The Magi’s Gift of Gold: And 12 More Short Stories

By Charles A. Sennewald

Mr. Sennewald’s first book was a fictional novel about foreign cars, namely a
Volkswagen. He was offered a story line buyout because a producer wanted the story for a motion picture. Sennewald declined the generous offer. For years friends, family, and colleagues have talked about the story with its totally surprising ending and have complained about his failure to write more fictional works. The real demand for his work has been in writing textbooks on management, consulting, shoplifting, and criminal investigations. To satisfy the complainants, he’s been writing short stories that are fun to read and invariably have surprising and/or unexpected endings.
This book is a collection of those great stories between two covers. If the reader likes to or tries to outguess the stories’ endings, he or she will enjoy every page of this book. They will agree that this collection is an interesting journey indeed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: May 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781489722393

Charles A. Sennewald

Charles “Chuck” Sennewald, CSC, CPP, is an independent security management consultant and expert witness and the author of numerous Butterworth-Heinemann titles, including "Effective Security Management"; "Security Consulting"; "Retail Crime, Security and Loss Prevention: An Encyclopedic Reference;" "From the Files of a Security Expert Witness"; and earlier editions of this book "The Process of Investigation." Chuck is a graduate of California State University - Los Angeles with a BS degree in Police Science and Administration. Chuck is also the founder and first president of the International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC), and is a long-time member of ASIS International. He has lectured and is read in countries around the globe.

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Copyright © 2019 Charles A. Sennewald.

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-2238-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2239-3 (e)

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 05/10/2019

DEDICATED TO THE HOLY SPIRT and to PRECIOUS.

CONTENTS

The Magi’s Gift of Gold

The Black Bus

Treasure in the River

A Fairy Tale for Non-Believers

Fatu, The Camel Caravan Master, and Sun

Veterans Talk-Story

From The Heart

God’s Special Rooster

Me, The Tree

Mini-Monsters at Grammies House

The Copper Dollar Saloon

The Stewart House

Wanted: Dead or Alive

THE MAGI’S GIFT OF GOLD

Part 1

It was growing late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve and the small group of boys was sledding on the hilly north side of Pine Hollow, near the abandoned mine. The snow had a nice crust and the sleds were moving fast. It was fun but daylight was starting to fade. Dickey Thompson shouted for the group to follow him skirt the fence-enclosed mine property. It was the longer way home but safer. The signs with the message printed in red Keep Out - Private Property - Dangerous were clearly posted and everyone knew the prohibition of crossing that acreage.

But Skip stopped the group and insisted they cut straight through so they could get home by dark, the time set by all their parents; a time set because, after all, it was Christmas Eve, dinner would be on the table, and some boys had relatives coming. It was an attractive short cut and fun to do the forbidden. Besides, Skip was right and time was running short. So the boys ducked under the bottom wire and down the hill they went, spreading out, each taking his own course to catch the slopes which suited him best.

At the far end, each arriving no more than a minute apart, all were present and accounted for except Skip.

Where’s Skipper?

Maybe he beat us down and already took off for home, offered Chubby.

No, said Dickey, I was here first.

We’ll have to go back and find him. Maybe he hit something and hurt himself, offered another.

You got to be nuts. Not only is it almost dark, it’s starting to snow again.

Let’s wait a few minutes, he’ll come sliding in, honestly. offered the last of the group.

That made sense, but within five minutes it just didn’t seem reasonable to stand there. Now it was dark, and the snow had stopped falling.

We better go home, said Chubby, I’ll stop by his house and tell his parents. Maybe they’ll call the police or something. We should never have crossed that field you guys. We’re all in for it, now, no matter what happens to Skip. I’m telling my parents, you guys do what you want. I’m telling.

The fun was over and each boy hustled in the direction of his home, worried about Skip, but honestly more worried about himself. Shouldn’t have crossed that property was in everyone’s anxious thoughts.

Chubby stopped at his friend’s house and stood scared stiff when Skip’s dad shouted WHAT? Chubby, blustered, again told the adult what had happened and explained where they were and where they crawled under the wire and came out of the property. He was shaking.

Get the snow off of you and get in this house, demanded Mr. Klinger, I’m calling your parents, so they won’t worry and I’m calling the police right now. The authorities need you to show the way, you hear me?

Yes sir, whimpered Chubby, ready to cry.

The phone lines lit-up with calls from agency to agency and parent to parent. The traditional Christmas Eve supper remained in the kitchen in the nerve-wracking anxiety and fear in the homes of all the boys. Everyone instinctively returned to the southernmost fence area where the boys exited the property, along with the Pine Hollow police and firemen. It was now pitch black at night.

