Cemetery Dance

Chapter 71

Plock led the protesters on a spree, tearing through the church, upending altars and fetish — festooned shrines. When their priest fell, the rest of the robed men fell back in confusion to the shadows, greatly outnumbered and temporarily at a loss. Plock realized that they had the initiative; the key was to seize it and keep it. With the crowd following, he swept toward the central altar. Here, there was a bloody, gore — flecked post where the animal sacrifices obviously took place — and a fresh pool of blood that awaited their outrage.

"Destroy this place of slaughter!" Plock cried as the crowd began swarming onto the elevated platform that held the altar and slaughtering pen, smashing down the post, breaking open boxes, and tossing relics.

" Blasphemers!" boomed the deep voice of Bossong. He was standing above the body of the fallen priest, who was out cold and had been badly trampled by the mob. Bossong was not unscathed, either — as he began walking down the central aisle, a trickle of blood was evident on his forehead.

The Ville leader's voice had a galvanizing effect on the robed crowds. They stopped retreating and paused in a kind of stasis. Knives appeared in some hands.

"Butcher!" screamed a protester at Bossong.

Plock realized that he had to keep the crowd moving, out of the church and into the rest of the Ville. A standoff here could quickly turn violent.

A robed congregant suddenly lunged forward with a shriek, slashing at a protester; there was a brief, violent struggle between the two that abruptly swelled into mob action, people from both groups rushing to the defense of their own. A ragged scream arose; someone had been knifed.

"Murderers!"

"Killers!"

The knot of people struggled and swirled, kicked and punched, all brown robes and khaki and pima cotton. It was an almost surreal sight. Within moments several were lying on the stone floor, bleeding.

"The animals!" cried Plock suddenly. He could hear and smell them, a muffled pandemonium behind a door at the head of the altar. "This way! Find and free the animals!" He dashed toward the door, pounded on it.

The leading edge of the crowd fell against the door, the battering rams once more appearing. It gave with a splintering crash and they poured beneath a stone archway, their way into the next room barred by a massive wrought — iron grate. On the other side was a scene from hell: dozens of baby animals, lambs, kids, calves — even puppies and kittens — locked in a huge stone chamber, the floor covered by a thin scattering of straw. The animals broke into a pathetic caterwauling, the lambs bleating, the puppies yipping.

For a moment Plock was speechless with horror. This was worse than anything he had imagined.

"Unbar these gates!" he cried. "Set free the animals!"

"No!" cried Bossong, as he struggled to approach, but he was shoved back and flung roughly to the floor.

The battering rams slammed into the iron grate, but it proved much sturdier than the wooden doors. Again and again they pounded the iron, the animals shrinking back and crying in terror.

"A key! Get a key!" cried Plock. "He must have one." He pointed at Bossong, who was on his feet again and now struggling with several of the protesters.

The mob rushed Bossong, and he disappeared in the swirl to the sound of tearing cloth. "Here!" A man held up an iron ring with keys. It was quickly passed forward, and Plock inserted the heavy ancient keys into the lock, one after another. One worked. He flung the gate wide.

"Freedom!" he cried.

The vanguard of the crowd rushed in and herded out the animals, trying to keep them together, but as soon as the creatures were past the gate they scattered in terror, racing about, their cries rising to the massive wooden beams and echoing in the large space.

The dust had risen and the church had become a hellish scene of struggle and flight, with the protesters clearly gaining the upper hand. The animals stampeded down the nave, leaping as the congregants tried to grab them, rapidly disappearing through every doorway and opening they could find.

"Now's the moment!" screamed Plock. "Drive out these vivisectors! Drive them out! Now!"