Upon awakening, it took Tthor several seconds to remember where he was. He looked around and, seeing it was quite cloudy due to the intense sunlight coming through the windows, he couldn't make out too many details. Automatically, thinking that he had woken up again on the third floor landing, he stood up and held onto the wall because he had severe back pain.

   "I can't continue waking up like this anymore," he said stammering, while he stretched his arms to his sides.

   " Oh!" Exclaimed an animated voice.

   Tthor's eyes widened. He saw Lee-Won, with a wide smile, holding his stomach, simulating pain.

   " Did I hurt you?" Tthor asked him, approaching him, worried.

   "I fooled you!" Lee-Won said, laughing.

   "Good morning! It was time for you to wake up," Darius shouted, poking his head through the half-open door.

   Tthor followed Lee-Won out of the stone house.

   The sky was completely clear. There were no traces of the storm anywhere. Although the ground had more than a meter of snow and there were broken branches scattered everywhere. The air blew softly on the faces of Tthor and Lee-Won, who looked at the frozen landscape in ecstasy.

   "Thanks to Orffelios, this year the storm has not been as intense as other times," said Darius. "Well, everything is ready," he announced as he took the reins of the sorrel.

   Tthor saw that Mrs. Yalfom was riding on the horse, with her baby in her arms, wrapped in her own clothes. And in the other horse, the brown one, was little Lily, with a smiling face and a wide smile, ready for any adventure that awaited them ahead.

   "Good morning, Tthor," the girl greeted him.

   "Good morning, Lily. Are you comfortable?"

   "Yes!" the girl shouted, raising her arms.

   And the impetus of her response was such that, upon releasing her mane, she began to slide to the side. Tthor, with quick reflexes, supported her with both hands, before he finished falling. The girl laughed amused.

   "Hold on tight, Lily," Tthor warned her, while the others looked at them smiling.

   "The hearth fire?" Darius asked, pulling the sorrel's reins gently.

   "Completely off," Lee-Won confirmed, standing near Tthor and taking the reins of the Yalfom's brown horse.

   They went down the hill, at an extremely slow pace, since the feet of the three of them were buried in the snow up to their knees, just like the legs of the animals.

   "And what happened to the carts?" Tthor wanted to know, while he walked close to Lee-Won, with the horse behind him, carrying Lily.

   "The wheels do not move with so much snow. We'll have to come get them when the roads are cleared. Mrs. Yalfom cannot walk and Lily is very small, and horses, especially this one, are not prepared for so much weight."

   "I prefer to walk," Tthor said suddenly, remembering the eventful riding lessons with Professor Evans.

   They hadn't been advancing for more than ten minutes when someone started shouting, several meters ahead. Tthor squinted his eyes, to see more clearly, but the sunlight did not allow him to see anything other than a blurred figure, running towards them.

   "Cisa?!" The figure shouted.

   "Ciluus!!!" Said Mrs. Yalfom, with a broken voice.

   Darius stopped the horse and helped the woman off it. Clinging to her baby, she ran as best she could in the snow, with tears in her eyes, to meet her husband who was coming towards her with open arms. Arcod came after his father, also with his face soaked and stumbling in the snow.

   Tthor took Lily off the horse and brought her closer, carrying her in his arms, to the couple who were now melting into an embrace in the middle of the road. Arcod hugged them from behind, crying silently.

   Tthor stayed at a safe distance. Lee-Won stood next to him, pulling the horse gently.

   "Are you okay, Tthor?" He asked, patting him on the shoulder.

   "Yes," the boy answered as he looked at the family reuniting. "You know? Wilgenyna did not know her mother. She died when my cousin was newborn. And she didn't know her father either. He never wanted to know anything about her."

   Lee-Won bit his lip nervously. He was dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say. His friend was pale and seemed to be having trouble breathing. He rested his hand on Tthor's shoulder to encourage him. He looked at him and smiled slightly.

