Little Orphan Anvil: The Complete Trilogy Read online

  ~ Little Orphan Anvil

  ~ THE COMPLETE TRILOGY ~

  “I believe that this is one of those unique stories that would leave the reader with an impression that can relate to the readers own personal experience.”

  ~ Angie Edwards: Books 4 Tomorrow “Joseph Beekman weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, laughter and jubilation.”

  ~ Author Jerry (JL) Robb

  “…a well-constructed futuristic fairy tale.” ~ Diebus: amazon reviews. "Absolutely riveting…Joseph Beekman has forged a story that should galvanize anyone's reading time." ~ Author George Lasher

  ~ Copyright  Library of Congress - 2009

  Stone Tablet Tales publishing 2012

  Joseph Beekman, Author: “Little Orphan Anvil” ©

  Book one edited by Kelsey Grimmer. Book two and three edited by Khloe Kamalis. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book, or any book associated with the title series, Little Orphan Anvil, may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and/or reviews.

  ~ With heartfelt appreciation and dedication: My Father and Mother, my two brothers John and Dan, my sister Susan, my niece Sophia, and nephew Alex; to all my friends; to my legendary cats - Jack, Bardamu, and Nikolai; and to All the authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers around the universe, (and realm) including: Khloe Kamalis, Coey Karr, Julieanne Lynch, A Jacob Sweeny, Rue Volley, Elizabeth Mueller, Crystal Cattabriga, Wanda Hart, Angie Edwards, Author Jerry Robb, Annalynne Russo, Janet Jay, Shameyn Jones, Solange Nicole, Angela Angel McCuen, Alexia Purdy, Author Heath Fox, Tim Greaton, William Talcott, Carly Anne Wallace, Dawn Hagan, Kim Faulks, Loretta Gilbert, Elizabeth Brookshire; also to Todd, Leanne, and Cason Hall, Scott W., Trucker Bob, Toni, Linda Lou, Millie Styles, and so many, many others!

  But first and foremost, to GOD: for showing me the light, the love, and the fellowship of the spirit!

  ~ Tale One, A Tale of Magic and Metal

  ~ Tale Two, The Shades of Fate

  ~ Tale Three, The Gravelands of Fate

  ~A Tale of Magic and Metal

  Prologue

  In a faraway realm, in the shadows of a forgotten land, an old woman secreted herself away behind the walls of an orphanage, in a lonely little village.

  Some years earlier, a community of blacksmiths within her former homeland—the Land of Iron and Anvil—had uncovered ancient mechanical secrets of a long buried technology. For centuries, this mechanical technology had been a mystery, lost to the frayed fabric of time.

  In the Land of Iron and Anvil, the hard-labored men and women lived and worked among massive metal and steel structures, building giant machines for mining and drilling in the dormant volcanoes to the south. It was in these volcanoes that they searched for the secrets of this technology that would bring metal to life!

  When the secrets had been unearthed, and they began tinkering about with their discovery using hammer and anvil, they soon found that their skills as iron and metal craftsmen had created metallic creatures which they decided to call robot-droids.

  “Now here was a magic!” they voiced; a magic they could truly believe in and put to a practical use, rather than purely the magic of sorcery that had been their only custom and belief for hundreds of years.

  However, there was this strange, old woman, and her refusal to conform to these “disturbing and forgotten mechanical” ways, that invited bitter resentment towards these blacksmiths. She soon felt the push to leave: for it was her own belief that magic and sorcery were the only ways one should forever live by.

  And so it was, in the Land of Shadows, that the old woman sought to make a new home for her magic beliefs. But little did the humble villagers know, her true means were to rule not only this land, but rule the entire realm itself with a darker slight of hand.

  As the overseer of an old mansion for orphans, she schemed and planned, always envisioning the downfall of her former land and its faith in science. By twisting the powers of the magic that she and many others had believed in for countless centuries, she had thus, created a sorcery of sorts that would eliminate the robot-droids and bury the belief in such “monsters.”

