When Albert regained consciousness his entire body was throbbing. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Ethelinda and Jacob staring down at him. Ethy had a look of complete amazement on her face, her mouth agape and her eyes the size of saucers. Jacob was holding a pocket knife and smiling broadly.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Albert!" The Angel said brightly.

"What happened?" Albert asked. He was still groggy and sore. He noticed Ethy, still staring at him, dumbfounded. "Ethelinda, are you all right?"

"I...you...what the hell?" She stuttered.

"What's wrong?" Albert asked nervously.

Ethelinda simply pointed at Albert. Jacob chuckled. "I'm afraid I had to cut up your shirt to accommodate the wings, sorry for ruining it."

"Wings?" A confused Albert asked, reaching around his shoulder. He felt the sturdy muscles  of the wings and fine white feathers and knew Jacob was telling the truth. He sat up and stared menacingly at Jacob. "I think you owe me an explanation, Jacob."

Jacob hemmed and hawed a bit before answering, "I would've told you sooner, but I really didn't expect you to survive," he looked guiltily at Albert, "I'm very happy you did, of course."

Albert snorted, "I'm sure you are. What didn't you tell me?"

"Well," Jacob began, "I suspected as much because of your 'hives', but I wasn't sure. When you killed the Angel and became the champion, you began the process of taking his place. You'd only finish the metamorphosis if you actually defeated your adversary and that just didn't seem possible."

"Thanks for the confidence," Albert said dryly.

Ethelinda finally found her voice, "Do you mean Albert's an Angel now? Does he have to leave?"

"For a while, he needs to learn about his responsibilities, not to mention meeting the boss."

"Meeting the boss?" Albert turned pale, "I don't know. Do I have to accept this?"

"If you really don't want to be an Angel, I imagine the Wellspring can turn you back."

Albert stood. He flexed his wings and they spread gloriously out of the back of his mutilated shirt. He even flapped them a few times. "Can I fly?"

"That's what wings are for," Jacob chuckled, "You need to learn how to use them properly though or you'll end up crashing into a tree or power line. I am really jealous Albert, I've always wanted wings, but they only go to warriors."

Albert laughed, "Me, a warrior, go figure. I'm not sure I want to be a warrior, but I do like these wings, at least for a while. When do we leave Jacob? And can I come back? I have friends here," he glanced towards Ethelinda.

"We'll leave soon, we don't want too many people seeing you in your present state. As to coming back, even if you chose to remain an Angel, I would venture to say you would return after your training because you are from here, a native. It would be a while, but I think so."

Albert went silent. Nobody spoke. Finally he turned toward Jacob.

"I need to speak to Ethy alone, do you mind Jacob?" He asked quietly.

"Of course not Albert, I'll be inside, I'm feeling a bit woozy anyway," he chuckled, "it seems some vampire took my blood and I'm a quart low. I'll be inside when you're ready." He got up and started to walk back to the medical building. He stopped briefly and addressed Ethelinda, "It was a real pleasure meeting you Ethelinda, you are quite a human."

Ethelinda smiled brightly, "Call me Ethy. The felling is mutual, except for the human part, of course. Come visit if you can, you know, if you ever need a vacation from heaven."

"I will, goodbye."

"Goodbye, Jacob."

The Angel left Albert and Ethy alone in the parking lot.

Albert walked over to the body of the Beast. The corpse was already slowly desiccating and starting to crumble into dust. He carefully sat down on its ample stomach and patted the seat next to him. Ethelinda approached and nervously sat beside him.

"Helluva day, Ethy."

"No argument here," she paused and looked Albert in the eye, "so you're going to go speak to God? Can't really compete with that."

Albert could see that Ethy was upset, "I promise I'll come back. You have to admit, it's a hard opportunity to pass up."

"I guess," she finally admitted, scrunching up her face, "You better come back!" She started laughing, "The lengths you'll go to to avoid helping me with my book!"

Albert smiled broadly, "You'll probably need to revise some of the chapters anyway, not that anyone will believe you."

"Rosamund will. She knew you were a good man. She trusted you and you did not disappoint....A water gun, huh?"

Albert laughed, "You use what you can. Please tell your grandmother for me that the only reason I'm still alive is because of her story."

"I will, what about your friend Sheriff Jack?"

"I was wondering if you could deliver something to him from me."

"Of course."

Albert stood and Ethelinda followed suit. He spread his wings and Ethy gave him a tight hug.

"I guess this is it," she said sadly.

A tear welled in Albert's eye as he returned the hug, "I'm going to miss you most of all, Scarecrow."

Ethy chuckled, "Does that make Jacob the Tinman?"

Albert released Ethy from their hug and smiled broadly, "More like the Cowardly Lion."

"...Or a flying monkey," Ethelinda countered. They both broke down in laughter and then went silent.

"Be well, my friend," the new Angel said, "and we shall meet again soon."

Deputy Harris was sitting in Jack's office signing the cast on the sheriff's leg, "Jack, were we all crazy?"

"It's a crazy world, Bill."

"But that thing. It just disappeared."

"Like I said, it's a crazy world."

"We lost a lotta' good men. It's a real shame, and all those missing folks. Your pal the teacher,  too. Poor little guy. You used to hunt with him, didn't you?"

Jack smiled a weird little smile, "Yeah, all the time."

"Probably wasn't any good, was he?"

"Better than you know, Bill."

Deputy Harris said his farewells and left Jack alone.

Tramell opened his desk drawer and pulled out an envelope. He emptied the contents, it contained a cell phone and a single white feather that fluttered onto his blotter.

He picked up the feather and stared at it a while. He looked at the cell phone and turned it on and his smile grew wider. There on the screen was an image of the now-missing body of the Beast. Upon it stood Albert, wings spread, holding the holy sword above his head. Underneath the photo, Albert had written a little note. Jack read it again and laughed out loud.

Bye, Jack, it said, and as a personal favor, please stop hunting goose out of season.

FIN