said. “I moved to New Orleans with my husband. But I knew all five of them, they were nice people, good company. We’d have lunch with them sometimes. On Thursdays, the inspection day. We’d have lunch in the Pickwick Club, and then go play golf.”
“Didn’t you know they weren’t inspecting the levees?”
“Of course I knew. Everyone knew,” Rosemary said. “The kids in the schools knew. Allen, it was New Orleans, the Big Easy, let the good times roll.”
“So you didn’t care?”
“Oh, I guess I cared, I thought someone ought to be inspecting those levees. You looked
up
to see the ships in the canals. But Armand said the engineers would take care of it.”
“So you didn’t care much.” There wasn’t any way out past Minos in this room. I knew there were rooms where you could just walk past him and I pulled Rosemary along looking for one.
“I wanted to be a lawyer and a mother and a wife,” she babbled. “I was all of that, Allen, like in all the books and magazines, but I wasn’t quite good enough at any of it. Roy was unhappy. He had to spend too much time with the kids, covering for me. At work the paper kept piling up. I was good at my work, but I never quite caught up at anything.”
I asked, seriously, “You want to tell Minos?”
“He won’t let me out, will he?”
“No.”
Every room was different from the last one, but it was always the same Minos, usually grinning at me, looking like a cartoon of a man–like bull, but menacing.
I remembered that Benito had commanded Minos. I wondered where he got the authority. Maybe he just made it up. It was something to try, anyway.
“Roger,” Rosemary said. “Roger Hastings.”
“Rosemary!” Thick New Orleans drawl. Middle–aged, a little dumpy but not really fat. Ordinary looking. Roger tried to grin, but he was too scared. “But you’ve been dead a long time! I just got here. Were you waiting for me?”
“No, Roger, I was never waiting for you. I haven’t thought about you since — since I died.”
“I thought you liked me.”
“Roger, you were my supervisor in the prosecutor’s office. I had to pretend. It was that or file a sexual harassment suit against you. That’s what I should have done.”
Roger looked crestfallen. Minos glared at him. “Speak.”
It didn’t take long. Roger was a philanderer. He must have nailed every woman and girl in his office with the possible exception of Rosemary. I looked at her, she looked back at me and shrugged.
“None of them complained,” Roger was protesting as Minos’s tail wound about him. Two turns, and Minos’s tail lifted and stretched and Roger was off down the hill. I thought I’d gone crazy, the first time I’d seen Minos’s tail stretch like that. Rosemary gaped, then ran, pulling me along.
The next room only had three walls. The fourth was a line of the peculiar top–heavy pillars and a view down, down. Rosemary shrank back from a varied stepscape of desolation and smoke. Minos glanced up at us from a large family of possible gypsies.
There was space between the throne and the steps down. I led Rosemary that way.
“Will you not be judged, Rosemary Bennett?” Minos demanded.
“No!”
“And you, Allen Carpenter?”
“I’ve already told you. No. You have no authority over either of us.”
Minos chuckled. “So Benito told you. What else did you learn from him?”
“I learned the way out!” I hesitated. “Don’t you want out of this place? Who are you? You’re not a fallen angel. Why do you serve God in Hell?”
“It is service and a duty,” Minos said. “Not perhaps the duty I would have chosen, but I obey. Carpenter, I sent you forth unjudged once before. Is that again your wish?”
“Yes. But first I have to know. Billy. You might not remember him. He was with Benito and me when we were trying to get over the ruined bridge, when you took him away.”
“I remember every case that has come before me,” Minos said petulantly. “It is
“Didn’t you know they weren’t inspecting the levees?”
“Of course I knew. Everyone knew,” Rosemary said. “The kids in the schools knew. Allen, it was New Orleans, the Big Easy, let the good times roll.”
“So you didn’t care?”
“Oh, I guess I cared, I thought someone ought to be inspecting those levees. You looked
up
to see the ships in the canals. But Armand said the engineers would take care of it.”
“So you didn’t care much.” There wasn’t any way out past Minos in this room. I knew there were rooms where you could just walk past him and I pulled Rosemary along looking for one.
“I wanted to be a lawyer and a mother and a wife,” she babbled. “I was all of that, Allen, like in all the books and magazines, but I wasn’t quite good enough at any of it. Roy was unhappy. He had to spend too much time with the kids, covering for me. At work the paper kept piling up. I was good at my work, but I never quite caught up at anything.”
I asked, seriously, “You want to tell Minos?”
“He won’t let me out, will he?”
“No.”
Every room was different from the last one, but it was always the same Minos, usually grinning at me, looking like a cartoon of a man–like bull, but menacing.
I remembered that Benito had commanded Minos. I wondered where he got the authority. Maybe he just made it up. It was something to try, anyway.
“Roger,” Rosemary said. “Roger Hastings.”
“Rosemary!” Thick New Orleans drawl. Middle–aged, a little dumpy but not really fat. Ordinary looking. Roger tried to grin, but he was too scared. “But you’ve been dead a long time! I just got here. Were you waiting for me?”
“No, Roger, I was never waiting for you. I haven’t thought about you since — since I died.”
“I thought you liked me.”
“Roger, you were my supervisor in the prosecutor’s office. I had to pretend. It was that or file a sexual harassment suit against you. That’s what I should have done.”
Roger looked crestfallen. Minos glared at him. “Speak.”
It didn’t take long. Roger was a philanderer. He must have nailed every woman and girl in his office with the possible exception of Rosemary. I looked at her, she looked back at me and shrugged.
“None of them complained,” Roger was protesting as Minos’s tail wound about him. Two turns, and Minos’s tail lifted and stretched and Roger was off down the hill. I thought I’d gone crazy, the first time I’d seen Minos’s tail stretch like that. Rosemary gaped, then ran, pulling me along.
The next room only had three walls. The fourth was a line of the peculiar top–heavy pillars and a view down, down. Rosemary shrank back from a varied stepscape of desolation and smoke. Minos glanced up at us from a large family of possible gypsies.
There was space between the throne and the steps down. I led Rosemary that way.
“Will you not be judged, Rosemary Bennett?” Minos demanded.
“No!”
“And you, Allen Carpenter?”
“I’ve already told you. No. You have no authority over either of us.”
Minos chuckled. “So Benito told you. What else did you learn from him?”
“I learned the way out!” I hesitated. “Don’t you want out of this place? Who are you? You’re not a fallen angel. Why do you serve God in Hell?”
“It is service and a duty,” Minos said. “Not perhaps the duty I would have chosen, but I obey. Carpenter, I sent you forth unjudged once before. Is that again your wish?”
“Yes. But first I have to know. Billy. You might not remember him. He was with Benito and me when we were trying to get over the ruined bridge, when you took him away.”
“I remember every case that has come before me,” Minos said petulantly. “It is
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