Grievous Acts; Amish Mummy & Wild Wonder: Amish Mummy & Wild Wonder, #1

By Roy Forth

The 15-year old Amish boy, Amos, lost his mother. His father still got horny.
 

Amos escaped the shack in the woods where he had been shackled for his father's convenience, because God forbids a man to spill his seed.
 

A non-Amish couple helped the runaway Amos hide from the Amish.
 

Amos decided to do whatever it took, anything at all, to avoid being hauled back to the Amish community and being forced to live with his father again.
 

The Amish boy decided to live like a young woman. She assumed the name Wild Wonder. Internally, in her psyche, Wild Wonder identified as female. She learned young woman manners and outlook on life, and was introduced to others as the niece of the couple who sheltered her.
 

Knowing his father would make up stories about why and how his boy disappeared, Wild Wonder manages to get pictures of his ripped hiney to Amish Mummy. Wild Wonder wanted someone she could trust to know the truth.
 

Amish Mummy is a wife and a mother of the Amish community. She is revered for her intelligence and for her subtle guidance. She is a stable consultant within the Amish community even though only a woman.
 

Mummy, her child Emma, and Wild Wonder like each other and stay in touch. Mummy, in her subtle way, gently guides Wild Wonder to accept Mummy as an information partner. With one partner inside the Amish community and one outside, they may coordinate to accomplish things in their respective worlds.
 

Wild Wonder has talents that encourage skills as a legal researcher and skills as a model. She also befriends another transgender individual, helping Helen to rise out of darkness. The darkness was created and perpetually deepened from being unable to answer the question of which gender is correct.
 

The story includes good-hearted people who support Wild Wonder in her growth as a person. Part of her explosion of personal growth includes becoming the leader of a gang composed of teenage men.

Wild Wonder's father raped and ripped Wild's youngest brother, leaving 6-year old Philip in the woods to die alone. Philip had been Wild's favorite of his three brothers.

The menace needed to be removed. The Amish could not, did not see the need. They had gone along with the father's stories and explanations. Everything happened according to God's will.

Mummy encouraged Wild to do what needed to be done. Wild Wonder decided to make it easy for his father to commit suicide.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Will Bontrager Software LLC
• Release date: Apr 24, 2025
• ISBN: 9798231668922

Book preview

How This Series Happened

My intent was to write a mystery series with an Amish woman as the solver of puzzles. After I started writing, it turned out a little different. In this very first book, the Amish woman has become more a person who steers events than a solver of puzzles.

The words in this book are my own, as is true for this entire series. They were written with human intelligence. I enjoy writing too much to give it up to artificial intelligence. There may be some things both more creative and more enjoyable than writing fiction. But I don’t know what they would be.

How do I write? I translate what is in my imagination. The translation flows through my fingers and becomes words to read. The more I write, the better I get at writing words that convey what I experience in my imagination.

My imagination has colors, actions, smells, and the yearning of characters. It sees the beginning and the end. As I write, the middle parts fall into place. The journey has surprises that interrupt the travel, just like real life.

This series had its foundation established a number of years ago.

On my birthday, every year, I like to celebrate by shifting all responsibilities aside and doing something I have wanted to do for a long period of time. One year, I decided to write a mystery novel on that day, something I had been wanting to do for some years. The reason was to see if I would find pleasure in that type of writing.

Audacious me.

I got several thousand words written of a Amish mystery that had been in my mind. But several thousand words do not make a novel. Maybe a very short story. But not a novel.

The story was put aside.

Now, after a few years of writing popcorn stories (micro stories <600 words) and then a full Old West trilogy (180,000 words), I was ready to break out the Amish mystery and see what I can do with it.

It went well; for a couple weeks. Then I needed to develop a character to work with Mummy. It needed to be a strong character, well established, so the person could participate in what I envisioned would become a series of many volumes.

So I made some time to develop and write out the character I needed. Instead of a thousand words or so that I envisioned when I started, the character’s foundation ended up with over 3,000 words.

It was at that point that I realized the character I had solidly put in my imagination needed their own book. Their story needed to be told separately, in a book published before the story I had begun years ago.

That is the book you are holding right now.

Enjoy.

Note that I am available for email correspondence. Use the form at my website to start an email-exchange conversation.

Roy Forth

RoyForth.com

Excerpts

From the Wild Wonder chapter:

He again considered home. No, the answer was still the same. He would never go home. Never ever forever never.

From the Searchers chapter:

Wild, they were here but they’re gone now.

Whew!

