Chapter Nine

Fox knocked on the knotted door of the McDiliosko home as a collection of snow fell from the roof. Wintertime had arrived in Uno, and the snow showed no mercy, as it normally did. It wasn't unusual to be bombarded by an occasional burst of flakes from large gray clouds and have the flakes slowly blanket the landscape with virgin white this time of the year. But that didn't mean it wasn't a nuisance. Most ranchers, especially Frankjo, hated the snow, for it just meant more work for them. Their cattle would eat less, they would have to spend more time with shoveling and patching up their sheds, and, if they still had an ounce of energy still left in them, they would drag themselves home and tend to their families, which were already wrestling with the sparse heat and food for meals. Fox didn't mind the snow, however. Sure, it was chilly, but he wore an old military jacket given to him by Frankjo from a friend to keep out the wind. His kilt and pants helped too. And he loved to see the snow on the ground, loving it enough to not even mind shoveling it or moving through it in the frigid temperatures.

"Yes?" Mrs. McDiliosko asked as the door opened in front of him.

"Hello, Mrs. McDiliosko," Fox greeted. "I was wondering if I could take your daughter today."

Mrs. McDiliosko smirked as she casually shook her head. "Fox, you don't even need to ask anymore – you take her out almost every day. What do you two do outside anyway?"

Fox smiled. "We just do whatever she wants to do, madam."

"It can't be much since it's so cold out!"

Fox stepped back a few steps. "What? This weather? It's a beautiful Unonian snowfall outside – who wouldn't want to enjoy it?"

"Well, okay then," she said as she leaned against the doorway. "She just finished giving herself a bath. She's over in her room now." She paused as she smiled. "I think you know where that is by now."

"Thank you, madam," Fox replied. Without any hesitation, the kit ran up to Maria's room after carefully navigating through the kitchen, complete with stacks of pots and pans all over the floor. It was obviously cleaning day for them, Fox realized. Peering his head into her room, Fox noticed she was combing her hair in front of a broken mirror attached to her wall. Her room wasn't glamorous, just consisting of an old worn-out bed, a few tables, and a cabinet which held her clothes, near the corner of her room next to the window. Stepping carefully into her den, he let nothing keep his concentration off her.

She looked up and noticed Fox after setting her brush aside. "Hello, Fox!" she greeted with a smile. Over time, she had matured at a fast rate. Fox matured too, but slower than she did. After all, with Fox being fourteen and Maria now thirteen, it was a great change for any teenage fox their ages. According to social life in Uno, they were on the verge of becoming adults – fifteen years old was the set age. Travelers from other nations felt that age was a little young, but in a war-torn country, they had to mature fast or risk being killed by carelessness in youth. "What are we going to do today?"

"The usual," Fox replied. "Anything you want to do."

"But isn't there something you'd rather do?" she asked. She moved her hair about as she reached for her white headband, which lay in the middle of an old wooden table.

"We could walk around the hardware store and go to the woods after that."

"I thought we did that yesterday," Maria replied.

"Well," Fox began, "maybe we could walk around a little outside."

"Where would we walk to?" she asked.

"We could walk to Frankjo's, then we could just go to the hillsides." He paused. "I love the snow, and I love to watch it. I think God gave us that stuff to give us something different to look at during the cold winter months."

"I hate the snow," Maria muttered as she placed her headband in her dark blue hair.

Fox raised his eyebrows. It was the first time he had ever heard her say she hated something before. "What makes you say that?" he questioned with a confused look.

"Never mind that, Fox," she said as she straightened her dress out with her hands. It still covered her thin frame, but it was tattered now and had its display of patches. Soon, she would get a new dress, just like the one she always had, in the springtime when the weather was nicer, her father promised. Fox knew she was excited about that. "Let's just walk over to Frankjo's. Did Mrs. Milowski make breakfast?"

"It should be done by the time we get there," Fox replied. He held out his arm and Maria grabbed it. "Frankjo has a cold, so I think it's going to be mushroom soup."

"That sounds good," Maria said with a smile. She dodged the piles of pots and pans as she held onto Fox's arm. "Mrs. Milowski makes the best soup. She should try to sell it in the wintertime. It would make a lot of money!"

