The Crown of Shadnarr

By Ken Worley

About the Book
In a post-apocalyptic world, extreme radiation has produced new races and new creatures. The wizards have created a powerful object, the Crown of Shadnarr. With intentions of the crown being able to heal the world, it is stolen and used for evil. After being fought over, the crown is presumed to be lost, until it is discovered years later by a rebellious farm boy, Nick Colfix. With no knowledge of what power he holds, Nick and his family and friends are taken on a whirlwind adventure to place this all mighty crown in the right hands.

About the Author
Ken Worley is a retired firefighter from Columbus, Ohio. He has worked in the aerospace industry as a machinist. Worley is involved in his church, where he has been a teacher for many years. He enjoys woodworking, creating furniture and knick-knacks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Mar 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886836905

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Vegetable Field

It was a cool fall afternoon in the Brittelton Valley, a wide valley with great mountains on all sides and the Drake River ran through it. There in the middle of the valley, just on the river, sat the little town of Waterbie, and in the town, the Black Horse Inn. In the Black Horse, as it was often called, people would gather to tell stories or hear them told as they passed the time when there was nothing else to do.

On this particular afternoon, there sat an old man in a rocking chair near the fireplace watching the hot coals burning away at what was left of the logs. There was always a fire in the fireplace at the Black Horse, boiling water, or just keeping the room warm on a cool day. The old man sat drinking from his pewter cup and paying no attention to anyone else. The room was filled with people talking loudly, laughing, and sometimes shouting across the room when they saw someone walk in that they wanted to greet.

It so happened that a couple of the patrons took notice of the old man, walked over to him and asked, Ain’t you that fella that tells the stories about the outlands over the mountains?

The people of the valley never traveled over the mountains, but they did like to hear stories from what they called the outlands; the outlands being any place that was not in the Brittelton Valley. The old man slowly looked up from the fire and nodded.

Well then, if you don’t mind, we’d like to hear one…if…you don‘t mind. There’s nothing better on a cool night than a tall mug, a warm fire, and a good story to pass the time.  

Before the old man could respond, one of the ladies waiting the tables passed by and said, "You guys leave him alone. You’ll get

him started."

But the old man paid no attention to the waitress and began, You two weren’t around when the wolves came down, were you?

One of the two men replied, Oh…that was a long time ago. Some say it never happened.

That’s what young folks say, but it happened. I remember like it was yesterday. The two men pulled up chairs and leaned in to listen as the old man began.

The sun was beating down, hot in the field. The workers bent over, picking the vegetables. It was a typical day in the Brittelton Valley, and the work seemed, as always, unending. This was how Josiah Colefix and his three sons, along with the hired hands, spent most of their summer days. There was mostly silence as they went along the rows, picking the ripened produce and putting it in a basket. When each basket was full, they would carry them to the nearby wagon, empty the basket, then return to the row and began filling it again.

It made for long, slow days, and the three boys longed for some adventure, but their father would always say, You can’t make a living if you don’t fill the wagon every day.

But for the sound of crows in the distance, all was quiet until Nick gave out a sudden shriek, Bones! I found some bones!

Nick’s younger brother, Rolland, dropped everything and came running, welcoming the break in the lack of action while older brother Benson just stood up straight and shook his head.

The hired hands seemed alarmed, but it was their father who took control when he snapped, Pay them no mind. Just cover them up and keep working! You know the rules! Just then Josiah caught sight of his youngest son running toward Nick, he shouted, Rolland! So a disappointed Rolland turned and went back to his basket.

Nick used a small spade to scrape some dirt over the bones, as the hired help once again bent over their rows. Josiah watched to be sure that Nick covered the bones without touching them and then looked around to see that everything was back to normal. The boys heard him muttering to himself, as he often did; something about the rules and getting work done as he bent over his row again.

Everyone in the valley knew that it had not always been quiet there. Many, many generations ago, before any grandfather’s grandfather living in the Valley had ever troubled their mother with birth, there had been a great battle fought there. As it was told, the valley was filled with the dead, and there were so few left alive after the battle that it was impossible to bury them. So the vultures ate their flesh and time covered the rest.  