But you can’t come out just yet. I chased them off by giving them three minutes to be gone or I would shoot at least one of their horses.

Wild laughed. That would raise a huge fear of pocketbook.

From the Phillip Not Found; Then Found chapter:

She showered and put on her yellow dress. The yellow dress seemed to convey woman" more than a blouse and jeans.

Some of the neighbors were likely to stop by after the excitement.

To complete the outfit, Wild put on the high heels Melinda had given to her. They were really not very high when compared to some that Melinda wore. But Melinda said they were high enough for someone to learn to walk in heels. When she was ready, Melinda had said, Wild could get taller heels."

From the Maybe chapter:

The phone said, Wild, this is Melinda. Tell me, how is your bum?"

It itches but it doesn’t hurt. I even pooped and it didn’t hurt very much, just a little. That little water spray thingy sure is magical. What is it called?

It’s a bidet.

That’s what I thought Jack said. But I couldn’t find it in the dictionary.

From the God Free chapter:

Amos stepped over and pulled his pants leg up to expose his ankle. His father put the chain around the boy’s ankle and hooked the lock.

His father didn’t stop there, he closed the lock and turned the key.

Overview

The 15-year old Amish boy, Amos, lost his mother. His father still got horny.

Amos escaped the shack in the woods where he had been shackled for his father's convenience, because God forbids a man to spill his seed.

A non-Amish couple helped the runaway Amos hide from the Amish.

Amos decided to do whatever it took, anything at all, to avoid being hauled back to the Amish community and being forced to live with his father again.

The Amish boy decided to live like a young woman. She assumed the name Wild Wonder. Internally, in her psyche, Wild Wonder identified as female. She learned young woman manners and outlook on life, and was introduced to others as the niece of the couple who sheltered her.

Knowing his father would make up stories about why and how his boy disappeared, Wild Wonder manages to get pictures of his ripped hiney to Amish Mummy. Wild Wonder wanted someone she could trust to know the truth.

Amish Mummy is a wife and a mother of the Amish community. She is revered for her intelligence and for her subtle guidance. She is a stable consultant within the Amish community even though only a woman.

Mummy, her child Emma, and Wild Wonder like each other and stay in touch. Mummy, in her subtle way, gently guides Wild Wonder to accept Mummy as an information partner. With one partner inside the Amish community and one outside, they may coordinate to accomplish things in their respective worlds.

Wild Wonder has talents that encourage skills as a legal researcher and skills as a model. She also befriends another transgender individual, helping Helen to rise out of darkness. The darkness was created and perpetually deepened from being unable to answer the question of which gender is correct.

The story includes good-hearted people who support Wild Wonder in her growth as a person. Part of her explosion of personal growth includes becoming the leader of a gang composed of teenage men.

Wild Wonder's father raped and ripped Wild's youngest brother, leaving 6-year old Philip in the woods to die alone. Philip had been Wild's favorite of his three brothers.

The menace needed to be removed. The Amish could not, did not see the need. They had gone along with the father's stories and explanations. Everything happened according to God's will.

Mummy encouraged Wild to do what needed to be done. Wild Wonder decided to make it easy for his father to commit suicide.

List of Characters

The characters you find here are in two sections. First is a list of primary characters who appear only in this story. Second is a list of characters that are intended to be present in all or most of the books in the Amish Mummy and Wild Wonder series.

Primary Characters for Only This Story

The Borntrager Family —

Felty:

Father

Amos:

Son, age 15 (see name Wild Wonder at The Nichols Family entry)

Timothy:

Son, age 13

Joey:

Son, age 7

Phillip:

Son, age 6

Primary Characters for the Entire Amish Mummy and Wild Wonder Series

The Hershberger Family —

Warm:

Husband

Mummy:

Wife; widely known as a reliable consultant

Emma:

Daughter, age 7

The Nichols Family —

Jack:

Husband.

Melinda:

Wife; sister of Warren Wenter (see The Wenter Family)

Wild Wonder:

Ex-Amish; born as Amos; living as a young woman; making her home at the Nichols’ farm; soul sister of Helen (see The Cash Family)

The Wenter Family —

Warren:

Husband; county Attorney; brother of Melinda Nichols (see The Nichols Family)

Candy:

Wife

The Cash Family —

Hilda:

Older sister

Helen:

Younger sister; born as younger brother Henry; soul sister of Wild Wonder (see The Nichols Family)

The Gang —

Wild Wonder (see The Nichols Family):

Leader of the gang

Helen (see The Cash Family):

Assistant leader of the gang

Gang Members:

Joe, Fred, Leroy, Felix, George, Hank

Also Friends of Wild Wonder —

Alice:

Owner of Store Alice; lover of Sally

Sally:

Lifetime friend of the Nichols' and Wenter's; lover of Alice

God Free

Amos Borntrager had been his name. Now it is Wild Wonder.

