TCG

G0

Hell's Half Acre is a roadside patch of badlands almost exactly in the center of Wyoming. It's much bigger than the name suggests, more like Hell's Half Square Mile, and the nearest sandstone and shale scarp that looks similar to it lies a whole state away in South Dakota.

A brown-skinned man emerged from the entrance of a cave in the eroded landscape dressed in dark blue-gray trousers and a knee-length jacket. He had a matching shirt and a silver leaf brooch in place of a tie and at first glance he looked like a man of the Shoshone tribe with a good seamstress for a wife. But the fellow was too short, his hair wasn't straight enough, and his facial features suggested the Mediterranean shores were his true home. He had never walked in that place before, but the strange eroded landscape reminded him of the desolate area around the Salt Sea.

It was one hundred fifty feet from the floor of the ravine to the gravel parking lot looming above and the man ascended with no sign of exertion. He once roamed on foot over the whole land of his birth from Lake Kinneret as far north as the summit of Mount Hermon and as far south as Jerusalem in the hill country of Judaea.

He noted, without any surprise, the presence of a maroon 1941 Chrysler Town & Country woodie parked at the restaurant overlooking the geological oddity and knew he would find Robyn and her friends eating lunch inside, just as Robyn knew he was coming and gave fair warning. Robyn's talent, after all, was merely an extension of his own.

Robyn, Gabriel, Jashen, Hunky and Dory were already standing at their table when he walked indoors, which the other guests might have thought was odd. None of them had ever seen him before but as B'nei Elohim they knew a seraph on sight and stopped everything, ready to serve.

"Please be seated," he said, grabbing a chair from another table and carrying it over to theirs. "I'll have what you're having, Jashen." The Prophet raised a hand to flag down the waitress but the newcomer said, "No, not allegory, not a poetic metaphor. I'll literally have what you're having."

He took up a knife, cut Jashen's cheeseburger in two, and helped himself to one piece.

Hunky said, "I'm pretty sure that burger is not kosher, Jesus. Aren't you Jewish?" G1

"Not Jesus, Hunky. Call me Yeshua. The Greeks thought Yeshua was a girly name and called me Iesous. The Romans spelled it I-E-S-US. Then later the English thought names beginning with vowels were too girly and called me Jesus. As for the food, my mother made just one law about cutting a little flap of skin, and that was really my father's idea, because he was trying to sabotage the whole experiment. Mixing meat and dairy was never on Bat-El's mind. That was an invention of the priests."

Dory and Gabriel stared at Yeshua in wonder, trying to reconcile his actual appearance with the popular depictions of him and there was just no way to do it. Robyn seemed preoccupied and looked off to the side. "What is wrong, Robyn?' Yeshua asked her. "What do you see?"

She said, "Jashen announces the wedding but the White Wing of the Church will not accept it. Gabriel is attacked, but torture doesn't work on B'nei Elohim and Gabriel's friends retaliate, so Paul Bergin and Klaus Hansen kill me instead. They end up killing the Church."

"How would you reply, Robyn, if I asked in truth that you do not avoid or resist those men, even to your death?"

After a long pause she said, "I think I would decline such a request, Lord. I'm not in any particular hurry for my life come to an end just when I'm getting started."

"And what does my cross say to you?"

"That death is not a blank wall, it's a door, and you went through it and came back to show us that even if we die we don't stay dead. But now I see how time really works and I know it was all a magic trick like Gabriel with his stupid coins."

Yeshua was genuinely fascinated by Robyn's unexpected reply. He asked, "When you look at me with new talent, what do you see?"

She said, "I see something like a fuse burning backward, assembling itself from smoke and sparks. It grows. One time that fuse looped back, crossed itself, and there were two burning Yeshuas experiencing an advancing present. But one of them was wiped off the face of the Earth. He hit that blank wall we call death. The one who lived, the lucky one, is you."