Fox opened the door for her as they both waived bye to Maria's mother. "She's really humble about it. She said she doesn't want to do something that would be too much work and end up making people unhappy. But she's very generous."

The two kits stepped off the stoop and down the snowy walkway to walk to the village center. As they walked, the gray clouds moved rapidly through the scenery. But they would only be replaced by more gray clouds, bringing with them more chances for snow and wind.

When they finally stepped into the village center, Fox looked over at Maria and noticed she was cold. She held her arms together to keep the heat next to her body. Chattering her teeth, she glanced over at Fox but then jerked her gaze forward when she saw he was watching her.

"Maria," Fox said, "take my coat. You'd do better with it on than me."

"Okay," she replied. "Th-thank you."

Almost immediately, Fox slipped off the long jacket and blanketed it around Maria's shoulders. She moved her hands into the sleeves and beat them together to get them warm. Others watched as the two walked, but they did nothing to help. They too had their problems with keeping warm.

"Feel better yet?" Fox asked. He thought she looked funny in an old military jacket, looking like a female officer or something. He never seen any girl wear something like that, and even Frankjo told him it was a dishonor for a woman to do anything that was "man's work and man's position."

"No," Maria chattered.

"What's wrong?" Fox asked.

Before she could respond, Maria let out a slight whimper as she moved one small foot out behind her. Gazing down at them as she walked, Fox knew in an instant that that was bothering her. They looked purple, not blue like they usually did, and one even looked a little bloody, like she stepped on something sharp during their trek. Looking back up at her, Fox noticed that Maria was watching him. "Do you want me to carry you the rest of the way, Maria?"

"If it's not too much of a problem, yes please," she softly responded as a cold gust of air ripped past them.

Fox got behind the vixen, carefully grabbed her, and set her in his arms. She wasn't very heavy at all – her frail body wasn't much of a challenge to carry. She looked up at Fox and smiled as he started again. Gazing back, Fox grinned too, hoping there would be more times when he could carry his love.

"We're almost there," Fox replied while still focusing on Maria. "I think Mrs. Milowski might have some water to heat up, so that will help you get warm again."

"Thank you, Fox," Maria replied. She nestled into his arms as they passed over a small hill out of the village center. This was Fox's favorite part. He loved being so close to her, the vixen he adored for so long, the vixen he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. With a smile on his face and peaceful joy in his heart, he gazed into her eyes. Then, with a blink, he focused his vision forward, searching for the Milowski home.

As they left the center, less and less people could be spotted. Some looked like they were shoveling, others looked like they were trying to get to the center, and even less just stood around trying to bring circulation back to their frozen hands. No swiftbikes could be found. The way the snow blanketed the land made it impossible to travel on. In addition, they usually broke down in the frigid temperatures. Nature was winning another battle, it seemed.

"I love you, Fox," Maria suddenly whispered.

Fox glowed, but he kept his gaze forward. "I love you too, my Maria." Every step he took brought him closer to that warm, cozy abode that he called home for what seemed like years. That did not mean he had forgotten life in Selena, it just meant that he was finally beginning to accept calling Fasaldesk home. Soon he would see Janetka and she would get them warm again. Hopefully, there would be hot food to eat, food that would keep one full throughout the cold day. Maybe Frankjo had started a fire already inside the old brick fireplace where the painting of Russkoff II hung forebodingly over the living room. Blankets from the beds might be out already, covering the cold wooden floor with warm cloth. Fox hoped the oasis he dreamed of would be at least half of what he anticipated.

Then, after what seemed like hours of walking, he arrived at the front door. Everything felt cold. Even his feet felt cold, as he swore he was losing feeling in his left foot, the foot that had the boot with the hole in the heel on it. Rapping his hands on the door with forceful bangs, he waited anxiously for the door to open and the heat to flood in.

A sudden jolt and a metallic clang, and the door swung open with Janetka standing in front of it. "Come in," she said with a routine grin, "I've got soup on the stove and places where you two can sit down." She looked down at Maria and moved some of her dark blue hair from the frail vixen's face. "How are you doing, Maria?"

"She's cold," Fox interrupted.

"Well, come in, don't let me stop you!" Janetka spoke with a grin. Patting Fox's shoulder, she followed him inside to the living room.

