Glassing the Orgachine

by David Marusek

  All of the saints and all of the angels in the Throne Room joined voices in a hymn of joy. It swelled Deut’s heart to bursting. I am not worthy. I am a sinner. My brother is saved. My brother is a saint. That’s enough for me. Thank You, thank You, thank You.

  Then, the heavenly chorus dropped an octave, the radiance of Heaven dimmed a notch, and a frown crossed the Savior’s face. Deut’s heart grieved the loss of His smile. Something was wrong in Heaven. What could it be? Jesus extended a finger and pointed for her to look.

  A strapping angel, ten feet tall, with powerful arms, raised a sparkly glass trumpet — Poppy’s trumpet — to his lips. But before he could sound it, another angel raced at him from below and snatched it from his hands, stealing it and fleeing from Heaven. This angel was beautiful and magnificent and female. She was Martha, the angel who had beguiled Poppy. But she wasn’t beguiling for long. Two horns sprouted from her temples and a third from the center of her forehead. Her thighs thickened into the haunches of an ass, and her feet split into hooves. She transformed into Beezus, the Bringer of Sorrow, before Deut’s eyes.

  A teardrop traced the Savior’s cheek as the scene played out, for such madness was never ordained. The devil Beezus flew down from Heaven with a cohort of hideous demons to the shimmering blue planet below where they shoveled human souls like lumps of coal into the fire.

  Jesus wept.

  Then He pointed again, this time to an alpine meadow far below where a lone figure in a blindfold seemed to be stumbling about aimlessly.

  You know this man?

  Just as her brother had claimed, Jesus didn’t need to speak for her to hear His words in her mind. She looked closely at the man in the meadow. His face was hidden beneath the blindfold, but he wore a park service uniform, and his long hair was gathered in back into a ponytail.

  “Yes, I know who he is, but he was just the driver.” Jesus looked into her soul. She could feel His gaze like a warmth in her chest, and she knew it was pointless to try to hide anything from the Son of God.

  “Yes, I know him, and I used to like him. I wanted . . . I used to wish . . .”

  Peace, My child, for you are pure. This man is wandering in the kingdom of the lost, but he is not an evil man.

  The mood in Heaven took an even darker turn. The songs of adoration died and were replaced by a dirge, and cries and laments filled the Throne Room.

  In these latter days, the sins of man do multiply a trillionfold. Legions of the righteous do stray from the path of salvation, more than ever before, even more than before the flood. Earth is teaming with treachery and ignorance; the faithful are set upon by jackals. There is much work to be done to restore order to the Father’s kingdom. Will you help?

  Deut took His words as accusation, that she was a hinderance rather than a help. “I’ll do better, Lord. I just didn’t understand Uzzie’s mission. I thought it was my fault when he . . . I thought . . . But now I know better; he’s right here, with You and the Father.”

  She glanced up at the cloud again. Uzzie stood at the edge, beaming love down upon her. He clasped his little hands over his heart, and her family of saints surrounding him covered their hearts in loving solidarity.

  Uzziel was brave, and you were trusting to help him on his mission, though you yourself were filled with doubt. Now there is a new mission, a very difficult one, one that calls for a brave soul to undertake. Are you that brave soul?

  “Me?” She’d never thought of herself as especially brave, certainly not brave enough to step into a volcano vent. “Lord?”

  Are you willing to go somewhere no son or daughter of Adam has ever gone to bring My Word to souls who have forgotten how to pray?

  It was the last thing she expected to hear. “I’m just a girl, Lord,” she protested. “What do I know about missions? How would I know what to do? And besides, my family depends on me. How will they get by without me?”

  The Savior pointed to the spinning Earth again, to Alaska and the park, to the cottage in the big, dark chamber of the keep. As she watched, the roof of the cottage vanished, and she was looking down at her family, at her sisters and brothers still gathered in the common room with Poppy who was still instructing them, and at Mama who still lay in the lounger.

  Then Mamma moved. She stretched her arms out and yawned.

  Deut gasped.

