Summary

The group spent the morning collecting egg-shaped stones to fill their pockets with as part of the ritual. They then progressed towards Nick’s Lane, a path through the woods where, inexplicably, no trees grow. They dropped their stones off a cliff and prayed.

On the return from the hill, Hanny noticed a ewe laying in the grass. Father Bernard realized the ewe was giving birth and helped remove the caul from the newborn lamb. The group remarked that Father Wilfred would know exactly what to say in this situation. They mentioned that, on the last retreat, they heard a golden oriole singing in the middle of a thunderstorm, and Father Wilfred had them all kneel and pray in response.

The narrator reflected again on Father Wilfred’s strange behavior following their visit to the shrine. In the winter months of 1975, he barely spoke...