   " What would have happened if we had not found it? Mrs. Yalfom would have bled to death or the two little girls would have died of cold. They would never have found them in time. If we had not found them..."

   "But we found them. You...found them. You heard that baby from miles away," Lee-Won told him, looking at him with admiration. "When you jumped out of the cart like a crazy person..., I followed you. I could not avoid it. I was afraid that would be the last time I would see you. The Orffelios storm has taken many lives."

   " But…you found me. You always end up finding me, when I'm lost, asleep or needing help...," Tthor whispered, staring at him.

   Lee-Won blushed and smiled.

   "I will always be there, Tthor..." he told him, returning his gaze.

   And that look was what gave Tthor enough warmth to endure the three hours of walking to the main street of Meaghdose.

   Mr. Yalfom had the reins of the brown horse on which his wife now rode with the baby, while Lily was on the sorrel, with Arcod walking in front of her, holding her reins.

   Darius, Tthor, and Lee-Won trailed behind, shuffling in the snow, completely exhausted, their faces burned by the sun.

   When they arrived in front of Mr. L'Vois's shoe store, Tthor dropped onto the curb and Lee-Won sat down next to him, giving a long sigh.

   Darius was talking to the Yalfom family in the middle of the street, while Lily walked over to the brown horse.

   "What are you going to do now?" Lee-Won asked Tthor.

   "Now...I'll go to sleep and wake up in like...six months."

   Lee-Won laughed out loud at Tthor's occurrence. Noel, who was standing behind them, without the boys having noticed, said half seriously and half jokingly:

   "That's how I wanted to find them. While some of us work, others sit on the sidewalk to sunbathe."

   Tthor looked at Lee-Won with an amused look on her face. And he, unable to contain himself, burst out laughing again.

   "Well, well," Said Darius, in a jovial tone. "I inform you that we are all formally invited to have tea this afternoon at the Yalfom house."

   Tthor looked down the street. A few meters away, the entire family was walking away at a calm pace, with their horse as escort. Lily, hand in hand with her brother, greeted Tthor with a broad smile and looked at him with bright, lively eyes. Tthor greeted her with both hands.

   "What did you say, Darius? That they will go to old Yalfom's house...to have tea?"

   Darius and Lee-Won glanced at Tthor out of the corner of their eyes. He cleared his throat and said, as if passing by:

   "The thing is... Mrs. Yalfom has had her third child: a very beautiful baby girl. And they want to celebrate it…with us."

   Noel frowned at him.

   "Yes, I understand."

   " No, you don't understand. Because Tthor has forgotten to tell you a part of the story...," Lee-Won hastened to say.

   " It's a part... quite boring," Said Tthor, standing up. "Shall we go?"

   "Yes, we're going to Noel's house to have some hot coffee and tell him...that boring...part of the story." Lee-Won had jumped to his feet.

   Darius did not want to accept the young girl's invitation and, despite the insistence of the three, he marched towards Warghost, carrying the sorrel at a calm pace.

   As they entered the shoe store, Tthor looked towards a nearby business and froze. A man, with large eyes and a serious, grim expression, was staring at him from a young tree that stood a few meters away. Tthor didn't recognize him but he knew that he had seen him before, somewhere.

   He grabbed Lee-Won's arm to get his attention. And when he looked back at the tree, the stranger had disappeared. Lee-Won looked at him curiously.

   "What's going on? What did you see?"

   "No, nothing...Come on," Said Tthor, without understanding too much what had happened.

   It was already noon when they left the shoe store, both boys, heading for Warghost. As they crossed the road to Crete and Lee-Won spoke animatedly, Tthor looked away from him to the blacksmith's house. Despite the sunlight that made his vision weak, he seemed to glimpse a gaze, and nothing more, that followed him from a front window. He only saw her for a couple of seconds, but they were enough to recognize her: they were the same eyes that he had seen in the business near the shoe store that same morning.

   Now he had no doubt, it was the blacksmith whom he had seen. And he couldn't help but remember that he owed him a debt. He still had the oval mirror that he had stolen from her during a sleepwalking episode.

