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Tom was flattered to be associated with such an illustrious chieftain It cheered hiigantic copper cauldron which fors

The vessel stood on bronze legs over a srouped around its ri aroarlic pervaded the air It was so Tom had come to expect whenever the Sisters of Rebirth were present He wondered if the ladies went out of their way to be repulsive

The Great Horn sounded again and the girls of the royal guard appeared, escorting a gilded cart drawn by white oxen The crowd parted and the girls advanced, shouting the it '

The chant was taken up by the women in the crowd and the men shouted the names of the Good God

'Chulainn Samsen Artur Toro Tomas '

Tom was shocked to hear his old naed off when he changed realht from the past Only the priests of the Duideth knehen he arrived Now the tribes it

Their voices sent shivers down his spine He was being associated with the hero godthe god who had to die The chanting stopped as the gilded cart caure sat there, attended by little girls wearing garlands of holly

'Praise to the Queen of the Corn'

The girls of the royal guard bellowed

'Praise to the Good God'

A well- back

It was the sort of voice Tom associated with theto see a neatly dressed figure Instead, he was confronted by a gaunt-faced wonised her as a senior member of the Sisterhood of Rebirth

Silence followed The little girls began to uncover the veiled figure Tom did not doubt what he would see Even before the arthritic knees had been revealed, he kneould follow The veil rose higher The heirdle and plunging neckline The Queen of the Catti sat statue-like in the middle of the cart

She reminded Tom of a pantomime fairy He had the impression that she had switched off The old wo her body to participate but nothing else He wondered what she found so offensive So far everything was rather ta to the mare and had been duly killed Then his body had been cut up and the pieces placed in the cauldron with a vast amount of oats and water