Wild Wonder was a name he assumed after he left his Amish home, when he needed a new name to help with hiding from the Amish. He liked the name. The name had a good reason for existing.

While Amish, he had been friends with individuals of a group of late-teen boys who called themselves the Wild Amish. Although he wanted to, the gang considered the boy to be too young to join. The boy, himself, had often been referred to as a wonder by his mother, and even his father and his siblings.

So he called himself Wild Wonder. It sounded pretty good, he thought.

Amos was fifteen when he involuntarily left his Amish home, not long after his mother died.

It was a few days after his fifteenth birthday when she passed away.

His mother had gotten sick a few weeks earlier. His father asked her if she needed to see a doctor.

No, I don’t think so, was her response, knowing her husband would rather not spend the money. Just make sure I have plenty of water.

His father put Amos on water duty. But she died anyway.

A few months later, his father and Amos loaded tools and material into a wagon.

His father, Amos noticed, hardly ever shaved anymore since his mother died. Only on Sunday mornings. He used to shave his cheeks and both upper and lower lips, every day. Now, he looked raggedy. Amos didn’t mention it, though. One didn’t question their father. It just wasn’t done.

Father and son hitched a team of horses to the wagon and drove to the maple shack.

Amos had no idea what would happen there.

The maple shack was a building containing large metal trays in a series, each tray slightly lower than the previous. Every Spring, the trays were heated with wood to reduce maple sap to maple syrup. Each tray had a spout. As the sap simmered, it became thicker and the spout was used to release it to the next tray. Subsequent trays were less hot so the thicker syrup would not burn. To accommodate the series of trays, the shack was narrow and long.

At the shack, Amos and his father tacked up blankets on the inside walls.

To insulate it and make it easier to heat, his father explained. And we’ll have to drag wood up to the shack so it can be cut into pieces for the fire.

Amos thought this was a bit different than normal. In his experience, the shack was always warmer than desired, what with the many fires under the many metal trays simmering the sap.

He didn’t ask his father about it, though. The boy was taught to learn from his father and never question him.

The father and the son found downed branches here and there in the woods. The branches were dragged to the shack. Amos was curious why the branches were required now, many months and a winter before the maple sap season would require the wood.

The boy experienced even more questions when his father brought a long chain into the shack.

I’ll tell you what this is about after we’re done, his father told Amos. For right now, help me tighten this bolt as tight as it can go. We’ll put two nuts onto it with a lock washer in between. It must not come undone, ever.

When the nut had been tightened permanently, his father said, You’ll notice that the chain is long enough to reach outside to where we dragged the branches. That is important. I’ll tell you why in a bit.

His father picked up the wrenches and carried them out of the maple shack. He placed them on the wagon.

Now, we need to make a loop at this end, his father explained. Then we put this lock on it.

His father had a large iron padlock in hand. Amos recognized it. It was the padlock that had been on the wall in the farm shop for years. His father bent down and laid the chain around his ankle for a measure and hooked the lock through the overlapping links.

I think the loop should be a little smaller, his father said. Amos, I think your ankle is a bit smaller than mine. Here, step over and let me measure.

Amos stepped over and pulled his pants leg up to expose his ankle. His father put the chain around the boy’s ankle and hooked the lock.

His father didn’t stop there, he closed the lock and turned the key.

His father got up.

What are we doing, Father? asked Amos, in spite of his training to never question his father.

"Amos, your mother died exactly three months ago today.

"You know what God said about not spilling your seed. It’s a sure way to go to hell.

"But my seed must be released. It must. It is forbidden to spill it. It can only be released inside someone.

Amos, you are the oldest. You will be the sacrifice. Be glad it is not an altar sacrifice. When I am old and my seed no longer needs release, I will let you go and you can live a normal life.

Amos was getting scared, not just uncertain. His father was breathing deep. He was sweating. His pants were tight. This was a father Amos did not know.

Amos realized what his father was going to do to him.

Frequently, Amos had fantasies about inserting his penis into another boy’s hiney. He knew it was only fantasy, so it could not be a harm in enjoying the visualization.

But, father, would I not need to confess to the church and make amends?

No. Not in this case, Amos. God will want you to keep it to yourself so you don’t distress the rest of his people.

His father lowered his pants. The penis was fully engorged.

