said.
“What?”
“That’s what the cosmologists say now. There’s more. Think about quantum physics and uncertainty. Think what that says about free will. Stay and learn with me.”
That was tempting. But they were herding Rosemary toward the gate. I could stay here and do nothing, or — “Lester, Benito said this might be the cruelest place in Hell because you aren’t being punished. Will you ever learn the truth by just thinking about it?” I ran to catch up to Rosemary. They’d already opened the gate.
“Please! Oh, please, don’t.” She saw me. “O Allen, make them stop! I want to stay here.”
“All of you! This is not Heaven! This is part of Hell! Don’t you know that?”
Silence.
“Haven’t you felt you wanted more? That this can’t be all there is?” I demanded. “I can show you the way out of Hell!”
That got some attention, but they weren’t moved. Rosemary was in the gateway now, still wailing, still asking my help.
“Is there anything I can say?” I asked. “Let her stay. I’ll go.”
Augustus looked stern. “Nobly said, but she does not belong here. I do not know your true status, Carpenter, but we know hers. This is our duty.”
“Who told you this was your duty?” I demanded.
They didn’t answer.
“Did you wish to accompany her?” Augustus asked.
“Yeah.” I pushed past two of them and joined Rosemary. The gate slammed shut behind us.
Chapter 6
First Circle
The Palace Of Minos
----
There standeth Minos horribly, and snarls;
Examines the transgressors as they come
Judges and sends according as he girds them.
I say, that when the spirit evil–born
Cometh before him, wholly it confesses;
And this discriminator of transgressions
Seeth what place in Hell is meet for it.
A gain we were between walls too high to climb. The way stretched downhill toward palace walls supported by queerly etched pillars wider at the top than the bottom. But we were looking above the rim of the palace, and I saw what I’d never seen before.
The palace curved around to left and right. Smoky, dirty air rose through the middle of Hell’s bowl, blocking the far view; but as far around as I could see —
The Palace of Minos filled the entire bottom rim of Limbo. Structures rose above it: pyramids, igloo shapes on a glare–white background, tall buildings, wide deserts and jungles and plowed fields. The Virtuous Pagans was a great part of Hell. Not just those who hadn’t heard word of Christianity, I speculated; but those who had no reason to believe that word. Who were they waiting for?
Rosemary was blubbering. “Let’s go uphill,” she said. “Maybe we can sneak back in there! Allen, it was so nice there, why won’t they let us stay?”
So she thought I’d been thrown out, too. She must not have heard all of the conversation. Or didn’t understand it, because she didn’t have any gift of tongues. And she was acting a lot like I’d acted with Benito.
“It won’t do any good,” I told her. “You don’t belong there, and they know it. There’s only one way to go. Rosemary, I had no idea it went on so far.”
She was about to argue when another wave of people washed through. They carried us with them down into the palace.
• • •
“T he Palace of Minos,” Sylvia said, when I broke off a twig. “I always wanted to see it. The real one, on Crete. Instead I got this one.”
“That’s right, of course you saw Minos and his palace,” I said. She was quiet so long that I reached up and snapped another branch.
“Thanks. I think.”
“You all right?”
“I’m in Hell, rooted as a tree, I can’t talk unless some kind soul breaks my branches and hurts me. I’m fine.”
“You knew what I meant.”
“Yes, Allen, I still want to get out of here, if that’s what you mean.”
“It is.”
“Oh, God, I want to get out of here! If the point of this place is to get my attention, it’s working! I wish I’d never stuck my head in that
“What?”
“That’s what the cosmologists say now. There’s more. Think about quantum physics and uncertainty. Think what that says about free will. Stay and learn with me.”
That was tempting. But they were herding Rosemary toward the gate. I could stay here and do nothing, or — “Lester, Benito said this might be the cruelest place in Hell because you aren’t being punished. Will you ever learn the truth by just thinking about it?” I ran to catch up to Rosemary. They’d already opened the gate.
“Please! Oh, please, don’t.” She saw me. “O Allen, make them stop! I want to stay here.”
“All of you! This is not Heaven! This is part of Hell! Don’t you know that?”
Silence.
“Haven’t you felt you wanted more? That this can’t be all there is?” I demanded. “I can show you the way out of Hell!”
That got some attention, but they weren’t moved. Rosemary was in the gateway now, still wailing, still asking my help.
“Is there anything I can say?” I asked. “Let her stay. I’ll go.”
Augustus looked stern. “Nobly said, but she does not belong here. I do not know your true status, Carpenter, but we know hers. This is our duty.”
“Who told you this was your duty?” I demanded.
They didn’t answer.
“Did you wish to accompany her?” Augustus asked.
“Yeah.” I pushed past two of them and joined Rosemary. The gate slammed shut behind us.
Chapter 6
First Circle
The Palace Of Minos
----
There standeth Minos horribly, and snarls;
Examines the transgressors as they come
Judges and sends according as he girds them.
I say, that when the spirit evil–born
Cometh before him, wholly it confesses;
And this discriminator of transgressions
Seeth what place in Hell is meet for it.
A gain we were between walls too high to climb. The way stretched downhill toward palace walls supported by queerly etched pillars wider at the top than the bottom. But we were looking above the rim of the palace, and I saw what I’d never seen before.
The palace curved around to left and right. Smoky, dirty air rose through the middle of Hell’s bowl, blocking the far view; but as far around as I could see —
The Palace of Minos filled the entire bottom rim of Limbo. Structures rose above it: pyramids, igloo shapes on a glare–white background, tall buildings, wide deserts and jungles and plowed fields. The Virtuous Pagans was a great part of Hell. Not just those who hadn’t heard word of Christianity, I speculated; but those who had no reason to believe that word. Who were they waiting for?
Rosemary was blubbering. “Let’s go uphill,” she said. “Maybe we can sneak back in there! Allen, it was so nice there, why won’t they let us stay?”
So she thought I’d been thrown out, too. She must not have heard all of the conversation. Or didn’t understand it, because she didn’t have any gift of tongues. And she was acting a lot like I’d acted with Benito.
“It won’t do any good,” I told her. “You don’t belong there, and they know it. There’s only one way to go. Rosemary, I had no idea it went on so far.”
She was about to argue when another wave of people washed through. They carried us with them down into the palace.
• • •
“T he Palace of Minos,” Sylvia said, when I broke off a twig. “I always wanted to see it. The real one, on Crete. Instead I got this one.”
“That’s right, of course you saw Minos and his palace,” I said. She was quiet so long that I reached up and snapped another branch.
“Thanks. I think.”
“You all right?”
“I’m in Hell, rooted as a tree, I can’t talk unless some kind soul breaks my branches and hurts me. I’m fine.”
“You knew what I meant.”
“Yes, Allen, I still want to get out of here, if that’s what you mean.”
“It is.”
“Oh, God, I want to get out of here! If the point of this place is to get my attention, it’s working! I wish I’d never stuck my head in that
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