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screamed in pain and attempted to dislodge her by clubbing her with the ray gun. But she was a tough hen
and his blows had no seeming effect. The Blithian clambered up his leg, gained a claw hold in the middle
of his back, and slashed at his neck as she bit his ear.
Franklin was dancing frantically in his attempt to shake the attacker from his back. With an effort
born of desperation, he reached over his shoulder and seized the chicken s neck. Pardoe pulled CheeBah
off his back, slammed her to the ground, and kicked her into unconsciousness.
With CheeBah motionless at his feet, Franklin aimed the gun at her lover.
It was then that Second Timothy placed his foot against the seat of necessity to steady his aim and
scared a rat out from its nest of magazines in the corner. The rodent escaped through a chink in the
outhouse wall and scurried across the road towards Franklin. The avenging angel watched through the
scope of his rifle as the false prophet lowered his head to the pavement.
May the Lord have mercy on your soul Second Timothy s finger slowly applied pressure to the
trigger.
* * * *
Realizing that he needed to be free of the crowd to reach Clay, Seth forced his way to the periphery
of the mob so he could continue to search for his old hospital roommate. Being on TV made ol Nutsy right
popular. I reckon these folks are his followers. He must be fixin to have one of them visions they been talkin about. I d
better get to that grease spot if I want to ketch him.
As he circumnavigated the crowd, his attention was drawn to a commotion behind the roadhouse.
When he saw a skinny, bald man being attacked by a monstrous chicken, Seth cried out in alarm,
being familiar with the downstate myth that killer chickens roamed wild in the nearby cypress swamps.
Supposedly they were descendants of domestic chickens that had long ago escaped from the Pardoe Farm
and had reverted to a feral state. He slapped in a clip, raised his rifle, and took quick aim, meaning to
shoot the rabid chicken.
As he was about to squeeze the trigger, he saw the man grab the chicken, throw it to the ground,
and kick it. With the man out of danger, Seth ran towards the scene to get a look at the rogue fowl.
O Malley s invisible foot tripped the old veteran whose gun discharged as he hit the ground. Just as
Second Timothy was taking his shot he was showered with splinters as Seth s shot struck the decrepit
outhouse next to the sniper s head.
The vengeance of the Lord went awry and the errant bullet tore through the sleeve of Franklin s
overalls ruining his aim by causing him to jerk reflexively just as he activated the ray gun.
With a sound like the crack of a bullwhip, a blinding beam leapt from Franklin s hand and a green bolt
of lightning struck down into the blackness of the grease spot.
* * * *
Musical Souls.
The ray from Franklin s weapon arched like the back of a frantic dragon. It dove into the grease spot,
chasing its tail, and passed through the meteorite returning to its origin at the ray gun. Upon reentering
the transference device, it stimulated an even greater discharge by completing a feedback loop. The
crackling arc flew round and around in its closed trajectory, forming a ring of green fire half above and half
below the ground.
The subterranean gahootinite deposit began to glow, and the thin layer of earth above it became
gradually transparent. The awestruck crowd watched as a vision of a reptilian world formed in the corona
of the incandescent mineral. A paroxysm of alarm swept through the onlookers as a spectral image
emerged from the vision through the grease spot and slithered towards Clay.
When the creature was nearly on top of him, Clay exclaimed, It s Miss Kelly Kan! You finally made
it through from the in between place! Clay recognized an inter-dimensional rift when he saw one, This
is just like the movie, A Princess of Mars, when Clint Hardy rode into a cave out west somewhere and
wound up on the red planet.
Clay stood to embrace the feathered lady, but it was like grabbing smoke. As the awestruck pilgrims
watched, their prophet disappeared. Clay was enveloped by the image of their Madonna. Feeling her
touch upon his brow, he enjoyed the cool smoothness of her scaly fingers. As she whispered in his ear, his
mind filled with many voices too many for him to comprehend. For an instant, he was able to caress her
silken iridescent feathers. Then she was gone.
Just as smoke dissipates, so too did the vision of the feathered lady swirl off on the eddies of the
breeze. The plumes of her essence flashed over the macadam towards the source of the arching ray.
All the Malaguans in sight of this miraculous event genuflected, crossed themselves in awe, and
recited the Toltecan Creed, expecting the rapture of Quetzalcoatl to carry them to paradise at any
moment.
Standing alone by the grease spot, Clay extended his arms, his fingers reached for the fleeting wisps
of the feathered lady. As his eyes followed her, Clay saw Franklin and all those near him engulfed in the
glow of the mineral. They first turned red and then translucent. Their bodies stretched out into thin
strands that intertwined as they were drawn inexorably towards the discharging gun. With a sharp crack,
they briefly disappeared.
As Franklin was pulled into the loop, his finger released the activator and the ray gun fell from his
hand. The circumference of the arc diminished with each successive cycle until it was smaller than a single
point and vanished with a snap.
Then the scene reversed itself. Translucent strands emerged from the near singularity and began
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