Klaus: Defender of Children

By Earl Chessher

Klaus, Defender of Children is an action adventure full of alternate and true world realities, where tragedies lead to acts of treachery and heroism. Drama, romance, crime investigation, murder and swashbuckling acts of heroism blend together in a saga that will blow the reader away with its alternative view on an ageless story. Klaus moves through life-changing experiences on his way to becoming a defender of children, using sword, magic, strength and honor, love and friends to defeat evil and a common enemy. This is a read-in-one-sitting novel sure to engage the reader and capture the imagination. You will never look at some things the same way you once did.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Earl Chessher
• Release date: Nov 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311571793

Earl Chessher

Career journalist, editor, publisher, photo journalist, writer and contributing editor for Videomaker magazine for five years, full-time video producer and independent businessman.

Book preview

Klaus

Defender of Children

Earl Chessher

Praise for Klaus

Defender of Children

Earl Chessher has hit it out of the park with this action adventure and fantasy tale. He doesn’t disappoint as Klaus, Defender of Children takes you on a journey of spectacular events assured to delight and surprise.

— M.A. Osness,

author of

LOST

Klaus is a beautifully mastered tale of loyalty and integrity that grabs hold of you from the very start. The journey escalates to a revelation thatwill blow your mind!

— Angel Potter Cox,

author of

A Day in the Dark

The Ladies of New Salem

I started reading this book wondering what it would offer me and boy was I carried along on a tale of action and adventure. This story captured me completely and totally threw me with the exciting ending. Chessher has done it again. Do yourself a favour and grab a copy for yourself today.

— Mary T Bradford,

author of

My Husband’s Sin

The Runaway

Every now and again comes along an author who stands out from the crowd. Earl Chessher is in this category. I have read Stilts, Buried Memories and Alzheimer’s: Stories Mom Forgot, and enjoyed them immensely. Earl has a gift of blending humor with tragedy, and his style of crafting words appeals to me. I look forward to reading Klaus, and I’m sure I will not be disappointed.

— Anthony Hulse,

author of

Insanity Never Sleeps

The Abduction of Grace

This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations or locales are used only to provide a sense of realism, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are purely the author’s creative imagination and are not to be perceived as real.

© Copyright 2015 by Earl Chessher

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations included in critical articles and reviews. For information, contact Earl Chessher, P.O. Box 3003, Seal Beach, CA 90740.

Published by Earl Chessher Publishing

Dedicated to all who love good stories with great heroes, especially my mother,

the late Margaret Nell Margie Chessher, and my father, Earl C. Chessher, Sr.

And to Mary Ann. Everything you touch, you make better.

Also, my many friends at Fiction Writers Group,

on probably the most popular social network there is.

Thank you

My editor, Katie Ritcheske.

Mary T Bradford, Ted Atoka and Angel Potter Cox.

Last, but not least, Cathy M. Conway. A believer.

Table of Contents

Book One: The Awakening

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Book Two: The Monastery

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Book Three: The Transformation

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Book One

The Awakening

Chapter 1

Klaus kept up with the bench presses while listening to his father yell at his brother and sister. He pumped in time with each outburst, trying to keep himself focused and avoid running to end it once and for all. Repetitions increased with the volume of his father’s yelling. Klaus could take it no more. Slamming his homemade weights onto the makeshift rack, he bounded upstairs.

Adelaide and Burchard cowered in a corner as Father towered over them, arms raised into the air, brushing the ceiling. He was livid. As usual, thought Klaus, over nothing. But that didn’t keep the red-faced bully from raging and threatening the two children, fourteen and twelve.

Father, Klaus said quietly.

The man continued to rant and rave, stepping closer to the hysterical children, then stepping back again. He appeared to enjoy their fright, constantly moving in on them, pausing in his screams long enough to smile at the sound of theirs.

Father, he said again in a quiet voice.

If the man heard over his own loudness, he never let on. Klaus wasn’t so sure Father had not heard him. He flexed his arms and chest, wiped sweat from his brow and slung it away, then stepped forward. Father still had four inches on Klaus, at six feet even. And the man weighed a good bit more as well.

For the past three years, however, when Klaus started shooting taller and taller, gaining weight and bulking up, Father had not attempted to push him as much as before. Working out, practicing martial arts, gaining confidence as his speed, agility and strength increased, Klaus enjoyed a certain independence of fear—Father no longer frightened him.

But Father found in the children new focus for his attention. So long as Klaus did not interfere, Father left him to his own. Klaus grew more and more weary of it by the day. He stepped closer yet and called to Father again in a quiet voice.

Father.

