Part Ten
BLOOD SACRIFICE WEEK
Barbara soon found out why the African entities were so quiet. They weren’t in the storeroom. But she didn’t have long to puzzle over their whereabouts before the Cherub vigilante group came flying in. “Hundredth of them!” They told her excitedly. “All going OUTTHIDE.”
The cherubs were not popular. Their lisp was annoying, and they were tell-tales, reporting and exaggerating every little misdemeanor to Karen, the entry angel, who would then put on her bossy face and tell Barbara she should Do Something about it.
“Going outthide” sounded more serious than their last tale about diluted holy water, so Barbara checked. Sure enough, the Africans were in the basement, zipping around purposefully, and she remembered it was Blood Sacrifice Week when their magic was at its most potent. Still, leaving the storeroom was forbidden. Barbara looked at Makishi, who was directing the traffic. He looked back at her and sang defiantly,
“We gods are bossed and long oppressed, Our freedoms lost, our lives suppressed —”
Did all the entities have a communal battle hymn? Barbara stopped him before a rousing all-together-now chorus could start and said,
“You’re not gods—” she knew they hated being reminded of their origins, but the basement excursion had to be stopped before any other groups attempted to do the same “—just items from thrift stores, and if you break the rules, I’ll have to return you and get an in-store refund.” However, everyone knew refunds only lasted a few days; the dwarf god Bes sniggered quite openly. Luckily, just then Sheila the cat entered the basement, saw Makishi, put out a curious paw, and knocked him to the ground. The Africans knew at once this creature was the most potent magic that any of them had ever seen, more powerful than Niam-Niam the witch doctor’s spells, Tanit the moon goddess’s charms, or Gaunab’s poison arrows, more deadly even than the dreaded Sangoma. Many fell over in their haste to get out of the basement and safely back home. Barbara put them back on their pillar in the storeroom, thankful that Sheila had been there at the right moment. Who, after a brief sniff or two around the storeroom, went back upstairs.
Barbara looked up at the Cherubs still hovering above, told them they had broken the rules by leaving the storage area and return to the Charm section where they belonged. They said “Thorry!” quietly enough, but Barbara didn’t like the speculative looks they gave each other as they left. They were planning something.
