gabriel woke up.
his surroundings looked familiar.
he was lying on a cot, in a small room with one little window with bars on it.
where was he? aspen, colorado? abilene, kansas? ardmore, oklahoma?
but he had passed through all those towns…
and arrived at the apartment building outside shreveport, louisiana…
it all came back to him… knocking on the door… not being let in…. going back to the bus station…
was it all a dream? was he back in jail somewhere in kansas?
or in oakland?
he had an old rough army blanket covering him, but he was cold.
he went back to sleep…
he dreamed he was back in the bus station….
and a little animal - a rat? a rabbit? - was trying to talk to him…. and his old schoolmate , the archangel jedediah, was pointing to something on the floor …
something white, a letter or scrap of newspaper…
the white thing turned into a ship and he was riding in it with alexander the great and sinbad the sailor and blackbeard and bluebeard and marie antoinette …
a storm came up and captain cook cried, all hands on deck!
a white wave crashed over him…
when gabriel woke up again gray light was coming through the bars on the window.
after a while he heard heavy footsteps.
the iron door opened with a creak and sheriff jake brown stepped into the cell.
gabriel had encountered sheriff jake on numerous occasions in his travels.
well jake, gabriel said, i see we meet again. i am sorry it could not be in more salutary circumstances, but before we begin i would like a cup of joe if you could see your way clear to providing me with one.
certainly my friend, the sheriff replied smoothly in his booming voice, just step this way if you please.
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