Winter
Ever since their talk under the stars, Marty and Todd were closer than ever. The two were inseparable. Although they had little money and no home to call their own, they were reasonably happy because they had each other. Marty knew she'd never make it without Todd. He was the one who kept her going, even when she wanted to give up.
The winter of 1895 was particularly difficult one. Freezing temperatures came early. Snow began to fall in late November. The earth was blanketed in a sheet of ice. Todd and Marty were struggling to stay warm. With no coat or mittens, their bodies were shivering.
"I'll find somewhere safe for us," he told Marty. "Come on." He couldn't let her stay outside with the freezing temperatures. He needed to find somewhere that was safe.
Marty hoped that Todd would find them a warm, safe place to stay. She was so cold. She carried her suitcase and Todd carried his. Even their blanket wouldn't be enough to keep them warm. There was no way they could sleep outside... at least not tonight.
They walked for what seemed like miles and miles until Todd spotted a building. It looked very old. It didn't look like anyone was using it for anything, so he led Marty over to it. They were able to find a way into the building through an open window. Todd went in first. He had Marty hand their suitcases to him. Then he helped Marty through the window.
Once they had climbed inside, they began to look around. They discovered that it was an old apartment building. "It smells like diapers and spoiled onions in here," Marty complained.
Despite the smell, it really wasn't all that bad. There were plenty of rooms. Some had abandoned items in them. Todd was surprised to find a nice, comfy feather bed. Someone had left it behind. He spread out the blanket and began to tidy up their new "home."
It wasn't the best of accommodations, but at least they had found shelter from the freezing wind. Marty was looking around as well. There were so many treasures to explore. To her, it was just like Christmas.
"It will give us shelter and warmth," he said, after setting up a nice place for them to sleep on.
Marty watched as Todd was making their bed. There was stove in the room and if they had firewood, perhaps they could stay warm. Marty was so cold. "Maybe we could use some of this old furniture for firewood for the stove," suggested Marty.
As she was sifting through the rubble in the old apartment building, she discovered an old pot. She showed it to Todd. "If we clean this up, maybe we could use it for cooking," said Marty.
"I don't know how to cook," Todd admitted. "We will see what furniture we can save and what we don't want, we could use as fire wood to keep warm."
"I don't know how to cook either. Maybe we can learn," said Marty. "I saw Mrs. Mendalhall, our housekeeper cooking many times. She just threw stuff into the pot."
"We have to be careful. Fire can be dangerous... and we don't want to burn ourselves," warned Todd. "Let's go see what furniture we can break up for firewood. I have a couple of matches. Maybe we can be warm tonight."
"Okay. We'll be careful. Have you ever built a fire?" she asked.
Todd shook his head. "No, but I watched my mom," Todd stated. "It shouldn't be that hard."
He looked around and found a couple of broken wooden chairs. The wood was already splintered. It was fairly easy to break the wood down into smaller pieces that would fit into the stove.
Marty watched as Todd strained to break down the old chairs. The wood snapped and soon there was a small pile of broken pieces. "You did a good job with that, Todd," Marty said.
"Thanks," said Todd as he gathered up the wood and headed over to the stove. He stuffed some wood inside and fumbled around for his matches.
Marty hoped they could get warm soon. Her fingers and toes were freezing. She waited, watching as Todd worked to build the fire.
Todd put a piece of newspaper into the stove with the broken up pieces of wood. He struck a match and set the newspaper on fire. After a few moments the flame caught on and the wood began to burn. Todd shut the stove and waited for the room to begin to heat up.
"We'll be warm in no time," he said to Marty. "I think we should get some sleep. In the morning, I can go out to get food."
She nodded. "I am sleepy," she admitted. "That bed looks comfy." Todd had made their new home so cozy.
"Let's get some rest," said Todd. He crawled into bed and waited for her to join him. After she laid down, he covered them both with their only blanket.
"Good night," Todd said.