"Christopher Moore - Our Lady of the Fishnet Stockings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moore Christopher)

OUR LADY OF THE FISHNET STOCKINGS
by CHRISTOPHER MOORE



Chris's Introduction to Our Lady of the Fishnet Stockings
 I wrote Our Lady in 1987 after I had a dream about some soldiers firing on a village of peasants
and the bullets stopping and hanging in the air. This is the only story I've ever written from a
dream, and obviously that single dream image was only a scene that set off an alarm in my mind
to get silly. As with Cat's Karma, this story is a little rough, and I'm not a little bit embarassed by
it. Readers of my novels will be glad to see that I've gotten a little better at my craft over the
years, and perhaps those of you who are aspiring writer's will get some encouragement out of the
fact that you can get better. (Thank goodness). This is the first time Our Lady has appeared
anywere, and probably with good reason, but for all it's flaws, I still love the title, so much, in
fact, that I'm going to use it as a chapter heading on my new book [The Island of the Sequined
Love Nun].
 Have fun. Thanks for stopping by my sweaty little web site.



Part 1: The Miracle

The men with the guns came onto the village at dawn and demanded food and drink. There were
twenty of them, all dressed alike except for one who wore a black beret and called himself Colonel
Mendez. They ate and drank as they wished and by mid-morning they all lay full-bellied in the shade of
the huts, belching and farting while Sister Octavia attended to their wounds, which were mostly suffered
from moving through the jungle carelessly. By noon they were all asleep except for two that stood guard
at the edge of the village.
 The children were not allowed to go into the fields to pick cotton as they usually did, but were made to
stay in the huts while their parents gathered the supplies that Colonel Mendez had demanded. Sister
Octavia asked the Colonel to show restraint in his demands because it was a poor village and had little to
spare. The Colonel smiled and said that he understood the plight of the people.
 When his men prepared to leave they took several of the prettiest girls in the village and bound their
wrists to long leashes. His men needed someone to cook the food the villagers had donated to the cause,
he said.
 Sister Octavia pleaded with the Colonel to take her to do the cooking and when his men laughed at her
Mendez pushed her to the ground. It was then that the stone hit him in the head.
 The men with the guns stopped laughing and turned in the direction of the attack. Little Estrella, who
was not yet seven, stood alone weighing a second stone in her tiny hand. Mendez was furious. As he
turned toward his small attacker she hurled the second stone which sailed by his ear.
"You piece of dung," she said.
 The men with guns looked from the little girl to their leader. Colonel Mendez drew his pistol and aimed
it at the child. Sister Octavia scrambled to the child an shielded her with her body.
The Colonel ordered the nun to stand clear.
She begged for mercy in the name of God.
Mendez ordered his men to aim their weapons.
Estrella called him a piece of dung.
Mendez ordered his men to fire.
 The sound of automatic assault rifles drowned any thing else that was said. When the firing stopped
Mendez dropped to his knees and began pleading to the Blessed Virgin for mercy.