Part 2

Skip had selected his direction off to the left of his comrades because there was a nice slope which would give him the fastest ride. As he bore down that incline, eyes squinting against the cold, he suddenly felt himself dropping on a large chunk of earth and snow into a pitch black cavern, landing in the same position he had been when the ground gave way. It was a jarring landing and he was terrified as to where he was. He looked up and could still barely see the sky because darkness was setting in, fast. The hole through which he fell was some 15 feet above him, looked the size of a small car. Other than a slight pain in his chest caused by the thumping onto the floor of the cave or tunnel, he realized he had not been injured seriously.

While his body was not hurt, his mind and heart were sick with fear. He knew he was in a serious predicament and that his parents would be worried and Christmas Eve, a big family event, with the opening of gifts and Uncle Harry coming, was destroyed. Fear and guilt. Why didn’t I listen to Dickey and follow him? He realized, based on his upbringing, his only alternative to crying, which he was already doing a little of, he needed to call on God and ask for help. Aloud he prayed, God help me, God save me, God protect me, God forgive me, God…..what’s that? As he recoiled, a light, a flashlight was coming towards him. He now knew he was in a tunnel. A man, maybe God, was coming straight towards him. His heart jumped.

An old man, wearing a heavy wool black and red checkered jacket reached down, lifted Skip to his feet and dusted the snow off.

Are you okay, son? asked the old man.

I think so sir, replied Skip. Who are you? What are you doing here? Will you help me get home, please? My parents, I know, are worried. I’m worried. Please help me get out of here.

Slow down lad, everything’s going to be just alright. You just call me Joe. I’m the night watchman here in this vacated property. Look at you shivering like that. That’s half cold and half fear. You have nothing to fear. Let me start a little fire here to warm yourself until the firemen arrive and pull you out, said Joe in comforting words.

Within minutes they both stood by a nice fire, and Joe had removed his gloves and both were warming their hands.

It’s Christmas time and I’m so worried I’ve upset my parents, cried Skip.

Yes, replied Joe, Christmas time, a time of great joy to the world. Do you remember the gifts the baby Jesus received for Christmas, gifts from the three wise men? Do you know?

Sure I do. Gold, frankincense and myrrh, responded Skip.

Good for you….sorry I didn’t get your name.

Skip Klinger, Sir.

Well, master Skip Klinger, I’ll tell you the story of what happened to that precious gift of gold given to the baby. Bet you never heard that story before, have ya?

No sir, never thought about it.

Most people never thought about it, but after tonight you’ll know the story and can share it, especially around Christmas time, share it the rest of your life. It’s not a long or complicated story and I’ll have just enough time to share it with you by the time the authorities find us here and get you home.

You know they’re coming for sure? asked Skip.

Yep, I called them already. They’ll be here soon, said Joe as he piled a couple more old boards on the crackling fire.

Joe continued, Well now, you know what the Wise Men’s gifts were, so you most likely know King Herod was convinced Jesus could be the King of the Jews and feared for his job, so he ordered all male babies and boy toddlers killed. Because of that threat baby Jesus’ parents were warned by an angel to immediately leave Bethlehem and go to Egypt.

It was a dangerous trip and the bandits preyed on travelers, especially those who traveled alone or in small groups. The bible tells us that.

Old Joe continued, "Sure enough, a gang of dirty robbers surprised and stopped the family and their few relatives and stripped them of all their valuable possessions. Joseph and Mary still had the Wise Men’s gifts and those very gifts were part of the loot. The leader of the criminals was immediately fascinated with the good size gold coin and, with it in his hand, he gazed on the woman, Mary, who surrendered it from the folds of her robes. Inexplicitly he decided no harm should come to this young woman with her baby in her arms, or her companions. Joseph, Mary, and of course Jesus, along with their relatives were allowed to continue on to Egypt.

"The bandits returned to their encampment.

"Around their fire the dangerous gang of bullies celebrated, drank wine, quarreled, and struggled with each other over the division of the silver and copper coins and other treasures they had stolen. The loot was divided but there was disagreement over how to divide the gold coin. It would be simple (and common) to cut the soft coin with a sword, into equal shares. Indeed, down through history gold coins were commonly cut in half twice, making four pieces and each piece again cut in half to make a ‘piece of eight’. The head robber didn’t participate in the division of the loot or their discussion over how to divide the coin because he had decided it was his to keep. The coin enchanted him. It never left his possession. Indeed, after acquiring the coin he started to change from a mean and dangerous villain to a kinder more understanding man, and he did strange things, like bind the wounds of victims of his group while his comrades ran off to celebrate their crimes.

