Lou and Benny sat at the table in the Duffy’s home, staring at the counters that ran around the wall of the kitchen space, not unlike the Kelly family home… In fact, there were a great number of similarities about the two houses. The only difference being size, and perhaps a room or two less than the Kelly's own home.

  As Lou continued taking in his surroundings, Mrs. Bryn Duffy, a quiet but sharp eyed woman in her forties, set to preparing a pot of tea for her impromptu visitors. Though her movements were stiff with anger as her second eldest son, Owen, blew on his hands at Benny’s side. Apparently, Owen had thought startling his mother while she was cooking would be funny, an immature prank that seemed odd given that Owen was in his early twenties. Well, apparently when startled, Mrs. Bryn Duffy had a warrior’s streak in her because on instinct she had sloshed scalding broth on her assailant.

  “How’ve you been, Benny?” Owen asked with a grin in between puffing on his pinkened palms.

  Bryn Duffy slapped a cold wet tea towel down in front of her son without a word.

  He bobbed his head with a boyish, apologetic grin at his mother and gratefully wrapped his hands in the cool cloth.

  “Oh, not so bad. Just taking Brother Lou here around to the farms to introduce him to people. It’d be easy to go in circles if you don’t know the fields well,” Benny smiled back easily, but there was a formality in his words and air that told Lou he was not as close with the Duffy family…

  “I appreciate the tarts.” Bryn stepped over to the table with her fine porcelain teapot already nestled in a charming crocheted tea cozy that was a pale sky pale blue with small white daisies dotting its stitches.

  “Well thank you for the tea, Mrs. Duffy. I’m sorry to have dropped by unannounced,” Lou kept his expression as affable as possible, though it was difficult given how serious the woman was.

  She folded her hands atop the table and fixed the monk with a stony, unreadable look that made Lou wonder if she was already mad with him, or simply still upset with her son…

  “My apologies, Brother Lou. If you are here to invite us to join your chapel, I’m afraid we do not have much time to spare from work, nor do we feel like forcing niceties toward the new residents,” Bryn informed Lou firmly and with very little inflection in her voice, leaving the monk at an utter loss over how to respond.

  “Don’t worry, Brother. My mother has no hard feelings against you!”Owen jumped in jovially. “She won’t even mind if you stop by every now and then.”

  Eyeing Owen’s twinkling blue eyes that while resembled his mother’s in shape and color, had an all-together brighter character behind them.

  “I’m sorry to hear that it is not feasible for your family to join the congregation,” Lou began carefully. “I’d hoped that Mrs. Maureen Kelly might have a friend or two to join her.”

  Owen’s good humored smile faded, and Bryn sat up straighter, her hands had been in the process of wrapping around her steaming cup, but they stilled at the mention of the other old resident family matriarch.

  “Maureen Kelly attends? Does Patrick?” Bryn asked while leaning forward intently.

  “Patrick does not,” Lou responded carefully while sensing Benny tensing beside him. “However Oliver, Franny, and the infant has, and Benny here has even joined the choir.”

  “A choir?” Bryn’s thin face brightened, making Lou blink in surprise, though he found the woman back to her former impervious self by the time he’d steadied his gaze.

  “Yes, I managed to wrangle a handful of the soldiers to join the choir, though they are coming along… slowly… Benny is a wonderful tenor!”

  At his side, Benny blushed. “Ah… I’m alright. Lieutenant Crimmins has a respectable bass voice… when he is in tune.”

  Lou sighed, but nodded, then looked back to find that Bryn was once again staring excitedly at them.

  Seeing this, Owen gave a small chuckle of disbelief. “Soldiers joining the choir? Can’t say I’d have ever imagined they’d do something like that. Did you beat them in a round of cards or something?”

  Lou shook his head. “Not at all. I just happened to have a… a pleasant conversation with Lieutenant Crimmins, and he managed to influence a few of the men under his command to join.”

  Bryn fidgeted in her seat. “Maureen and Oliver attending… I suppose it might not be a bad thing to go even if it is just to keep her company.”

  “Are you and the Kelly family close?” Lou asked conversationally while a spark of hope ignited.

  “They are a wonderful family,” Bryn retorted swiftly. “I myself grew up in Camday. It’s a village two days away to the west, but when Gareth married me and I first arrived in Oxby, Maureen Kelly was over regularly to help me settle in. Patrick Kelly even helped build our home when a tree crushed our old homestead in a nasty storm.” Bryn was speaking quickly and emphatically, making Lou smile as he recognized the genuine respect and love she had for the Kelly family.

  “Patrick was kind of like Oxby’s leader back then… Back before these new residents,” Owen explained, his former levity sobering.

  Silence filled the room.

  Benny reached over the table to the sugar bowl and started adding three spoonfuls to his tea.

  Bryn eyed him. “I’m amazed you still have your teeth after all these years.”

  Benny blushed. “I’m quite careful about using the dental powder I bought from the merchant in the morning and at night.”

  Lou noticed Benny’s hunched shoulders, though he still tried to smile politely.

  “Has your mother improved at all?” Bryn questioned, her voice tight.

  Benny’s left hand curled into a fist against his leg as he slowly lowered the teaspoon after stirring in the sugar.

  “Not much, I’m afraid.”

  “You should be home with her. I know you mean well and want to help everyone get along, but you should take care of your mother first and foremost,” Bryn lectured with a frown.

  Lou glanced at Benny, and noticed the guilty awkwardness in his face.

