Chapter 14
NELLIE HAD FEARED they would end up having to go to the church.
By now, little was left of the institution she had loved. She feared meeting the shepherd, and she had never considered the main church to be welcoming in the first place. With the things in the crypts, with the scenes she had witnessed under its vaulted ceiling, the church had become a daunting place to visit. It felt wrong.
A steady trickle of people were going in and out through the open church doors. Mothers with children, a group of young men, two older women.
To be honest, Nellie had never seen many people visit the church during daytime. Yes, the doors were always open, but the only people who came in regularly were older women coming to light a candle for sick relatives.
Especially unusual were the youn
