“It is.” Brian pointed at the church. “When I was a kid, Reverend
Patrick said the sanctuary would always be open. What happened?”
“I heard about that,” Vern said. “That was before my time. The
locks were here when I came. The story goes that, one day, Reverend
Patrick—he’s passed, you know—came in and found what
looked like the remains of some sort of devil worship. Blood covered
the altar. Folks said it was a dreadful shock for him. The police
were called in and all.”
“I hadn’t heard,” Brian said.
“Yep. Turned out some animal was sacrificed right there on the
altar. Everyone helped clean it up, and then the pastor held a special
service to bless the sanctuary. That was when he got the church
leaders to put up those steel bars and locks.”
“I bet he was upset. He was such a trusting person.”
“That’s what I heard. They say he changed because of it. He
started seeing evil everywhere. Preached about it every Sunday
from then on. It wasn’t long after that he retired, or was retired.
That part’s not clear.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Brian said. “He was a great man.”
Brian wished he’d kept up with his old church, especially Reverend
Patrick.
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ReplyDeletewow...can hardly wait to sit and read the book..