The Rules, as they were called, were a series of rhymes that were taught to every child, warning them that nothing from the old time could be touched if it was found. Though no one was quite sure where The Rules came from. Some believed there was a curse on all of the old relics and bones from that time, and if touched, it would bring back the evil that had been defeated, which had brought peace and an end to the oppression that had troubled those days. Others said that it was just a legend.

Josiah always said, Whether it’s true or not, we follow the rules.    

The day was wearing on, and the heat had gone down some. Off in the distance there was a faint sound of thunder rolling over the hills. The boys heard their father mumbling to himself about rain always keeping him from getting any work done, even though the wagon was nearly full. The sun was beginning to rest on the tops of the trees that marked the edge of the great forest on the hills to the west, and there was a faint sound of a wolf cry far off in the deep.

All right, Josiah cried out. Set your markers, and let’s go in! This seemed to add new life to the boys as they each drove a long stake into the ground to mark the place where they were leaving off, so they could take it up again the next day. They each picked up their baskets and started for the wagon.

As Nick walked back, he passed over the spot where he had found the bones and stopped. He looked around to see if anyone was watching, then he drove a stick to mark the spot. He was the last to dump his basket into the wagon. Josiah seemed to be pleased about the wagon being so full that it looked as if it might run over. The horses were brought up, and the men hitched up the team. When everything was ready to go, everyone had a job to do. Josiah would drive the wagon, the hired hands would walk along side to keep the vegetables from falling over the sides, and the boys would walk behind with their baskets, picking up anything that did manage to fall out. As they worked their way out of the field, the sound of the distant thunder seemed a little closer. The thought of rain during the picking season was not good news for Josiah.

He always said, A day we don’t pick is a day we do without. It was not good for the help either. No work meant no pay. The boys, however, welcomed the thought of a day off. That would mean a chance to have some fun.

Nick’s mind was still fixed on the bones that he had found. He’d heard a lot of stories about people in the valley finding bones or some rusty old weapon from the ancient battle that ended the reign of the evil wizard, Shadnarr, now just a story told in legend. His mind raced with the thought of great warriors clashing in the fields where his father’s vegetables now grew. Neither Nick nor Rolland had ever seen anything from that time, and Benson had only seen something once, or so he told his two younger brothers. Nick was hatching a plan in his head to get a better look at what he had found. If it rains tomorrow, that will be my chance, he thought as they walked along.

When they finally reached the barn, a couple of the hired men began unhitching the horses while everyone else began unloading the vegetables into bins. The sun had already set behind the hills when the work was finally finished. The hired men went to the farm hands quarters. Josiah began cooking supper for his three sons and himself.

Josiah’s wife had died ten years ago giving birth to Rolland. The other boys always wondered if this was the reason that in the evenings he would sit in his big rocking chair with Rolland on his lap, staring into the fire, saying nothing until late into the night. Josiah was a tall, bristling man with broad shoulders and strong arms, made hard by years of long, hard days of toil in the fields.

Nick, who was fourteen years of age, was something of a dreamer and longed for adventure.

Farming ain’t for me, he would say. He was always talking about when he would come into his own, as the valley people put it, meaning when a boy becomes a man. He often thought of the great forest that marked the edge of the outland. He thought of living as a woodsman, hunting, trapping, and selling furs for money.

His father always said, There’s a defining moment when a boy becomes a man. He would also remind Nick often that if he didn’t stop all of the dreaming and live in the real world, he was never going to have his defining moment.

Benson was the oldest. At eighteen years, he was as tall as his father and almost as strong. Benson was a good, down to earth young man, as his father put it. His biggest fear was that he was destined to be a farmer. After all what else was there in the valley? There was, however, a girl his age in the little town of Waterbie, to the north of the farm. Her name was Ann Pitworth, and she was the daughter of the leather smith. They were fond of each other, and whenever Benson got a chance, he would slip off to see her. If it rains tomorrow, I’m going into town, he thought.  

That night, as they all lay in bed, the clouds broke and the rain began to pour. It rained all through the night, and by morning it had settled into a slow, steady rain.

Well it looks like you’ve got the day off, Josiah told the boys. They noted a sound of contempt in his voice. He was standing in front of the big window in the front room with his fists clenched tightly and set on his hips. His jaw was set as he stared out over his fields in no fine mood. He was mumbling; something about the rain and starving to death.

