Little Orphan Anvil: The Complete Trilogy Read online

A loud, thunderous boom echoed over a mist shrouded river as the boy, the dog, and the robot ambled up to its embankment. Looking disheveled from the long walk through the rugged terrain, the boy stopped and glanced about at the quiet moving river and the dark woodlands on the other side of it.

  “Well here’s the river, boy!” he said to the dog, which rambled over to the edge and began lapping up the chilly water.

  “Good boy; but be careful not to fall in—it’s probably freezing cold!”

  The robot suddenly bleeped and whistled as it hovered closer to the river, its arms extended outward.

  “What is it? What do your sensors detect, little droid?” the boy said in a hushed tone. The robot twirled its round body in the air above the water, looking like a flying saucer toy. Two of its metallicarms hung loosely, damaged from its fall from the lightning bolt.

  The startled boy looked up and down the river, squinting his eyes to see more clearly through the mist that hugged the embankment and river. The dog scampered back and forth, yelping; his eyes intent on the hovering, frazzled robot’s antics.

  Suddenly the boy stopped cold, his gaze focused upriver. Shrouded in the mist was a lone, hood-cloaked figure that stood upon an old wooden raft. The raft moved quietly towards the trio by way of the river’s calm current.

  Spellbound, the boy continued to watch the figure approach. The dog stopped its pacing. Whimpering, it backed away from the river’s edge.

  The raft approached closer, and soon they could make out the figure as that of an old man; his back was hunched over slightly. He was using a tall wooden pole that was partially submerged in the water to maneuver the raft.

  Bleeping wildly, the robot hovered close to the raft and settled itself down upon it. Amazed, the boy walked forward and called out to the old man.

  “Hello there! We mean no harm! We found that droid two days ago—back beyond them rugged hills…” The boy waved his thumb back over his shoulder.

  The wooden raft came to a slow halt against the river’s edge. The old man looked at the boy and dog, and grinned. His face was wrinkled with age and his chin had some ashen-silver stubble.

  “We have been without a home for some time now,” the boy said. “We’ve been living off the wilds of the lands. Our old homestead was ripped from the ground by a big, fiery storm!”

  “It’s quite okay, my friend,” the old man said with a grizzly sounding accent. “I, too, mean no harm. The name’s, Will. I know of where you come from. It’s where I once lived—the Land of Iron and Anvil.”

  The boy raised his eyebrows in surprise. “The Land of Iron and Anvil?”

  Will nodded. “I was meaning to get back there… unfortunately my travel was cut short,” he said calmly. “The great storm you speak of—it had halted my steps and forced me to live out here in the wilds.”

  The boy felt some relief upon hearing the man speak the name of his recent homeland, and could also relate to the man’s current “wild” living. “Oh, wow! Well…I was taking my dog fishin’ on the great lake in the hills above our land, when suddenly the sky erupted in a giant blast!” he shouted, waving his arms in the air. “We saw the land go into flames and then—”

  “Fall to ashes in one fell swoop,” Will interrupted. “I know, I saw it too; but from a different location on my way there. I was living in the Land of Shadows for a time, when I decided it was best to return to my roots.” He took a deep breath, momentarily lost in memory. “Now I live between the borders of the lands, here and there on this ancient river.”

  He looked the robot over, scoping its injured, metal limbs. “This robot-droid, you say—a friend?”

  The boy nodded, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “I guess you could say that—sure.”

  “Well I must say, it has been some time—and oh my, what a miracle indeed! I built this little droid some time ago!” Will exclaimed. “I thought him to be forever lost; he was with me when I departed the Land of Shadows. But when the terrible storm struck, it snatched him up and took him far off into the wilds.”

  The boy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What a miracle it is then! He is in need of repair, and sure does seem to know who you are!”

  Will chuckled. “Oh, yes indeed! I think you’re quite right!”

  The robot merrily-whistled and spun its one good eye in response. This time the boy let out a good laugh, and the dog let out a cheerful yip.

  Will laughed and then grew silent. Staring at the robot, his eyes drifted in thought as he scratched at his chin.

