Roberta let her in as soon as she rang the bell at the townhouse.  You look like you ve had a bit of a workout, she said.

"Oh, well--my leisurely walk was interrupted by a burglar alarm at a fur store."

"Furs?  I never do furs.  They're difficult to store or to sell, and really, poor people in southern Colorado don t need them.  Well, come in, you can wash up in the bathroom if you like.  I'll have food ready soon.

Tommy took advantage of the offered facilities, and soon made her way to the kitchen to find Robbie frying up thin sliced steaks with some chopped onions and mushrooms, and a spread on the table that included sliced tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, peppers, assorted condiments, and some short hoagie-style rolls.  Tommy was already drooling from the smell.  "I can't remember the last time I've had a steak sandwich," she said.

"Oh, but you've had them?" Robbie inquired.

"Yeah, we had them several times a year back home.  A lot of places made them."

"But you never made them yourself."

"I never cooked when I was home, and when I did start learning to cook I was living in the woods and catching my own food."

"Wow, that's rough."

She shrugged.  "God has taken care of me," she said, not even quite certain why she said it.  Robbie did not immediately react.

She scraped the steak from the pan into a serving bowl with tongs, and brought it to the table along with a pack of sliced American cheese.  Plates were already there.  "So, what do you like on yours?  They've already got onions and mushrooms, because I have to fry these with the meat to make them right."

"Makes sense.  I'll do a bit of cheese and some catsup, I think.  Keep it simple."

She nodded, tossed some of the steak onto one of the rolls, onto one of the plates, added two slices of the cheese, and passed the plate over with a bottle of catsup before setting up a sandwich for herself.  She produced a bottle of lemon-lime soda from the refrigerator, and poured herself a glass of chilled wine.  Then as she was about to take her first bite, she said, "Do you really believe that?"

"What?" Tommy asked, delaying her second bite.

"That stuff about God taking care of you."

She shrugged.  "I've known a few people who really believed it, and it seemed to work well for them.  I've had some rough times, but God keeps providing solutions.  So yeah, I think I do."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then Tommy said, "These are really good.  Thanks.  I've been practicing that wall thing you taught me.  Haven't yet had the chance to use it in a real situation, but I can see that it's going to be useful."

"Oh, I'm glad.  Obviously I've been reading minds, mostly of people I don't trust.  Tends to keep me safe."

"I can see that.  I should try that."

"So, how did your armored car thing go?"

"We stopped the robbery and caught Metalika; his partner, Aceydeecy, got away.  But we think they have a mole at the Wells Fargo office, so I'm going to try to investigate that."

"That's a lot of minds to read."

"I don't think I'll start with mind reading.  Maybe if I have a suspect, I'll use that."  She finished the last few bites of her sandwich.

"Want another?" Robbie asked.  "Or, save room for dessert."

"Dessert?"

"It's, like, the latest thing:  mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Use to be you could only get it at places like Baskin Robbins and Howard Johnson's, but it just came out in half gallons, so I grabbed some."  Tommy gave her a look, and she added, "I mean, I bought it.  Seriously."

"I like mint chocolate chip," she said.  "Haven't had it in a while--generally went for things like cookie dough and moose tracks."

"Wow, are those real flavors?  Oh, right--you were born forty years in the future.  Gee, it must be strange being in your own past."

She laughed.  "You don't know the half of it."

They shared stories of their lives for several hours, and Tommy ultimately walked home in the fading dusk, got a bath, and got to bed.

As to the old stories that have long been here:

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