2 Chapter 1: The Path of Winter

Seven years later in the village of Gordowe the day is serene with clear skies and an occasional breeze. It is quite the summer day. The market is bustling with activity as farmers are looking to sell their seasonal goods to the villagers. Meanwhile, traders are busy advertising the lot they acquired from different parts of the kingdom. The clinging and clanging of metal hitting metal can be heard from the blacksmith shops, and the smell of fresh baked goods can be found coming from the bakery.

As you can see, this was by no means a poor town; the buildings are made of stone with thatch roofs of straw, the roads are clean and friendly to all whether by foot or by horse. The people can be found frequently smiling and laughing, but of course not everyone can have it easy.

The local covent located in the northern part of town is the home of those whom fate dealt a cruel blow. People from elsewhere and orphans are the ones you would find the most there. They are helped and cared for by the nuns who would help those they could start a new life in the village. Sadly, the orphans would have to wait until they are older to start a new life.

Back at the marketplace a young boy stands in a space between the bakery and another building. He looks to be seven years of age with messy, dark brown hair and grey eyes. His clothes consisting of a loose fitting, light brown shirt with long sleeves and trousers of a darker color that rested on his bare feet. He also wears a vest that is of the same color as his pants.

He looks out to the street and the people walking by until he spots a hay wagon filled with a fresh batch of its load. The driver is taking the hay with him back to his farm, but has stopped on the other side of the street to talk to someone. The boy turns his attention away from the wagon and peers around the corner of the bakery. There is an opening in the form of a large window; it is here the baker always put his freshly baked creations to cool.

The boy watches as the baker sets out a baker's dozen of bread to cool. He eyes the delectable, golden morsels. Doing so makes his mouth water and his stomach growl as if to agree with his plan. His body begins to shake with anticipation, but he knows he has to remain calm in order to do this right.The boy looks out to the wagon once more. It is still there, but it looks to him as if the conversation is drawing to a close.

Looking back to the bakery window he creeps out from the corner. When he sees the baker is gone, he lunges for the closest bread to him and as quick as you can say "hey!" he darts to the wagon. Diving into the hay, he lays back in his hiding spot and listens out for anyone who could have seen him. There is no sound other than the normal hustle and bustle of the people. He is in the clear.

Settling into the soft hay, he smiles and chuckles with the happiness of success and begins to devour his prize of the day. The fresh, soft, flavorful breed melts in his mouth. Its warmth spreads throughout his body. He closes his eyes savoring both the breed and the moment.

When he is halfway done he feels the cart begins to move, he opens his eyes and peers out to look around. He knows the village like the back of his hand and could look at the buildings and tell where he was. So he knows when he would need to get off and how long he would have to stay where he is.

The wagon is going away from the bakery he knows, but when he sees the side of the road he had been standing on he knows the wagon has turned a corner. This lets him know he could stay in the wagon for a few feet before having to leave, for they would soon come to a crossroad where one path would lead to the convent. Until then, he decides to lay back, relax, and finish his bread.

Once the wagon comes to the crossroad he is waiting for, he slips out without making a scene and makes his way down the road to his left. Leaving the driver of the wagon unaware of what he had been a part of.

As he makes his way down the road some of the other villagers make an effort to avoid him or sends him scornful, sideways glances, for those who knows him knows he is a child almost constantly up to no good when in town alone.He pays no mind though. Not even their whispers about him seem to faze him.

Nearly halfway to the covent the boy spots one of the nuns approaching him, yet his demeanor does not change. Instead, he approaches her calmly thinking there is no way she can know or even figure out what he had done.

"Greetings Mother Margaret.", he speaks innocently.

"Well good afternoon to you, Vincent. Prey tell what are you doing in town unsupervised?", she greets him prying.

"Nothing interesting, just interacting with my fellow villagers.", Vincent looks to her steadily as he replies.

"Oh really... Then would Marvin the baker be one of the villagers you... "interacted" with today?", she fires back. Vincent stands silent for a moment not sure whether to answer or not, or at least how to answer her. Mother Margaret's eyes softens as she reaches out her hand to touch young Vincent's shoulder. "You know lying is a sin Vincent and you're not a bad child. So I know you won't lie to me, right?", Mother Margaret says guiltily. Vincent lowers his head as he releases a sigh and looks back up to Mother Margaret, though he has no regret in his eyes.

"I just wanted to see if I could do it or not.", he finally speaks.

"All because you have the ability to do something doesn't mean you should. Now your own skill has caused you to commit a sin any way today.", Mother Margaret says as she begins to reprimand him.

"Yes, but I thought I could just repent for it tonight during confession. God will forgive me of it right?", Vincent seeks to counter. Mother Margaret removes her hand from his shoulder and gazes at him sternly with a voice to match.

"Yes he will, but even so his wish for us is to live right every day, for that is what he would do. The ability to repent and start over every day is a gift not a tool to be manipulated as we see fit. Once again Vincent all because you can do something doesn't mean you should.", Mother Margaret speaks.

Vincent's ideology is clearly quite worrying for her and she knows it is her duty to teach him better. Vincent does receive the message loud and clear though and lowers his head as he accepts what he has done is wrong from the beginning to the end.

