Seth limped along behind William with an armful of straw. William looked back at him. “Slow down, son. Your leg will never get better if you move yourself at that pace.”

Seth winced, “I’m alright.”

William strode back and took the straw from Seth. “My wife will kill me if she thinks I permanently crippled you. Go inside and take a break. You’ve already done enough.”

Seth glanced back at the farmhouse. He didn’t really want to go inside. After the hug last night, Seth felt incredibly awkward around Gloria.

The memory of the hug came back to him: Gloria leaning on his chest, her warmth radiating through him, her- Seth’s face burned. His throat felt tight and he felt like he had eaten a butterfly. He didn’t know quite what to make of it, but these feelings terrified him.

William tapped Seth’s shoulder. Seth started and looked up at him. “Seth, go take a break,” he said sternly.

Seth bowed his head in defeat. “Yes sir,” then he turned and limped back to the farmhouse. He opened the door and stepped inside. The smell of baked bread and drying meat greeted him.

Seth made his way into the dining room. He sat down at the table and put his leg up. He looked up to see Gloria drying goat meat with Kayla. Before he could look away, she looked up and made eye contact.

Seth looked away, embarrassed. There was a growing rift and Seth didn’t know what to do about it.

“Taking a break?” Kayla asked.

Seth smiled awkwardly, “Yes.” He glanced at Gloria. She stared down at the table and quietly cut strips of dried goat.

“Good, you need the rest,” Kayla said, kneading some dough.

“Do you need any help?” Seth started to rise.

“No, no,” Kayla answered holding out flour-caked hands. She smiled. “We’re fine, you focus on resting.”

“Alright,” Seth said sitting back down again.

A stiff silence filled the room. Kayla hummed for a minute or two, glancing back and forth between Seth and Gloria. Then she tapped Gloria’s arm. “You know what, I forgot, I should check on the bread. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll get it,” Gloria answered.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ll get it,” Gloria said, then she fled the room.

Seth stared after her, not sure what to do. He looked back at Kayla who sighed. “You can’t avoid each other forever.”

“I know,” Seth said, then he got up and went back outside.

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Four more days passed before Kayla was convinced that both Seth and Gloria were ready to travel. When it was time to leave, Seth and Gloria were ladened with food, water, some wood, and coats.

“The girls and I patched them up as best as we could,” Kayla said handing over two brown patched coats lined with wool. “They should keep you warm.”

Kayla glared at Seth. “Wear your coat! I’ve seen you working in the snow without anything to keep you warm. I have no idea how you haven’t frozen to death, but you’ll be on the road now and I don’t want you to succumb to the cold and leave Gloria stranded!”

Seth smiled. “I will stay warm,” he said.

Kayla frowned then turned to Gloria, “Make sure he wears his coat.” Gloria gave a half smile and nodded.

He watched Kayla reach forward and give Gloria a hug. He could hear her muttering something to Gloria, he couldn’t make it out, but whatever it was, it seemed to encourage Gloria.

William came over and held out a hand to Seth. “Thank you for all your help around the farm,” He said, “I feel ready for this freakish weather now.”

Seth shook William’s hand. “Thank you for your hospitality. Gloria would be dead if it weren’t for your kindness.”

“You’re quite welcome, young man.” Then William looked Seth in the eye. “Be brave; be bold.”

Seth nodded. “Thank you, sir,” he answered. “I will try.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Seth pulled on his coat to appease Kayla. It was unbearably hot. I’ll just take it off when we’re out of sight. Seth thought.

Then he turned to Gloria. “Are you ready to go?” Gloria smiled and nodded, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

Seth pulled his bag onto his back, and then he and Gloria stepped out the front door and headed down the drive, this time side by side. Snow crunched under their feet and from behind them, Seth and Gloria could hear William and his family calling out farewell wishes.

As they reached the end of the drive and turned east, Seth tried to slow his pace to match Gloria’s. He hoped to break the tension that had settled between them.

“It’ll be nice to have something more than cheese to eat,” Seth ventured. “Cheese is good, but I also like bread, salted goat and apples.” He glanced at Gloria, hoping for more than a nod this time. She gave a faint smile but remained silent.

Seth tried again, “William said if it doesn’t snow, Westfjord should be just another day or two on foot,”

“That’s good,” Gloria answered quietly.

Seth grimaced. He wasn’t sure what to do next. Maybe a funny story would cheer her up.

“When I was about eight,” Seth began. “I used to visit my friend Mateo’s house. His father was the owner of the general goods store. One time, we were playing upstairs when Mateo had the grand idea to go sledding in the middle of summer.”

Seth glanced at Gloria again. Curiosity piqued in her eyes, and she slowly looked up. Seth smiled. He had her attention.

“I laughed at him,” Seth continued, “and said we’d have to wait until winter, that’s when he showed me an old wooden crate and said that we could sled down the stairs.”

