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

“I suggest you listen to Tinspar and loweryourselves upon the raft,” Aleeria voiced. “Thosecreatures are not too happy, right about now…”

“Are those the bats you mentioned?” Willshouted to Tinspar.

Tinspar heaved down on the pole, pushing it withforce into the river bottom, allowing the raft to speedfurther along.

“Yes! Those are the wisp-fly bats!” he sputtered.“I think we may have surprised them as they were outspilling their magic into a grove of berry bushes!”

Will shook his head, wondering why they hadeven stopped to begin with—they were in a hurry as itwas to get to the witch! Now these awful things areready to end us! he thought fearfully to himself.

“Oh—and cover up!” the sorceress said to Will.“I’ve seen these a few times before; they have razorclaws to snatch with, and wiry tongues that inflictnumbing poison into the blood.”

Will nodded silently and plopped to the ground.“I shall do just that!” he said, as he quickly coveredhimself with the blanket.

Aleeria then floated past Tabitha to make sureshe was covered safely, and then moved over to Tinspar.She lowered herself on the rear edge of the raft, facingthe water as it flowed out and away from underneaththem.

Tinspar darted one of his big bug-like eye’s downto her and saw her whisking her ghostly hands into thewater; her eyes were closed in a some trance.

She’s using a bit of magic to speed us along! hethought.

The raft hit the main current of the river and wasmoving faster through the narrow channel when theswarm of wisp-fly bats suddenly overtook them. Theyswooped about the raft in a furious display—theirblack, webbed wings knocking into Anvil and Tinsparand the wagon cart, where Tabitha and Stella lay lowwith the knapsack of berries.

Tinspar was hopping about in a panic; his raillike body was glowing green as he grabbed his ironbladed pole and began swatting throughout the air atthe bats; he furiously batted a few far off into the river.

“Anvil!” Tinspar shouted to the robot, having toraise his voice above the shrieking sounds of the wispfly bats. “Quick—help get these mad creatures out ofour lives!”

Anvil twirled around and lifted off into the air.In seconds, his spidery-metal limbs moved out from hisbody, and he was spinning fast—his robotic eyesshredding the darkness with their crazy, reddish, laserlike lights.

Bats flew all about in a howling mess, as bothAnvil and Tinspar used all their strength and power tofight off the flying creatures.

From where she remained at the rear of the raft,the sorceress was doing her best to keep it moving in aspeedy fashion.

They were now entering into an area of the riverwhere a mass of thick, drooping vines hung heavilyoverhead. The vines seemed to create an archway ofsorts that offered to swallow the darkness and all thatflowed within it.

Anvil collided into the first of the vines, fallingto the raft with a loud thud. Tinspar heard the crashbehind him and spun fast around. He saw the robotlaying there with two of its metal limbs crushed beneathits iron body.

Will was quickly at Anvil’s side, throwing hisown blanket over the robot. He then turned his franticattention towards the wagon cart; a shiver of paniczipped up his spine as he saw one of the bats lifting offof the cart with Tabitha’s knapsack.

Oh no! Tabitha—Stella! he thought alarmingly.

Tinspar sprang fast upon the cart, ducking verylow from the massive vine archway that loomed downupon the raft. He sliced sideways through the air withhis iron-bladed pole and into the wisp-fly bat, cuttingboth wings from its body—the bat plunged into theriver with the knapsack.

Snatching the nearby iron lantern, Tinspar thenflung the blanket off of Tabitha. He saw that she wasmotionless; her eyes were glazed over, and her face wasa ghostly white.

“Tabitha!” Tinspar shouted, his eyes glowing redand his voice quivering. “Sweet, dear child, are youokay?” He shook her, but there was no response.

He bounced off the cart to find Will and almostfell over him. Will was laying at the edge of the raft,fishing out the floating knapsack with the raft pole.

“Got it!” Will exclaimed, as Tinspar helped lifthim off his feet.

Will moved to the cart and found Tabitha lyingstill, almost lifeless. She had a tiny blood wound on herneck from where the bat had poisoned her.

“Oh, dear child!”



Hours later, after having escaped the madness ofthe wisp-fly bat attack, the party was now floating outfrom the tail end of the constricted, vine-drooping riverpassage. The river was widening, and they soon hadsome moonlight to see about in their surroundings.

Giant, white sheets of frozen waterfalls blanketedboth sides of the river—the river which had nowdropped to freezing temperatures. Large chunks of icewould occasionally float by the raft, bumping orscraping alongside it.

They could see that the black and gray ash wascontinuing to fall, blown in from the winds that carriedthe volcano-erupted clouds high into the sky. The ashcovered much of the river.

Tinspar had to break away from Tabitha, whoremained in a lifeless state, in order to help Will raise amakeshift tarp above the raft. The tarp covered themlike a tent from the filthy ash and soot, as well as fromany other wisp-fly bats that should happen to passoverhead.

It had been many days and countless nights oftravel since the volcanoes had erupted in the Land ofIron and Anvil, and the party’s supply of food and icecrystals was growing thin, as were the weary travelers,themselves. Anvil was in need of repair; Tabithaneeded a remedy if she were to awaken from the wispfly bat’s numbing poison; and time was fading quicklyto defeat the witch and end her evil wrath: the volcanicgas clouds were spreading fast across the lands,bringing their dark sleep spell within them.

They had to move fast, or the entire realm wouldforever be doomed.

With Tinspar’s suggestion, Will hastened himselfto crush some of the berries and feed them to Tabitha inthe form of a tea drink. Within a few hours, Tabithabreathed new life into her body—the magic within theberries of the wisp-fly bats, had worked!

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