A Christmas Carol
Retold by: Athena       

        Stave Four: The Last of the Three Spirirts

        The ghost wended its way silently toward Lee, 
who got down on his knees for fear of this specter. 
Obviously aware of Lee's fear, the spirit still adavnced
toward the trembling Jordan, but in its mind the 
"spirit" concentrated on the task at hand.

        I hate to do this to him, the "ghost" thought.
But the Chief did promise me....

        "Are you the ghost of Christmas yet to come?"

        Underneath its long hooded robe, the phantom
nodded. Lee couldn't see the specter's face, nor any
of its other features except for a black-gloved hand it 
extended. The mysterious ghost pointed behind Lee, where
an open C-5 corridor was waiting.

        "You want me to go in?" Lee asked getting up off 
his knees. "Yes, of course, anything you say, Spirit."

        Lee certainly has changed, thought the spirit. 
Maybe the Chief's plan will work after all.

        With that, Lee and the cloaked spirit went 
through the C-5 and ended up back at Acme. 

        "Spirit, why did we come back here? Do I go back
to Acme in the future?"

        The ghost mearly raised a hand and pointed to a
VERY happy Zack and Ivy.

        "This is GREAT, Ive!"

        "Who'd thought, little bro? I can believe it! 
Acme's most hated enemy is FINALLY behind bars!"

        "Thanks to you, sis."

        "Hey, you helped a little, too, little bro."

        "A little? If I hadn't translated that clue, 
we'd still be stuck in Indonesia."

        "Yeah, I guess...."

        "Awww, it doesn't matter, Ive. We're both gonna
get huge raises and rumor has it, promotions, too."

        "Yes!"

        "Great!" began Lee, "Acme's finally caught 
Carmen Sandiego! It's about time!"

        The spirit tried to keep herself from laughing
at his remark. No, Acme hasn't arrested me yet, Lee
Jordan, the spirit wanted to say but wisely kept her
mouth shut. It was time to go anyway.

        The next stop the "spirit" and Lee made was to 
a grand manor outside of Paris. The two landed on a 
balcony outside the manor's study where a lone figure in
a bright red fedora and trenchcoat was scribbling on a 
notepad, her back to them. 

        "That's Carmen Sandiego! But I thought Acme 
caught her!?!"'

        The spirit raised a hand to quiet him. He got 
the message and listened closely as the figure answered
the telephone.

        "Yes, this is."

        "Oh, I see...."

        "What!" She stood up. 

        "That's wonderful! I always knew they'd catch 
him again.

        "Good, good. Come back to the manor now. I have
plans to make now that I know he won't be interfereing."

        That was all Lee heard. In the next instant, he
found himself at a high security prison somewhere in 
Montana. The spirit was thinking seriously about leaving
Jordan there.   

        "Is this where that fool everyone is talking 
is? I get it, if I don't change my ways, this fool's
case could be mine. Okay."

        The spirit walked away from the main sector of 
the prison and outside to a lonely, forgotten cemetary,
where prisoners with no family members were buried. She
pointed to a bare gravesite in the far corner of the
cemetary. Flowers had never graced its tombstone, nor 
tears shed over its eternal occupant.

        "So this is the person everyone's been talking
about, Lee paused throwing a glance to the grave. "He's 
dead?"

        The spirit nodded and waited while Lee got up
the courage to get close enough to wipe the frost that
had begun to form from the cold granite.

        "I really have changed, Spirit. I learned so
much. I- I'll go back to Acme. I was the best, I'm sure
the Cheif would take me back. Right, Spirit?"

        Again the "spirit" pointed toward the tombstone.
Lee dusted off the frost and read the name on the 
forsaken grave marker.

        "Lee Jordan.... No, Spirit, no! This can't be, I
have changed! I really have! I have changed!!"

        In deperation, Lee grabbed the "spirit's" cloak
and pulled it away. There was a flash of smoke and the
spirit was gone, leaving Lee holding its cloak tightly
as he fell backwards into the C-5.

        "I have changed! I swear, I'll keep Christmas! 
I'll go back to Acme! I'll never be a criminal again! I
swear!!!" Lee cried until he opened his eyes and found
himself in his bedroom again.

	To be continued...