maybe it was because their beliefs were more literal.
Dear Death, he read. Every night Mommy makes me say my prayers, and thats okay I guess, but they scare me. I hafta say If I Should Die Before I Wake I Pray The Lord My Soul To Take. Now I'm afraid to go to sleep. I lie awake most of the night and then I daze out in school and I'm flunking something and please Death I don't want to die right now. Is it okay if I sleep a little at night without having to die? Love Ginny.
'Suddenly I see what you mean,' Luna said. 'That's awful. That poor little girl — she thinks —'
'Yes. When I first read that letter, it made me so angry I broke out in a sweat. That prayer seems to equate sleep with death. No wonder she's afraid. How many children expect to die before they wake — because of that sinister message put in their minds? I would never do that to any child of mine!'
'She's pretty literate, but she hasn't mastered the apostrophe yet,' Luna remarked. 'It must have been an act of real courage to tackle the source, of her fear like that! Zane, you must answer this letter right now.'
'What can I say to her? I can't promise not to take her; she might appear on my schedule tomorrow.'
'But you can reassure her that death has nothing to do with sleep.' Luna brightened. 'Let's do it now. You can phone her!'
Zane was uncertain. 'She would think it was a cruel joke. Who ever heard of Death telephoning people?'
'Who ever heard of Death answering letters? I gather your predecessor didn't. She's a child, Zane! She'll believe. A child won't be surprised by a phone call from an Incarnation. That's the way children's minds work, bless them.' She hauled him back to her house and fetched the telephone and proffered it to him.
He sighed. Maybe this was the best way. He accepted the phone and called the Information operator for Ginny's city of Los Angeles, using the child's address to run down the number. Soon the phone was ringing. Zane felt suddenly nervous.
'Yes?' It was obviously the girl's mother.
'Let me speak with Ginny, please.'
'But she's asleep!' Actually, it was not as late in Los Angeles as in Kilvarough, but children retired earlier than adults.
'She is not asleep,' Zane said, his quick ire rising. 'She is lying awake in the darkened room, terrified that if she sleeps, she will die before she wakes. Do not make her say that prayer any more. That's not the way God takes souls.'
'Who are you?' the woman asked sharply. 'If this is an obscene call — '
'I am Death.'
'What?'
