Eve was an old lady, so bowed and bent that her head nearly touched her tummy. She lived in a cottage situated near hills and a forest. Eve took small, precise steps like a mechanical wind-up toy.
Rude village boys shouted when they saw her, "Look, here comes 'The Clockwork Krone'."
Eve ignored them and kept to herself. For company, she had a cat called Nero, who she talked to all the time.
Eve had once been young and beautiful. She was the village nurse until she grew too old. Eve had once saved the life of a small boy who was sick. The boy was the son of a rich merchant who was grateful to Eve and gave her a big bag of gold coins. Eve hid the coins under her bed.
One day, Eve walked with Nero in the forest. They heard the bang, bang, of a gun firing. Minutes later, a small creature scampered past them. They heard whimpering coming from a fallen hollow tree trunk. Looking inside they saw a tiny bear cub crying. Hunters had shot his mummy and now he was all alone.
Eve whispered, "Don't fret my little darling," and stroked the cub's back.
Nero rubbed against the cub in a comforting way. Eve carried the cub home and gave him lots of cuddles. The cub enjoyed cuddles, so he was given the name Cuddles.
Using a babies' feeding bottle, Eve fed Cuddles milk.
Eve told the cub, "It's sad that you have lost your mummy. You have no need to fret; Nero and I will care for you."
Time passed and Cuddles grew into a large brown bear. He was strong and helped Eve by carrying shopping and lifting heavy things. Cuddles was a gentle giant who would't harm a living thing. His favourite game was playing ball with Nero. He also performed a funny bear dance, which made Eve laugh. Eve was happy with her strange family and she talked to them all the time.
Two bad men were drinking in the village inn. They had heard the rumour that the Crone kept a bag of gold under her bed; in a drunken state, they made plans to steal the gold.
One man said to the other, "The Crone lives with a cat and a big soft bear, it will be easy to rob them."
"Yes," answered the other robber.
"Tomorrow, when they shop in the village, we'll break the lock on the cottage door, and steal the gold."
On their way home, the two men joined hands and danced in a tipsy manner.
They sang a boastful song, "Tonight, tonight, we haven't a stitch, but thanks to the Crone we'll soon be rich."
The next day, when Eve, Cuddles and Nero walked to the shops, the robbers broke in and stole the gold.
Cuddles forgot to take his ball.
Eve told him, "Fetch your ball Cuddles, Nero and I will wait here till you return."
Cuddles bumped into the robbers as they were leaving the cottage. Cuddles was angry; picking up a man in each paw, he carried them to Eve. The gold dropped out at Eve's feet.
Staring angrily at the terrified thieves, Eve scolded them.
"You have had a fright you won't forget in a hurry. You can take my punishment, or Cuddles will take you to the sheriff. You will be thrown in jail for a long time."
The scared thieves, knelt before Eve, and pleaded, "Please don't send us to jail. We'll take your punishment."
Eve thought for a few minutes, "I will spare you, but you must work for me, for no wages, for a year. You must do any task I order you to do."
For the next year, Eve made the thieves scrub floors, wash clothes, chop firewood, and any other task she wanted done. If they were lazy and slacked for a minute, Cuddles scowled at them. This made them work harder than they had done before.
A secret is difficult to keep in a small village. Soon everyone knew about Cuddles catching the robbers. Because of Cuddles, no one was brave enough to steal the old lady's gold again. And because of Cuddles, no one had the courage to call Eve 'The Clockwork Crone' again. And because of Cuddles, Eve never worried again. She lived happily in the cottage with Cuddles and Nero and talked to them all the time.
Philip's Army is now available in Paperback and Kindle formats.
ISBN-10: 1479242624
ISBN-13: 978-1479242627
Chapter One The War Council can be read for free here.
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