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He
said
the
dead
had
souls
,
but
when
I
asked
him
How
that
could
be
—
I
thought
the
dead
were
souls
,
He
broke
my
trance
.
Don
’
t
that
make
you
suspicious
That
there
’
s
something
the
dead
are
keeping
back
?
Yes
,
there
’
s
something
the
dead
are
keeping
back
.
—
ROBERT
FROST
,
"
TWO
WITCHES
"
The
week
before
Christmas
is
often
a
quiet
one
in
a
funeral
parlor
,
Shadow
learned
,
over
supper
.
Mr
.
Ibis
explained
it
to
him
.
"
The
lingering
ones
are
holding
on
for
one
final
Christmas
,
"
said
Mr
.
Ibis
,
"
or
even
for
New
Year
’
s
,
while
the
others
,
the
ones
for
whom
other
people
’
s
jollity
and
celebration
will
prove
too
painful
,
have
not
yet
been
tipped
over
the
edge
by
that
last
showing
of
It
’
s
a
Wonderful
Life
,
have
not
quite
encountered
the
final
straw
,
or
should
I
say
,
the
final
sprig
of
holly
that
breaks
not
the
camel
’
s
but
the
reindeer
’
s
back
.
"
And
he
made
a
little
noise
as
he
said
it
,
half
smirk
,
half
snort
,
which
suggested
that
he
had
just
uttered
a
well
-
honed
phrase
of
which
he
was
particularly
fond
.
Ibis
and
Jacquel
was
a
small
,
family
-
owned
funeral
home
:
one
of
the
last
truly
independent
funeral
homes
in
the
area
,
or
so
Mr
.
Ibis
maintained
.
"
Most
fields
of
human
merchandising
value
nationwide
brand
identities
,
"
he
said
.
Mr
.
Ibis
spoke
in
explanations
:
a
gentle
,
earnest
lecturing
that
put
Shadow
in
mind
of
a
college
professor
who
used
to
work
out
at
the
Muscle
Farm
and
who
could
not
talk
,
could
only
discourse
,
expound
,
explain
.
Shadow
had
figured
out
within
the
first
few
minutes
of
meeting
Mr
.
Ibis
that
his
expected
part
in
any
conversation
with
the
funeral
director
was
to
say
as
little
as
possible
.
They
were
sitting
in
a
small
restaurant
,
two
blocks
from
Ibis
and
Jacquel
’
s
funeral
home
.
Shadow
’
s
supper
consisted
of
an
all
-
day
full
breakfast
—
it
came
with
hush
puppies
—
while
Mr
.
Ibis
picked
and
pecked
at
a
slice
of
coffeecake
.
"
This
,
I
believe
,
is
because
people
like
to
know
what
they
are
getting
ahead
of
time
.
Thus
McDonald
’
s
,
Wal
-
Mart
,
F
.
W
.
Woolworth
(
of
blessed
memory
)
:
store
-
brands
maintained
and
visible
across
the
entire
country
.
Wherever
you
go
,
you
will
get
something
that
is
,
with
small
regional
variations
,
the
same
.
"
In
the
field
of
funeral
homes
,
however
,
things
are
,
perforce
,
different
.
You
need
to
feel
that
you
are
getting
small
-
town
personal
service
from
someone
who
has
a
calling
to
the
profession
.
You
want
personal
attention
to
you
and
your
loved
one
in
a
time
of
great
loss
.
You
wish
to
know
that
your
grief
is
happening
on
a
local
level
,
not
on
a
national
one
.
But
in
all
branches
of
industry
—
and
death
is
an
industry
,
my
young
friend
,
make
no
mistake
about
that
—
one
makes
one
’
s
money
from
operating
in
bulk
,
from
buying
in
quantity
,
from
centralizing
one
’
s
operations
.
It
’
s
not
pretty
,
but
it
’
s
true
.
Trouble
is
,
no
one
wants
to
know
that
their
loved
ones
are
traveling
in
a
cooler
-
van
to
some
big
old
converted
warehouse
where
they
may
have
twenty
,
fifty
,
a
hundred
cadavers
on
the
go
.
No
,
sir
.
Folks
want
to
think
they
’
re
going
to
a
family
concern
,
somewhere
they
’
ll
be
treated
with
respect
by
someone
who
’
ll
tip
his
hat
to
them
if
he
sees
them
in
the
street
.
"
