She refused to be admitted to the hospital until she completed the day’s scheduled tasks.įor a woman in her first pregnancy, this stage of labor lasts twelve hours on average. The contractions were regular but widely separated. The spasms were worse when she walked than when she stood still or sat down: another sign of the real thing. This wasn’t false labor again, because the pains extended around her entire back and across her abdomen, rather than being limited to the lower abdomen and groin. January 6, 1965, shortly after eight o’clock in the morning, Agnes had entered first-stage labor while baking six blueberry pies. He was a stranger, but the chain of his destiny shared a link with theirs. The man who tore the Lampion family’s world apart, on the night of Barty’s birth, had not been her enemy. Even such hard souls, however, admitted that the Pie Lady had countless admirers and no enemies. In this materialistic world, her selflessness was cause for suspicion among those whose blood was as rich with cynicism as with iron. She lived for others, her heart tuned to their anguish and their needs.

In Bright Beach, California, most residents spoke of Barty’s mother, Agnes Lampion - also known as the Pie Lady - with affection. The first time she died was the day Barty was born. And you can’t discount the importance of Barty’s profound desire to make his mother proud of him before her second death.

No celestial trumpets announced the restoration of his vision, just as none had announced his birth.Ī roller coaster had something to do with his recovery, as did a seagull. This sudden ascent from a decade of darkness into the glory of light was not brought about by the hands of a holy healer. Bartholomew Lampion was blinded at the age of three, when surgeons reluctantly removed his eyes to save him from a fast-spreading cancer but although eyeless, Barty regained his sight when he was thirteen.

The eye of darkness dean koontz