  Your mother is returning to attend to the family’s hearth so that you may be freed of your duties. She will be feeble at first as she recovers, but in a few days her strength will rebound, and you may leave the keep.

  As to the mission itself, I will give you a capable guide, the staunchest of my servants, to assist you.

  Someone was suddenly beside Jesus, towering over Him in height, if not in splendor. It was the archangel Gabriel; she knew this without having to be told. No fake angel, this Gabriel. His chest armor gleamed, his muscles bulged, one hand clutched a sinewy sword of fire. Gabriel’s handsome face was at once fierce and tender. He made a slow, deep bow to Deut, and a most delicious warmth filled her body from bottom to top.

  I ask again, are you the brave soul I am seeking?

  “Yes, Lord. Anything You say. I am Your servant.”

  Now Heaven let out its breath. The Throne Room filled with the perfume of incense, and a joyous hymn of thanksgiving rang out.

  Jesus smiled wide, and the sight of this made Deut dizzy. With His playfulness restored, He tugged at his beard and glanced again at the planet below where the ranger was still stumbling about in the meadow.

  Your mission, like Uzziel’s, will require a driver. There is no better driver for you than this man. But tell Me, child, what good is a driver wearing a blindfold?

  SB3 1.0

  “DEUT WAKE UP. Deut, open your eyes.”

  She lay on her back on the cold rock floor, a sharp stone jabbing her in the side. Her head was spinning. Cora’s worried face hung over her.

  “Yes, yes, help me up.”

  Cora helped Deut to sit up, but Deut was still too woozy to stand. The LED lantern was shining again.

  “It just switched on by itself,” Cora said.

  “Did you see Him?”

  “The little angel?”

  “No, Jesus. Did you see Jesus?”

  Cora was stunned. “No. Did you?”

  “Yes! He spoke to me. I mean, not with His mouth but He showed me stuff. Including Uzzie! Uzzie’s in Heaven! And he has wings and he’s so happy.”

  Deut described her visit to the Throne Room in delirious detail: the choir, the Father on His throne, Jesus, the multitude of adoring saints and angels, including their family. She could hardly believe what she herself was saying, but it was all true. Even waking up on the stone floor did not dispel the afterglow of grace. Only when she got to the part about Gabriel, the ranger, and the blindfold did she hold back. She wanted to think about that some more before revealing it.

  Cora’s expression swung from wonder to concern, and this infuriated Deut.

  “What’s the matter?” she demanded. “Don’t you believe me?”

  “Oh, I do, sister. It’s not that. It’s just that you were here with me the whole time. You fell down and I think you hit your head or something. You didn’t actually go anywhere.”

  Deut felt the back of her head. There was indeed a tender spot. “It doesn’t matter. My soul went to Heaven. You got to believe me!”

  “I already said I do believe you, didn’t I? I saw the baby angel, right? And I saw the ceiling turn into sky. It was the most awesome thing I ever saw. No, I believe you, sister. It’s just — you know — why didn’t I go there too?”

  Because it’s my mission and not yours, Deut thought but did not say out loud.

  “Help me up. We have to go home right away.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Mama’s coming back!”

  THEY MUST HAVE been walking in circles earlier because when they set out again with the lantern, they found the skeletal frame of Sue’s cottage almost at once. They hurrie
d up the stone path to the back porch of their cottage and into the kitchen. The big pot of moose stew was simmering on the stove, which meant that Worship Time was still in progress. And when they looked into the common room, everyone was where they had left them. Including Mama, still lying lopsided on the lawn lounger. Poppy used his finger to mark his spot on the page of the Bible and looked at them impatiently.

  They ducked back into the kitchen to remove their jackets and hang them on pegs. Deut noticed that her dress was wet in a spot. Had she peed a little during the miracle? That would be perfectly understandable, though embarrassing. She turned her back so Cora couldn’t see, touched the spot and brought her fingers to her nose. Slippery to the touch. Not urine.

  “Are you ready?” Cora said.

  “Yes, yes,” Deut replied, grabbing an apron to cover herself with. “Let’s go.”