"You're wrong about the blank wall, Robyn. The part of me that is Binah carried over the dying memories of the man who was put to death and merged them with my own." G2

"Again, Lord, lucky you. But that didn't help the Yeshua who experienced death. You're a different one."

"Robyn, nobody in history has ever 'experienced death'. There comes a moment in our lives that is not followed by another one, but that last moment never becomes a memory."

"Lord, will you please say why I must not resist my own murder?"

"When you and Hunky escaped your prison last night what did you do to make the correct combination appear in your memory?"

"I had to begin punching them in."

"Even so, your own temporary end will mark a beginning. But Robyn, I will not order you to do what you are unwilling to do, so let us speak of something else. Your friends will not arrive in Headwater until late tonight. Will you come with me? I can bring you to a reunion with your mother in very little time."

And Robyn, who felt a little guilty telling Yeshua no on the first thing, told him yes on the other.

After hugging her friends farewell Robyn hiked with Yeshua down to the bottom of the ravine and followed him into the dark cave, where it grew light again and a little warmer. Then they were kicking through fallen leaves piled up to their knees. But there was still plenty of green.

"Christmas trees!" exclaimed Robyn when she saw a stand of Douglas Fir. Many more of them covered a range of mountains she could see through bare branches of maple and alder. They were standing on a mountain as well, separated from the range..

Yeshua said, "I have taken us here on a short side trip before I take you home."

'Where are we, Lord?'

"We are still in your country. Of the forty-eight states, this one is furthest to the north and furthest to the west."

"Washington."

"I want you and your friends to organize a migration and move the whole Red Wing of the Church here, even as Mark Lange took his followers to Green Dome once upon a time. We have not yet given up on that project, my mother and I." G3

During Temple services the Prophet of the Church of Green Dome, Jashen Shybear, declared he was setting aside the discipline of the Church, in a single case, so that Gabriel Shybear could marry Kimberly Zinter. With a loud outcry of righteous indignation the Apostle Klaus Hansen stood up and left the sanctuary, taking half the White Wing with him.

In short order Klaus Hansen declared himself the Prophet of the Reformed Green Dome Church. It went without saying that forbidding interracial marriage was one of the reforms, but there were many others. Listing them made up the bulk of Hansen’s sermon on the Sunday following just days after the disastrous split in the Church.

Hansen said the curse of God lay upon all those who played cards. All who engaged in dancing were in danger of God’s holy judgment. Those who even permitted themselves to listen to race music would face the very fires of hell. He told his flock to let not one single drop of Demon Rum pass their lips. To prove they were indwelt of the Holy Spirit, he encouraged the faithful to roll in the sawdust on the floor of the barn out on River Road, near the bridge, that was their new ‘temple’. That was just as well, as there were not enough benches for everyone to sit.

The beautiful white Temple looking down on them from the highest point in town seemed to mock them by simply continuing to exist. Many got up to leave during the service, but what was most alarming of all to the new prophet, the plate came back largely empty of cash.

The former Deacon Paul Bergin, now Apostle, went door-to-door to the homes of White Wingers passing out hastily-mimeographed tracts promised eternal damnation to backsliders who were tempted to stay or to return to the mother church.

Many of the white parishioners weighed the peril to their eternal souls if they remained in schism. Most found the barn situation to be intolerably pathetic. The pressure mounted on Hansen to approach the Prophet of the mother Church and negotiate a healing of the breach.

Paul and Klaus approached the Temple office door, but it was opened by Gabriel an instant before they could knock.

“How did you do that, son?” asked a startled Klaus.

“The Prophet foresaw that you were about to knock.” G4

Inside the office Paul and Klaus saw only Gabriel, Dory, and Robyn, and it was soon apparent the men knew only one of them by name, which was Kim. Quelle surprise that the former Apostle and Deacon never troubled to get to know anyone in the Red Wing of the Church.

“Speaking of the Prophet, I came here to talk to him.”

“She’s right there,” said Dory, pointing at Robyn.

“I just see three kids who broke into the Temple office and are running loose. Where’s Jashen?”

