“Tis merely my son, James, my father said. Surely you know him. He’s been gone some time now but, blessed be God, he’s home.
“My father waved me inside, and I walked as close to the men as I dared. They refused to look at me, and I saw their memories of you in their downcast eyes. My father laughed heartily. You Egglestons look white as specters.
“The men quivered in their chairs, visibly nervous at being compared to the very thing that could have seen them hanged months before. And still they wouldn’t look at me, though they were reconciled that I was the unknown presence in my father’s house. They nodded at my father and left and didn’t come back. Yet I knew I was still a danger to my father. Every time I told him I must go, he begged me to stay.”
James’ voice cracked, and his eyes se