Benson set off for town to see Ann, as he had planned. Rolland was on the floor playing with their dog, Shaezz. No one noticed when Nick slipped out of the house. He ran to the barn and closed the door behind him. Along the wall, where his father hung the tools, Nick removed a small gardener’s spade. He ran out into the field where they had been working the day before. Fortunately his father would not see him from that direction.

The field was very muddy, and Nick knew that he would have to be extra careful to clean all of the mud from his shoes so that his father would not ask him any questions about what he had been doing. Finally he had reached the spot. The stick that he had used for a marker had fallen over, and the rain had washed away some of the dirt that he had scraped over the bones, exposing a part of them. There was not much to see yesterday. There had only been a small part of them showing. But now he planned to dig them up and see all there was to find. The soft mud was easy to move, but it stuck to the spade so that he had to keep scraping it off. Slowly more and more of his find was revealed. The size of the bones led him to believe that this was a tall man. As he scraped the mud away, his spade struck something metal, making a slight ringing sound against the spade.

I’ve found something else! he excitedly cried out loud. Thoughts of spears and swords, a knight’s armor, and other such things raced through his mind as he worked to uncover what he had found. A pointed object began to reveal itself. It appeared to be some kind of squared spike.  He noticed that there was another one beside it. Nick drove his hand into the mud, wiggling his fingers around trying to get hold of it. He gave a strong pull. At first the mud held it fast and then slowly it began to give way. Then all at once it came out, causing Nick to fall backward. He got up and began wiping the mud from his prize. At that moment, there was a sudden burst of lightning and thunder. It was so loud and had startled him so bad that he gave out a shout and tossed his hands in the air. The object flew from his fingers and landed several rows away.

Nick was still talking out loud to himself when he demanded, Where did that come from? He’d thought all of the thunder had moved off early that morning. Nick looked around and found his prize. There was a wide oval band. Out of the band there rose four long, square spikes that pointed outward and upward from the band. Each of these was just slightly longer than his hand. There was one in the front, one in the back, and one on each side. There were two more half size spikes between each of the four longer ones. As Nick continued to rub the tarnished metal, a bright yellow color began to emerge.

Gold! He shouted, I’ve found gold! He had found a golden crown. At first he held it close to him and looked around to see if anyone was watching or might have heard him. Then he put it on his head and began waving his hands in the air, shouting, I’m rich! I’ve found a gold crown, and it’s mine! It’s all mine! I’m the king of the world!

At first the crown seemed big on his head, wanting to slide down to his ears. But as he was rejoicing over his find, he noticed it had come to fit his head perfectly. He had little time to think about the change in fit, for at that same moment, the weather changed suddenly. The sky got very dark, and the wind began to blow strongly. Rain suddenly pounded the ground, and the lightning and thunder began striking over and over. The ground was shaking. Nick became afraid. He started to run but then remembered the bones. He had to cover them up again.

The thunder had subsided, but the rest of the storm had not. With the rain pelting him, Nick scraped the mud over the bones again. When he had finished, he picked up his crown and ran for the barn, thinking to himself, This is a very odd storm. As he was running for the barn, he realized that he was soaking wet and covered with mud. This is bad, he thought. He’ll ask questions. "Look at you," he’ll say. Where have you been? What have you been doing? He’ll keep on pressing me ‘til I tell him everything. Then I’ll pay for it. Nick’s mind was racing.

When he sees my crown, he’ll make me put it back in that hole. I know he will. Then he’ll say, ‘What are the rules? What do they say?’

Never touch a thing you find, never try to say it’s mine. At first you’ll think you’re very glad but things will turn out very bad!

Oh how I hate the rules! Nick had realized that he was talking to himself about the same time that he reached the barn. The barn was closed up, so he slipped in through the passage door. Then he heard something. Someone was in the barn. Peeking through the boards of one of the stalls, he saw him. Oh, great, bad just got worse, he thought. It was his father. He was cleaning out the horse stalls. Nick ducked down for a minute to think. Then he had it. Fortunately the stall he was next to was already cleaned. There was fresh straw in it. Nick crawled over to the corner and hid the crown and the spade under the straw. Nick thought, The crown ain’t half of it. If he sees that spade, he’ll wear me out!

Josiah was always telling the boys, If you take care of your tools, they will take care of you, and Josiah Colefix took very good care of his tools. Who’s there? Josiah called out. Nick did not move. I said who’s there? Slowly Nick came out of the stall. A fear of his father was all over him. Look at you! What have you been doing? You ought to know better than to be out in a storm like this. Nick thought quickly and then he had it.