  “Where were you two off to?” Poppy didn’t sound pleased at all.

  “Peace, lord,” Deut said. “We were doing the Father’s work.”

  Poppy was taken aback by this. It was an odd thing to hear from a child, especially from his dutiful daughter, Deut. “And what work was that?”

  “A cherub from the Throne Room summoned me to kneel before the Father while Jesus showed me the story of how the trumpet came to Earth.” She felt dizzy reliving the glorious event.

  “Trumpet?” Poppy snapped, bringing her back to reality. “What do you know about the trumpet?”

  “I’m talking about how the false angel Martha stole it from Heaven, and how —”

  “Enough!” Poppy said. “You’re talking nonsense, girl.” He looked at Cora. “What happened?”

  “It’s like Deut said, lord. A cherub appeared in the chamber.” She pointed toward the rear wall of the cottage. “Didn’t any of you see the sky at all?” She looked around at her siblings who were wide-eyed with dismay.

  “Is this a game with you two?”

  “No game, lord,” Deut said, “but real big prizes anyway. I saw him! I saw Uzzie. He’s all right. Better than all right — he’s a saint! He’s in Heaven, and he’s so happy.”

  The room erupted in questions, but Poppy had had enough.

  “Quiet!” Poppy shouted. “Shut your mouth, girl. Sarai, take your sister, take both of your sisters up to their room.”

  Sarai rose to comply, and Sue joined her. But Deut raised her hand and said, “I can prove it. Mama’s coming back. Mama is returning to us.”

  Everyone looked at Mama P, who lay as still and absent as ever.

  “You’re talking nonsense,” Poppy said. “Go now, like I said. I’ll be up in a minute, and we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  “Mama.” Deut went to the lounger and nudged her mother’s shoulder. “Mama, open your eyes. It’s me, Deuteronomy. Everything’s all right now. It’s time to wake up.”

  “Leave your mama alone,” Poppy said. He shut the Bible and removed Elzie from his lap. “You’re begging for stripes, girl.” He grabbed Deut’s arm and yanked her away from the lounger. Adam and Hosea appeared at his side, confused, unsure what to do. “Don’t just stand there,” Poppy said. “Take your sister upstairs. She’s scaring the children with her crazy talk.”

  But the boys were frozen in place.

  “Do what I say!” Poppy yelled, his patience at an end. “Or does everyone want stripes tonight?”

  “Lord,” Adam said, pointing at Mama P who was yawning a big-mouthed yawn.

  “So what?” Poppy said. “She yawns sometimes. It’s a reflex; it don’t mean a thing.”

  But then Mama smiled, and no one had seen her smile in years. The children rushed to surround the lounger. Mama? they called. Mama? Poppy stood to one side, speechless for once in his life. Elzie stood next to him crying.

  Mama P’s eyes blinked open and the room rejoiced. Mama was waking up. She stretched her arms and yawned again, long and leisurely. Then she squinted around the room, taking in their new home and looking at each and every one of them in turn. Finally, she cleared her throat and said, “I don’t see Proverbs. Where’s Proverbs?”

  “We’re living in the keep now, Mama,” Adam said. “And Proverbs is on watch duty at the gate.”

  “I don’t see Uzziel either. Oh, wait. Now I remember. Uzzie’s in Heaven with Incense. Jesus told me that.”

  “That’s right! He is!” Deut cried. She dove into her mother’s arms and was followed by all the rest.

  “Give her room,” Hosea shouted. “Let her breathe.” Deut and Sarai pulled the little ones clear, and Hosea helped sit Mama up.

  Mama P looked at Sue and said, “Who’s that one?”

  “My name is Susan Krae, Mama,” Sue said as she took ahold of Adam’s hand. “And I’m Adam’s betrothed.”

  “I know who you are.”

  Poppy, who had recovered a portion of his wits, came to her side. “Welcome back, Mother.” He lay a hand on top of her head. “I hope your vacation was restful.”

  She swatted his hand away. “Don’t touch me, you fornicator!”

