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

your eyes open for anything that’ll floatall of us down the river!” he shouted back over hisshoulder.

They trudged tirelessly on for hours, along theside of the dark river at a solemn and silent pace.Tinspar, Will, and the sorceress kept their eyes peeled insearch of a craft of some sort that would set them on aswifter course towards the canyon narrows. Tabithakept Stella company in the back of the wagon cart thatAnvil continued to selflessly tow.

When the light had fallen, and evening cameupon them all, they stopped and set up camp. A smallfire was started, and Will once again cooked up anothermeal of dried fish. The air had grown very chilly, andthey all had to pull out blankets from the back of thecart to wrap themselves in.

Aleeria had gone down towards the water’s edgewhile the others ate; only a faint, bluish hint of colormarked her appearance as she floated about. Tabithakept her eyes on her, watching how she moved with ahaunting grace through the falling ash that fluttereddown upon the river and drooping vines of the witheredtrees.

Later, as everyone had slept and the embers ofthe fire crackled in their low glow of light, a fewstrange creatures lurked up from the banks of the river,moving silently towards the sorceress. She waved theminward towards her as she waited some distance awayfrom the camp.

The creatures were ghastly in appearance andcovered with the mud and gunk from the depths of theriver. Large, yellowish eyes ballooned outward fromtheir dish-shaped heads, and slithery forked tonguesflicked about from their pinched mouths.

A shrill and odd cackle from some far-offblackbird shattered the silence, stopping the creaturesfrom moving for an instant. They darted their eyesabout and gurgled some strange sort of sound into theair. Then, with a flick of her wrists, the sorceresssummoned them to continue further upwards from theriver embankment.

From the back of the wagon cart, Tabitha stirredand awoke. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and satup. Peering over the edge of the front of the cart andthrough some over hanging vines, she saw the bluishglow of the sorceress motioning her hands towards theriver bank.

What in the great realm is she up too? Tabithathought to herself.

Turning her eyes towards the river bank, Tabithathen saw the creatures slithering up towards thesorceress.

Oh my! she thought with great surprise.

Behind the creatures, tied to their spiked andthorny tails with the roots of the trees, a wooden raftmoved upwards from the river. And hovering above theraft was Anvil! He had other vines connected to hismetal limbs, and was using them as ropes to help haulthe raft in, as well.

A raft! Tabitha’s mind hollered. She is gettingsome buried raft for us, and she’s using her old magicto do it!

Suddenly, as Aleeria waved her hands throughthe air, the creatures stopped. Anvil paused and whirledthe end of the raft up on the edge of the embankment.With another flick of her wrists, she commanded Anvilto untie the vines from the creatures tails; withinmoments, the creatures were slithering back into river,their glowing eyes fading under the flowing water.

Tabitha pulled the hood of her cloak over herhead, and crawled off the cart, careful not to awakenStella. As she moved over to the sorceress, she bumpedinto Anvil who was returning back to the campsite.With a frightened startle, Anvil let out a loud bleep.

In a heartbeat, Will and Tinspar awoke and werescrambling about in a sleepy, confused state. Stellapanicked and leapt from the wagon cart. She rantowards them, knocking Tinspar off his feet as he washeading in the direction of Anvil and Tabitha.

“Ouch!” Tinspar cried out in a gritty tone whenhe hit his head into a tree. “What in the ringing batbells below is going on!”

Tabitha and Anvil quickly moved over to theothers. Anvil seemed clearly upset for the disturbancethat had been caused: his metal limbs were tuckedinside his iron-plated, round body, and his metal eyeswere withdrawn into his dome-top, like a turtle hidingin its shell.

“What, pray tell, is all the ruckus?” Will blurted,looking about in a daze. “Anvil—what happened? Areyou okay, my friend?”

Anvil bleeped and whistled shyly. Will lookedhim over, tapping the robot’s metal panels and checkingits metallic eyes.

“He’s fine!” Tabitha exclaimed. “He was helpingthe sorceress—they got us a raft!”

Tinspar had gathered himself up and was nowover by the sorceress and the newly discovered raft.His bulging eyes were alight in a greenish glow as helooked over the raft in astonishment.

“I—I can’t believe it!” he shouted, his tree-likelegs dancing about on the top of the wooden planks ofthe raft. “Will—come quick! We have a raft!”

Will was shocked when he and Tabitha got to theraft. He looked up from the raft over to the sorceress,and then to Tabitha.

“This lovely, magical spirit got us a raft!” Tinsparstated, waving his hand towards Aleeria.

Tabitha grinned and nodded, her big blue eyesbouncing with joy. “I know, I saw! And she used somecrazy creature-like things from the river to help out,too!”

Will just shook his head, overjoyed that they nowhad a means to move faster to their goal. Rubbing hishands through his tousled hair, he went over to Aleeriaand gracefully bowed to her, thanking her. She onlysmiled and glided over to Anvil.

“You have this little robot to truly thank,” shesaid sweetly, placing a transparent hand on Anvil’s irondome-top. “He was the one that spotted it under thedepths of this river with his magical metal eyes!”

The others moved around Anvil, smiles on alltheir faces. Anvil just swiveled and twittered about, shyfrom all the sudden attention.

“Well, that’s my little Anvil!” Will snapped, awide grin and a glint of pride shining in his old eyes. “Iknew the little fix-ups I put into him over the yearswould come in handy!”

“That’s some magic for ya, right there!” Tabithasaid.

Will let out a loud, hefty chuckle. “Yes indeed,my dear child! Yes indeed!”



It was not until two days later, when the raft haddried offenough to set it forth upon the river—thatthey made haste and moved out. The raft proved to be afair match for