"It was the chickens, Father. The wind blew the gate to the pin open, and I was trying to get it closed before they got out…and I

fell down."

Just how many times did you fall down? You’re covered in mud head to toe, front and ba…whoa...the chickens? Are the chickens okay?

They’re all inside the coop, Father.

"Oh, well…okay then. Good job. Go in the house and get yourself cleaned up…and stay in the house. This storm is

something else."

This made Nick feel terrible. His father had always treated his sons with respect. Still he thought that had gone better than he had planned. His father was none the wiser, but he was worried that he might find his prize. Once his father came in the house, he was going to have to find a way to get back out to the barn to hide it better and clean the spade and put it back before it’s missed. I’m not out of it yet, he thought.

Some time later, the rain had slacked off, and Josiah came into the house. By this time, Nick had washed himself and dressed. The muddy clothes were in a pile on the floor. Josiah looked at them and mumbled, Just what I need, more work. He turned to Nick, Well at least you got that way by doing something responsible for a change. You should have said something though. That was dangerous out there. Gotta be the worst lightning and thunder I’ve ever seen.

Father? Nick asked. Since the rain and all has slacked off, can I go out to the barn? Nick knew he was in the middle of being a hero and being in the worst trouble he had ever been in, so he was playing it careful.

Go ahead, but stay inside, Josiah answered sternly.

Without waiting for another word, Nick ran out of the house and straight to the barn. First, looking to be sure no one else was in the barn, Nick went to the stall where he had hid the spade and the crown and snatched them up. Quickly he ran to the ladder and went up to the loft. It would be safer up there. If anyone came in, he would hear them and have time to hide things. He busied himself cleaning the spade. He had to get that back in its place as soon as possible. After cleaning off all of the mud and drying it, he rubbed a little bit of axel grease on the metal. That’s how Josiah protected his tools from rust, and all of his tools looked like new. When the spade was hanging back on the wall, Nick was eager to get back to his newfound treasure. With a rag and some cleaning spirits, he began to rub the years of lying in the ground off of the crown. Nick was surprised at how shinny it was. Its golden finish was smooth without any decorative finishes. Around the band, there were markings; some kind of old runes, long forgotten. Then there were the four large spikes and eight smaller ones. They were all square and about the size of a man's thumb at the base, tapered to a point. Each spike curved outward as they rose up from the base.

While he worked on his piece, his thoughts carried him away. He thought of how this was going to make him rich. He saw himself sitting on the great porch of his own large stone house on the edge of the great forest overlooking the valley. He would have everything he wanted, and servants would bring him food and whatever else he called for. He would be the master of a great estate and go on adventures into the forest. Maybe this is my defining moment, he thought. It was then that he heard someone come into the barn. Then he heard the voice of Rolland calling him to dinner. Quickly Nick hid the crown under the hay, in a corner where it would be least likely to be found. He then went down the ladder to join

his brother.

At the dinner table, everyone noticed that there was a lot of commotion outside. From the foothills, the voices of many wolves were howling constantly.  Closer to home, the horses and all the other livestock were restless. Even Shaezz their dog seemed to be on alert, wandering from room to room as if he were searching for something.

Benson, who had just gotten home himself, was seated at the far end of the table opposite his father.

I wonder what’s got him all stirred up.

Josiah grunted and said, I wonder. Maybe there’s a wolf nearby. I’ve never known there to be wolves this close. They usually stay deeper in the forest. We better keep an eye out. We don’t need a wolf getting in with the stock.

Benson said, Everyone in town is talking about that big blast of storm we had. They say it just came out of nowhere.

Josiah grumbled, And all that mud is going to keep us out of the fields again tomorrow.  Nick and Rolland looked at each other with big smiles on there faces, but Josiah put a stop to that when he snapped, It’s not funny, and don’t think you got the day off again tomorrow. There’s plenty of chores to be done, enough to keep everybody busy all day.

That night, when all had gone to bed, Nick’s sleep was filled with dreams. At first he was the master of a great estate. Then things quickly turned dark, and his sleep was filled with the sound of howling wolves. He saw himself setting out to hunt the wolves but soon found that he was the hunted. He was running through the forest. He was being chased by wolves. As he dreamed on, the wolves turned in to many strange and dark creatures, the likes of which he had never seen before. These nightmares would fill his sleep for many nights to come.