  The word exploded like a grenade in the room, and even those who didn’t know what it meant were shocked by its force.

  Poppy recovered first. “Now, now, it might be best —”

  She batted his hand away again. “Shut up and get out of my house, you monster. Adam, come here.”

  Confused, Adam stepped next to the lounger. “Mama?”

  “Remove this man. Send him away.”

  Adam looked at Poppy, and Poppy looked at Adam. Poppy’s compassion was quickly boiling away, leaving only raw anger behind, and Adam was immobilized with confusion.

  “Now, Mama,” he said. “This is Poppy, your husband.”

  “I know who he is,” she snapped, and before Adam could stop her, she snatched his pistol from the holster on his hip and flicked off the safety with her thumb. She held the pistol in two wobbly hands, aiming it at Poppy’s chest, and pulled the trigger. But her shot went wild and passed harmlessly through the wall. Adam yelped in surprise and grabbed the gun before she could fire a second round. The children shrieked and scattered, and Poppy’s face filled with purple rage.

  “Are you crazy?” he screamed at his wife. “Are you possessed?”

  “Silence! You filthy bastard. You’re the one who’s possessed. Possessed by your self-righteousness. Possessed by your lust. You are an adulterer, a child molester, an ass, and a brute. I will no longer tolerate you in my life or around my children.”

  “That’s enough!” Poppy roared. He raised his fist, but Adam stepped between them.

  “No, lord, don’t. That’s our mother and your wife. She’s confused, is all. She’s been away for so long, and this house is strange to her. That’s all.”

  “I am not confused,” Mama P said archly. “For once in my life, I can speak the truth. It’s you who are confused, son, if you think your father deserves your respect. You will have to decide. You and your brothers will have to decide. Will you protect me and your family, or will you lick the boots of this bastard tyrant? Pick one.”

  SB4 1.0

  POPPY SPENT A rough night camped out on a cot in the storeroom chamber. Even after Adam disarmed the crazy old woman, she put up such a fuss that it was just easier to leave the cottage than try to subdue her. Especially with the children all starved to see their Mama and scared to death by the gunplay.

  Poppy had a crick in his back from sleeping on the cot, and with Father God as his witness he planned to sleep in his own bed tonight.

  Poppy was up and dressed and about to return to the cottage when Adam and Hosea arrived with a breakfast tray. Two grown men to bring one little tray — something was out of joint.

  “Forget that,” he told them. “I’ll take my breakfast in the common room, like I always do.”

  “Uh . . .” Adam said.

  “Uh?” Poppy repeated, mocking him. “Uh?”

  “I mean, Lord,” Adam said, “it’s probably better if you don’t go there right now.”

  “And why is t
hat?”

  “Mama’s still on the warpath with you.”

  “So what if she is?”

  Poppy grabbed the lantern and started for the tunnel, but Hosea said, “You should hear him out, lord.”

  Poppy halted and raised the lantern to illuminate his sons. “Say what you came to say, but make it quick.”

  Adam placed the tray on a stack of cartons and slipped his hands into his pockets. He looked away from his father as he spoke. “Mama says to tell you you are never to step foot in the cottage again. Actually, she says you are banned from the keep altogether.”

  Upon delivering this, Adam snuck a glance to see his father’s reaction.

  Poppy didn’t disappoint. His outrage shot to the moon and back, but he squelched it and said, “She does, does she? Since when does your mama rule the roost around here?”

  Neither son had an answer for that.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  Adam said, “She took us aside, me and Hosea and Proverbs, and told us . . . stuff.”

  “What kind of stuff?”

  “Stuff we already heard from Ginger, lord, but didn’t believe it.”

  “You’re talking in riddles, boy. Get back to me when you know what you mean to say.” Again he turned to leave.

  Adam appeared to be tongue-tied, so Hosea said, “Is it true, lord, what she says, about you and Sarai?”

  Poppy only came up to Hosea’s chest, but he easily stared the big man down. “I don’t know, son. That sorta depends on what she says, don’t it?”