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one of the best welders, in fact the very best. And it would
have followed him to other sites. He would never have
gotten his life back.
They covered the window just like he said. What it looked
like inside, we only knew from what one of the watchmen
said. The other watchmen had sent him from the watch
house to ask for another bottle, because they’d finished
what they’d been given. But the moment he crossed the
threshold they stuck the bottle in his hand and pushed him
back out the door. So he didn’t get to see if the table was
covered with a white cloth, whether candles were lit,
whether there was a crucifix. All he saw was that they were
all drunk, especially her. He didn’t see if the Priest was
there. Maybe he left right after the wedding. Though it
would have been strange if he hadn’t gotten drunk too.
Besides, what could a watchman like that actually see when
he was drunk himself, and every drunk thinks that it’s other
people who are drunk, not him. The watchmen had
supposedly been given a crate of vodka, and they’d drunk
the whole lot when they sent him out for another bottle.
You can imagine how far gone he was. The watchmen were
like that. They had uniforms and rifles, but things were
always getting pinched from the site. One time someone
even stole a tractor. And they didn’t see a thing. So how
could you believe him? But he said what he said, and other
people repeated his words after him.