The hike didn’t seem to trouble him at all, which meant that he was, to all intents and purposes, healed. Danica led him up the path to the clearing she had found, and to the sycamore with its little cairn of smooth river stones and the cross cut into its bark.
Only…it wasn’t there. Or rather, the tree stood where it always had, but there were no stones, no pale cross on the weathered lower section of the tree’s trunk.
“It was right there,” she said, pointing.
Robert moved closer and peered at the spot she’d indicated. “I don’t see anything.”
“That’s because it’s gone.”
He didn’t seem too concerned. In fact, he turned toward her and smiled. “That’s good, then, isn’t it? You might not have prevented Samuel Wilcox from shooting me, but you got me away from that place. There was no one t