  “Let me tell you a bit about this droid, if I may,” Will said. “There’s an old lady that runs an orphanage in the Land of Shadows—which, in case you are unaware, is to the far east of here.”

  The boy shook his head and moved closer, evercurious.

  “Well, she wasn’t all she had seemed to be after a time that I’d spent living there,” Will continued. “Because of her disbeliefs in science, and her insistence on a darker form of magic, she felt forced to depart the Land of Iron and Anvil; and, as I had soon found out, began living in the Land of Shadows. So it was no big surprise when I introduced this robot into the orphanage that she felt threatened again. It wasn’t too long before she decided to cast her dark magic against the old homeland, destroying anything that was made of iron and metal and could mechanically move.”

  The boy nodded somberly, remembering the firestorm that swept through his homeland and all the mechanical robot-droids that disappeared with it.

  “Seems this little robot had become an orphan, too!” the boy remarked. “At least until now…I guess,” he said a bit hesitantly.

  “Of course you are correct in that guess!” Will shouted happily, and glanced to the robot. “However, I feared for the orphans back in the Land of Shadows more than ever,” he continued sadly. “Knowing they were stranded under that wicked lady’s magic had left a hole in my heart. I had planned on helping them with this droid that I had constructed—but to no avail. So here I am…always searching for some sign as to how best return to that land and restore hope to their poor souls.”

  The boy stood there on the river’s edge, speechless, and stared at the old man and at the robot in disbelief. An icy wind whipped through the scraggly trees causing him to shiver.

  Will extended his hand out to him. “Here, my good lad…don’t be afraid. You and the robot-droid may be the answer to my prayers. I’ll take you to my humble abode, and there I can make the repairs needed to the droid. You can get something to eat and a warm place to rest as well.”

  The boy hesitated a moment; but as another windy chill struck him, he decided it best to get aboard the raft. He grasped the old man’s hand and ambled aboard. The dog followed behind cautiously.

  “Thanks,” the boy said shyly. “My name is Sonny, and this here is Ranger—my pal since he was just a pup.” The dog scooted over to the robot and flopped down beside it.

  “Well, my friend, nice to meet you,” Will replied.

  Sonny looked about and noticed that the sky was darkening. Odd clicking noises started to echo rather eerily through the air.

  “We best move out,” Will said cautiously. “Many of the oil slicks begin their awful hunt at dark and can swim rapidly…if tempted to do so.”

  “Oil slicks? Swim?” Sonny asked nervously. “What do you mean? And…what is that awful noise?”

  Will pushed away from the embankment with the wooden pole as the current then took hold of the raft and began to move them down stream.

  “No need to worry, young lad,” Will said. “The oil slicks are what lurk in the dark undergrowth; if we move quietly enough, they won’t pay much heed to us. They are a bit blind, though their sense of movement and energy of others is quite good. The clicking you hear—well, that’s just the little creatures that are fearful of becoming the oil slicks’ next meal!”

  Sonny sat down near his dog and huddled closely to him. Their eyes darted about as the sky darkened further and the clicking noises increased. Will sighed
and lit a tiny iron lamp that was fixed upon a wooden crate. He then went to his task of keeping the raft on its continued course upon the river.

  ******* As the river widened and daylight broke upon the water, the raft was maintaining itself along at a smooth, cruising pace. Will stretched his tired body and then grabbed a fishing rod he had stowed on the raft.

  “Here, young lad—take this and try your luck with catching us some dinner.” He handed the rod to Sonny, who was more than ready to have something to do.

  “Gee, thanks!” Sonny said excitedly, snatching the rod from Will’s hand. “My father always loved to take me fishing in the swamplands of the old land. We always ended up catching nothing but big ol’ crawfish, though.”

  “Well you can cast off the back of the raft here, and troll the line along till’ one of the big fish take a bite!” Will said. “Should be no oil slicks this time of day round here.” He looked from side to side at the river’s embankments. “But if you do catch one of those—throw it back!” He snickered at Sonny’s startled reaction.

  Sonny moved over to the back of the raft and tied a squishy worm to the line. “Funny—funny,” he scoffed at Will.