Lower your pants, Amos.

Amos nodded. Throughout the lifetime of the young teenager, he had always obeyed his father, quickly and without question. He obeyed now.

It hurt. Amos cried out. It hurt like crazy. Amos yelled.

His father grunted, then he pulled out.

After inspecting the crying boy, his father said, It looks like you are bleeding a little. It will heal. God won’t let it infect because you are doing His service to prevent seed from spilling.

His father pulled his own pants up, stuffed himself inside, buttoned the flaps, and put the suspenders over his shoulders.

Now pull your pants up, Amos.

While Amos was doing that, his father said, I brought some food so you don’t starve. There is also a hatchet. Work on the wood every day. If you work hard enough, you will have enough wood piled up in here to last the winter.

His father had a thought, just then. He explained.

There will be no maple syrup making in the Spring. I don’t know where I would move you for those weeks. The farm will just have to do without the income. So you make yourself at home here.

His father went outside. When he returned, he was struggling with a large chest. The chest got pulled into the maple shack. It was full of canned goods. There was a church key with a triangular tip to open the cans. There was a spoon.

You can eat out of the cans. That way you don’t have to do dishes.

His father handed him a hatchet.

This hatchet is sharp. I’ll also leave a sharpening stone so you can touch it up as you need.

Amos was in shock. He kept nodding as his father talked.

His father brought a dozen jars of water into the maple shack for Amos to drink. He also brought blankets and a change of clothes."

There is no extra water for laundry, Amos. So I’ll bring a change of clothes when I come next and get your dirty ones cleaned. I thought I would be back tomorrow but I’ll wait a few days so you can heal. I think after a while there will be less urgency so I’ll come less often then.

His father turned to leave. He talked as he left the shack.

Be sure to work on the wood, Amos. You will need it this winter.

The door closed. Amos heard his father telling the horses to get along. The wagon drove off.

Amos hurt. His hiney burned. It felt like something tore. He laid down. It was a dirt floor and old wood chips and sticks and bark were scattered about. He got up and laid a blanket on the ground, then laid back down.

His hiney really hurt. But not as much as his heart. He knew his Bible. His father knew the same Bible. It was plain and clear that his father sacrificed him to hell to satisfy his own needs.

No God would allow that, declared Amos out loud.

That was the moment Amos knew with clear certainty that there was no God. Not anywhere except in his father’s mind. And in the minds of the other Amish, he amended his thought.

He pulled one edge of the blanket over himself and curled into a fetal position. He shivered. After a while, he fell asleep.

When he woke up, his hiney still hurt. There was some blood on the blanket.

Amos wondered why he had dreamed about his next younger brother and himself playing in the shop. The dream stimulated memories of that time over a year ago.

Timothy and Amos had taken the padlock down from the wall. It was the very padlock Amos now had on his ankle.

The boys took the padlock apart to see how it worked. They carefully remembered each piece they removed from the padlock so they could put it together again.

Unexpectedly, a spring that had been compressed somewhere in the mechanism launched itself off into the distance. The surprised boys heard the spring ricochet off a wall and off into an area of loose dirt the same color as the spring.

They were unable to find the spring, so they reassembled the padlock without it. They tried the key. The padlock worked. Both boys breathed a sigh of relief. Father would never find out.

It was this very same lock! exhilarated Amos. He inspected the padlock. He thought if he jiggled it enough the locking mechanism might release the shank.

But jiggle as he would, the padlock didn’t open. His ankle started to bloody from the chain chaffing on his skin.

The hatchet! remembered Amos.

Even hitting the padlock as he would, it refused to open.

Amos decided to poke around inside the mechanism and try to remember how the padlock was put together. He could use a stick poked through the keyhole. Maybe he could figure something out.

I WILL figure something out, declared Amos. Can’t depend on the God that is all a lie anyway.

His hiney was throbbing and stinging from all the movement dedicated to the lock. With his attention on his hiney, Amos realized he needed to take a shit. But he didn’t know how he was going to do that with his hiney hurting like it did.

But I have to. I can’t hold what’s coming, thought Amos to himself.

He could not take his pants off because of the lock and chain on his ankle. But he could lower them.

Amos went to a corner of the maple shack and brushed out a shallow hole.

He cried and continued to cry because of how much it hurt as the poop came out. And there were two poops, the second hurt so much that Amos yelled out. He did not dare try to clean, it was too sore and would hurt too much. Maybe if he lay down and rested, the hurt would go away.

While lying there, Amos tried to remember exactly how the parts of the padlock went