"Come. Let's go back to the convent. You will repent for what you have done as soon as we get there.", she tells him. Vincent raises his head at her words.

"Yes Mother Margaret."

"You will also go to Sr. Marvin's bakery tomorrow and apologize to him as well.", she continues.

"Yes, mother.", Vincent replies. The two of them then make their way back to the convent together.

When they arrive Vincent and Mother Margaret go directly to the alter all the orphans use to repent and where they gather for lessons. Vincent kneels down and begins his repentance prayer while Mother Margaret watches him from behind.

"Have you completed your chores for today?", she asks him when he is done.

"Yes, Mother Margaret.", he replies.

"Then you may join the others in your group in the yard, but you will help with the feeding of your younger brothers and sisters at dinner. Understand?", Mother Margaret informs him.

"Yes, Mother Margaret.", he replies. With that Mother Margaret leaves him to continue her own duties. When she is gone Vincent goes on to the yard. Some of the orphans are running around playing tag while others are holding hands and spinning in circles.

There are not so many orphans in the village. Most of the ones who are here come from other towns and villages while only about four, including Vincent, are actually from Gordowe. Another is a girl a year younger than Vincent named Selena.

She is one of the only other orphans that Vincent considers a friend. He spots her with a group of other kids. Vincent catches her eye, but she looks away nervously. It seems weird to him, but he doesn't think anything of it.

Vincent looks around at the site in front of him. The yard is a nice open space with a tree in the middle that was planted about three years before Vincent had arrived and bushes that surround the yard's perimeter.

Vincent then makes his way to a part of the yard where he could sit and draw in the sand. He had no desire to play around with the other orphans right now. He's not upset, but he just didn't feel like it nor does he have a reason to.

He acknowledges all the other kids as his brothers and sisters as he should as a christian, but the feeling that should come with those close bonds are not there.

He doesn't even know what that feeling is or how it feels and it doesn't help that he isn't very aware of his emotions and how they feel in the first place. Because of this Vincent decides he is just nothing or at least he feels nothing. He doesn't know nor does he care. He is just a person going through the motions of life, he thinks.

The evening bell from the church begins to ring. Vincent looks to where the sound originated and then to the kids around him. Everyone is heading inside. It is time for a scripture lesson.

Normally Vincent would try to skip the lesson and hide out somewhere until dinner, but for some reason he feels like going today. Perhaps because he has already got into enough trouble for one day. Either way he suddenly has the urge to go.

When he arrives he sits near the back of the group, yet he still captures the eye of Sister Sarah, who is presiding over the lesson for today. She looks quite surprised to see him being there so willingly. Normally her or Mother Margaret would have to find him and convince him to come.

The lesson begins after prayer and at first Vincent thinks he has made a mistake coming as Sister Sarah starts off with the question, "What do you think it is that exemplifies God most?", Sister Sarah scans over the group of children for a moment to see if someone wanted to answer. When no one does she simply says love.

Vincent knows the word love and he knows it is a word people say to each other when they are very close and how it is how God feels about his people. Still he listens closely to what Sister Sarah speaks next.

"Love is what exemplifies God most and it is feeling and showing love that brings us closer to him. Especially when that love is unconditional and pure. What is it though? Why is it the one thing that exemplifies God most?", she goes on.

Vincent doesn't quite understand what she means. Wasn't love just an emotion that you feel for something or someone like happiness. What makes love so complicated he thinks. Just then he notices sister Sarah never answered the questions she posed. He raises his hand and by acknowledged by her.

"So... what is love Sister Sarah?", he asks. Sister Sarah looks at Vincent then to the rest of the children as a whole.

"I'm not sure.", she says simply. When everyone seems confused she continues. "Well, God loves us so much that he gave his only begotten son for us and Jesus Christ loves us so much that he was crucified for us so that we have the opportunity to achieve eternal life. Basically he loves us so much that he would die for us and his father who is our Heavenly Father loves us enough to let him. Now I don't know any of us who can say they would do the same thing, but we still know that we once had parents that loved us and we love each other right?"

"So we see all of those relationships as love relationships even though they are or were shown to us in different ways. So to answer you Vincent I'm not sure I could give you a clear answer on what is love. I mean...are they the same kind of love just different amounts, or are they different altogether. No one can say, but I hope that all of you can find the answer.", her eyes once again look over the children present.

Vincent thinks he understands what she is trying to say, but is not quite sure. Sister Sarah takes in a deep breath and releases it.

"I will say that the foundation of love is caring for someone or something else deeply, for liking and loving are two different feelings. Don't you think? Otherwise we would have no need for them both.", she speaks.

Vincent thinks for a moment. He was young when his parents died. He had just turned one in fact according to Mother Margret. So he never knew the love of a parent. Sure the nuns care for him and love him, but is it the same and is it true.

Every one of the orphans are treated the same as far as he knows. Is that bad? Obviously not, but would that mean that Vincent never had a love that was for him and for him alone to feel. Did he himself even know how to love and realize when he is doing so?