“To the kingdom of heaven,” Piero said.
On the third day, he found a man sitting on an upturned barrel outside a burned mill. The man wore the tattered robe of a Dominican friar, but his tonsure had grown into a wild grey thicket. the kingdom of heaven
They walked together for two days. The friar’s name was Tommaso, and he talked to keep the silence at bay. He spoke of the plague as God’s shears, pruning a rotten garden. He spoke of indulgences as a tax on terror. And then, near a frozen river, Tommaso stopped. “To the kingdom of heaven,” Piero said
“You’re the first living soul I’ve seen in a week,” the man said. “Where are you going?” They walked together for two days
“I thought I’d recognize it,” he said. “Gates. Choirs. A throne.”
Spring came. The valley remained healthy. One morning, Piero woke to find Lucia’s child placing a dandelion on his chest. The yellow head was warm from the sun.
