noon
he had infused enough penance into his four days upon the road to last an ancient martyr a lifetime . Happily he had always had a gift for concentration . The village was old and depressing . Kenny , a conspicuous guest at the one hotel , awoke at noon to less imaginative interest in the wood , the farmhouse and the river than he 'd known for days . He had walked into his picture . Now with perspective gone , he felt uncertain and vaguely alarmed . Well , any quest that led to an inn like this , he felt , must in itself be preposterous .