For the first time since they had left Castagna she felt at peace. She had never spoken aloud her worst fear; it had simply lived with her, deep in her heart, the fear that they had offended God and broken His design for them. She knew, by the Church’s teaching, that there was a great design in life, wrought by God just as surely as the seasons followed one on another and plants sprouted from seed and women brought forth children.

But now she saw her journey not as a curse or a rent in God’s design, but instead as the addition of another motif that would enrich the great pattern. After all, the nut falls from the parent tree to start its own growth; and the wind blows about the seedlings of plants that fall to earth far distant from where they started. So it must be with some people, for surely the Lord wanted His earth populated and tilled, not left idle. And as she looked from the train window and saw the expanses of land, the old fear left her heart and certainty of her future took its place.

She was reminded of the old story of the three orphans that she had heard so many times among the women of Castagna. She looked at the restless older boys and said, “Sit still, here, near me, and I’ll tell you a story so that you can learn to have faith in God’s Providence.” And she found contentment in the rhythms and phrases of the folktale she began to tell.

“There were three orphan boys, each of whom set out, one at a time, the eldest first, to find his fortune. ‘Whoever wants me for a servant, him will I serve,’ cried the first orphan as he came to a town. A fine signore came to a balcony and said he’d take the boy on if he would obey in everything, and the boy agreed.

“The next morning the master called the boy and said, ‘Take this letter, mount this horse, and let him take you where you must go to deliver the letter. But do not touch the reins because it will make him turn back.’

“The boy rode off until they arrived on the edge of a ravine, where, frightened, he pulled the reins and the horse turned back to town. His master then said, ‘You didn’t go where I sent you, you must leave my service. Go to that pile of money, take what you want, and then go.’

“The orphan filled his pockets and left, but as he did so he went straight to Hell.

“When the other two orphans saw that their older brother didn’t return, the second decided to go out and seek his fortune, too. And he was hired by the same master and given the same instructions. But he, too, pulled the horse’s reins on the edge of the ravine and was brought back to town, where he was let go, told to take what money he wanted, and after leaving, went straight to Hell.