  Will moved next to the robot and sat beside it. He opened a side panel on its dome-top and began messing with some green wires. “Your father, you say? He take off to the war in the north like so many of the others?”

  Sonny cast the line far into the water. “Yep…he went,” he said sourly. “He never came back, though. And my mother died when I was a baby, so I never met her.” He stared off into the glittering dark water, keeping an eye on his fishing line.

  “Sorry to hear that, son. Many never did come back.” Will shut the panel and looked up the river. “In fact, almost everyone from the old homeland went off to the war and have yet to return,” he said somberly.

  After a moment of reflection he turned back to Sonny. “Catch us a good fish! We’ll soon reach my hideaway where we can eat! When it’s darker, it’ll be safer to journey forward—unseen. I don’t trust how far that lady’s eyes can see, but with the cover of night it may be safer. Also, the little droid will be set on high alert,” he added. “Dangers of other sorted sorts always exist—as you are well aware.”

  ~ Chapter IV ~ Between Two Lands

  A warm fire burned inside the base of an old giant tree trunk. Faint wisps of smoke wafted out of a small hole off to one side of the tree. Inside, Will moved about the earthy interior searching for a few makeshift tools in an old iron box. Sonny sat near the robot, which had one of its panels open—wires dangled out of it like noodles hanging out to dry. Ranger lay near a shallow pit where a small fire gently burned; his eyes would blink in reaction to any loud, metallic noise.

  “Well, here it is!” Will said, as he picked out a funny-looking steel tool. “I think this should do the trick.” He knelt down beside the robot. “Yes, this should fix you back to your ol’ self!”

  While he munched on a piece of fish he caught earlier, Sonny watched Will eagerly fumble around with the robot’s wiring.

  “So…you theef he’s gonna be ofay?” Sonny muffled through a mouthful of food. “I meant—” he gulped down the food “—better than he was before me and my dog found him?”

  Grumbling to himself, Will shuffled the robot’s body around to look at the rusted panel on its dome. “I think with some of my ol’ iron skills and a little luck, he’ll be back to using all his magic skills! Heck—he might even give us a hand catching a few more of those big fish!”

  Sonny’s eyes widened with awe. “You mean… he can fish?” he asked excitedly.

  “Well, if you mean like you and I—not exactly,” Will replied. He started untangling a couple of wires, his narrowed eyes intent on handling them with delicate care. “But I sure didn’t build him to perform any onetrick pony shows! Just have to see if the wires here will still fuse correctly; then we can try his fishin’ skills out on the river!”

  “Wow! That should be really neat!” Sonny said, moving closer to see the old man wriggling two red and blue wires together.

  “Seems he’s been through quite a bit,” Will stated flatly. “That dark storm the old lady spun seems to have taken a pretty good toll on him. I can see where lightning has burned scars into some of his metal drives. But with a bit of elbow-grease and old fashioned handiwork, he should be up and spinnin’ his dometop just fine!” Will shot the boy a lopsided grin.

  “I say we try to help those children in the other land!” Sonny exclaimed as he stood up and moved over to the entrance of the tree trunk.

  Rain fell across the front of the entrance, creating a glistening sheet of water much like a funhouse mirror; it reflected the crackling fire.

  Will paused, and watched Sonny with a sympathetic gaze. Sonny paced in front of the entrance, staring at his own distorted, rain-reflected image.

  “I can see you have a kind-hearted spirit about you, kid,” Will said warmly.

  Sonny nodded, keeping his gaze fixed forward. “So—you were a blacksmith in the old iron house back home, huh?” he asked over his shoulder.

  Will sealed tight the panel on the robot. With a firm nod of satisfaction he gave the robot a pat. “Well, you might say I learned many of my trade skills there, under some of the best blacksmiths back in the day!” he replied. He looked down at his worn and scarred hands. “There just was more for me that I needed to prove, or to show for myself. So, I set out to the Land of Shadows.”

  Sonny turned away from the rain-drenched entrance and moved closer to the fire, warming his hands over the hot embers.

