Tuesday, September 19, 2006

When The Green Man's Away, 7: Taking that Cat to Church

Relieved that I had not endangered a man's life by oversleeping, I took a stroll in the park, returning to the chapel in time for the service. To my slight concern, instead of being seated downstairs I was shown up into one of the side galleries. There I went to one of the front pews, set Samantha's basket down on the pew and sat down myself.
It was one of those large chapels with galleries on three sides, an organ behind the pulpit, and a large, tall pulpit. In my grey dress and hat (it was a conservative sort of church), I looked just like many other young women.
"I haven't seen you here before."
I lokked and saw a girl in a smart blue dress.
"I haven't seen you here before either," I told her frostily.
"Is that a cat basket?" she looked suspiciously at Samantha's basket.
"Oh, yes," I smiled. "I didn't think the deacons would let my cat in if she wasn't in a basket."
"You've got a CAT in there?"
"Of course. What else would I have in a cat basket? Be careful, she's been known to scratch."
The girl drew back. I went back to scanning the floor of the chapel for suspicious faces.
Then I saw one, the man who had tried to stamp on my hand the previous night. He was rather obvious because he was heavily bandaged. Fortunately I had been wearing my mask the previous night, and there was no way he was going to recognise me.
There were two other suspicious-looking men there with him, and a tall, slim dark-haired girl in a long green dress who looked just the most poisonous woman I ever saw.
The organ began to play. Idly I looked up at the exposed trusses of the roof. It was a pretty good bit of timber work, in my opinion. But then I know very little about makings roofs. Somehow builders never appealed to me.
Then I started dreaming about the Green Man. I thought I wouldn't mind what sort of place the wedding was in.
The pastor gave out the first hymn, and I realised I hadn't noticed him enter the pulpit.
And he was due to be murdered in such a way that he'd die in the middle of his sermon!
Knowing that made it hard for me to concentrate. I was thinking what sort of weapon it would be. Not a gun or a knife - that would be too obvious. So were blow-darts. So what?
Poison. I looked down at the pulpit and saw the glass of water by the preacher's left hand. His hand moved towards it...
If I shouted he might ignore me - and the deacons would throw me out. I had to get to the pulpit before he drank.
Rev. Wynn Wynn lifted the glass in his hand...

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