Note: The Bible passages read in this chapter really do exist in the Bible and so it is not my fault at all if they offend any of you. And I also do not care if anyone is offended by the conclusion Fabrizio and Jack come to because of them.

It was now the month of August and they were staying once again at a new campsite. This one was by far the most exquisitely beautiful that they had been to yet. It was a vast expanse of land that was left completely untouched by the war going on around everywhere else it seemed. The grass was lushly green and well cut and flowers were decorating the sides along with many trees that were bearing luscious fruits such as apples, oranges, and pears. There was also a grape vineyard nearby.

As they approached the property they could hear various birds singing their late summertime songs amongst each other. It warmed Fabrizio's heart to hear this and also to see all of the beauty around them. It reminded him somewhat of his childhood home in Italy with his parents. He found himslef wishing briefly for a moment that he and his new family could live together in such a beautiful place. He wondered if perhaps they someday might after this war was done with.

They entered the grand country house and once again they ate their fill of the food that was prepared for them and got themselves cleaned up really good also. In the days that followed, Fabrizio, who was still seeking to console his heart and mind over the traumatization of witnessing the deaths of several very close friends and comrades, decided he would do his part to make their stay here as nice and refreshing as possible. So he spoke with the chef there, who was a rather boisterous Frenchman who loved what he did, and asked if he could assist him in preparing the meals for the troops.

"Well, I'm not sure," said the French chef with hesitation.

"But, I can really make the food extra good and special for us all," Fabrizio asserted to him. "Because I learned how to from the years of working with my Mama and Uncle Giovanni in the tratorria in our town in Italia."

So then the chef sighed and said, "Well, I never really imagined I would be getting services from an Italian but I feel I should give you a try nevertheless."

"Grazie," Fabrizio said. "You will not regret this, I promise."

And he did not regret it, either. Because Fabrizio was everything he said he was for he not only really knew how to make meals that were of his own country, but also others too. For instance he really could make the most excellent breakfasts. Which the chef was soon to find out for himself.

"Oh my!" said the chef after he had tasted of Fabrizio''s pancakes. "I do hope you will forgive me for my initial skepticism of you."

Fabrizio smiled and nodded and then together they served the tables. Then when the others came down and sat around them to hungrily ingest their breakfast, Fabrizio and Jack noticed someone new who they hadn't before but who they also easily recognized. It was Alvin York.

They sat down beside of him and Jack said, "Alvin, remember us? We're Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi."

"Course I remember you fellas," Alvin replied warmly in his country accent. "Good to see you again."

"It's good to see you again also," said Fabrizio smiling. "Though a bit of a surprise to also. We thought you didn't want to be in the war and was going to tell them back at training camp."

Alvin smiled and replied, "Well, I did, and I did tell those back there that was what I wanted and then we had a talking together and they helped me to understand the reasons why we are fighting in this war and that they are for the good too. And I also took some time away back at my old home in Tennessee country and I prayed a lot and I felt that God was telling me to go on in and just do my best and that he would look after me through it all."

"Ah, I see," said Jack. "Good for you."

"Si," Fabrizio said without any heart to his voice.

"Is something the matter?" Alvin inquired with concern.

Fabrizio sighed and replied, "It's just that lately I've been confused about God. I mean, on the night before we left to go across the sea I prayed to him to watch over all of us and to protect us so that we would all live through the war and come home again. And then... a few months ago we were in battle and one of us, Marco Magilio, was killed. And then another of us, one of the Kenderson twins was killed also, and his brother seems to be going so crazy with grief now and I'm so worried he won't make it through this war either. And I also worry about who might be next, and I don't want it to be me, or Jack, or... any of us!"

Alvin had listened patiently as Fabrizio had spoke. Now he said with a knowing nod. "I see. You is beginning to lose faith in the Lord now. Well, I suppose that may be a natural thing at times like this. But still you must always keep in your heart that the Lord knows best for all and loves us also. And if you are still confused about it then I will gladly lend you my Bible which I have here with my. It is in my room. I'm sure that once you've read it through you'll find your faith again just as I always have."

"Okay," said Fabrizio.

So then right after breakfast, Alvin got his Bible and handed it to Fabrizio. Then he along with Jack went back to their room and sat down and began to read from it. However, instead of having his faith in God reinstated he found himself now thinking of God as being the most violent, repulsive maniac he had ever heard of.

In the Book of Genesis he read the following passage:

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

"This is even worse to do than any war started by man!" Fabrizio exclaimed to Jack after reading it. "Because wars do not kill everyone, let alone every single creature alive on Earth!"

"You're right, Fabri," said Jack. "You're absolutely right. And I remember this story about how God had saved only Noah and his immediate family from the great flood."

"Then that must mean all people of all nations today come from that one family," Fabrizio said speaking his mind.

"That's right!" Jack exclaimed. "I never thought of that. And if I had thought of that... then I never would have believed that story was true at all."

They continued to read more in the Bible then. And in Exodus Chapter Twelve they found the following passage:

And it came to pass that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

Fabrizio was so horrified to read this that he loudly gasped and turning to Jack he exclaimed, "Mamma Mia! This is the most terrible, most horrible injustice I have ever heard of! Because while the Pharoah was certainly bad there was no reason to take the life of his only child."

"You're right, Fabri," said Jack. "You're absolutely right. And what was the point of killing not just the Pharoah's firstborn, but all of the firstborns of Egypt, including the ones of the animals. That is the sickest thing I've ever heard of!"

They continued to read more in the Bible and very shortly in the same Book of Exodus they found yet another remarkable passage:

Then he said to them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.'" The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

Fabrizio and Jack stared hard at the page in front of them and then they slowly turned to stare at each other as they at once realized what this passage was saying. It said that God had commanded Moses to start a bloody and holy war that was meant to kill everyone who was a brother, friend and, or neighbor. So in other words if they were there then to follow it they would have to kill each other.

Slowly Fabrizio turned the pages in the Bible forward, and then he found another passage in the Book of Numbers that made him feel nearly physically ill. It said:

Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that hath not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

Fabrizio began to curse silently in Italian under his breath while Jack muttered several curses under his own. Then after a moment of silence Fabrizio said with hot bitter tears slowly coming into his eyes,

"God would want me to go out and to murder all the little boys, little boys like my Antonio, and all the women who are like your bella Rosa and my own wife, and then to keep and enslave all of the little girls who are like my little Hellene."

Jack sat up very straight and held his head up firmly and then said with decision and determination, "Well, I would never do that any more than you would. And another thing I am not going to do is believe in any God ever again. How about you?"

"I agree, and I won't either," Fabrizio confirmed. "Because I now completely understand that God must not be real and that believing in anything that must not be real is a bad thing to do."

"Exactly," Jack agreed. "And I suppose I ought to have thought of that when I learned the truth about Santa Claus also."

Fabrizio smiled and said, "Si, and I suppose Alvin must have been reading a completely different book all the time."

"And he can have it if he wants it," added Jack. "But as for me, from now on I'm only going to believe things that can actually be proven to be true."