March 6, 1554
Convent of the Calvarian Sisters, Chinon

I cannot believe that I ride the same streets that Joan of Arc rode a little more than a hundred years ago. She defended her country and saw that the rightful King was crowned, but then she was captured, called a witch, tried, and burned at the stake. How did she have the courage?

She was a peasant girl who knew not how to read or write, and yet they say she died with grace. How does one learn that?

Diane and I are silent as we ride through Chinon. Our heads swirl with many thoughts and there is something unspeakable about all we think. Here is one thought that I cannot utter but I may write. Had Joan of Arc not been a woman who dared to dress as a man would they have called that person a witch or merely a traitor? Perhaps it does not matter. Either way the person would have died.