Fox carried Maria over to the couch, which was covered with a plaid blanket to keep in more warmth, and set her down gently on it. She scooted up to the back of it and gazed up at Fox, who carefully knelt down by her side.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Moving a hand toward her, he began to stroke her cheek.

"I'm fine," Maria said with a glowing grin. "Thank you, my love."

Fox moved his face close to hers and kissed her softly on the lips. Being close to her was what Fox loved the most, and he knew Maria felt the same way. It was as if they felt more complete with each other, and that every time they came together it got harder to pull away.

When Fox moved back, a look of peace fell over his face. He looked down at her with great affection, and Maria looked up at him with a glow in her eyes, looking like she too enjoyed the adoration.

"Awww," Frankjo sarcastically remarked from a corner of the room. Fox immediately turned around and glared at the old car as Frankjo chuckled softly. Blowing his large gray nose into a handkerchief, he sniffed slightly and moved some more blankets on him.

"Do you have a cold, Frankjo?" Maria asked.

Frankjo moved his head over to look at Maria. "Yes I do. I got it last night after trying to rescue a foolish cow that ran from the herd." Rolling his eyes, he coughed hard into a blanket. "What's the matter with Maria, Fox?"

"She's cold," he replied. "And her feet hurt from the cold."

"Is that so?" Frankjo asked as he scratched his chin. "Well, that's something we're going to have to remedy, right?" Before Fox could speak, Frankjo uncovered himself, stood up, and had a good stretch. "Janetka! Come over here!" he shouted.

His wife appeared from their room, almost as if she had been listening to them the whole time. She smoothed out her green dress as she walked slowly to her husband. When she stood face to face with the Careinian, she rubbed his shoulders with long, graceful hands as her tail silently twitched. "What's the matter with my Frankjo?" she asked. "Does he need something?"

"No," he replied. "But they do. Can you fix them some soup from the kitchen, love, and also, do you know what I did with… you remember that vixen Ricarjo liked?"

"Ricarjo?" she asked as she suddenly stopped moving her hands. "Umm, yes I remember her."

"Good. Whatever happened to her stuff we ke–"

"It's in our closet," Janetka interrupted curtly. She pointed with a long finger to their back room. Without saying a word, Frankjo nodded his head, his mouth agape. The two suddenly dispersed throughout the home.

Fox shook his head and laughed. "I think Frankjo would forget his head if it wasn't attached to that thick neck of his!"

"Who's Ricarjo?" Maria asked as she pulled the blanket closer to her neck.

"I don't know. He's probably just some villager or something. Don't worry too much about it." Fox moved over and put a blanket over her feet, draping it over them in a careful manner.

"What is he getting?" she asked as she sat up. Fox shrugged. Suddenly, the vixen shifted over and sat up on the couch. After taking off the jacket and setting it in a nearby chair, she looked up, almost as if she was trying to tell Fox something. Nodding, Fox understood, and he sat down with her, draping a drab brown blanket over her shoulders.

Janetka came in with three bowls of soup balanced on a tray she held carefully in her arms. "Be careful, they're a little warm." She set the tray down on a table in front of the chair, and both fox and vixen grabbed a bowl and spoon and began to eat the mushroom soup, disregarding the warning from Janetka.

"Do you like it?" she asked the two.

"Very much, Mrs. Milowski," Maria replied. She looked up around the walls adorned with paintings and characteristic stains and cracks, almost as if she was daydreaming about something. Fox opened his mouth to ask why, but before he could speak, they heard a great commotion coming from Frankjo and Janetka's room.

"I knew I had them!" Frankjo exclaimed as he entered the room. In his hands were two old black boots. They looked like they were made for a vixen, since they looked smaller than Fox's and were elegantly laced all the way up to the tops.

"What are those?" Maria asked as her eyes grew wider.

"Maria, these are boots I meant to give to a young vixen years and years ago. They are still in pretty good shape, and they don't do any good sitting around doing nothing, so I want you to have them." Frankjo shoved them out in front of her.

Maria picked one up out of his hands and set it on her lap. She gazed at the long laces with a grin, and then went over the pointed toe part with her hands, moving them around the black leather gracefully until they reached the heel. "I've never worn shoes before," she said. "They look so beautiful. Oh Frankjo, do you really mean I can have these?" Frankjo nodded. "Oh thank you!" She reached over and gripped the old Careinian, trying to reach around his large frame and hug him.