He was sure the older man had heard him, because Father stepped closer to the children. It appeared as if this time he intended to swipe them from the floor with his huge, hairy paw. Klaus reached out and effortlessly stopped the hand from descending. Adelaide and Burchard looked on, eyes bulging in fear. Klaus wasn’t sure if their anxiety was for him or for what might happen after Father finished with him and once again turned his attention on them.

Father, he said once more. Stop.

The shouting cut off instantly as his father turned in shock to stare at his oldest. Klaus, unafraid, was aware and saddened as he watched his little brother’s trousers darken with urine. Something uncontrollable roared up into Klaus’ mind, and with it he jerked his father’s hand around, taking him to the floor.

Father bounded back onto his feet in an instant. He used his left hand, fisted this time, to take a hard swing at Klaus. But his son stopped that move as well, gripping the fist mid-swing and yanking it downward.

Father yelped.

Adelaide giggled at the sound. That was all it took for fury to rip from Father’s throat as he bellowed and jumped onto the boy. At seventeen, Klaus was not yet all he would become, nor did he have the leverage of weight that Father carried. The man was so caught up with rage, reacting to his daughter’s unintentional mirth, that he lost caution. He picked Klaus up and threw him across the kitchen table.

The table crashed, but Klaus was not injured. He stood quickly and gave his father a sad but unassuming smile. Father roared again and charged.

Klaus sidestepped the man, then turned and kicked him in the butt. Father plowed headfirst into a wall. His son stood and waited. All fight went out of the man with a loud woof of air. He stood, looked at Klaus, then at the children, then turned and left the room.

Klaus was most concerned that Father might be going for a firearm or one of his large knives. He didn’t plan to stand around with Adelaide and Burchard and wait to see. He turned to them.

Father is very angry. We need to go away for a time and give him a chance to calm down.

Father will never calm down from this, said Adelaide. You have stood up to him to protect us. We are all going to be killed by Father now. He will kill us for certain.

Burchard whimpered, breaking his older brother’s heart. Klaus knew what it was like to be so fearful. It was a miracle he had survived long enough to get older and stronger, able to stand up to the abusive man. Had it not been for Mother, he thought. With the memory came white-hot anger … anger so intense that he now wished he’d broken his father’s neck instead of allowing him to walk away.

For it was Father who had broken Mother’s neck. When officials investigated her death, Father convinced them that his wife had taken a spill down the stairs. An accident, he’d told them, caused by a rug slipping from under her feet as she stepped up onto the kitchen floor.

The children were all much younger, easily cowed by the bear of a man, and did nothing to cause the officials to question his words.

Klaus shook his head to clear the memories, then took his brother and sister by their hands.

Come with me. We must leave for a while. I know where we can hide you, where you will be safe until I can see how it fares with Father.

He glanced down at his little brother.

Let’s get you some dry trousers … quickly. Then we need to be gone.

Adelaide scurried to her room and threw some clothes and a blanket into a bag. Klaus helped Burchard into some clean clothes, and then stuffed a change and blanket into another bag for him.

Where can we go?

Klaus gave him a reassuring smile.

I know a place. You and Adelaide will be safe there. I will not leave you alone for long. Just long enough to see what Father is up to.

Why is Father that way?

Klaus knelt before his brother and took him by the shoulders. When Burchard raised his eyes and looked into his brother’s, Klaus answered.

Because Father is a mean and evil man. He hates everyone, especially us, because he hates himself.

Klaus didn’t bother trying to make excuses for their father. He didn’t want to distress his little brother more by telling him that Father had never been a good man, that he had always been a bully and that he was rumored to have killed his own parents at a very young age. He kept that knowledge to himself.

Klaus gave Burchard a hug, then stood and lifted the boy and the bag. Adelaide came into the room, her bag in hand, a questioning look in her eyes. Questions, doubts and fears, but Klaus was proud to note that his little sister was also brave. He gave her a reassuring smile, then they headed out the back door and into the woods.

***

Father stealthily entered the kitchen, hoping to catch his eldest unawares. Silence belied the fear he refused to admit, that Klaus was lying in wait, hiding and ready to jump him as he entered. In spite of the revolver dangling at his side, held in a loosely formed fist, the man trembled a bit at the thought of his son getting the best of him, possibly turning the gun onto him instead.

In his mind he began formulating a story. How he’d walked in on his oldest son abusing the children, beating them. How Klaus had turned on him and overpowered him, very nearly taking away the handgun and using it on him. While he compiled his story, Father inched into the room, careful to check the possible hiding places.

He would tell the officials that he barely managed to grab the revolver back, away from Klaus, and that it had gone off. He would say he had no idea who had their finger on the trigger. He loved his son, but he could no longer tolerate how he bullied and hurt the kids. It had to stop, so he’d stood up to a boy who had become more and more powerful, stronger, more able to harm not only the children but his father as well.

