“The Queen of Dirt, the Monarch of the Underworld. The Devil’s Hand. She slaughtered seven times seven times seven of the humans and raised the lower species to their unnatural state.”
The boy dressed as the cat stood up. Curiously, the dog — whom Mort(e) assumed represented Sheba — remained kneeling.
The Archon nudged him and said, “Don’t worry about that ‘lower species’ stuff. It’s from an older translation.”
“The animals dreamt that they were men,” Miss Teter said, “never knowing the grace of God. And so these slaves of the New Pharaoh hunted down the last of the race of men.”
As Miss Teter described the horror of the war, several boys wearing fake dog and cat ears surrounded the children and pretended to claw at them. One by one, the children feigned death and toppled over. Some of them giggled, which caused a few of the adult audience members to laugh with them. Mort(e) and Wawa looked at each other.
“In defiance of God, the Queen raised up her own Garden of Eden,” Miss Teter said. “She said to her daughters …”
“ ‘Come, let us build ourselves a great city in the sea, an island of our own, and make a name for ourselves,’ ” the girl dressed as the Queen said.
Several of the formerly “dead” children lay down beside the Queen, acting like the landmass of the Island spreading into the sea. The Queen stood in the middle of the formation and grinned.
“But the Lord came down to see the island,” Miss Teter said. “And the Lord said, ‘These creations of mine have defied me with their arrogance. They believe now that nothing is impossible for them. They even imprison my chosen ones on their shores. Come, let us go down and thwart their plans, so that I may see a new day dawning for my people.’
“So the Lord called upon his favorites among the animals, one cat and one dog, and the boy who had been their guardian. The boy was named Michael.”
Mort(e) had heard the word Michael so many times when he was a pet — often affectionately, sometimes out of anxiety or anger. Michael was the name of Daniel’s son, the child who was placed on a bed when he was first brought home. Back when the world was much smaller.
Now the boy, Sebastian, and Sheba were alone on the stage. Their classmates quietly donned paper antennae and stood up.
“Michael was brave, a true child of the One God,” Miss Teter said. “He and his friends, Sebastian the Warrior and Sheba the Mother, represented God’s will on earth, the promise of Eden that had been abandoned. When the Queen learned of their presence in her false Jerusalem, she ordered her minions to descend upon them.”
The children dressed as ants let out a terrible scream as they surrounded the three actors. The audience joined in. Mort(e) would have thought that the adults were cheering them on if not for the genuine expressions of terror on some of their faces.
“Sebastian the Warrior fought off ten of the beasts so that Michael and his family could escape,” Miss Teter said. Meanwhile, the boy-cat pretended to claw at the horde of ants. “But Sheba was lost in the battle,” Miss Teter continued. “Wounded, Sebastian pursued her into the wilderness.”
Sebastian darted offstage.
Mort(e) shook his head. This was not how it had happened. He could not understand why the humans would have made something up when they clearly did not know what they were talking about.
“Before Sebastian could find them,” Miss Teter said, “Sheba the Mother and her friend Michael were captured and brought to the Island to stand before the Queen.” All the ant-children stood before the tyrannical monarch again. Michael and Sheba were in the center, their heads lowered in reverence.
“ ‘Who do you think you are?’ ” the little Queen asked. “ ‘How dare you defy the empire?’ ”
“But Michael was not afraid,” Miss Teter said. “He said …”
“ ‘I am Michael, a child of the Chosen,’ ” the boy replied. “ ‘Your weapons cannot strike us down. We have nothing to fear from you, for one day our Warrior will return from the wilderness to destroy every last one of your species and restore the true Eden. He has come for his friend. He fights for love, not for dominion or treasure or soil.’ ”
The congregation chanted those lines with him. Some were urging him along, but others were whipped into a trancelike state, jumping up and raising their hands, pleading for more.
“When the Queen asked what made the boy so confident,” Miss Teter said, “he responded …”
“ ‘Those who fight for God have love in their hearts. This animal returns for the love of his friend. You have no weapon to fight against this power. He will scrape your empire from the soles of his feet.’ ”
“The Queen grew vexed,” Miss Teter said, “and ordered the child and his dog to be imprisoned for the Colony’s amusement.”
“ ‘Let this warrior of yours come to us,’ ” the girl-Queen said. “ ‘We will greet him with the respect that he deserves.’ ”
“But God had mercy on Michael and said, ‘Michael, child, I shall make straight a path for you, so that you may tell the world what you have witnessed.’ And God sent his angel to shut the beasts’ jaws so that they would not hurt the boy, because he was found blameless. Thus Michael led an escape from the Island, along with his faithful disciples.”
The ant-children lay down prostrate before Michael as he calmly strolled by. Several other children represented his disciples. People in the audience clapped. Mort(e) thought that these humans had been in the zeppelin too long if they thought such an escape were possible.
“The journey to the mainland was arduous,” Miss Teter said. “Many of the disciples died. Floating on a tiny raft, Michael grew weak from lack of food and water. When they landed on the shore, a band of human fighters discovered them. They, too, were of God’s army, the last of their kind. The Lord had spoken to them in dreams, foretelling this day when a prophet would arrive. Michael’s disciples said …”
“ ‘Protect this prophet,’ ” the disciples intoned. “ ‘Do what he tells you.’ ”
“When they found the boy half-alive, half-dead,” Miss Teter said, “he whispered …”
“ ‘I have fulfilled God’s plan for me,’ ” Michael said. He was lying face up while the other children attended to him. “ ‘Another will come to take my place. He will lead you to the false Jerusalem, where you will reclaim the heritage of your ancestors. Make straight a path for him. But until then, love one another as the Warrior has loved the Mother.’ ”
The audience grew quiet, save for some intermittent weeping.
“The soldiers of God brought Michael to their camp,” Miss Teter said, “and bound up his wounds. And they continued to gaze into the wilderness, waiting for the day when the Warrior would deliver them.”
The children gazed at the wall of the church, pretending to watch the horizon. And then the boy dressed as Sebastian jumped out from behind the podium. Only this time he had a plastic sword and a crown on his head. This was apparently unexpected, for the congregants rose to their feet and applauded. Mort(e) assumed that they had been performing this little play for years, and only now could they tack on the ending that they wanted.
Amidst the noise, the Archon whispered in Mort(e)’s ear. “The story is true,” she said. “Your master’s son gathered disciples and escaped from the Colony. He was only a child, but he could see into the future. A gift from God.”
Mort(e) again turned to see the boy in the stretcher. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the Archon’s hands clasped at the middle of her chest.
The congregants broke into song, something about being washed in the blood of a lamb. Beside him, Wawa swayed to the music while glancing at those around her to be sure she was doing it correctly.