Free Let There Be Light by Al Lacy

mouth had gone dry. “Well, yes, but—”
    “Just go back there behind the counter and give it to me.”
    Emma’s face was gray as she started toward the counter with the robber on her heels.
    At the rear of the store, Jenny heard the male voice. She started out of the office and halted quickly when she saw the bearded man holding the gun on Emma as she was moving behind the counter. Quickly assessing the situation, Jenny stepped back into the office sothe robber wouldn’t see her. He obviously thought Emma was in the store alone, giving him the perfect opportunity to relieve her of the money in the cash drawers.
    Jenny’s heart was pounding wildly, but she had a plan in mind instantly. Crouching low, she moved out of the office quickly and silently moved down the aisles of shelves to the hardware section. Several ax handles leaned against the wall. She grasped one, and keeping low, headed in a line that would bring her up behind the robber.
    Behind the counter, Emma’s fear had her shaking. She dropped some of the money on the floor.
    The robber snapped, “Hurry, lady! Pick it up!”
    Emma froze, clinging to the edge of the counter.
    The robber slapped her face. “I said pick it up!”
    Emma gasped, let out a whimper, and stumbled back against the wall.
    Hastening along her chosen path in a crouch, Jenny heard the slap, the whimper, and Emma’s stumbling feet.
    Her temper flared.
    She felt her blood heat up.
    Just as she came to the end of a row of shelves where she could see the robber from behind, he was leaning over the counter and stuffing money in his pockets. She moved with the swiftness of a cougar, swung the ax handle, and cracked him savagely on the head. He went down like a poleaxed steer and hit the floor, unconscious.
    Emma blinked at the sight before her and shakily moved back up to her place at the counter. She looked down at Jenny who was foraging through the man’s pockets, pulling out the stolen money.
    Jenny paused, looked up at Emma, and said, “Get the police!”
    In a bit of a daze, Emma hurried to the door, unlocked it, and swung it open. A man was passing by on the sidewalk. “Harry!” cried Emma. “Get the police! A man just tried to rob us!”
    Harry Weems was a regular customer of the store. He stepped up close enough to see the bearded man lying unconscious on the floor, with Jenny emptying his pockets. “Right away!” He turned and ran down the street.
    Emma closed the door and leaned against it, trying to clear herhead. A moment later, she turned around and saw Jenny behind the counter, placing the money in the cash box. Keeping a wary eye on the man on the floor, Emma hurried back behind the counter. “H-Harry Weems is going for the police.”
    “Good,” said Jenny, closing the lid on the metal box.
    Emma clung to Jenny’s hand. “Th-thank you for coming to my rescue, honey.”
    Jenny’s features reddened. She looked back at the robber. “He would dare to slap you! I’d like to bash—”
    The robber was stirring. He moaned, shook his head to clear it, and sat up. Jenny grasped the ax handle, which was leaning against the wall behind her, and with eyes blazing, hurried around the end of the counter.
    Emma looked on in amazement as Jenny stood over the bearded man and hissed, “You scum!” With that, she swung the ax handle and cracked his head again. The impact of the blow flattened him on the floor. He was out cold.
    Jenny’s anger was a molten flame in her brain. She lifted the ax handle over her head. “You would dare slap my friend and rob her!”
    The ax handle came down on his head again, then Jenny hurried behind the counter and gathered Emma in her arms.

5
    A T M EMORIAL H OSPITAL in Frederick, Maryland, on Saturday morning, September 24, hospital superintendent Dr. Homer Walton stood at the front of the small assembly room and watched as his staff of physicians, nurses, and medical assistants was gathering before him. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It