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

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Peering over the edge of the crevice, Tinsparspied around the dry riverbed of the narrows. A mist offog lay low over the stone-riddled and ash covered area.He could see a slightly darker mist rising from an areain the riverbed, not too far from where the party hadnow stopped.

Directly below Tinspar, from where he stood on aledge in the crevice, Tabitha and Will were whisperingto each other about how they should best begin theirapproach to the witch’s burial spot.

“SH!” Tinspar hissed over his shoulder. “Wedon’t want to alert that witch now that we’ve made itthis far!”

They looked upwards at him, and then wavedhim back down to their own level. Tinspar reluctantlystepped back down to where they were.

“What are you two chatting about?” he whispered loudly. “You know, I can see where her burial spotis!”

“Good!” Will said. “Now listen: I don’t knowhow long it may be before that sorceress gets back to usto tell us if we have the help of those ghosts, but wecan’t just wait here forever!” He pointed up into thegray sky. “Them black gas clouds are growing lower bythe minute, and we have to get into action—fast!”

Tinspar looked up and saw the volcanic clouds;they were creeping just above the tops of the canyonwalls. The spell was nearing. He turned back to Will.

“Okay, well, then I say we get this robot of yoursand send it up into those cave pockets; see if it can alertAleeria and let her know that we need to get going!”

Will and Tabitha looked at him in bewilderment.“Why, I think you are as mad as one of thosestone trader ghosts, too!” Will snarled. “We do that,and we would be wasting more precious time! Besides,the robot may scare those ghosts into another realm,altogether! No, my good lad—I have a better idea.”

“Okay, let’s hear it,” Tinspar replied impatiently.

“Instead of waiting for Aleeria to get back to uswith an answer as to the ghosts helping us, I am goingto send Anvil out now.” Will moved over to Anvil andopened one of the panels on the droid’s side.

“Like we discussed before, Anvil will hover justabove the witch’s lair; then, using his eye-lights, he willbeam rays of light up to the cave pockets—”

“Alerting Aleeria—yes, I remember.” Tinsparsaid, completing Will’s thoughts. “So, with or withoutthose crazy ghosts, she’ll have to come to our aid!”

Will nodded. “Precisely! Hoping that she’ll beokay, that is…” He pressed a few buttons on an insidepanel of Anvil, setting the robot into a hovering motion.“And if she is okay—hope she is able to see the signalin time. We can only hope, my good fellow!”

Tinspar scratched his wiry chin, pondering thesituation for a moment. “Well, I’ve never been morethan ready!” He looked over to Tabitha. “What do youthink, young Tabitha?”

Tabitha breathed deeply, nodding her head. “If itmeans seeing my mother and father again, then ofcourse—let’s do it!”

“I just think you love the idea of sealing thiswitch in a jar forever!” Will joked. “Uh, so to speak.”

“Yep! Just like my mother had done with thatfirefly when she was little!” Tabitha snickered inagreement.

Will turned to Anvil and gently placed his handon the robot’s rusted, iron surface.

“Good luck to you, old pal,” he said, his voiceshaking with sadness. His eyes were becoming teary,wondering if this was the last he’d ever see of hismagical creation. “Make us proud.”

Anvil quietly bleeped a few times in response,and then slowly he hovered up and out of the crevice.His eye-lights were turned off, and his motor driveswere set to the lowest hum possible.

“Well, you have my trust and faith, Will,” Tinsparsaid, watching as Anvil soared up into the dark, mistynight air. “I know you did the right thing…whateverthe outcome may be.”

Tabitha wiped a few tears from her eyes as she,too, stared off at the robot. “I sure hope he doesn’t gethurt.”

Will patted her on the back. “He will do whathas to be done, dear child.”

After Anvil had sailed from their sight, Will andTinspar climbed up and out of the crevice. Tabitha hadremained with Stella: they both watched with wideeyed stares and heart-pounding fear; their eyes peekingjust over the lip of the crevice’s edge.

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Crawling on the icy ground, just under a thinlayer of the fog, Will and Tinspar moved steadilyforward towards the dark stream of mist rising from thewitch’s burial spot. They stayed as low as possible tothe ground, hoping many of the larger stones in theriverbed would help conceal their approach.

As soon as they had reached the burial spot, theystopped and listened in silence for the whirl of Anvil’sdescent. Will turned over onto his back to stare up intothe sky, looking for his robot to hover downwards. Offto his left, above the canyon walls, his eyes caught sightof the blackened clouds descending, and his heart sank.

Oh, Aleeria, please, do not fail us now! Willprayed.

Tinspar kept his enormous eyes focused on thedark mist that rose up from the gaping hole in theground before them. The wind had all but seemed tostop; only a slight, but freezing cold, breeze sweptthrough the narrows.

Suddenly, and without warning, a spooky, earpiercing wail shot up from within the hole, sendingboth of their hearts into their throats. Will remainedfrozen with fear, his eyes locked upon the grim sky.

Then, rising from out of the hole, the shrouded,wicked witch appeared; her ghostly form was now darkand grainy, and dull red eyes bled from her gnarledface.

When Tabitha saw the witch arise, she coveredher mouth from letting out a shriek. She huddledwithin her cloak, keeping only a mere slit in the hood topeer out from.

Oh my! her mind screamed. Be careful, youguys!

Tinspar looked up into the eyes of the witch asshe moved into his line of vision.

“So, you old bug…you have crawled from theswamps to seek a bit of glory in your last days, haveyou?” the witch rasped venomously to him.

Tinspar could not speak, and his body quiveredas he felt the witch’s