They just stood there on either side of their stoop like a couple pillars with nothing to hold up. All the same, it wouldn’t do to dawdle around gawking at them. So Gustav, Diana, and I turned and moseyed back the way we’d just come. The leader of the Salvation Army band watched warily as we drew closer, and he didn’t bother asking if we’d seen Jesus this time. “Sorry, maestro—still no sign of Him,” I said as we ambled past. “Looks like you might need to get up a search party.” “Otto, please” Diana chided me. “If He is around here somewhere, we’ll need His help.” “You’re right about that,” Old Red said sourly. “We can’t learn nothin’ out here. We gotta get inside.” “You mean into the house?” Diana asked. “If the old man sees you two, there’ll be a lot of explaining to do.” “We got no choice. Grandpa’s the only trail to follow, so . . . we follow it.” My brother looked over at Diana. He and she were almost exactly the same height, and the gaze they shared now was as even and steely-steady as the iron girders of a modern metal bridge.
