Piero packed bread and left before dawn.
He stayed.
“To the kingdom of heaven,” Piero said. the kingdom of heaven
“You look like a ghost,” she said, and handed him bread. Piero packed bread and left before dawn
Piero walked until his shoes wore through. He slept in ossuaries and empty castles. One night, he stumbled into a valley that the plague had somehow missed. A small stone church stood at its center, smoke curling from its chimney. Inside, a woman no older than twenty was kneading dough. A child slept in a cradle by the fire. ” she said
Piero wanted to stay, but Tommaso waved him off. “Remember,” the friar called after him, “if you find it, send back a map.”
“I thought I’d recognize it,” he said. “Gates. Choirs. A throne.”