Wishful thinking

<p>&nbsp; The wind bit deeply into the tips of their noses. The snow had started early for the season and they'd had to rush to bring in the last of the harvest before the first frost. Now winter had its icy fingers into all of their flesh. It was the burden of the watchmen to keep them safe. </p>
<p>Noel would be twenty three this winter. It would be his fifth winter in the watch since he'd become a man of the village. That he still had not offered for a bride was a very popular subject at the local tavern. </p><p>
His bachellor status worried his mother, and it concerned his grandfather. But his father was very quiet about it; when he was home long enough to acknowledge he was still living there.</p>
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