"The zeal for crime left the chief and he returned to Jericho, his home. And with the gold coin safely and secretly sewn in his robes he sought out and helped others in need, and some even said he saved some peoples’ lives. He gained a reputation of being a good man while his old bandit friends were, with the passage of time, eventually killed or caught and executed by Roman or Herod’s soldiers.

"That very bandit was one of the first to be baptized in the Jordan River by a wild preacher with a thundering voice and became a distant follower of Jesus. It was not known if he realized his transformation from evil to goodness was a result of Jesus’ coin or not.

This unnamed convert and now an active Christian, came to know two of the apostles. On his deathbed he gave one of them the coin and shared the story of how he had stolen it from the holy family during their flight to Egypt nearly 40 years ago. They kept the coin secret and adored it as an icon. It is believed that coin has a miraculous power at Christmas time.

Skip, warmed by the fire, and totally mesmerized by the old man’s story was content to listen to the tale and temporarily forgot his dilemma down in the mine shaft.

The old man looked at his watch, nodded his head a couple time and continued with his story. He said the coin was eventually given to one of Jesus’ closest followers and a man whom Jesus loved, Lazarus, the most worthy of all men to have the coin. Within just a few years Peter took Lazarus to a newly established church in Greece and appointed him as its first Bishop. Lazarus placed the coin in a secure glass case on the alter.

As the Christian faith and church grew, those churches in Greece morphed into what today is called the Greek Orthodox Church. Over the centuries the Holy See in Rome has asked for the icon to be moved to Rome but the Greek Ecumenical Patriachs have refused.

Part 3

The city fire department’s search and rescue squad, two fire engines, an ambulance, four police cars, the mobile unit of TV station KTLT and it’s radio affiliate, plus Skip’s sledding friends and their families were all bunched along the fence line that bordered the northern most road in town. Locals who were aware of the missing boy and search efforts joined the swelling crowd. One fire engine had a huge spot light scanning the area pointed-out by Skip’s friends, in hopes of spotting Skip or his sled.

It has to be up this slope in this direction pointed both Chubby and two other boys. The searchlight slowly swept back and forth but nothing of interest was revealed.

There were four certified search and rescue professionals who decided the use of snowmobiles to scour the property was too dangerous.

This area is honeycombed with shafts, some very deep and some closer to the surface and subject to crumbling under the weight of the equipment, said battalion Chief Miller. In fact the weight of a single man could cause a cave-in. Here’s the plan: the sled marks furthest west will be our initial western boundary and we’ll search on foot fifty yards apart, all linked together with rescue lines as a safety measure. If someone falls in, a colleague will know it and we respond as a group and retrieve. Jones you’re number 1, on the west perimeter, Washington, you’re number 2, fifty yards to Jones right, Butler, #3, fifty more yards to the east, and Foster, you’re the fourth and last in this line. That means we can cover two hundred yards in one sweep. Move slowly, use your flashlights to sweep the area ahead of you. The boy undoubtedly fell into a hole. Look for the uneven edges of snow which might indicate where he fell in. Once you reach the northern fence line, line-up, move over to the east and return south bound to cover another 200 yards, back down to this fence line. Any questions?

There were none.

The rescue specialists affixed the safety and rescue lines to the rings in their belts and the procession started northbound, each equipped with a radio.

About two hundred yards up the grade Foster, the eastern most search radioed to the group as a whole, but particularly to his partner on his left,

Foster to Butler.

Butler here.

Look 45 degrees to my right, about 100 yards off, do you see that beam of light, like the reflection of a blazing fire? said Foster, with a sound of excitement in his voice.

I think I do, by God I do! I see like a glow coming up from the ground, said Butler.

I don’t see nothing. said Washington.

Me either, chimed in Jones.

Foster to Chief Miller, radioed Foster.

Come in Foster, the Chief replied.

Request Butler release his line connecting to Washington so he can join me in what might be a light or signal some 100 yards outside our designed search area. We’ll still have the safety of the line between the two of us.

Request granted.

Butler released the hook on the line from Washington, freeing him up to cautiously make his way to Foster. The two kept a distance between them to avoid too much weight on the ground and approached the light. The remaining searchers held their ground pending the results of their comrade’s investigation.

Foster arrived at the sight of the cave-in, and with his powerful flashlight peered down into the tunnel and sure enough there stood Skip, jumping up and down, actually screaming with joy.

"It’s me you guys. It’s Skip Klinger. We’re Okay and