Chapter 1

It was a dark night several months later. Rain and sleet were coming down in sheets and the wind was sweeping it around furiously. Doors and windows were trembling against the onslaught of both air and water on the dilapidated house where some street people had taken refuge. Pierce Bridgeport, because of the wet cold was almost sick.

It was a dreadful night. The blanket over him was not thick enough to keep the cold from seeping in and the small brazier next to his mattress on the floor was too weak to keep anything warm. There wasn't heat, only a small comfort in the dim red glow coming from the few, almost burned out coals, overwhelmed every now and again by the bright lightning in the skies

He was counting his heartbeats to keep his attention away from the roaring thunder and to occupy his thoughts with something other than the weather and memories of his parents, mostly of his mother; and of his warm bed and comfortable room in what he now thought of as his lost forever home. At sixteen and protected from the worst aspects of life, nature's ferocity was unsettling to say the least.

Somewhere along the way, in the wee hours of the night, the cold became even more biting, when his body started to shiver, he realized that the red glow from the brazier had died. The coals had gone out and there were only ashes. He curled himself into as tight a ball as he could; wrapped himself from all around to minimize the cold coming inside the blanket and started praying. Night was more than half over and the rain wasn't showing any signs of subsiding and he started dreaming.