Day 6 (minus the outtakes)

As he walked, he contemplated the times he lived in. Just in the years that he had been at the abbey, from a young lad until just yesterday, his betters had lobbed his spirituality around like suttlecock across a playing field. In the years he had known his father, he was certain that his unrepentant soul would roast in Beelzebub's hell-fires without the aid of papal intercession. In his adolescence he was bound to profess that common man had the wherewithal to know God's word. But even just since that time, the brethren of the abbey had reversed their teaching and threatened him once again with fire and brimstone.

He was not alone in the confusion. The priest of his village of birth, at the time of the reformation of Church ideals, was encouraged to seek and take a wife. Having done so, and having had two sons by that woman, was then asked to turn her out and away, abandon his sons, and embrace again the one and holy Church of Rome. At his refusal, the palace had sent a squad to rip the man from the bosom of his home and flock, and to hang him for heresy of the day.

Renaldo shook his head in frustration as he recalled these facts. With an ever-changing set of rules, he was at a loss as to the welfare of his soul, and with that, the meaning of his life and actions.

-----

The young horse allowed herself to be led into the stable, brushed, watered, fed, and left for the evening. Had there been a witness, it would have been evident that the bay implicitly trusted her master. Helmuth checked that her refilled water pail was sufficient for the night and latched the gate.

Tonight would be a fair night, with partly cloudy skies to barely obscure the stars overhead. Even so, the spotty cloud cover would ensure that temperatures would not drop too low, and that the horse would sleep comfortably.

He walked the short distance to his small house and opened the door. He had been gone the full length of the day and, as no fire had been built, had a few hours of labor ahead of him if he was to prepare a cooked dinner. Instead, he made do with some leftover bread and soup from the night previous and sat down on his pallet to rest and enjoy.