By sunrise of the following day, a dozen men on horses were riding north. Louis and Emil led the way, and Girard beside them.
"It's more beautiful than you could ever imagine," Louis told his friend over the sound of hoof beats. "It must be what heaven is like."
Emil smiled warmly at the boy.
They crossed an old wooden bridge. Louis noticed dozens of large and jagged tree stumps in the pasture beyond. Then, for the first time, he saw that each of the men had an axes strapped to their saddlebags.
A shadow fell over Louis. "The cathedral needs only a few trees," he thought, "but what if they don't stop with a few. What if they…" But he was too tired to think about it anymore.
