The mist on the Enchanted Ground lay lower than the mist in the valley. It curled about their shoes and crept toward their knees. As they walked, they began forgetting who had just spoken. Benches beside the path looked clean, but leaves lay so thickly on their backs that it seemed nobody ever rose from them.
Great-heart led, and Valiant-for-Truth followed at the rear. Chris’s father and Honest watched the two sides. Christiana and Mercy took turns calling names. The children took turns reading short passages they knew well.
Halfway through one, her daughter said she would read no more. Christiana almost urged her on. Then she remembered Madam Bubble and feared becoming someone who only told tired people to try harder. She asked Great-heart what else they could do. Her husband carried their daughter for a while, and Christiana took a lighter bag from him.
A shoe sank into the muddy path. The company stopped to help Ready-to-halt behind them. Chris found a firm stone and set it beside the soft patch so he could change his support. They waited until he was steady. Fear of stopping did not make them leave someone in the mist.
At a fork they heard a man praying. He knelt beside a flat stone with an open purse at his feet. Great-heart first made sure he was awake, then asked what had happened.
“My name is Standfast,” he said. “A woman stopped me and promised to solve every difficulty. I almost took her words for the Lord’s blessing. But she wanted me to put away my Bible and never bring it out again. So I knelt and asked the Lord to deliver me from temptation.”
Seeing the company, he tied his purse and joined them. Christiana realized he too was speaking of Madam Bubble. She no longer felt she must hide how nearly she had sat down. She told him. Standfast nodded. He had looked at those beds for a long time too.
Then they took turns remembering the Lord’s help. Chris spoke of Help. Mercy spoke of the narrow gate. Much-afraid said only, “An open door.” Christiana spoke of the cross and of her husband taking the luggage at the fork. Sometimes the Lord’s provision came through the familiar hand beside her. Once she had thought that only the instant removal of every difficulty could prove his care.
At last a lodging lamp appeared ahead. Great-heart took them past the boundary stone and called every name. Each had an answer. The last was Feeble-mind’s. His voice was quiet but clear.
After the children were asleep, Christiana did not go around checking every window again. Her husband was keeping watch in the next room. She entrusted her weariness to the Lord and accepted her companion’s care. The pillow was ordinary. The blanket smelled faintly of sunshine. Soon after lying down, she slept.