Boy Soldier

By Brad Beals

There lived a boy once, a very long time ago, whose name was Joshua. He grew up in the country, on a small farm far from the noise and close air of the city, and though he was a boy, he worked a man's day, so he was quite strong...

Part I
In which Joshua comes to a very big, very important understanding.

One day, this Joshua was at work in the fields loading bundles of grain onto a wagon when a peddler, leading a mule that pulled a wagon piled high with all manner of things, stopped at the fence by the road and shouted for the boy to come.

"I'm afraid I have no money to buy what you're selling," said Joshua when he was close enough to speak politely.

"Don't mind about that," replied the peddler. "Besides, what I want you to have you cannot buy, for in addition to being a peddler extraordinaire, I am also a servant of the King, and the King has called all who would to come at once to the city. Here." And the peddler held out a handbill—that's an old fashioned kind of flyer—that read:

Come!
Any who calls himself
my soldier, Come!
And be prepared
for war!

So begins the story of Joshua's preparation for warfare. Though as it turns out, his ideas and King's are as far apart as strange things can be...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brad Beals
• Release date: Nov 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465911193

Brad Beals

My life is simple. I love my wife, raise my 6 kids in the fear of the Lord, teach high-school English, and write fiction when I can. And I like simple things: friends, wood heat, college football, long sentences, pickled eggs, guns, and my pipe. In that order.

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BOY SOLDIER

by Brad Beals

Published by Brad Beals at Smashwords

Copyright©2006 by Brad Beals

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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There lived a boy once, a very long time ago, whose name was Joshua. He grew up in the country, on a small farm far from the noise and close air of the city, and though he was a boy, he worked a man's day, so he was quite strong.

Part I

The Call

One day, this Joshua was at work in the fields loading bundles of grain onto a wagon when a peddler, leading a mule that pulled a wagon piled high with all manner of things, stopped at the fence by the road and shouted for the boy to come.

I'm afraid I have no money to buy what you're selling, said Joshua when he was close enough to speak politely.

Don't mind about that, replied the peddler. Besides, what I want you to have you cannot buy, for in addition to being a peddler extraordinaire, I am also a servant of the King, and the King has called all who would to come at once to the city. Here. And the peddler held out a handbill—that's an old fashioned kind of flyer—that read, Come! Any who calls himself my soldier, Come! And be prepared for war!

I don't need to say that Joshua's heart got bigger at these words; he was a boy, after all. And a boy who wants more than anything to be a man will let himself be stirred up by words like soldier and war. But even stirred, Joshua had good sense.

When did the King say this? he asked.

Does it matter when it's the King who said it? answered the peddler.

It does. The harvest is still in the field. If I leave now, it will be ruined.

I see. The peddler considered the boy and the field of mown wheat behind him. And then he nodded. There is time.

So I won't be too late? asked Joshua.

Now that I can't say. But I can say that if you dawdle, you may be left behind. And once the King sets out for battle, the time for hurrying is done with.

The peddler looked at Joshua thoughtfully, and then he leaned over the fence and motioned for him to come closer. So...do you? he whispered.

Do I what? asked Joshua.

Do you call yourself his soldier?

Well...I...well,

Now what sort of answer is that? Either you is or you isn't.

Joshua wanted very much for his father to be there. He and William, Joshua's older brother, had left a year ago to fight for the king. And when