Booktree.ng_Forgotten-Witness

Back in the hall, Josie got on to her knees and repacked her
father’s box, but when she lifted the old album an envelope
slipped out and fluttered to the floor. She picked it up and sat
back on her heels to examine the pale blue onion paper
emblazoned with bars of U.S.A. red. It was an old airmail
envelope addressed to her father. The sender was Father C.
Ridge. Turning it over, she took out the sheet of paper and
unfolded it. She read it once. She read it twice.
Don’t worry about God. Forgive yourself.
Josie looked at the envelope again. The postmark was
Berlin. She got off the floor and went to the kitchen to
rummage through the drawers. Finally, she found a small
magnifying glass. Flipping on the light over the sink, she
peered at the barely legible date stamp: 1992.
She put the letter back in the envelope and the envelope in
her pocket. God might have forgiven Joseph Bates, he might
have even forgiven himself, but since God wasn’t going to
smite anyone for her father’s sin and her mother’s trial, Josie
figured it was up to her. When she went about it, though, she
wanted to have as much ammunition as possible because she
didn’t want to leave anyone who was responsible for this
standing.