"His wife Julia and their daughter Sarah came to live with me and I have cared for them as best I could. My own sweet Elizabeth passed many, many years ago. We have made a life together, my daughter-in-law, my granddaughter and I. We all have suffered losses. The sun goes down at the end of every day. Darkness enters all our lives."
This statement was similar enough to her own earlier ruminations as to cause Tamara to shiver again, but she did not interrupt.
A fierce pride burned in the old man's eyes as he continued. "Earlier this year, my granddaughter became pregnant, as foolish young village girls sometimes do. Still, Julia and I did not send her away, but cared for her throughout her time. It was a difficult birth. I delivered the baby myself. When it was over, Sarah... something was wrong with her. Most of the time she is in a strange fascination, rigid as though paralyzed, eyes wide open but unseeing. In infrequent bursts, she seems to become aware of her surroundings, but then she only..."
Dr. Nichols closed his eyes and put one hand over his chest, his lips pressed together as though he were holding back a scream. "Then she only laughs. This wild, maniacal giggling. And then she slips back into her
