The old lady looked tired enough to be carried herself. Even after Burk picked the boy up—he might have been two or three years old—the old woman would not let go of his hand and just walked as close to Burk as she could. Luckily, we didn’t have much farther to go and could see the spire beyond the next block.
I was moved to a great silence by all this. Her memories must have taken over her mind completely. I didn’t dare break into them. The thought of forcing our present reality onto her previous nightmare just seemed too cruel to me. I hoped even harder than ever, however, for there to be a priest still alive and whole at the cathedral.10