  Unbeknownst to her, an old man from the old land had come to this village seeking a life of solitude and peace. He quickly learned that all of the elder and able men of this village had left long ago to join a war over land ownership throughout the realm. It was a dirty and ugly war which had been ongoing for some time in the far north.

  After a few months the old man began feeling a renewed belief in his old talents, and started helping out around the fields near the orphanage: repairing water canals, tending to an old barnyard and its upkeep, and even constructing a windmill for a simple means of energy. He kept himself busy.

  Eventually the old man saw fit to bring forth his iron and anvil skills for a greater good, and soon created his most favored construction: a robot-droid. This, he’d hoped, would allow the poor orphans more time to play and use their imaginations—rather than the constant hardship and work he knew they must endure.

  But this renewed inspiration of his would not be without a price…

  ~Chapter I

  ~Iron Will and the Orphanage

  A metallic pounding noise echoed hauntingly across the withering fields of what had once been thriving grape orchards. An old wooden barn stood out in this tarnished landscape, its exterior peeling away with many unkempt years.

  In a low-lit corner of the barn sat an old man, his back hunched over as he swung a large hammer down onto an iron-plated piece of metal. Sparks flew about every time the hammer struck, making tiny reflective sparkles on his round-rimmed spectacles.

  From the top rafters a small cat made its appearance and let out a loud meow. The old man stopped halfway into another hammering and glanced upwards at the cat.

  “Well, well—ol’ Stella; I haven’t seen ya for an age!” the old man said with a wide grin and raspy voice. “Yep, almost done with this here robot-droid that you watched me working on a month ago!”

  The cat leapt down and landed on a wooden stump near the old man. Purring softly, the cat laid down and looked over at the nearly completed robotdroid; constructed using a hammer and an anvil. The robot was partially covered with a burlap sack.

  “Yes, my dear lady,” the man sighed, setting the hammer down as he reflected on the dormant robot. “This should be about it. This little droid should prove to that old woman at the orphanage my good intentions of letting those children have the chance they deserve— the chance to have fun while they’re still youngsters!” He shook his head discontentedly. “Workin’ round the clock without any allowance for their imaginations to soar properly—just isn’t right.”

  He stood up and walked over to the robot; its round, metallic form was close to completion, save for a few missing panels for coverings.

  “Yep!” he said aloud to the cat, as he placed a weathered hand on the robot. “This here droid will be a great help around that sullen old mansion!”

  The cat meowed and scurried off. The old man grinned, his gaze fixed on the robot.

  So long as that old woman is no longer bitter over mechanical things, he thought to himself, then things will be plenty fine for those orphans—as they should be…

  ******* Meteorites streaked across the night sky over an old, rustic mansion. Situated within the vast field of withered orchards, and shadowed by great, snowcapped mountains, the mansion was home to a handful of orphaned children.

  A cold wind howled through the front courtyard of the once, flourishing mansion. From the uppermost floor, two red-orbs of light pierced outwards from an open
window.

  Inside, as the children slept soundly, a little girl crept past the silent rooms towards the source of the red glow. She tip-toed softly along, her eyes wide with caution. Occasionally a floor board would creak, startling her, and she would stop in fright for fear of being found sneaking about.

  As she crept closer to the room, two voices could be heard within chattering back and forth. She stopped and stood silently against the wall next to the door. Directly across from her, two shadows moved about on the wall; they were the shadows of the two people chatting in the room.

  Her blue eyes grew wide and her body became rigid with fear as she listened. She knew the voices to be that of the “witch-lady,” as they had secretly come to call the old woman, and of the nice old man from the old barnyard house nearby.

  “No—I will not allow this cursed metal machine to run things around here!” the old woman vented loudly. “It will rob the orphans of their duties to be of maximum service to this mansion, and to their own responsibilities!”

  The old man coughed and cleared his throat. “It is you who are robbing these children—these poor, orphaned children, of their imaginations and their freedom to run and play,” he sorely replied.

