“I know you’ll do Preston justice,” Harrison replied. The pair looked like one father speaking to another, passing the reigns of control in some sacred ritual. Perhaps for these people that was the truth, but that is only something that I’ve speculated on since I’ve put some distance between the present and that remarkable day. For the moment, I was hypnotized, far too scared and excited to think sensibly.
Leading me to the far side of the ballroom, Nathaniel walked toward his objective, far surer than I was. Then, too, he knew what would be happening and I had only vague and scary clues. The crowd that followed us grew more somber as the scene unfolded—as if they were playing off of a well-worn script, having rehearsed this part, like all the others, many times. In an adjoining alcove a