“He’s in a better place,” Gabriel said.

“He’s dead?”

“No,” said Robyn, “but he blamed himself for the schism and stepped down.”

“He was absolutely right to blame himself but if he left you in charge he must have been wholly demented in the end, because it says in the scriptures, ‘I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over men. They must remain silent.'”

“You’re going to have to show me a little respect, Mister Hansen, as I am indeed the Prophet of the Church of Green Dome, notwithstanding whatever someone pretending to be Paul wrote in the First Century about womenfolk.”

Robyn reached into a desk drawer and withdrew a leather-bound green book. “I know you’ve seen this before, Mr. Hansen. It’s Mark Lange’s handwritten copy of the Book of Green Dome. He called it the Printer’s Manuscript. The first few sheets on the inside cover are an official Church document.”

She laid the book on her desk and flipped it open. The first entry on the inside cover said PASTOR MARK LANGE, PROPHET, SEP 1, 1866, followed by Lange’s signature, and this in turn was followed by a mark of an individual unknown, in Hebrew script. Robyn said, “We believe the Lord Yeshua himself made this initial.”

This entry was followed by the First Decree, which read, THE PROPHET OF THE CMURCH SHALL CHOOSE, FROM THE WING OF THE CHURCH OF WHICH HE IS NOT A PART, ONE WHO SHALL HOLD THE OFFICE OF APOSTLE. It was dated SEP. 1, 1866, signed and initialed by Prophet Lange. G5

This was followed by the Second Decree, which read, IN THE EVENT OF THE DEATH OR RESIGNATION OF THE PROPHET, THE APOSTLE SHALL VACATE THE OFFICE OF APOSTLE AND ATTAIN TO THE OFFICE OF PROPHET. This was dated and certified Sep. 1, 1866.

The next entry, in the same handwriting, read, CHIEF WANICA, APOSTLE, SEP. 1, 1866, followed by a ragged ‘W’ and again by Lange’s initials.

Robyn said, "As you well know, We hold the first day of September to commemorate the founding of the Church of Green Dome, seventy-six years ago."

The next entry in the leaves of the Printer’s Manuscript read, again in the same handwriting, APOSTLE WANICA, DECEASED, NATURAL CAUSES, FEB. 27, 1906, followed by Lange’s initials.

The entry after that was JASHEN SHYBEAR, APOSTLE, FEB. 28, 1906, certified by the signature of Jashen and by Lange’s initials.

The next entry was written in a different hand. It said, PROPHET MARK LANGE, DECEASED, SINKING OF RMS LUISITANIA, MAY 7, 1915. This was signed by Jashen and dated May 9 of that year, which reflected a delay in receiving the news. A diagonal line was drawn through the remaining blank space to the bottom of the inside cover and this, too, was signed by Jashen.

On the facing page, the first line read, APOSTLE JASHEN SHYBEAR, PROPHET, MAY 9, 1915 and this was signed and initialed by Jashen. The next line read, KLAUS HANSEN, APOSTLE, OCT 9, 1931 and this was signed by Hanson and initialed by Jashen.

Robyn rotated the book to show Hanson the entry. She said, “All my life, until I became Prophet of the Church and read this, I wasn’t even aware the Church had gone sixteen years without an Apostle. I suppose Jashen found the choice to be such a difficult one he was willing to risk breaking the clear order of succession with his own death. Or was it life insurance?”

Klaus said, “At that time you were probably too young to know about or care about Church politics. Sixteen years! Eventually the White Wing threatened to walk out over the delay."

"Walkouts seem to be popular with our side of the Church," Robyn said, making a pointed jab.

"We did what we had to do to force Jashen’s hand. And we made him establish the diaconate to stop it from happening again.” G6

“I see. That explains the next line.” Jashen wrote the text of the Third Decree, dated the same day as the appointment of Hansen. It stated, THE PROPHET SHALL APPOINT, FROM ALTERNATING WINGS OF THE CHURCH, A DEACON TO SERVE THE SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE WHOLE CHURCH. IN THE EVENT OF THE DEATH OR RESIGNATION OF THE APOSTLE, THE DEACON SHALL ATTAIN TO THE OFFICE OF APOSTLE. And Jashen had signed and initialed this.