  The little girl gulped down her fear as she listened to their voices rise; she continued to watch their shadows on the wall.

  “I am telling you now, and this is my final word—get rid of that thing and keep it to your own parts of the land!” the old woman said, speaking with a firm and bitter tone. “I’ll have no more of this nonsense!”

  The old man shook his head, and removing his glasses he wiped at his brow. “Well then,” he said firmly, “if it must be so, then you have doomed these orphans to a life of nothingness. May the Spirits have pity on your wicked soul…” Standing up, he moved over to the robot and lifted it off of the nightstand by the open window.

  The old woman, her graying hair tied tightly in a bun, watched him with an evil glare. Her eyes glowed with venom.

  Rolling his eyes at her in disbelief, he walked to the doorway with the robot in his arms. A sharp glint of light caught his eye; turning towards it he noticed an old, rustic crystal atop a mantle. He paused to look at it.

  “Don’t mind that!” the lady spouted. “That is very, very old, and is not in need of someone like you, of this so-called science, to gaze his wicked eyes upon it!”

  He looked over his shoulder at her scowling face. Her eyes pierced into his with anger. “No, I believe there isn’t, indeed,” he said calmly, and continued towards the doorway.

  The little girl, hearing his footsteps as they approached closer to the doorway, quickly scampered off down the hall.

  ~ Chapter II

  ~ Live Wired

  Dark clouds danced and swirled in the sky like giant balloons exploding through the rain-soaked air. Far below, the land was filled with rushing water and toppled trees. In the midst was a massive amount of metal and wires—a great flowing, muddy mess.

  In the murky distance a large crater had opened up in the earth, swallowing whole all the watery debris and metallic mush. From atop a twisted piece of tree trunk, a round-metal object lay: a little robot-droid. Clutching the tree trunk tightly with long, spidery, metallic-limbs, the robot shivered in fright. Its large, robotic red-eyes glimmered brightly from its rustrounded surface.

  As the water rushed onward, the robot let out a long and warbled whistle in distress of its ever-growing peril. The crater’s edge grew much closer.

  Suddenly a lightning bolt blasted out of the clouds and struck the robot, lifting it upwards like a magnet. It sailed far across the wide, watery madness into an unknown fate.

  A few weeks later…

  Wandering across a broken landscape of swampy marshes, a little boy and his dog trudged tirelessly along. The boy, around nine or ten years of age, with scruffy, dirty-blond hair, and dressed in tattered coveralls, carried a tree stick slung over his shoulder with a cloth sack tied on the end. A large brown and redfurred dog, its tail swinging wildly about in the air, lumbered alongside, sniffing the cool breeze and occasionally lapping up bits of water.

  After some time and travel the dog’s ears pointed straight up and it froze still—its eyes were wide alert, staring forward. The boy turned around and gave the dog a puzzled look.

  “What is it, boy? What do you see?” the boy asked gently.

  The dog bounced toward the boy and nudged him onward towards a muddy run-off near a band of brush.

  “Okay, okay, let’s go look—just be careful!” the boy shouted.

  The boy picked up his speed, but had some trouble with all the mud and gunk making his boots heavy and his steps even heavier.

  ******* As the boy neared the run-off, he could see his dog standing cautiously a few feet away from what looked like metallic branches poking out of the mud. Whimpering, the dog desperately clawed at the mud around the spiky metal.

  “Whatcha got, boy? What is it?” the boy said curiously as he looked about the ground.

  He set his belongings down and picked up a big tree branch, which he used to help the dog as it continued to dig into the grime and mud.

  “Good boy, keep digging—but be careful,” he said very seriously. “Wouldn’t want ya getting all messed up.”

  Finally he set the branch aside, and then stuck his hands deep into the mud and began to lift upwards. Within moments a round metal object started to emerge. The dog yelped at it as the boy heaved and pulled. And then from out of the ground a dirty, softly-glowing, robotic-type droid of sorts popped up.

