As soon as Lou returned from town, he got to work on the hill beside his house to construct what he’d hoped to be at least two tiers of garden beds that he would build two retaining stone walls.

  Even though his muscles ached from lack of use thanks to his weeks of travel and the winter months before then, he relished in the labor as it allowed his muscles and body to stretch and flex in the cool shade of the pines.

  The shovel purchased from the Kelly family worked well enough that Lou had forgotten about their suspicious behavior pertaining to the sale, but when he seized the hoe, he noticed the rough wood creaked in his hand, and the head jiggled.

  Frowning, Lou raised the gardening tool to inspect it carefully.

  The screws around the head were rusted and loose.

  “Mmm,” he grumbled quietly to himself. “I think the former family left pliers by the front door at least…”

  As Lou began to trek his way back down the hill toward his house, the breeze rustled the pines above and the sound of squirrels scampering amongst the pinecones echoed down to him, but the snap of a twig behind him sent his head swiveling in the direction of the noise. The hill was filled with roots and packed soil, and so it was instantaneous when he turned to look that his heel slipped, sending his buttocks crashing to the ground before he proceeded to slide, then tumble the rest of the way down to the bottom of the hill by his house.

  With the world no longer spinning, Lou had the brain power to acknowledge the sting in his scraped wrist and his sweaty neck and forearms caked in sandy mud.

  The monk closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

  Slowly, and with an ache in his backside, Lou brought himself back up to standing.

  Taking another deep inhale, he attempted to calm himself.

  He knew he was more susceptible to being irritable with Reckish’s blessing… at least he assumed so.

  Brother Juggins used to say that the heat around us makes people more prone to anger… and other emotional outbursts… which was why he avoided serious discussions when the kitchen was especially sweltering.

  Recalling this arbitrary tidbit, prompted Lou to untie the rope around his waist.

  No one was around. It was safe to remove his robe. He needed to do something to try and improve his mood.

  Besides, he was working with his back to the stream, he could hear anyone coming down the road and put his robe back on if they decided to give him a surprise visit.

  Pulling the garment over his head, the cool air soothed both Lou’s irritation and physical discomfort.

  Stepping over to the hook on the side of his house where he hung his pony’s reins, he added his robe, and then returned to the hill to retrieve the hoe he had dropped sometime during his fall.

  Once he had retrieved it, strode back into his home to briefly grab the pliers the former owners had left behind from a dusty wicker basket placed on a stool beside the front door.

  He then rounded back to the side of the house, unaware of the figure that stood on the hill watching him.

  Clamping the pliers around one of the nails, he attempted to crank it, then turning the shaft in his hand began turning the other one… only for the hoe let out a loud crack.

  Lou felt his expression still as he looked up at the thick break that went from the head of the tool halfway up the shaft. He stared at the screw he had just turned, and recognized from its bent head… it wouldn’t work again.

  His rage burst forth.

  Throwing the tool to the ground he stared at it, seething.

  “Assaulted… conned… and for what? What did I even do? What did I… even-”

  “Well you pissed off the Kelly family, Brother Lou.”

  His gaze snapping up, Lou found Oliver Kelly standing on the hill beside his freshly turned earth. He wore only a dirty loose button down tucked into his trousers with his suspenders. The auburn haired man stood with his arms crossed, and his amber eyes darkening to a chocolate brown as he peered down at the monk with a faint smirk on his face.

  Hefting the hoe in his hand, Lou stalked up the hill, his voice of calm and reason boiled alive within his chest as he drew closer to the aggravatingly calm Kelly son.

  “You. What does your family aim to do by making me an enemy? All I want is to live peacefully in Oxby. That is all, and if you want me out of here so damn badly, then you should want that as well. If I do well here I may be transferred.”

  Oliver Kelly raised an eyebrow.

  He appeared completely unbothered by the monk’s ire.

  “Then they’ll just send us a new monk. We sent a message to you to teach you a lesson. Don’t try to get in the way of the old residents and the new, or things will become even more… uncomfortable. Whether it’s you or another who is Oxby’s monk, it doesn’t matter much to me.”

  The last remaining thread in Lou snapped.

  He seized the front of Oliver’s shirt.

  The Kelly son’s smile only broadened playfully, as though it were a younger sibling attempting to tussle with him.

  “Enough with the threats. Enough with the ominous, dramatic vague speeches. You are warring against me for no reason. It isn’t just.”

  Oliver reached up and patted Lou’s hand that had his shirt grasped tightly in his hand. “Now, now, Brother Lou. If you continue like this some might think you aren’t-”

  The dreaded warm golden glow gently emanated from Lou’s skin, distracting Oliver.

  “What the-”

  In a moment of panic, without having an ounce of calm or presence of mind…

  Lou chucked Oliver down the hill.

  He watched in sinking horror the very next moment as the eldest Kelly son proceeded to spin, bounce, and roll his way down the hill to the ground by his house.

  “Gods…” Lou whispered weakly, before remembering what had prompted his reckless action.

  His eyes darting down briefly to his hands, he was relieved to see he wasn’t glowing anymore.

  In his next breath, Lou made his way as quickly as possible down the hill to where Oliver Kelly lay staring up at the sky on his back.

  “Gods, I’m terribly sorry about that, are you alright?” the monk breathed while looking at the man’s chest to ensure he was in fact still breathing.

  Oliver Kelly slowly opened, then closed his mouth, and Lou began to fear that he had damaged his mind, when his amber eyes flit to him.

  “You aren’t like most monks, are you?”

  Letting out a whoosh of relief, Lou dropped his chin toward his chest then offered his hand to help Oliver back onto his feet.

