The Farmer's Son

PROLOGUE

It was a normal day for Alvin Girth. His wife, Daisy, was inside making his favorite jam, and Alvin was doing his chores out on the farm in Kansas. He would bring fresh milk in the house, and sit down with Daisy for the breakfast meal they had every day. Yep, that was normal.
Alvin finished milking the cows, then carrying the pails, he walked into the house. The smell of jam on the stove enriched him. He set the milk on the counter and called for his wife.
"Daisy?"
A few moments later, a beautiful woman, with blonde hair and blue eyes came down from upstairs. Alvin grinned. She was the love of his life. Daisy sat at the table and motioned for Alvin to do the same. He sat down and both Daisy and Alvin started eating. As they were eating in silence, Daisy said,
"I have wonderful news, honey. I'm pregnant."

CHAPTER ONE- Disappearance

Alvin shut himself in his bedroom where he wouldn't have to hear the baby cry. He threw himself on the bed and tears came down his cheeks. Why did Daisy have to die? It was all the baby's fault. If the baby hadn't been born, Daisy would still be alive. He stood up and grabbed a bag and put money in it. He left his newborn baby boy on the ground, threw him a blanket, and left the house.
The neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Smith saw Alvin leave the house and could hear a wailing sound coming from inside. They cautiously knocked on the door, and when nobody answered, they let themselves in. They were surprised to see a baby boy lying on the ground, screaming his head off. Mrs. Smith ran to the baby's side, and gently picked him up. Mr. Smith searched the house for anyone, while his wife rocked the poor baby.
"No one is home." Mr. Smith said, after his search was complete.
"We can't just leave the poor thing here," Mrs. Smith said, still rocking him gently.
"We'll take him home with us until his dad returns." Mr. Smith replied.
The Smiths took the baby home, and cared for him. It turns out, Alvin didn't return home the next day, or the next. In fact, it had been four whole days until Mr. Smith saw Alvin walking home.
Mr. Smith ran to tell his wife. Together, they took the baby back home and knocked on the door. Alvin answered it. His face was beet red and he looked tired.
"What do you want?" he asked rather harshly. Mrs. Smith held out the baby.
"Your son was left at home alone, so we took care of him while you were gone."
Alvin stared at the baby, then snatched him out of Mrs. Smith's hands.
"He is mine! Don't you ever touch him again!" With that, Alvin slammed the door in the Smith's faces. Slowly, Mr. and Mrs. Smith walked back home.

CHAPTER TWO- The Meyers

Alvin kept disappearing for days, always leaving his son home along. Mr. and Mrs. Smith would always take the boy when his father left, then return him before Alvin came home. They eventually started to call him Ben, and grew to love him. When Ben was two years old, Mr. and Mrs. Smith realized that whenever Ben was at home with Alvin, he was being mistreated, so they called the police. Alvin was taken to jail, and Ben was put up for adoption.
You would think that Mr. and Mrs. Smith would adopt Ben, but they were old, and wanted Ben to have a young couple for parents. So instead, a couple named Dale and Deborah Meyers adopted him.
A few years later, when Ben was about five years old, Alvin was let out of jail. He went to the Meyers' home and asked for Ben back.
"I need him," he pleaded. "He's the only family I have left."
But Dale and Deborah refused. Alvin was enraged.
"I will be back, and I'm going to take Ben away!" Alvin yelled, then turned on his heel and ran off the porch leaving the Meyers' paralyzed with fear. Alvin was going to take their son away from them!
"We have to move." Dale told his wife. "We have to move where he can't find our son."
And that's just what they did. They moved far off in the Pacific Ocean on an island called Cravenhill that not a lot of people knew of. On that island, there was one small village in the center. No police, no burglars, and everyone knew each other. But Dale and Deborah weren't going to live in the village, for fear they might be recognized. They decided to live in the forest surrounding it. Dale built a cottage in the forest, and settled his family there.

