Around St Loomis area, one might hear through the grapevine:
"Some saw Brother Merrin making his way off in the dark, and he seemed to be in such a strange hurry! Almost as if he'd taken a fright. Who'd run off into the wilds of the Wayfare, alone in the middle of the cold night? They say he left from the cathedral and went straight north out of the gate, without even pausing to supply for the road -- and that a couple of heathens had gone into the cathedral just shortly before..."
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