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  “Come now, everyone gets frustrated. Even the Gods get angered.”

  The Kelly son reluctantly accepted the monk’s hand and rose with a grunt.

  “Besides, after your assault this morning I’d say this wasn’t entirely untoward.”

  Oliver cast a wry glance at Lou before inspecting his scratched arm that was coated in dirt and broken brambles.

  “Given that you don’t even have a bump on your head from that, I’d say your attack was the more brutal of the two. Admittedly I thought I walloped you far better.”

  Lou stiffened, and the blood drained from his face. With fingers that suddenly felt numb, he gingerly reached up, and touched his temple, recalling the force of the blow that morning, and then the head rattling fall he’d taken as a result…

  This can’t be a power of Reckish… It must be a fluke…

  “Hopefully you got my message loud and clear.”

  Oliver’s voice barely broke through Lou’s spiraling thoughts, which is most likely why he made yet another verbal blunder that day.

  “Your family wants to be annoying, yes, yes.”

  Oliver hesitated, then turned to stare at the monk whose gaze was fixed on an invisible horror in the distance.

  “Brother, did I perhaps addle your mind earlier?” Oliver asked darkly at the mention of his family while once again squaring off with the monk.

  Sensing that his impromptu visitor was once again growing angry and consequently more violent, Lou returned his attention to Oliver, though the wildness in his eyes made him appear slightly unhinged… and truthfully, he’d been pushed far enough for one day.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, would you prefer me to describe the family that conned and assaulted me as a delightful treasure to the community?” The sarcastic retort had the opposite predicted effect on the eldest Kelly son as the man drew back in surprise, and then burst out laughing.

  “Gods, are you sure you’re a monk?”

  Lou stared up at Oliver’s dancing eyes with a scowl. “I’m glad my criticisms are amusing to you.”

  Just what in the world was wrong with the Kelly son? Lou had been expecting things to be reduced to base violence… or had he been hoping for it?

  Instead, Oliver looked to the sky, his hands finding their way to his hips. “You aren’t as full of shit as I thought you’d be. I’ll give you that. I suppose the question right now is whether or not you are a good or bad man that has anger issues.”

  Lou rolled his eyes before reaching up with his right hand and rubbing his face.

  “I don’t have anger issues, I-”

  “Because shoving a man down a hill is what calm people do.”

  Lou folded his arms, unable to think of an immediate response, and only belatedly remembered that he was standing bare chested, with the mark of Reckish on his back completely exposed.

  He felt himself grow rooted to the spot. “You need to leave.”

  Oliver’s good humored expression that had taunted Lou dimmed as he studied the monk for another lingering moment. “I suppose so.”

  Turning his broad shoulders away, the Oxby local began to make his way back toward the path, when something dawned on Lou…

  “Why did you come here, Mr. Kelly? Was it really just to give me another warning?”

  At this, Oliver casually glanced over his shoulder, his expression unreadable. “I’ll see you around, Brother Lou.”

  Then, with long strides, Oliver Kelly disappeared up the hill, leaving Lou in a state of confusion.

  Had the thug of Oxby come perhaps to check on him after getting hit?

  He shook his head as he watched Oliver disappear through the trees.

  No. It most definitely was to try to threaten him more, or to gloat about the gardening tools breaking.

  A rumble above snapped Lou back from his thoughts. With a sigh, he gave an idle kick to his broken hoe, then while passing round the corner to his front door snatched his robe off the hook, and made his way back inside before he got doused in a storm.

  It turned out that it was his first stroke of luck for the day, as the moment he closed the door behind himself he heard the rush of water across the pine trees, then the pattering on the roof above.

  Looking around the darkened, empty room, Lou could feel the lonely coldeness well up in his chest again. His fingers fluttering against his palm, he stepped over to the hearth in the kitchen.

  Lowering himself down to his knees, he plucked up the flint that lay beside the box filled with firewood, and set to lighting some of the dried kindling he had set for himself earlier that morning. After a few weak puffs of smoke, he bowed lower to the clump of dried pine needles and wood chips, and blew gently.

  A single flame flickered to life, and the sight eased some of the tension in Lou’s face as he then set a single log of pine over the growing fire.

  Satisfied with the whispered thrum of the flames lapping at the log, he leaned back on his haunches, and let out a breath that eased some of the anxiousness in his chest.

  He idly reached up and once again touched the side of his face where Oliver had punched him, only to find that there was still no lump or bruise.

  I’m sure it’s nothing…

  The warmth from the fire gradually reached him, and despite having been sweating not even an hour before outside in the humidity, the warm fire smelt comforting, and its light lulled Lou into laying down before its glow.

  I’ll just have a small nap here, and then… I’ll start a stew… for dinner… Everything is fine.

  *

  When Lou opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in the new chapel in Oxby.

  The white walls glaring as sunlight poured in through the stained glass window, which illuminated the faces of the gods so vividly that the images almost seemed alive.

  Then he noticed a man standing at the end of the bright red carpeted aisle.

  He had his hands clasped behind his back, his shoulders were broad, his arms the size of tree trunks, and his feet braced apart. The armor of his back plate was polished so brilliantly that it almost appeared to emit a light of its own. His eyes traveling upward, Lou noted the figure’s dark brown hair neat and tidy, his skin bronzed from the sun…

  “Reckish,” Lou breathed, horror filling his belly.

  The god turned, his gray eyes sharp and clear when they landed on his chosen priest, his square jaw clean shaven, his smile almost mischievous. He tilted his head, his eyes crinkling in their corners.

  “Hello again, Louis. I see you’ve discovered a power or two today.”