Chanda's Secrets

Although the cemetery is only around a year old, it is already almost full. This is the same cemetery in which Esther's parents were buried. They were buried about ten minutes from where Sara is to be buried. The neighboring graves both have funerals in progress when they arrive.

Chanda's mind drifts during the ceremony. She laments that Sara's grave, like most of the others, will be marked with only a brick painted with a date. She wishes they could afford a gravestone, a fence, canopy, and a marker with Sara's name. Although in Tiro, the graves of her ancestors are marked only with a stone, at least the family knows where each member was buried.

The guests return to the house for the feast, while the immediate family stay for the burial. Jonah weaps on the burial mound, leaving Chanda to wonder why he cares now, if he didn't care while Sara was sick. They join the guests back at the house. The priest speaks, and they all sing hymns.

When it is all over, the guests have left. Only Esther and Mr Bateman stick around to clean up.