Chapter 2

Hunt Across the Valley

The night had been long and restless for everyone. Between the howling of the wild and the restlessness of the livestock, Josiah and his hired hands were up several times, walking the yard around the farm.

As morning came, Josiah and his boys were up and just sitting down to breakfast when there came a knock at the door. As Benson went to answer the door, he could hear his father mumbling something about no time for visitors. He could tell that his father seemed to be troubled. The rain had finally stopped, but the sky was still dark and cloudy, not at all normal for this time of year. Wet and muddy fields would keep them from picking, and hard work or not, that was a problem.

Benson opened the door and there stood Hans. Without waiting to be invited in or even saying hello, he pressed by Benson and went straight for the kitchen, calling loudly for Josiah as he went.

Hans Striker was Josiah’s longest and most trusted farmhand. He had been working as hired help on the Colefix farm since he and Josiah were boys, working for Josiah’s father. The two grew up together, and when Josiah took over the farm, he kept his old friend on. Now Hans was the lead farm hand. Josiah often left him in charge of the farm when he had other things to do. Hans always knew what needed to be done.

It was not like Hans to just burst in. In fact he rarely came into the house at all. It left Benson rather startled, standing there, still holding the door and staring after him long after he had rushed by. Rather puzzled he shut the door without noticing that there were other men outside. He hurried to the kitchen to see what Hans was saying to his father.

I tell you, Josiah I ain’t never seen nothing like it! It ain’t like wolves to be comin’ out of the forest like this!

You say you’ve seen two or three? Josiah asked.

Naw, I said we saw two or three just comin’ over here from the workers quarters. The temporary help saw a hole pack of ‘em on the way here, and they say there’s been sightin’s all over the valley. It looks like there may be a bunch of ‘em here on the farm.

Josiah was deep in thought. Well this is more important than anything else we have to do. When Caleb and Israel get here, have them hitch up the wagon and saddle some horses while we get ready.

They’re here now, Hans replied. Them and all the temporary help, too, I thought we might need’em.

Good then, said Josiah sharply, let’s get a move on before they get in to the stock pens.

Israel Goodman and Caleb Hardrow were two more of the hired hands. They, along with Hans, were the only full-time workers that Josiah kept on. The rest of the help, the temporary help, were only hired on for the short-term as seasonal help. Hans, Caleb, and Israel all lived in the workers quarters located on the farm. All the temporary help came from their own homes.

While the hired men were hitching the wagon and saddling horses, Josiah and the boys were in the house getting dressed and gathering the things they were going to need for a full day of hunting. Josiah was obviously concerned, but the boys were excited. A hunting adventure was much better than a day of chores. Not just game hunting, which was the usual fair, but wolves! They were going to hunt wolves! This was going to be exciting. While they were gathering their things, Josiah was giving everyone instructions. None of them had ever hunted wolves before. To the boys, it seemed their father’s instructions were endless.

Stay together. Do exactly what you’re told. Don’t approach a wounded wolf. On and on, he seemed to go with a sense of urgency in everything he said.  

Finally everything was ready. Josiah gathered the boys in the kitchen.

Now let’s make sure we have everything we need: bows, arrows, hunting knives, food, and water for everyone. As their father called out all of the items, the boys went through everything, making sure that it was all there. Then they called Shaezz and they all walked out onto the front porch to meet the rest of the party. Josiah and the boys were more than a little startled to see that several more men had gathered that were not workers of the Colefix farm, men from Waterbie and around the valley. They knew some of them, and others they did not. Josiah was known around the area as a man who knew farming and livestock better than anybody. He had been modestly prosperous as farming goes and had the largest farm in the valley, though most of the time he talked like he was just one tomato away form poverty. However, it was common knowledge around the Brittelton Valley that he was the man to ask for advice on crops and livestock. For that reason, he did have a lot of friends in the area. Still he couldn’t help but be a little taken aback by the turnout, especially since he had not asked anyone for help. All of them were mounted on horseback and anxious to get started. Josiah greeted all of them and shook every hand as he asked them for news. He was both surprised and confused to be told that there were wolf sightings all over the valley, but most of them seemed to be right here on the Colefix farm. There were hunting parties all over, but these volunteers felt that Josiah was going to need some help.