He would then beat Adelaide and Burchard, tell them if they dared say anything it would mean the end of them. They would no longer have their older brother to protect them, so Father could then do as he wished with them. They would remain silent. He wanted to be rid of them anyway. So, someday they too would be gone. Burchard did not have the same strength and will as Klaus. He would never live long enough to develop in spirit or strength as had Klaus.

Father’s thumb found the hammer and slid it back as he stepped fully into the room. Only silence greeted him. No whimper from Burchard, no scream from Adelaide. Father then noticed the back door slightly ajar and rushed over to jerk it open, thinking he would find the three of them hurrying across the yard and into the woods.

The yard was empty. Silence greeted his harsh gaze and straining ears. He stepped out onto the porch and looked about, but no movement caught his eye. Returning to the kitchen, Father reached into a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of schnapps. He poured a healthy dose of it into a glass, turned the bottle up and drank from it, then capped it and returned it to the cabinet. By the time Father reached the front room, the glass was empty. He set it on a table, then slumped into a chair. He waited.

Emotions dissipating, Father began to relax. The schnapps did its job, easing his anger and frustration, quieting the subtle fear that his eldest could get the best of him, physically take him into control. Soon he was snoring. And the loud snoring kept him from hearing Klaus as he crept through the back door, listening, watching carefully.

***

I promise you will be okay here, Klaus told Adelaide and Burchard. This is where I always came to hide when Father tried to hurt me, when he beat up on Mother … He sighed. Before I was strong enough to stand up to him and protect Mother.

Neither his brother nor his sister appeared to have much faith in his promise of safety.

But, but we’re in the woods. There’s bears, and …

The forest is safe enough … safer than Father, Klaus interrupted Burchard. "Nothing can get into this cave, I promise. Believe me, I spent many a sleepless night here, even when I was younger than you. Father never found me here, though goodness knows he looked long and hard. And I have never, ever seen a bear here, nor any other dangerous creature.

I am going back to the house. I need to get us food and water. We may have to stay here for a few days, until Father calms down.

Klaus restrained himself from saying if Father ever calmed down. It had been the first time Klaus had taken his father on physically, and he had been surprised at how easy it had been. He was also shocked that being tossed across the kitchen table had done him no real harm. Only his shoulder was a bit sore, nothing more.

It took him a good while to quieten his brother and sister’s fears. Klaus told them stories from a happier time—the stories were made up, but what did that matter now—funny things about Mother singing and Father yelling for her to stop that warbling.

He shared stories about fishing and camping, created special moments when their parents had both laughed and hugged, joked and teased … when Father was not so angry, and Mother not yet fearful. He told stories about when Adelaide and Burchard were small … so tiny they could almost fit into one of Father’s cigar boxes.

They soon became quiet, then nodded off. Klaus hated leaving them there, alone in the dark, perhaps to awaken and discover him gone. He was concerned that they might leave the safety of the cave, that they might run about in the forest, screaming, crying or calling out until Father, goodness forbid, might hear them, find them, hurt them.

Klaus sat in the dark, just enough moonlight peering through a split in the boulders at the cave entrance to allow him to see their angelic faces, causing him to smile with a warm and deep brotherly love. He wanted to hold them, hug them, kiss their foreheads, but he was afraid of disturbing them. He continued to watch, listening to their soft, calm breathing.

Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted. He heard scurrying and scampering just outside the cave, but he knew these were the sounds of smaller, non-threatening creatures. Many of them he had listened to during those times when he had hidden here all alone. At first they had frightened him, but they eventually became the calming and comforting sounds that lulled him into peaceful slumber.

He stood quietly after a bit, then squeezed through the opening. It was time to check on Father and get something for the children to eat and drink.

***

Father jerked awake. Some noise. His finger twitched on the revolver loosely clutched in his hand, nearly pulling the trigger. The man listened, controlling his breath. He thought maybe Klaus, either alone or with the children, had slipped back into the house. He waited, then stood quietly.

Father made his way to the kitchen. He paused at the entryway, then slipped in. The door to the basement was ajar. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard something down there. He moved as stealthily as his size and weight would allow, slowly making his way to the landing at the top of the steps leading below.

The door swung open without a sound, and the man took each step with caution. He had the revolver pointed, arm extended, prepared to use it on whatever moved … hopefully Klaus. His argument for self-defense would work, but he worried that the young man had become strong enough to subdue him instead. He had no idea Klaus had become so strong, and he was still shocked at how his oldest son had managed to get the best of him earlier.

Another step, then