"Now come on, let's see you with them on, okay?" Frankjo said as he pulled away. She rested a foot in his hands. Frankjo grabbed the boot for the right foot and pushed it up until it rested halfway between her ankle and kneecap. "How's that?" he asked.

Maria nodded anxiously as her smile grew wider. "Yes, that's good. Do you like them, Fox?"

Fox watched as she put a hand on his leg. "I love them, and I love you," he replied.

Maria watched as Frankjo wrestled with the long laces. Fox immediately grabbed the other boot and pushed it up into Maria's bare foot, then slid it up to where the first one rested. Laces crossed other laces, and at the top of each boot, they met with a tight bow. Fox smiled as he sat back down. They seemed to fit perfectly.

Moving her legs off the ground, Maria stared at her new shoes with curious eyes. She giggled slightly and clicked her heels together a few times. "I have shoes now!" she said as laughter overcame her. "Look Fox, I have shoes! Oh, I'll never take them off!"

"They look good on you, Maria," Fox assured as he watched her move her fingers up and down the black leather. He then lowered his head to sip more soup.

"Fox," Frankjo whispered as Maria set her bowl down and stood up, "were the rest of the McDilioskos home when you arrived there?" He stood up too and watched as Janetka guided Maria around the room as she tried to get used to walking in heels.

"Umm, no, just Mrs. McDiliosko," Fox replied. "Why?"

Frankjo wiped his nose on one of his large gray arms. "I'm going to go up to their home later on with some blankets and soup. I don't care what Salvatoro thinks, they could use some extra things around the house." He sniffed his nose again. "I'll do that when you two go outside, alright?"

"Okay," Fox replied. "But why are you telling me this?"

Frankjo sighed as he cracked his knuckles with his hands. He bent down and looked into Fox's eyes. "Fox, you know very well that we don't have much either. But, remember that this is the time of year when those that give are the true servants of God. I'm telling you this also since you are rapidly turning into an adult. When you get there, you will need to make many sacrifices in order to do what's right. It's never easy, but it always pays off in ways you cannot conceive beforehand. Remember that, okay?"

Fox nodded. His gaze wandered toward Maria, who fell into Janetka's arms after tripping on a loose blanket on the floor. She looked up at her mentor with a glum look, but Janetka patted her on the head, showing her that it was acceptable. With a slight wobble, Maria stood up again and tried again. Now even Frankjo was watching. She stepped slowly yet gracefully toward the two, watching her steps and being careful as to where she placed each step. She looked so innocent, Fox noticed, that her soul seemed to glow from her body.

"How are your new shoes, Maria?" Fox asked as he ambled down the frosted pathway away from the village.

Maria smiled as she kicked her legs in the air. "They feel so warm! I never thought having shoes would be so nice!" Suddenly, Maria started to run through the snow, breezing past Fox with a quick gait toward the edge of another large hill.

"Wait up!" Fox shouted. Moving his legs like a machine, he sprinted toward Maria, who glanced behind herself to see how far Fox was from her. She yelped and ran faster over hills of wet snow. But she was no match for a fox who worked and ran every day in land that was familiar to him, the pastures, now frozen from the heavy whitewash. Like a wolf in hot pursuit, Fox caught up with Maria and picked her up into his arms while she was in a dead run. She screamed and laughed when his furry arms reached around her and lifted her off the ground. It soon started to look like a typical day for the two – playing around and growing more and more in love.

As Fox climbed up another steep hill, he lost his footing on a patch of ice and smacked the ground on his rear. With Maria still in his arms, he suddenly began to slide down it, careening past drifts of snow at a blinding speed. Maria bailed out and tumbled softly to the ground with screams of laughter. Fox on the other hand screamed as he continued to slide down the steep hill. His tail felt like it had already fallen off a few seconds ago, but that was the least of his concerns. Banks of snow smacked his body in puffs, and he soon began to somersault down headfirst. Then, he hit the bottom with a bound and landed face first into some powdery snow. Finally, the ride was over, and Fox slowly raised his aching head from the ground, only to be struck on the head by a small snowball.

