Little Orphan Anvil: The Complete Trilogy by Joseph Beekman (best contemporary novels .TXT) 📕

Along the way, Kelsey heard the tales of bothWill and Sonny, and of how they met and of the historyof the science rediscovered by the iron craftsmen. Shelearned that the robot-droids had been something thatexisted many centuries before, and that, until recently,had been just a strange myth. She also learned thatwhen the craftsmen started using this ancient sciencethemselves, for inventing and constructing these metalrobot-droids, it was then that they believed it to be agreat part of the magic they already believed in. For therobot-droids, once completed, seemed to have a sweetand magical spirit in them as well.

But of course the witch-lady, who had beenliving in the Land of Iron and Anvil when this sciencewas beginning to unravel, fled—not taking kindly tothe craftsmen’s new beliefs in both metal and magic.

~Chapter IX~ The Land of Shadows

Upon the third day of travel, the party had finallyreached the end of the haunted and icy valley. Lookingdown from an overpass, they saw a wide expanse of afog-filled valley; its landscape mottled with somemoonlight and silent gloom. Crouched low behind aledge, they stared in silence. And then all three hadseemed to notice two things at once: tiny figures withina mass of twisting vines; and they appeared to moveslowly around giant, round, and distorted shapes.

Will let out a sigh of relief: they had found theorphans, and they were still alive. “Thank the spirits!”he said heartily. “The children are still here.”

Suddenly remembering the robot’s bright eyelights, Will switched its electric eyes to night-timevision. “There we go. Now he can see in the dark, butwe won’t be given away!”

As she looked off to the left, Kelsey could justmake out the top of the mansion’s roof. “And there’sthe orphanage mansion; I can see its roof top.”

Will and Sonny turned to look, seeing its pointedrooftop sticking out from the fog. “So where is thisbarn you said you lived and worked in, Will?” Sonnyasked.

Will looked to the far right and pointed into thedistance. “Over yonder, back a ways under that thickblanket of dark fog. Wow—don’t remember such fogaround before, but then this place has taken a turn forthe worse,” he said somberly. “We best get down closerto the fields and get a better idea of what we’ll do.”

*******

Having made it safely to the edge of the oldorchard fields, Will, Sonny, and Kelsey quietly peeredthrough a mass of vines. As they watched, they couldsee a few of the orphans carrying great cables of vinesupon their shoulders, moving them from one area toanother. A few others could be seen digging around avery large pumpkin, their movements sluggish, butdetermined.

“Look at them!” Kelsey whispered loudly to theothers. “Their eyes are pitch black, and I can’t believehow pale their skin now looks! I hope we are not toolate…”

Will couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Theorphaned children were not at all the same anymore. Itseemed as if the spark of life had been stolen from theirvery beings. His heart sank. “That evil witch of alady—she will not be getting away with this!”

Sonny crawled nearer to Will and Kelsey; therobot and Ranger kept back behind them at a distance.

“It looks like she has made them into robots ofher own!” Sonny pointed out. “See how they look andhow they move? No signs of life!”

“Yes, yes!” Will huffed. “Just movement; onlydoing what has been ordered for them to do: tend tothese awful pumpkins and her evil ways!” He clenchedhis jaw and frowned in disbelief.

“I’d say your little robot-droid has more life thanany one of them!” Kelsey observed.

Will nodded in agreement. Then, like a flash oflightning, he jolted up.

“I remember now! Her way to control theseorphans is through an ancient crystal!” he exclaimedwith shock. “It just came to me! I remember spotting iton a mantle in her living quarters. She must be usingher sorcery to control their minds by means of thiscrystal shard. I knew there was something mysteriousand odd about that piece! I had seen it in her room thenight I introduced the droid to her orphanage!”

“But what about them pumpkins? I thought theywere causing the orphans to act all loony?” Sonnyasked, looking over to one of the giant pumpkins.

Will looked out to the pumpkins. “Oh yes—indeed they are! But then through her dark magic andthe crystal shard is she able to control them remotely.”

“Otherwise, without this crystal, anyone underthe spell of the pumpkins would just be sleepwalking?”Kelsey asked. “Not even knowing where to go or whatto do?”

“Precisely, young lady!” Will intoned. “She usesone form of her magic to join hands with the other. Inother words, a sleep magic—her pumpkin spell, and thecrystal’s magic—which allows her to give orders tothose under this pumpkin spell.”

“Basically, she’s creating robot-puppets out oforphans!” Kelsey cried with mixed emotions. “So whatmust we do?”

“The pumpkins—they all have the power of herspell, so they all have to be destroyed by severing theirvines,” Will began. “All the vines to be sure! But tofree the orphans—” he pondered, considering this withcareful thought.

Finally Will’s eyes lit up, and he turned to theothers. “We split up! I will go with the robot-droid tothe old barn and wait there, quickly making a fewadjustments to it. Kelsey—” He looked into her eyes.“Seeing as you know the mansion quite well, you willsneak into the back by way of the old cellar. AndSonny—” he said sternly, looking to him. “You must bebrave and go into the mansion, pretending to be a lostorphan who has been wandering the wilds.”

Sonny nodded; curious. “Well…what do youintend for us all to do then, Will?”

“You’ll enter and introduce yourself to the ladyand say you need shelter. Just take it from there. Mostlikely she’ll lead you off to some room where you’ll beput up for the night, that is until she is ready to use you.But you must keep her distracted, keep her occupied.Don’t fear, young lad—this plan will hurry itself ifKelsey does her part right.”

Kelsey winced. “Do my part right?” she askedwith surprise.

Will grinned. “What I meant,