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

fewmore big fish; and Ranger had slept most of the time onthe wagon-cart.

After stopping to eat the freshly caught fish atWill’s tree house and resting for a night, Will decided itwas best to abandon the river and the raft, and continuetraveling by way of land towards the gray grasslands oftheir old homestead.

With the wagon-cart being towed along by therobot-droid, (using an old extension wire Will hadstowed in the raft, along with many of his other irontrinkets) they moved wearily on.

After another two days and nights of travel, thefour had finally entered the Land of Iron and Anvil.With the sun just beginning to rise over the horizon, thefour of them moved into the metal and iron structuredtown. They had made it home. But the home theymade it back to had been abandoned and mostly inruins. The witch-lady’s earlier storm-spell—the sameone that had left the robot an orphan before Sonnyfound it—had created a huge crater in the ground.Most of the buildings, mining and drilling equipment,and all the anvil-created, robot-droids from the old ironhouse, lay buried at the bottom.

“My, my…the ruins of our old homeland,” Willsaid bitterly, gazing into the crater.

Sonny and Ranger stood by the crater’s edge,peering into the muck and metallic mess. The robothovered nearby, whistling sadly as it, too, looked intothe graveyard of other robot-droids.

Suddenly the faint sound of a tiny ringing bellechoed forth through the air. Ranger started barkingloudly towards the other side of the crater. Will andSonny looked in the dog’s direction and felt their heartsrise—they could see the other orphans waving at themfrom across the way!

Kelsey’s voice bellowed from across the otherside of the crater: “Hello! Will—Sonny! We made it!We are here!” She waved her arms about—the tiny bellstill tied to her finger, ringing through the air.

Will’s eyes lit up with joy as he looked over tothem. They made it!

Sonny was laughing and hopping about as therobot hovered over the crater to greet Kelsey and theorphans. Some could be seen jumping up and down;others running around the crater’s edge to meet up withWill and Sonny.

“Well, I think this can only mean one thing, mygood fellow…” Will said happily. “We start a brandnew town in this land! One that will make all of therealm sing songs about us, rejoicing at the birth of anew and magical age! And the Land of Iron and Anvilas a new home for orphaned children throughout therealm!”

Sonny could only nod in agreement, overcome ashe was with relief and heartfelt joy.

Kelsey reached the other side of the crater andran straight to Sonny, grabbing him and hugging himwith all her might.

“Don’t you ever fall asleep like that again,buddy!” she said teasingly. “But if you do, then I guessI’m going to have to do this to you—” She tilted herhead and gave him a big kiss. “To wake you up!”

Sonny stepped back; his eyes sparkled, and hisface was bright red from blushing. Will laughed andshook his head. Ranger barked, his tail wagging wildlyas he jumped all over Sonny. Kelsey just smiled.

“Hey—I got an idea, Will!” Sonny said withdelight, finally settling Ranger down and looking intothe crater. “Let’s turn this big ol’ crater into one giant,fishin’ hole!”

Kelsey smiled and slid her arm underneathSonny’s arm, grasping his hand. They peered into thecrater. After a moment, Sonny turned and looked intoher eyes. He smiled, feeling the spirit of her magicsmiling back at him.

Will grinned; his eyes sparkled with a new-foundinspiration. As a soft drizzle of rain began falling, hewalked over and stood next to them. He watched asRanger and the robot guided the other orphans safelyaround the crater’s edge.

~ Epilogue

And so it was, after a few years of rebuilding thetown and the old iron house—with the help from thefew that did return from the war in the north, as well asmany anvil-created, robot-droids—that the Land of Ironand Anvil had become home for hundreds of lost andorphaned children.

The crater was soon filled with water, carriedforth from the ancient river by miles of ditches—thehard work of many helpful robot-droids and theirblacksmith creators.

After Sonny and Kelsey set up a fishing camparound the crater’s lake, they married and had two kidsof their own—which included Will’s brave, little robot.

They named it—Anvil.

~The Shades of Fate

~ PROLOGUE

In a faraway realm…

In the shadows of a forgotten land…

It has been years since the Land of Shadows wasfreed from the dark magic of the evil witch-lady, andthe threat of her rule over the realm vanquished.Having been spellbound by the witch’s twisted use ofsorcery, the land and its orphanage were the center ofher wicked plans: to transform all the lands in the realminto a deep and eternal sleep and, thus, bring the entirerealm under her devilish rule.

For it was the witch’s resentful attitude towardsthe new-found “metallic magic,” as those in the Land ofIron and Anvil had come to call the creation of theirrobotic-droids, that she had formed a bitter hatred forany other ways that differed from the old beliefs ofsorcery—most especially her own belief of sorcery.After she had fled the Land of Iron and Anvil, thewitch-lady had set up a new life where she could delveinto her own darker practices of magic. And so in theLand of Shadows, she had brewed a sinister plan toensnare the realm within her clutches.

But with the help of the adventurous boy, Sonny,the orphaned girl, Kelsey, the robot, Anvil, and itscreator, the blacksmith named Will, the orphans hadbeen saved. The threat of the evil witch’s rule over therealm had been crushed.

After helping to rebuild the Land of Iron andAnvil which had been brought to ruin from the witch’sprevious storm-spell, Will had moved on to live in asecluded area somewhere in the north of the realm.Sonny and Kelsey had married and had a daughter oftheir own. They had taken on the responsibilities of theland, including overseeing the mining operations in thevolcanoes to the south, where the ancient technologythat produced the robot-droids had been discovered,and tending to a fishing camp that had been set up inand around a crater, which was