Gloria gasped. “You didn’t…”

Seth laughed. “We did. I sat in the back and Mateo sat in the front. Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump,” Seth bounced his hand. “Down we went the flight of stairs and flew into the store below. We crashed through a couple of shelves and smashed into the wall on the other side.”

Gloria covered her mouth. “Oh no! Did you get hurt?”

Seth rubbed his head. “Oh yeah, Mateo and I clocked heads. My memory gets a little fuzzy after that, but what I was told later was that Mateo looked back at his father and said, ‘Does Mom have any more cocoa?’ Our fathers whipped our backsides and the two of us learned a lot about building shelves over the next few weeks.”

Gloria laughed. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Boys,” she said. “They can get into so much trouble.” Seth brightened. She was talking!

Then Gloria smiled and her eyes glittered. “I remember one time, my little brother, Kelva, found a frog in the grass. He brought it inside and put it in the tea kettle to keep it safe. When Shareen put it on the hearth to make tea, the frog croaked so loud that she thought the kettle was cursed.

“I still remember her leaping into the air and making holy signs.” Gloria burst out laughing. Seth laughed with her; it made him happy that she was laughing. Gloria continued. “Then Kelva came running in screaming, ‘My frog! You’re boiling my frog!"

"What happened next?"

Oh, Shareen was furious. She made me heal the frog, then made Kelva put the poor frog back outside and scrub the kettle clean.” Gloria wiped a tear from her eye. She looked at Seth and smiled.

Seth beamed back; he had made some progress between them. “Now I have to ask,” Seth nudged her. “Did the kettle ever taste the same after that?”

Gloria giggled. “I think so, but Shareen swore that it still tasted like pond water no matter how hard we scrubbed it.”

“You know…” Seth chuckled. “That reminds me of one time that Mateo wanted a pet pig…”

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It was odd to see the sun still hanging in the sky in the evening with the snow on the ground. To Gloria, it felt like an odd blend of spring and winter.

Gloria listened to Seth tell stories of his childhood adventures with his friend Mateo. From chasing wild pigs to finding fool’s gold and being convinced they had found buried treasure. While they made her laugh, Gloria couldn’t help but feel envious of Seth’s childhood. She could only remember a few years when her childhood was pleasant.

Gloria shook her head and looked up at Seth. He was scanning the land for a place to camp, his coat tied around his neck like a cape. Gloria smiled a little. As soon as they were out of sight of Kayla, Seth had peeled the coat off of him.

Seth looked back and pointed into the grass. “Do you feel strong enough to clear a spot in the grass? The road may be safer than it was before, but I still don’t think it’s safe enough to camp on.”

Gloria looked at the snow-covered grass and grimaced. “I’m not sure I can; my plant magic doesn’t work in the winter. I remember trying the other day and the grass was near impossible to move.”

Now it was Seth’s turn to grimace. “I had a feeling that was the case,” he murmured to himself.

Panic surged in Gloria, “but I can give it a try if you want!” She reached her hand out and tried to move the grass.

“Wait! Gloria, you don’t need to! I believe you!” Seth called out.

Gloria focused her energy and tried to call to the grass, but the grass didn’t answer; it was asleep. Gloria tried again with more force this time. The magic backfired and surged back into Gloria. She stumbled back.

Seth caught her. “Don’t push yourself too hard.” He said. “It’ll be alright, we’ll just walk through the grass.” He helped her back up and carefully stepped through the grass.

Gloria followed him, but she couldn’t help but feel frustrated. She didn’t want Seth to be disappointed in her.

Seth stomped out a small circle for them. Then he untied his coat and laid it on the ground. “I’ll be fine without a coat,” he said brushing off some snow. “This should keep you extra warm.”

“Are you sure you don’t want it so you don’t get wet?” Gloria asked.

Seth shook his head. “Nah, I’ll be fine. I’ve slept in worse. Please sit.” Gloria sat on the coat. It was still warm from when Seth wore it.

Seth dug through his bag. “Are you hungry?”

Gloria curled up in the coats. “Not really,” she answered.

Seth looked back and raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?” Gloria nodded. Seth shrugged and pulled out a hunk of salted goat.

Gloria spoke up. “I’ll take the first watch for you,”

Seth looked back at Gloria and shook his head. “Don’t worry about taking a watch, I’ll take care of it.”

The ice woman’s words echoed in Gloria’s ears. “Please, let me,” Gloria insisted. “I don’t want to be a burden on you. I want to help.”

Seth hesitated, then faced Gloria. “You are not a burden,” his voice shook a little, but his eyes were steady. Gloria didn’t believe him.

“I still want to take the first watch,” Gloria insisted. “You should rest so you can be alert during the journey.”

Seth opened his mouth to argue, but Gloria interrupted. “It’s important to me that I help.”

Seth closed his mouth and sighed. “Okay, but if you need anything, wake me up.”

Gloria nodded. “I will.” Seth lay down and within a few moments, he was asleep.