Little Billy

Chapter One
In a pond near the edge of the forest lived several animals. Among them was a swan named Little Billy. He was different from the rest of the animals because when he was a young duckling he was ensared in a trappers cruel trap. The trap was made of steel with teeth that bit off part of Little Billy's loely bill making it look a bit crooked.But in spite of this he had alot of friends.
There was Mary, the otter; Pete, the duck; Know-it-All, the owl and Slow-poke the turtle. They all lived in Pappy's Valley where no one bothered them and they were safe from hunters. Pappy's Valley was in the National Forest were hunting was prohibited. But still the animals of the valley kept an eye out for hunter's that slipped through from time to time.
One day while Little Billy and his friends was sitting around the pond, enjoying the day, Little Billy heard a sound. It was coming from the pine trees to the left of the pond. It was a sound he hadn't heard before. It sounded like the cry of a wounded animal. Now Little Billy wasn't one to sit around and let something hurt.

" I wonder what that sound is." Slowpoke asked his friend.
" It sounds like something is in trouble." Little Billy answered.
"Are you going over to look?" asked Slowpoke.
" I guess I'd better or I won't know how to help it." he said.
Little Billy slowly made his way over to where the sound was coming from. There sitting under the pine trees was a little girl. She was crying so hard she didn't hear Little Billy approach. Little Billy slowly inched forward as to not scare her, then gently nudged her hand.
Startled the little girl jumped up! There stnding in front of her was a swan! She stood very still not knowing if the swan was going to hurt her or not. After what seemed like for hours, when in fact it was only minutes, she began to realize that the swan wasn't going to harm her, she sat down again on the soft grass.
As the little girl looked at Little Billy she begn to notice the other animals that were standing over by the trees that surrounded the pond. The little girl knew that animals and humans didn't speak the same language but she was glad to know she wasn't alone anymore. She began to speak very softly to them trying to make them understand her.
" My name is Susie Thomas and I got lost from my mom and
dad."
" I can't find them and I am scared." she said starting to cry
again.
As the other animals began to approach her, Little Billy, stayed behind. The only human that Little Billy trusted was Ranger Smith
" Little Billy, do you remember when you was lost and
how you felt?!"Slowpoke asked his friend.
Little Billy thought back to that time when he as young and was seperated from his mom and how lost he felt. He was just as scared as Susie was right now. He nodded to Slowpoke and knew he had to help her.
" Little Billy, we need to find her parents." Mary told him
" Yea!" said all the other animals.
Little Billy also knew they had to find Susie's parents because it would be dark soon.There were alot of dangerous animals in the forest that could hurt someone as small as Susie.
"Listen everyone. I have a plan to help Susie find her
parents." he said.
" Little Billy. Can we all help?" Mary asked.
" We can take to the sky, the land and the water."
" We can watch for her parents and bring them
back here." he told everyone.
" But, Little Billy, how will we know know who
her parents are?" asked Mary.
Little Billy thought for a minute, then looked at everyone,
and said.
" We will look for Ranger Smith. I am sure they
would be with him."
Little Billy told the one's that could fly to take to the sky and report to him if they saw anyone. The rest would search the land and water. As everyone began to look for Susie's parents the only one left was Slowpoke. Now, Little Billy, knew his friend wouldn't understand because he was a turtle and he would be too slow to follow them.
"Slowpoke, I need you to stay with Susie and
watch over her."
"You're the only one I can trust to protect her."
he said.
As Little Billy took to the sky he turned and waved good-bye to Susie and Slowpoke.
Slowpoke gently nudged Susie's hand in the direction of the pond. He knew she would be thirsty and the pond offered cool water for her to drink. After she drank the water they walked over to a small pine tree that offered protection from the wind.The pine needles gave a bed for her lay on with soft grass underneath. Slowpoke would be able to see anyone coming into the clearing. Susie lay down on the cool grass and pine needles and was soon fast asleep.
Susie was still asleep when hours later the first of the animals came back from their search. No one had been able to find Susie's parents and everyone was upset.
"We couldn't find anyone." Mary said.
" I hope Little Billy has better luck." she told the others.
Soon Know-it-All arrived and sat down beside the little girl slowly shaking his head. He wrapped his wings over the sleeping girl to help protect her from the cooling afternoon wind. Mary went looking for berries and nuts so when Susie awoke she would have something to eat. She looked for juniper bushes to help keep the wind off the little girl too.
Slowpoke hoped that the other animals would come back with good news. He didn't like the little girl being alone. He knew that it would take all his friends to help protect Susie from the wild animals that came lurking around at night.