Tarizon: Desert Swarm Read online

  Chapter 24

  The Funeral

  Hundreds gathered at the Church of the Living Desert for the funerals of Deputy Mark Hanson and his wife, Amanda. The small church was totally inadequate for the large throng of friends, family and media that had turned up for the solemn occasion. The three Hanson children were accompanied into the church by Amanda’s sister and grandparents. Jack, Dolly, George and Cindy were sitting together in the back of the church feeling fortunate that they’d been able to get seats. The Sheriff and seven deputies were standing along one wall. Agent Melanie Sanders stood against the back wall of the foyer wearing sunglasses. When it was time to begin Reverend Little took the pulpit and looked out over the crowd.

  “Good morning folks. Yes, it is a good morning because one of our brothers and one of our sisters is sitting right now with our Lord, Jesus Christ, in Heaven. Yes, I have no doubt that our dear Lord has accepted Mark and Amanda into heaven because they were good Christians who lived pure lives and feared the Lord.

  “Now I know it probably seems to most of you that Mark and Amanda were too young to die, particularly since they had three small children. But you’ve got to remember that God has a high purpose for us all and rarely, in our lifetime, do we know or understand what it is.

  “But I think I may know God’s purpose for taking Mark and Amanda and leaving their three small children as orphans. For God has caused a great cathedral to be raised in the desert out of bedrock. A cathedral of great magnificence and worthy to herald the Second Coming of Christ.

  “Yet there are skeptics. Even though this cathedral is being built before our eyes without architects, builders, carpenters, masons, bricks, steel, or wooden beams, many still don’t believe God is the architect and the builder of this miracle in the desert.

  “So, because we mortals have so little faith, he has provided us with more miracles to make us understand the power and might of God. First, he called up the Mountain Devils from the depths of Hell to smite a man who tried to keep us, His pilgrims, from bearing witness to this wondrous miracle,

  “Then he commanded the wall to smite the man who tried to destroy it with a saw and sledge hammer. And the wall obeyed sending out strands of stone to wind around the agent of the Devil and squeeze all life from him.

  “But that wasn’t enough. There were still those who didn’t believe, so he called upon the rock that had been split off from the wall and said unto it, sacrifice two good souls with young children, so that tears will well in the multitudes and they will finally open their eyes and see the miracle that God is creating before them. So, the rock obeyed and sealed the two good souls in a tomb and their children cried and eyes of the multitudes were opened onto the Lord.”

  “Now to further prove the veracity of my words, General Thornton is opening up the Living Desert Cathedral to all of you until sunset tonight at 7:48 p.m. Accordingly, there will be Army buses pulling up after the service for anyone who wants to see the Living Desert Cathedral up close. For those of you who haven’t been out there lately the Cathedral now rises over twenty-nine feet into the heavens and is a spectacular sight.

  Noisy conversation broke out so Reverend Little nodded to the organist and he began to play Rock of Ages which quieted the crowd. When the hymn was over family and friends, one by one, got up and talked about Mark and Amanda, their lives and how much they’d be missed. Nobody commented on Reverend Little’s speculation that their death was all part of God’s plan to bring attention to the Living Desert Cathedral, but the Reverend knew they’d all ponder that idea.

  After the funeral eight Army buses pulled up along the driveway leading to the church and excited pilgrims, town’s people, and members of the media climbed aboard. Reverend Little followed the long precession wondering why the Army had suddenly become so amenable to his demands. He couldn’t imagine they cared a hoot about Deputy Hanson, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He needed to get his people onto the Bat Mountain Site so he could claim his position as the guardian of God’s new church.