The Gunpowder Society

6. "The First Supper"

The boys dug through the closet and found a set of clothes that fit fairly well.  They washed up and opened the door of their room to go to dinner.  However they quickly remembered that they did not know where the dining room was. 

They stepped out into the hallway from which they came and could hear a few voices off in a certain direction and decided to follow the source.  The two boys walked slowly as they both took in their new surroundings and tried to follow the noises.  They passed what looked like a classroom, a personal study, a fitness room filled with unorthodox objects, and a kitchen before they came to what had to be the dining room.

“Did you guys get settled in?” greeted Mary warmly as the boys stood at the doorway of the dining room.

“Yeah, our bedroom is awesome,” Peter answered enthusiastically.

“Candles work alright?” HP asked sarcastically.

Mary turned to HP with a confused look.  He returned a look that the boys had been acting mischievously.  Mary turned back to the boys and squinted her eyes as if she were in deep thought, “Did you guys bond?”

The two just nodded in sync.

“Great.  It’s a good thing you two work well together already.”

“Boys please be seated and we’ll get started with dinner,” requested Fr. Maven.

The boys took seats in two open chairs next to one another.  Peter looked across the table and saw his sister Margaret in a high chair in between Mary and Gwen.  Mary was happily spoon feeding Margaret and upon his entry gave Peter an expression of ‘how great is this?’ in reference to her she-can’t-freeze-it-if-she-can’t-touch-it approach, and wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“In the name of the Father,” Fr. Maven began as he touched his forehead.  Everyone at the table joined in, “the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Bless us oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are able to receive.  From Thy bounty, through Christ, oh Lord.  Amen.”

Dinner began and consisted of huge community bowls of food to be shared in the center of the table.  The food variety was good, and the quality was great.  Bruce began eating rapidly and silently.  Peter noticed Mary had fixed a plate for Gwen from which she was feeding her.  He got up and walked to the other side of the table and began cutting up his sister’s food into smaller pieces, all while giving Mary the evil eye which she never noticed.

After the meal was officially in swing Fr. Maven got up and walked over to a table off in the periphery of the room and opened a bottle of wine.  He then proceeded to go around the room and filled up each wine glass, of which each person had one in front of them. 

“I say a toast is in order.”  He grabbed his wine glass and stood up, “A toast to the first new set of students in…” he turned to the older students. 

Mary inserted, “Almost fourteen years.”

“…the first in fourteen years.  I, as do the older students, know well that it is tremendously difficult to be suddenly removed from your normal surrounding and asked to join a group that you have never heard of, full of people you have never met, and to train tirelessly to take on a mission that you do not understand.  However, I am very convinced that each of us has been given gifts by God.  The giving of these gifts is as much grace as it is a tasking.  The Lord didn’t choose to give us gifts that He did not give to others so that we could hide and remain unfound.  He did so because he knew that each one of us would have the strength, mindfulness and faith to use our specific gifts for good. 

With that being said, I toast the new members and their selfless decision to leave their regular lives and to join a world that is abnormal and unknown by most.  You have made an admirable choice, and I am grateful to have each of you.”  He raised his glass in the direction of the new students.  The new students raised their glasses in response, “To the freshman,” he said in closing.