The next line read PAUL BERGIN, DEACON, Oct. 9, 1931. This was signed by Paul, and initialed by Jashen. Robyn asked, “Does everything appear to be in order, gentlemen?” Paul nodded agreement, and Klaus said it appeared to be so.

Robyn then indicated the next line, which none of the men had ever seen. NO OFFICE OF THE CHURCH SHALL BE VACATED EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF THE DEATH OR RESIGNATION OF THE OFFICEHOLDER. Signed by Jashen and dated January 10, 1943.

Robyn said, “When he stepped down Jashen told us he never had to think about it before, but the Fourth Decree became necessary following the events of Wednesday the 5th of January of this year, when you went out from us. But let us go on.”

The next line read APOSTLE KLAUS HANSEN, RESIGNED, JAN. 10, 1943, signed by Jashen. Naturally, Hansen objected to this. “I never resigned!”

“I was there in that filthy barn you call your temple,’ said Robyn. “I’m White Wing, remember? You introduced yourself as the Prophet of the Reformed Church of Green Dome. When I reported that to the actual Prophet he took that to be your official resignation. How did he put it, Dory?”

Dory replied, “My father said, ‘No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.’ In fine, if you’re an officer in the Reformed Green Dome so-called Church you can’t be an officer in the mother Church.”

Robyn nodded, and said, “That led to the next line.”

It read KIMBERLY SHYBEAR, APOSTLE, JAN. 10, 1943. Robyn had signed it, and Jashen had initialed next to this. “The upshot, Mr. Hansen, is that in the eyes of Prophet Jashen Shybear you up and quit, so he chose me to replace you.”

Robyn proceeded to the next line, which read DEACON PAUL BERGIN, RESIGNED, JAN. 10, 1943. This was also signed by Jashen. G7

Robyn asked, rhetorically, “Do we need to go over the same argument for the resignation of the Deacon as it was for the Apostle? No? Then let us go on.”

The next line read, GABRIEL SHYBEAR, DEACON, JAN. 10, 1943, signed by Gabriel and initialed by Jashen.

Robyn said, “All perfectly legal, of course. Jashen’s decree said the Deacon shall be of alternating race. As you can see, Sunday was quite the busy day, but now we’re in the homestretch.’ And she advanced to the next item written on the page.

It read PROPHET JASHEN SHYBEAR, RESIGNED, JAN. 10, 1943 and it carried his signature. That seemed to grab the attention of Bergin and Hansen.

Robyn said, “Now you can see how I closed out his rather eventful page.”

Robyn flipped the page over and showed everyone the first entry. APOSTLE KIMBERLY SHYBEAR, PROPHET, JAN. 10, 1943. And this was signed and initialed by Robyn, exercising her apostolic authority under the Second Decree established by Prophet Jashen.

Underneath that was the final entry in the manuscript, which read DORIEL SHYBEAR, APOSTLE, JAN. 10, 1943. This was signed by Robyn and initialed by Gabriel.

She said, "And all this to show we are not just three kids playing in the Temple office, but actual officers of the Church. So now that I have established my credentials as the Prophet of the Church, what have you and Mr. Bergin come to say to us?”

Klaus said, “We pray for the reunion of the Church. Were the Golden Gift to alternate in possession between members of the Red and White Wings, even as the office of Deacon, presently does, that would go a long way towards sealing the breach.”

Robyn said, “That is easily enough done.” She took up a the pen to write in the leaves of the Green Book, THE SACRED RELIC SHALL REMAIN IN THE POSSESSION OF THE DEACON OF THE CHURCH, WHO SHALL BE MINISTER OF THE LAST RITE. And she dated it January 18, 1943.