  Just what was wrong with his mother? He had mentioned she wasn’t taking his father’s passing well… But was it worse than that?

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  “My mother is… content to embroider at home. If I hover I think she gets more nervous,” Benny explained stiffly, though there was an apologetic note to his voice.

  Bryn’s lips tightened as though she wanted to continue needling the young man.

  “It is hard to say what everyone needs, when we all differ from how we like our tea to our favorite stories,” Lou interjected softly. “Mrs. Duffy, I noticed you seemed quite interested in the choir, have you had any music lessons of your own?”

  Despite the safe changing of topics, Benny didn’t relax, nor did he join the conversation as Mrs. Duffy discussed how she had learned how to play the piano back at the old chapel in Camday.

  After Lou heartfully offered the piano in the chapel for her to practice on any time she felt like it, he found that the woman became rather pleasant to speak with.

  However the longer they stayed, and the longer Benny stayed quiet, Lou couldn’t help but feeling a growing unrest in the air that had him rising and bidding farewell sooner than seemed to be necessary.

  However as they headed out the door, a young boy, perhaps only ten years old crossed the threshold, his brow sweaty and his freckled face turned downward.

  “Trevyn Duffy, when there are guests you greet them properly.” Bryn’s shrill voice made the boy flinch and turn away guiltily.

  Lou eyed the boy and noticed there was a peculiar bulge in his pocket.

  Without needing to ask anything, a muffled croak broke the silence.

  Bryn rose from her seat and closed her eyes with a sigh. “I told you, we are not letting you keep a frog as a pet. They need to live in the pond.”

  “Sorry, Trev. Better luck next time! But you’re moving in the right direction with a frog! The snake was not your best bet last time,” Owen crowed while standing up and making his way over to the open staircase that led up to where the bedrooms must’ve been.

  The young boy’s eyes snapped up to his mother. “But I’ll keep him in a bucket!”

  Benny smiled down at the child. “I think he’ll prefer having more room in the pond, but you know, I’ve got a few pups in one of the barns if you’d like to check those out tomorrow.”

  “Mum’s allergic,” Trevyn Duffy mumbled dejectedly.

  Lou was heartened to see that even the formidable Bryn Duffy’s stern face fell to sadness for her son who clearly was desperate for a pet to love.

  “You’re still welcome to come play with them– and hey, Brother Lou here brought you some tarts!” Benny clasped Trevyn on the shoulder. “Plus, you’ll get a chance to play with Franny Kelly soon. Your mother is going to join the congregation and Franny hasn’t missed a sermon yet!”

  The boy blushed bright pink but he looked up interestedly at Benny before realizing he had never met Lou before and shuffled into the kitchen to be by his mother’s side.

  Lou looked at Benny in awe.

  What a sneaky, yet clever way to ensure that Bryn Duffy would guarantee her attendance.

  The woman stared down at her youngest son with a sigh and placed her hand on his shoulder.

  “Yes. We can go the next gods day, and I’m sure you two will be able to play for a little while after the sermon.”

  Trevyn beamed a smile at his mother before realizing he was openly expressing his interest in a girl. When he did recall this fact however, he proceeded to dart away toward the back door. “I’m going to go put the frog back!”

  Bryn sighed while starting to tidy the table of the teapot and cups, and Owen gave Benny a respectful nod of his head as he and Lou proceeded out the door.

  “I’ll see you on the sermon day, if not sooner, Mrs. Duffy! The piano has held its tune beautifully!” Lou called out and waved as he and Benny took their leave expediently.

  Upon reaching Lou’s cart, the pair of men climbed into the driver’s bench and pulled away from the house in silence.

  Until they were out of earshot, which is when Benny burst out laughing.

  “Gods, did you ever get lucky about the choir!”

  Lou grinned. “Nicely done with Trevyn there. I take it the lad has a crush?”

  “Ever since she gave him a black eye he has been sweet as a bee toward honey on her.”

  Lou stared at Benny, stunned at this tidbit of perplexing history, then laughed himself.

  “I shouldn’t be surprised. Was there a particular reason Franny gave him a black eye?”

  “He challenged her to a foot race and won, and then thought it’d be a good idea to gloat. However with having five older brothers, you best believe Franny made sure he got more than just the one wallop.”

  Lou shook his head, still smiling.

  “The Duffy family is the hardest working in all of Oxby though, so their children don’t usually get a lot of time to play– though Trevyn is significantly younger than his three brothers, so he gets a bit more time to do as he wants, which is why he usually sees to visiting the Kelly’s to play with Brody and Franny.”

  Lou nodded along while feeling relieved that Benny’s former dampened mood had improved.

  “Well, I must say, that was a far bigger success than I was anticipating. I think things are looking a lot more positive on the whole for this next family.”

  Benny couldn’t help but smile as he scratched his head while glancing at Lou. “The Atell’s I was the most hopeful about persuading, it’s true. Though… I have to warn you, Brother Lou… Iseul Atell is… Well… She talks faster than a hummingbird’s wings, and her mood is… prone to changing. Especially if her son and daughter are driving her a tad closer to precarious outbursts.”

  Lou grimaced and sighed, but tried not to let Benny’s warning deter him.

  After all, with the Duffy family all but promising to come to the chapel, perhaps his luck was turning around!

  … Or perhaps at the very least he would be able to end the day having a nice cup of tea in his quiet house, and wake up the next morning rested and ready to give a life of peace another stab regardless of the feud of Oxby, or the troubling yet persistently exasperating interference from the gods.