I guess like most of the planet, you either watched the big rescue on TV or read about it in the papers. Maybe you saw the famous cover of Newsweek with Daniel's chubby toddler body strapped to that board, his cheeks bloodied and his eyes swollen shut. As for the rumors that came later—about the fire that didn't burn him and the cripples he cured—maybe you found them on one of those nut job websites. But stories like Daniel's take on a life of their own. Nobody really knows what happened for sure except the ones who saw it all firsthand, like me.

In the hospital, near the end of everything, Leo told me that seeing something happen only makes you an observer. To qualify as a witness, he explained, you've got to offer testimony. So I'll tell you all I saw and did, plain as I can, and you'll come to your own conclusions about what to believe. I guess I'll start with the night about a year back when, if you trust the rumors, my brother Daniel walked across the waters of Paradise Lake.