Chapter 63

“All of these were written after Joseph moved in here. It seems he slept in this room. In a few places, he mentions that Simon is already asleep. I imagine he stayed up writing by the light of the fire, carefully tucking the pages into the bible when he was finished.”

“They lived together?”

“Yes. The church was struck by lightning and burned shortly after Joseph arrived in town. He agreed to stay here and help rebuild it, but he didn’t have a place to stay. Grandfather agreed to board him.”

Micah shook his head as he leaned closer in order to read over Jefferson’s arm. “That church has never had good luck, it would seem.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Micah squinted at the cramped words, but couldn’t seem to make sense of them. “Can you…?”