  The boy fell back and landed splat in the mud. “Wow! Look at it, boy—a robot-droid! And it still has life in it!”

  The dog howled with joy and pranced around it, careful to avoid its metallic-limbs that were grinding with rust and other injuries.

  “I think it’s not doing too good. We best get it under some trees before any more wicked storms blast outta nowhere and wreck it! Let’s go, boy—help me move it!”

  The dog yelped and pushed its nose under the rounded surface of the robot, while the boy pulled on one of the five metal arm extensions.

  After a few painstaking moments they were beneath an alcove of shrubbery, well-hidden from the darkening sky and any unwanted sky observers.

  Breathing a bit heavily, the boy laid out a blanket from his belongings and moved the robot on to it. His dog gave a few more sniffs at the robot’s rusted surface. Confused at the unfamiliar humming noise coming from inside the metal body, the dog started whimpering at it.

  “Oh, quit your whining, boy. It’s not gonna hurt ya,” the boy said mildly.

  Tinkering and prodding about on the robot’s metallic surface, the boy found a notch that lifted a small panel revealing a new discovery: A solid red button. This, the boy decided with a firm nod, would be a suitable option for his questing mind.

  “Hmm…let’s see—this button should at least do something,” the boy said aloud, eagerly. “At least I know that the robot-droids around the ol’ iron house did stuff; like all them chores and what not…”

  The dog whimpered, its eyes darting back and forth from the boy to the robot.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know—I’ll be careful. Can ya believe it? If this droid is okay, we might have something that could bring us good fortune!” he said excitedly.

  The dog yelped and wagged its tail about happily.

  “Yes, sir, my boy! But we have to keep moving and hope this droid will work fine. There ain’t nothing left of our homeland now, anyways,” he said despairingly. “I just hope any new lands we enter don’t hold bad luck.” The dog barked approvingly.

  “Okay, well here she goes,” he said, pressing the button.

  Suddenly an electric current flowed over and around the robot, lighting it up in a blue, rusted hue. The boy fell backwards in surprise, and the dog shot upwards, barking and backing away.

  As the blue glow began to soften in color, a strange mechanical noise rose out of the robot, putting a bit of fright into
the boy and dog. They both remained frozen, like two large stones fixed with fear. Suddenly the robot began to rise up on its mechanical limbs, one red-eye zooming out of its rustic-blue body as it focused on the two motionless beings.

  “Holy smokes, boy—I think we did it!” the boy cried.

  The robot sputtered and grinded as it worked its way up on all five spidery, metal-limbs. Its two electric eyes started to zoom in and out, attempting to focus on its surroundings. One of its eyes was having trouble adjusting, and abruptly it fizzled out.

  “Uh, oh—” the boy muttered. “I think you’re a bit more banged up then I thought,” he addressed the robot. “But don’t you worry—me and my good friend, Ranger, will fix ya up once we reach a safe place!”

  The dog whimpered once more, and the robot let out a shy whistle.

  “Okay, well at least you understand us,” he said to the robot. “I think so, anyhow. But we need to get movin’ before the sun sets any further down. Shelter and rest—then off we go towards that river I spied two days ago from the border hilltop!”

  The boy moved over to the robot and examined it. He saw that it had withdrawn all its metallic-limbs and was lightly beginning to hover inches above the ground. Moving quietly the robot glided above the surface, seemingly able to follow the movements of the boy with precision.

  “Wow!” the boy exclaimed. “See that? Every time I move or take a step, the robot does the same! It seems to know what’s going on!”

  The dog barked with excitement as it ran up to the boy’s side, its tail wagging wildly.

  “Well, yes—that is awesome, boy! It’ll make it a lot easier to travel, knowing it can keep up on its own.”

  The robot let out a warbled whistle in response, and the dog yipped as they moved out on the marshy path ahead.

  ~ Chapter III ~The Old Man and the River