Devil Said Bang (Sandman Slim 4)

“He’s telling the truth. I’ve never seen so much sin in one body.”

He turns to me and bows his head.

“Forgive us, Lucifer. We were blinded by your outward appearance and couldn’t see the real you.”

“You’ll have plenty of time to nose-polish my ass Downtown. Right now I want the answers to my questions.”

“And my son?” says Amanda.

“Answer my questions and I’ll see what I can do for Little Lord Fuckitall.”

“Praise to you, my lord.”

“He wishes to only be addressed as Lucifer,” Amanda says to Muttonchops.

“Forgive me.”

Luke opens his eyes and tries to push Amanda away but he’s too weak. She and Muttonchops help him to the sofa and leave him slumped like a jellyfish on a rocking chair.

“You asked about Blue Heaven,” says Muttonchops.

He takes a piece of paper from an inside pocket of his jacket.

“It has many names but its real name translates roughly as ‘the Dayward.’ It doesn’t exist in any one location. It exists in time. It’s said that in 1582, when Pope Gregory switched from the old Julian to the Christian calendar, fifteen days were lost. Those fifteen days, existing outside of our space and time, are the Dayward. Blue Heaven.”

“And how do you get there?”

“I haven’t been able to find that out, Lucifer.”

“Not a good start, Lemmy. What about the little girl?”

Amanda touches the back of her hand to Luke’s forehead. Brushes back some hair that’s fallen over his face.

“We don’t have her true name but we believe that her living form was a child known as the Imp of Madrid. She actually lived in Sangre de Sant Joan, a trading village outside of the city. The story is that she killed and mutilated travelers along the nearby road. When people stopped traveling there, she killed the inhabitants of a nearby town. When they called in priests and wolf hunters for protection, she killed them and turned on her own people. After she murdered and mutilated half the village, the men managed to corner her in a barn and lock her in. They burned her alive. When they found her body, a priest dismembered her corpse, down to the individual bones. They believed that if you left bodies inhabited by evil spirits intact, they could reanimate. By separating the bones, she couldn’t revive. A child’s body has two hundred and eight bones. They buried each one in a separate grave. The Imp of Madrid’s body takes up an entire cemetery. No one else has ever been buried there and the ground remains unconsecrated.”

“So, a typical Valley girl.”

No laughs. Even Traven won’t give me a polite smile. Bunch of stiffs.

“Have you ever heard of something called the Qomrama Om Ya?”

“No,” says Amanda.

“What about you, Wolverine?”

Muttonchops shakes his head.

“I’m sorry, Lucifer.”

I go to the buffet and pick up a piece of rumaki. Hold it up for the room.

“Dig in. There’s plenty for everyone.”

Amanda glances at Luke.

“Thank you, no.”

I bite the rumaki and talk with a full mouth.