He handled this by having the ill and disabled brought to the curb. Then, upright and calm, he levitated, floated a dozen feet above the crowd, and healed from there, appearing in the darkness like a great golden torch. The levitation affected the crowd like nothing else. There was a sound like a great “ah-h-h,” punctuated by scattered screams.
Art Knowles winced at such exposure. It occurred to him that Dove might actually be safer than anyone else there, but he was taking nothing for granted.
During the healing process, cameramen in their cherry pickers recorded visible auras scattered throughout the crowd, like soft round bunsen burner flames, as if of people caught up spiritually by the experience. This was the most dramatic stop yet; joy made a bedlam of it.
When it was over, the bus moved on to the fenced and guarded sheriff’s department parking lot near the courthouse. There it stayed the rest of the night, curtains drawn, most of its travelers sleeping.
Despite the hour, Lor Lu sat using his laptop and its phone, arranging things ahead. Lee sat next to him, her tasks somewhat similar, working from a list he’d printed out for her. When she was done, she wanted to talk to someone, but Lor Lu was still busy, and almost everyone else asleep. Each person had a double seat to themselves. The auras visible earlier had faded from her perception, except for Dove’s and Lor Lu’s, which still were strong. Dove sat upright, in back again, smiling, glowing, calm—engaged in what contemplations, Lee couldn’t imagine. She doubted that even Lor Lu knew.
Duke Cochran also sat awake, writing on his laptop, and Lee went over to him. “Is it all right to interrupt?” she murmured. “I need someone to talk to.”
Duke grinned. His eyes were bright, he seemed pumped, but his voice was a murmur. “Sure,” he said. She sat down by him. “What did you think of it?” he asked.
Her voice was as quiet as his. “It was incredible. Inspiring! It’s hard to believe this is really happening, and that I’m part of it. Here, in our time.”
“And the levitation,” he said. “That killed any doubt.”
“Did you have any?” Lee asked. “Before that?”
Duke nodded. “Oh, yes. Even if he wasn’t an avatar, it seemed to me that some people would truly be healed, with all that energy out there. But now . . .” His expression turned thoughtful. “Maybe Dove turns on some latent energy that all of us have. He does say they heal themselves.”
Wearing his Tours blazer, Duke had climbed on top of the bus to watch, and had seen the auras manifesting among the crowd. Some reading he’d done stated that an aura was simply an energy field, and that everyone had one, all the time. But apparently they could intensify. He supposed they’d been energized by Dove’s presence.
“I’d assumed you’d reject even the possibility,” Lee said. “I know I did, till recently.”
“Me too.” He grinned again. “Even after I had personal proof that Life Healing is for real, whatever real is.”
“Personal proof?”
“I tried it out. I wouldn’t say it qualifies as a miracle, but it definitely demonstrates effective therapy.” He laughed softly. “It took me totally by surprise. Got rid of old regrets, fears, resentments . . .” Again he laughed softly. “And fixations. Things like that.” Then added, “When did you do it?”
“Just before we left. I’d been resisting it for months.”
A minute later, Lee excused herself. Duke watched her move forward up the aisle. He still found her sexually attractive, but no longer lusted for her. Then he returned his attention to his laptop, and the article he was writing: “Inside the Healing Tour.” It could serve later as a chapter in the book he intended.
* * *
Lee walked past her “sleeping seat,” and sat down again beside Lor Lu. She had a question for him, and intended to watch for a gap in his activities. He was talking into his phone, but all she heard was a murmur, as if he had a “cone of silence,” like Maxwell Smart in the farcical secret agent series she’d enjoyed as reruns as a child.