“Good,” said Hansen. “But here is our second, and most important demand: God’s sacred law of cousin marriage should be enshrined as the Fifth Decree.” G8

"Again, "said Robyn with a gentle smile, "that is easily done." She inked the following into the manuscript: MARRIAGE IN THE CHURCH OF GREEN DOME SHALL BE SOLELY BETWEEN PERSONS WITH THE SAME GRANDPARENTS OR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, ON PAIN OF EXCOMMUNICATION. She dated it January 18, 1943 and signed it.

Hansen said, "Good. When do you announce the end of your engagement to Gabriel?"

"The decrees of the Church don't work ex post facto."

"The decree governs marriage. You haven't married him yet."

"Ah, but there you are wrong." She showed him her wedding ring. Gabriel flashed hez own. She didn't mention they had been wed in Kemen, and they'd been married for a year already, because it would just confuse him. "Yeshua himself said if a woman puts aside her husband to marry another she commits adultery against him. That's one of the Lord's nonnegotiables. I wonder why you look so surprised, Mr. Hansen. You must not have been paying attention when I signed my entries as Kimberly Shybear rather than Kimberly Zinter."

Hansen reacted to this in his traditional way, by storming noisily out, followed by Bergin. His parting words to Gabriel were, "Watch your back."

That evening the Zinter house on U Street was turned into a ransacked mess. A hooded invader held Gabriel at knife point while two others searched through it, but they didn’t find what they were looking for. Gabriel was grateful his wife had seen this all coming and made herself scarce. She had already laid out the broad outline of how it would go. “This attack is important to Michael’s plans,” Robyn had told him. “You should just let things happen.”

After Gabriel’s attackers had searched the house che was taken into Robyn’s backyard and hung by small ropes wrapped around hez arms from a basketball hoop. Despite hez great height, Gabriel’s feet, tied together around the ankles, dangled a few inches over the concrete of the patio.

“Cut his shirt off so he’s not wasting my time.”

Gabriel recognized the voice as belonging to that of Johnny Sunkel. When hez shirt fell away in strips another voice said, “Look at that, he’s got little titties!” Gabriel knew that voice too. It was Larry Porter.

G9

“Where’s the Golden Gift you fucking fairy?”

“It’s in the Temple, Johnny.”

"You don't know our names!" There was a whistle and a crack. Gabriel grunted. It took about a second to fully disconnect from the sudden slash of astonishing pain.

“That's the stupidest thing I ever heard," said Larry. "Of course it’s in the Temple. But we just came from there and we turned that place upside down too. So where in the Temple is it, exactly?”

“I don’t know, Larry. When I need it for the Last Rites, Kim just gives it to me.”

“You ain’t staying hitched to that Zinter gal,” another voice growled, and Gabriel identified him as Scott Hilling

“After I pass out, Scotty, make sure you fellows keep going until I bleed out. Then hide my body, because I’m in this sort of club, see. Red Wingers. We look out for each other. If they find out you did this to me they’ll pick over your feet for two or three days with a sledgehammer, blowtorch and knives like they were leftover turkey.”

“This is gonna pinch some.”

Johnny hurled his whip at Gabriel’s back again, two more times, whistle and snap. The boys kept waiting for Gabriel to scream, but instead they started to see a white layer of fat underneath the bloody split skin on hez back. Scott and Larry turned away and started puking.

With hez right hand Gabriel reached into the space-time pocket that always tracked with him and came back out of it holding the Golden Gift. Che extended the shaft long enough to cut the rope binding hez left hand. Then che switched the relic to his free hand and cut hemself down from the basketball hoop.

Johnny swung the whip right at hez face but Gabriel let it fly into the relic while it fully deployed as a shield. The black dome simply ate the whip, leaving little more than a riding crop for Johnny to swing. Then Gabriel cut hez legs free. All three of the boys ran away, but Gabriel was in no condition to run after any of them. Fortunately the neighbors had heard and seen the whipping and called it in, so the boys who attacked Gabriel only just made it away in time before deputies arrived.