  “It was there in that land, and the nearby fields of the old orphanage, that I thought for certain my true calling was met,” Will continued reflectively. “You might say my old passions for creating magic out of iron and anvil had reawakened! I thought I could make the children happier by building them something that could free them from their hardships of constant labor in those fields. They needed to breathe the dreams of youth and innocence—have a chance to be a kid!” He looked at Sonny, and then to the fire pit; its embers now a soft, reddish glow.

  “But the old woman, you said—the one at the orphanage? She didn’t take kindly to the blacksmithing stuff or the mechanical ways, huh?” Sonny said with an edge of bitterness.

  Will shook his head and looked over to the robot. “No, she didn’t. She is what one would have called a sorceress, or spell weaver, back in the days of old. I didn’t have a whole lot of choices, but to leave before she acted out with some sort of spell on me; or, quite possibly, on the orphans for my staying.”

  “I think I understand. Well, what can we do?” Sonny said sadly, eager to lend a helping hand. “I mean, me and my dog? We have no home now, and would very much like to help you and them poor orphans. Having to live under that lady’s rule…it’s just crazy.”

  Will smiled and looked at Sonny. “You know, you really do have a lot of spirit, my young friend! I say we make haste and rid that orphanage from the old woman’s hand and her sneaky ways!”

  “But it’s dark! And we got to beware of those oil slicks lurking around out there!” Sonny said alarmingly.

  Will laughed. Grabbing an old iron rod, he prodded the fire embers. “Yes, yes, I am quite well aware; so we shall sleep a bit of the darkness through. And then with all the secrecy we can muster, we shall sneak into the Land of Shadows!”

  Later, as the fire had died down to a shimmering orange glow, the three fell to a sound sleep. The robot kept its two red electric eyes alert for any unwanted dangers. Every so often it swiveled towards the dog, who would spasm and kick in a dream-like sleep.

  Suddenly the robot let loose a high-pitched whistle and began to spin wildly around; its mechanical arms were flashing outwards. The three quickly jumped up. The dog started barking towards the entrance as the old man grabbed the iron rod and swung at the hole where the smoke drifted out of the tree.

  “What is it?” Sonny hollered, rubbing his eyes. “I can hardly see!”

>   “The oil slicks!” the old man bellowed, swinging the iron rod at a dark oily shape with three eyes; they glowed with green light. “Move fast and don’t stop— make for the raft!”

  “What about you? Those oily things must surely be out there, too!”

  Will spun fast; two of the creatures went flying into the fire pit after being batted with the iron. “I’m right behind you! Just go—I’ll grab the droid!”

  Sonny grabbed his stuff along with some of the fish he had rationed earlier, and called out to the dog— which was now running around the hollow in wild fits.

  “Ranger! Let’s go, boy!”

  The dog hurried after him, zooming past the old man who was quickly tapping a rusted panel shut on the distressed robot.

  Outside, the rain was pouring in torrents. Only the hint of a full moon allowed Sonny and Ranger to see in the darkness. They moved fast, and soon saw the raft as it bobbed about on the water at the edge of the riverbank.

  “Run for it, boy!” Sonny yelled. Looking back, he made out the movement of a few slithering shapes sneaking quickly towards them. “Go! We can do it!”

  The dog leapt high and landed on the raft. Spinning around, he was greeted by Sonny who launched himself aboard.

  “Good boy, Ranger!” He grabbed the rope attached to an old tree post and flung it aside. “We got to get out to the middle of the river—fast!”

  Pushing away with the raft’s long pole, he looked to the embankment and saw two of the oil slicks drop down into the water. In the distance he could see Will running quickly towards them, clutching a fiery torch.

  Sonny hollered loudly: “Will! Quick! They are coming into the water!”

  Will flung the torch into the water, which immediately ignited the uppermost layer of the river in flame.

  What an astonishing sight to see! Sonny thought, as he and Ranger stood spellbound by both the rain and the fire.

  “Come quickly!” Will yelled towards them. “We have little time before more are alerted to strike again!”

  Sonny pushed the raft back to the embankment, and Will hopped on.