   I felt my body stiff with fatigue and cold so it was difficult to think clearly. But, although he postponed the matter in his mind for later, he promised himself that he would resolve it soon, one way or another.

   They reached Warghost and entered the side road. They entered the kitchen and just as they were looking at the tables, looking for something to eat, Darius's voice surprised them:

   " Oh! Already arrived!"

   "Darius! Is everything okay?" Tthor asked, approaching him.

   Darius cleared his throat and motioned for the two to follow him. The three of them left, in silence, down a hallway toward the central patio.

   " We won't be able to go to have tea this afternoon at the Yalfom house."

   "And..., why not?" Lee-Won protested.

   Because Professor Evans convinced the Blumbers that we must work all afternoon, to pay for the damage and losses we have...caused.

   "What damage?"

   "What losses?"

   "We didn't bring the firewood to supply Warghost and we left the cart in the stone house. I tried to explain what happened to us but…Professor Evans didn't want to listen to me."

   "I'll talk to that...Professor Evans!" Tthor was quite angry.

   But Darius blocked his way and Lee-Won took him by the arm and said:

   " I won't listen to you..."

   "Of course he will listen to me!" Tthor said defiantly.

   Lee-Won continued:

   "You already know him. Forget him."

   "It was my fault that we left the cart with the firewood there. In any case, let him punish me, but not you."

   "Calm down!" Darius asked him.

   " But it is not fair! Let him punish me, I'm the one to blame."

   " So it will be then...," the unpleasant voice of Persseus Evans came to them from the source of the Kabanor stone. "You are punished for the rest of the day and you will have to compensate for the losses you caused. And they won't be able to go anywhere either," Professor Evans raised his hand to avoid an imminent protest from Tthor. "They are servants, just like you. And the servants don't go around, to the neighbors' house, to have…tea. So now…get to work!"

   He gave the three of them a venomous look and retreated down a side hallway. Someone, who had been watching them from a corner, approached them as soon as Professor Evans disappeared through a side door.

   Equs Lileproof walked quickly to the group and said, in a low voice:

   " I will help you with your homework. That Professor, sometimes, believes himself to be the owner of Warghost," and just as he had appeared, he took the path towards a hallway and disappeared into the darkness inside.

   "Thank you, Equs," Tthor managed to stammer, before he disappeared.

   "What a strange guy!" Lee-Won said, making a face.

   " But, supportive. Today we are going to need all the help in the world to finish the job," Tthor reflected, with a sigh. "But... that Professor, he is going to hear me..."

   "Forget it, Tthor. Don't pay attention to him," Darius said, frowning.

   "Yes, there's no point in getting angry. We will notify the Yalfom and that's it," Lee-Won patted Tthor on the shoulder to encourage him.

   "He doesn't know what happened...that's why he thinks like that," Tthor said bitterly.

   "But we do know and so do the Yalfom," Darius stated, looking at Tthor with visible pride.

   Tthor smiled and his face began to lighten.

   "After all...the most important thing is the new life that came to the world," said Tthor, with renewed energy.

   "Do you know what name the Yalfoms have given their baby?"

   Tthor and Lee-Won looked at Darius curiously.

   "No...," they answered as a duo.

   " Fleur…which means flower. After all, you baptized her that way," Darius said with a smile. "The name chosen, according to what the Yalfom told me, is in your honor."

Tthor smiled pleased.

   "That girl is really a flower," he said moved.

   "And now... that you've changed that face, I have something for you that just arrived."

   Darius pulled a small canopus from his pocket and handed it to Tthor, with a smile.

   "Letter from Murk!" Tthor exclaimed when he saw the sender.

   "It seems that the day is getting better," said Lee-Won, smiling, pleased by the happy face that Tthor had now.

   "If I'm among friends," said Tthor, looking at Lee-Won intently, "it's always a good day for me."

   Lee-Won turned red as a tomato and Darius began to laugh, while he thought about which of the tasks they would start first.