“I hope you don’t mind, but I was here in the church when you come in. I was asleep by the stove—my wife threw me out of the house. I been thrown out twice today.” He laughed, but there was no mirth in it. “So I saw you.”

“Saw?”

“You were having a vision, weren’t you?”

“Did you see him?”

“I didn’t see much. I mostly saw you, but there was a few glimpses, if you know what I mean. Running around the walls.”

“You saw,” said Thrower. “Oh, Armor, it was terrible, it was beautiful.”

“Did you see God?”

“See God? God has no body to be seen, Armor. No, I saw an angel, an angel of chastisement. Surely this was what Pharaoh saw, the angel of death that came through the cities of Egypt and took the firstborn.”

“Oh,” said Armor, sounding puzzled. “Was I spose to let you die, then?”

“If I were supposed to die, you could not have saved me,” said Thrower. “Because you saved me, because you were here at the moment of my despair, it is a sure sign that I am meant to live. I was chastised, but not destroyed. Armor-of-God, I have another chance.”

Armor nodded, but Thrower could see that he was worried about something. “What is it?” Thrower asked. “What is it that you want to ask me?”

Armor’s eyes widened. “Can you hear what I’m thinking9”

“If I could, I wouldn’t have to ask you.”

Armor smiled. “Reckon not.”

“I’ll tell you what you want to know, if I can.”

“I heard you praying,” said Armor. He waited, as if that were the question.

Since Thrower didn’t know what the question was, he wasn’t sure what to answer. “I was in despair, because I failed the Lord. I was given a mission to perform, but at the crucial moment my heart was filled with doubt.” With his good hand he reached out and clutched at Armor. All he could touch was the cloth of Armor’s trousers, where he knelt beside him. “Armor-of-God,” he said, “never let doubt enter your heart. Never question what you know is true. It’s the doorway to let Satan have power over you.”

But that wasn’t the answer to Armor’s question.

“Ask me what you want to ask me,” said Thrower. “I’ll tell you the truth, if I can.”

“You prayed about killing,” said Armor.