Well if you like, Josiah, we’ll start hunting your south fields, and you and your men can hunt the west fields, one of the riders suggested.

Naw, Josiah replied. I can’t have those horses trampling my vegetables. It’s bad enough they’re laying in water now.

Well we ain’t going to do it on foot, one of the riders piped in. Walkin’ in them rows on foot, the wolves can hide and spring up on us.

Then Josiah, as he had a way of doing, had the right response. You and your men go north and east and hunt the meadows and pastures. My men will go with me and hunt the fields west and south. The men all agreed to the plan. As the horsemen turned to ride off, Josiah called after them, We’ll meet back here this evening. Benson, Nick, and Rolland liked the sound of being included as men, but that was quickly dashed when their father told them, You boys get in the wagon and let the men have the horses. Then he added, We won’t be riding in the rows. We’ll keep the horses with the wagon on the lanes, just like when we’re pickin’. With that they rode out. As they went along, Josiah was taking notice of his field. Concerned for when they would be able to get back to work picking his vegetables, he was assessing the firmness of the ground all the way. The ground was still soft everywhere and lying in water in many places. The ground was a big problem, but he was becoming aware of something else that was bothering him even more. The plants were all drooping as if they were too weak to hold themselves up, and some of them were showing signs of starting to turn yellow around the edges.

Huh, if anything, that rain should have greened them up.  

As they were moving down the lane, Josiah and Hans were talking about the plants looking bad, and they couldn’t understand why when they detected movement off to their right. Several of the men had noticed it and were pointing in that direction. Josiah raised his big hand into the air, bringing everyone to a halt. Right away he began giving instructions.

Everyone, dismount; tie the horses to the wagon. Rolland, you will stay here with the wagon. Caleb, I’ll have you stay here, too. You two will protect the horses. Everyone else spread out into a line. We walk abreast, ten paces apart. Nick, you’re first on my right. Benson, you’re first on my left. I want you both where I can see you. We‘ll walk down to the end of the rows, then swing round at the end and work our way back.

Instructions given they began to walk out into the vegetable rows. Right away they all found the mud to be soft and slippery and they sank deep down into it. Every step quickly became a struggle. Some of them were wearing a kind of shoe common in the area for farmers, and a few of them had boots, but all of them were having trouble pulling their feet out of the mud after each step and still having their shoes on their feet. They caked up with the mud and became heavy. Still they pressed on, trying to keep an eye on the spot where they had seen something moving while trying to stay on their feet.

For Nick the fun had already gone out of the adventure. His feet were so heavy with mud that it was a chore to lift them, and that was after he managed to pull them out of it after each step. His mind had drifted away from the hunt they were on and he was thinking of his golden crown, hidden in the barn, and of hunting wolves in the great forest.

That would be very different than this. Trudging along the rows seemed endless. He told himself, When I come into my own and I have my big house in the forest, I don’t ever want to see another vegetable field again.

Just then he fell forward. He dropped his bow to catch himself but still landed face down in the mud. When he got up, he was trying to wipe his face off with his muddy hands and he could hear the laughter of the others around him.

Even his father could not keep a straight face as he joked, Did you see anything down there? This brought even more laughter from the others. It was at this very moment that things happened. Shaezz leaped forward like a bolt of lightning, barking wildly. In a moment, barking turned to fierce snarling and growling. The big German shepherd was locked in a battle with a wolf. As they grappled, a second one was trying to circle around the dog when Josiah loosed an arrow. It struck the second wolf in the hip. The great beast let out a painful wail and ran off. For a moment, Shaezz and his opponent separated to, once again size each other up, when several arrows struck the unwanted beast. It let out a shriek as it

fell dead.

Everyone gathered around to see the dead animal. Josiah gave the wolf a kick to make sure it was finished. Then he knelt down to see if Shaezz was hurt. The dog was still full of fight but was otherwise okay.

Whoa, that’s a big wolf! Hans observed as they stood over the body of the dead animal, Biggest I ever seen.

While yer all standin’ around, I gotta go find my shoe. I lost it over there, Israel said, pointing to where his shoe was stuck in the mud. He turned to one of the men, Will ya hold my bow?

