8
Ben stood as still as he could, his feet planted on the floor as he watched Father Joseph Kümmel begin to speak. The atmosphere was tense to say the least; an air of expectant anticipation filled the air. It wasn’t often that Father Joseph assembled everyone in the community in one place to speak to them directly. The fact that he was doing it out here in the open courtyard seemed symbolic to Ben. Let’s get everything out in the open. The low, late afternoon sun was making him squint, and accentuating his headache.
Father Joseph liked to maintain an aura of elusiveness where possible. Where necessary, his sermons aside, he’d be seen but not heard. If he summoned you to the chapel, you knew it was important. Your heart would be thumping in your chest. You knew you were going to come fac