"You can't catch me now!" Maria shouted when Fox looked over his right shoulder. She smiled and ran through the snow, trying hard to get away from the fighter she awoken. With slow jerks, Fox stood up, shook himself off violently, and stormed down the white landscape in search of Maria. But she wasn't in sight. No one was in sight for that matter. Where did she go? Fox wondered

Scanning the area, he saw tracks that seemed to lead right into a snow bank on his right. With a hint of panic, he sprinted up to it in no time, but she wasn't there either. What if she is trapped inside? He frantically dug into the pile of snow, his fingers stinging and beginning to lose feeling from the terrible cold. Suddenly, as he looked up, another snowball smacked him across the jaw. Focusing forward, he spotted Maria, who grinned.

"You still can't catch me, Fox!" she shouted.

"Watch me," Fox replied. He grabbed a handful of snow and secretly formed it in his cold hands. Adding more snow to his weapon, he watched as Maria grew impatient.

"Well, are you going to go after me or not?"

Looking up at Maria, then down at the snowball, Fox contemplated his next move. Finally, he lowered his head and smashed the snowball to the ground, deciding not to get revenge. It wasn't that he was always soft – it's just that he wouldn't know what to do if he ever hurt her.

"I give in!" Fox shouted over the landscape. "You win!"

"Oh no you don't!" she shouted with a smile.

Like a raging bull, Fox sprung to action on her last word and dashed up to his love. All she could do was back up a few steps, being totally caught off guard by his sudden movement. When he got closer, she shut her eyes and yelped, looking like she was about to get hit by an oncoming train. Within seconds he met her, stopping in perfect time, inches in front of her muzzle. Maria opened her eyes and glowed when she saw he didn't run her over.

Suddenly, her face turned more serious. "Fox," she started, "listen to me a minute, okay?" Fox nodded and put his hands on his hips, noticing the game was over. "We've been in love for a long time now, and we're nearly adults. Do you think that when we get older we will end up like Frankjo and Mrs. Milowski or my parents?"

Fox sighed. "No. No, we won't. Every moment of our time together will be filled with love. We won't have time to get sick, like Frankjo, and we won't have time to complain, like your father."

"Or live poor like all of us do," Maria interrupted.

Fox paced around her, and Maria turned to face him as he paced. "We will have a large house with a kitchen with a nice stone floor and a big stove." As Fox began his dream, Maria grinned. "In our house will be real beds, I mean, one bed, until we have children."

"How many will we have?" Maria asked.

"As many as you want," Fox replied. "We will be able to afford to raise them all. I promise."

"Where will we live, Fox?"

Fox grinned. "We will live wherever you want to live."

Maria focused her gaze upward as she thought. "Well, that's something we will figure out together. I always wanted to see Drawshk or great Cavask, but I don't know about living there."

"I think we'd get lost in those cities," Fox replied. Now it was his turn to make a suggestion. "We will have a two story home–"

"Two stories?" Maria inquired.

"Yes! Two stories, with a large bedroom, living room, kitchen, umm… a bathroom or two, and–"

Maria put a hand to Fox's muzzle. "Save the rest for later. Sometimes, dreams don't come true if you speak them aloud. But that statement is only half-true."

"How so?" Fox asked when Maria released him.

"Well, one of my dreams came true when I asked if you loved me and you said yes. Then you kissed me. That was another dream that came true." She put a hand to Fox's chest, and Fox looked down at it. "Someday, maybe more of my dreams will come true, but I must be patient so that God's timing will work perfectly in my life."

Before Fox could speak, he felt Maria's arm come across his back. "Maria, I share my dreams with you. Someday we might be able to fulfill more dreams, and I understand that God has timings that are different than what we want also."

"Fox?" Maria suddenly asked as her gaze rose from his chest to his eyes.

"Yes, Maria?"

"You can fulfill a dream of mine right now if you kiss me."

Gazing into the eyes of the frail vixen in front of him, Fox crept closer and bent his head downward to hers. Suddenly, he felt her lips meet his, and he closed his eyes almost as if his mind commanded him to do so. Then, with a cold gust of wind mixing around them, Fox moved his arms around Maria and gripped her closer to him. She fell into his strong arms, moving closer to his body and trusting him with everything. They allowed the kiss to go much deeper, moving their lips around each other's in a devoted fashion and keeping their eyes closed in the wintry art around them. Warm love heated them in the cold, and each fox refused to let the other one go. They hoped the moment would never end.