As Israel began working his way back to the spot where he had lost his shoe before all of the commotion, all the others moved in for a closer look at the dead wolf. It did seem to be larger than the wolves that they were used to seeing occasionally wonder into the valley.

One of the hired hands said, I tell ya, right when ya think things are gettin’ strange, they get even stranger!

At that moment, they heard Israel cry out. Everyone quickly turned just in time to see another wolf knock Israel down. As he disappeared into the vegetables, they could hear the growling of the wolf and cries of pain from Israel. Shaezz took off running as fast as he could. All of the men were running, too, struggling in the mud as they went. There was a terrible scream, and everyone feared the worst. Then they heard a yelp followed by silence.

Israel! Israel, we’re comin’! cried a frantic Josiah as he ran to him without any regard for himself. The thick, deep mud had pulled both of the boots off of his feet, but even that didn’t slow him down. He kept running, barefoot in the mud. Josiah was the first to reach him. It was much easier to run in the mud without shoes. There he found Israel, lying on top of the great beast with his hunting knife in the side of its ribs. The wolf had been stabbed several times.

Israel rolled over, looked up at Josiah, and said, I don’t think this is gonna work out. He was scratched and cut and he had several bites. The worst was to his left arm. Blood was running out of his sleeve and dripping off of his fingers. His coat sleeve was torn, and the blood was matting it to his arm. Woulda been worse if I wasn’t wearin’ this coat. Still he was bleeding very badly.

One of the hired hands helped him slip his coat off while another got out a handkerchief to wrap the arm. Josiah was sizing things up.

I think you’re right, Israel. This isn’t going to work. We might be better off pulling in the livestock and just standing guard over the pens than to be out here like this.

Hans added, We could have some men patrol the lanes on horseback and not go out into the rows. You know, just stay on the lanes.

Everyone agreed that both of these ideas were the right thing to do.

Now they began to look over the wolf that Israel had just killed. It was as big as the first one, and there was an arrow in its hip.

Israel said, Looks like I finished what you started, huh?

Now, with much more caution, the men began to gather their things together. One of the hired hands dug Israel’s shoe out of the mud. Four of the men picked up the first wolf, each by one leg, and carried it over to where the second wolf lay. Josiah located his boots and strung them together, hanging them around his neck.

No point in puttin’ them on now.

With that they all began working their way back to the wagon with Josiah in front, Nick and Benson at his flanks with their bows at the ready. They would not be surprised again. Hans was helping Israel. The rest of the men were carrying the two wolves. They did not dare to drag them for fear of tearing up the sickly-looking vegetable plants. Shaezz was walking ahead of them, scouting the way as they all struggled in the mud. The task was even more difficult with their burdens.

Finally they reached the lane where the wagon and the horses were. As they came up, they could see that there was some activity. The horses were clearly upset, and Caleb was trying to calm them down. Fortunately they had all been tied up, or they would have run away. A very excited Rolland was jumping up and down, pointing at something on the ground.

We got one! We got one! he was shouting excitedly.

Nick answered back, We got two of them, but Mr. Goodman is hurt! He got jumped by one of them! Nick was very anxious to tell the story before anyone else could.  

Shaezz ran over to the place where a third wolf was laying and began sniffing the lifeless body. The others were working their way back up onto the lane. Caleb went running to Israel and Hans when he heard Nick and saw his friend covered in blood.

What happened here? Josiah asked.

While Caleb was helping Hans put Israel into the wagon, he began to tell their tale. We was watchin’ all of you out in the field. We could tell you was havin’ a bad time walkin’ and all. Then the horses started stirrin’. I thought we might be in trouble, so I told Rolland to get up on the wagon and get his bow ready. I made sure the horses were all tied fast, then I got up in the wagon, too. I just told Rolland to keep a sharp eye in all directions when that beast came up out of the rows. Well we was ready for him. We both loosed and we both hit it. That thing went a-rollin’ on the ground and yelping, so we gave it a couple more arrows ‘til it stopped. Then we just stayed here on the wagon in case there was more of ‘em, at least ‘til we saw you comin’ out of the field.

The three dead wolves were tossed into the wagon. Israel laid back on them. The men mounted up, and the party began following the lane back to the farm.

"Benson, as soon as we get to the house, you take one of the horses and run over to town, to that doctor. Tell him what happened to Israel