CHAPTER THREE- Different

"Mom, can I go to the village with dad?" asked twelve year old Ben, who asked the same question every day. Ben had messy brown hair and blue eyes.
"No, Ben," his mother would always reply.
"Why?"
"It's too dangerous."
"Not with dad around."
Deborah turned to look at her son. "Honey, you know your different; the village is too dangerous for you."
Ben sighed. He would give up anything to go to the village with his father. But he was stuck in a wheelchair. Ben was born perfectly healthy, but his dad, Alvin, claimed there had been a small "accident," and Ben couldn't walk anymore. That was all Ben knew.
Years passed, and Ben was seventeen. He still constantly asked his parents if he was old enough to visit the village, and his parent's answer was always the same.
"Dad, I'm seventeen, now. I can take care of myself."
"Yes, you are definitely getting older," his father agreed. "But you are also in a wheelchair."
That night, Ben lay in his bed, thinking about the village and what it might look like. He was tired of being stuck at home, and if his parents weren't going to let him go, he'd have to get there himself. He couldn't walk, his legs made sure of that. So, how would he get there?

CHAPTER FOUR- The Village

It was around four o'clock in the morning, and Ben's father would be waking up any minute now. He had to hurry. He wheeled his chair out to the stables. His parents owned two horses, one golden, and the other jet black. In fact, that was where the black horse got her name. Jet. She was as fast as a lightning bolt, and extremely reliable. Ben would take her.
He hooked her up to a buggy, then climbed in. He reached down and grabbed his wheelchair and pulled it up next to him. He flicked the reins and took off.
It was about a two hour ride to the village, especially since Jet had to haul a buggy, but it was worth it to Ben. There were shops and libraries, and so many people he could talk to!
After exploring for a while, Ben wheeled into a bookshop. There were so many books and papers, Ben lost count.
"Hello." came a voice from behind the counter. Ben didn't know what to do.
"Hi," he said timidly. This young woman was extremely pretty, with long brown hair and sky blue eyes. Her voice was kind and gentle.
"My name is Leanna, and you here for a book?"
"Umm, actually, I'm not from around here." Ben said instead of answering her question.
"Yeah, I assumed so. You don't look familiar." Leanna said. "So, if your not from around here, where are you from?"
"The woods." Ben answered simply.
"The woods? Why?' Leanna asked.
" Well, my parents say it's to protect me, but I'm not sure what the are protecting me from." Ben answered.
"I'd like to meet your parents. Maybe I could talk them into letting you live in the village. It'd be nice to have a friend I could talk to while running the shop." Leanna suggested.
"Actually, my parents don't know I'm here." Ben said. "But I wouldn't mind visiting so you can have someone to talk to." he hastily added. Leanna laughed.
"I'd like that." she giggled.

CHAPTER FIVE- Locked Up

For the next few months, Ben sneaked away to visit Leanna. His parents always thought Ben was outside, and became a little suspicious that he was "outside" so much. One day, Ben was caught trying to sneak away. His father grabbed the handles of Ben's wheelchair and wheeled him back into the house. He locked Ben up in his room, and took away his wheelchair so he couldn't go anywhere.
"Father, please. You can't do this to me. You have to let me go sometime!"
"Ben, it's for your protection." Dale responded.
"What are you protecting me from?" Ben argued. "All the village people are so nice!"
"Someone else is out there looking for you. You'll be safer here than in the village." Dale shut his son's door. It broke his heart to keep him locked up, but he knew someone could still be out there, still looking for Ben.

CHAPTER SIX- Searching and Waiting

Back in the village, Leanna was waiting for Ben, but he wasn't coming. Even the next day, Ben wasn't anywhere to be seen. Leanna began to get worried. She packed up and set off on her horse to find him.

Alvin Girth smiled. Everything was in order and going just as he planned. Alvin had been watching Ben for many years, waiting for the right moment, and this was it. He saw the young woman Ben had met heading his direction on her horse. When she was right in front of his hiding spot, he jumped out and threw the net at Leanna.
"Aaaagh!" yelled Leanna as the net landed on her. Her horse galloped away.
"Gotcha!" Alvin shouted triumphantly. He dragged Leanna away.

Back in the cottage, Ben climbed onto the windowsill using his arms. Opening the window, he whistled. Moments later, Jet was in sight. Ben thought about grabbing his wheelchair, but getting it from his father would be too complicated, so Ben leaned forward and fell. He landed on Jet's back with an thud.
His legs hurt, but he fixed his position and rode away to find Leanna.
It wasn't long before he reached Leanna's bookstore. Leanna was nowhere to be seen, but there was a letter on her counter. He picked it up; the letter was addressed to him!
Ben opened it and as his read, his eyes widened. Whoever wrote this letter had Leanna! When Ben got to the end of the letter, he saw a map attached. His best bet in finding Leanna was to follow the map. He also saw something else that confused him. The person who wrote the letter signed it as, 'your real dad.'
Ben always knew he had been adopted, and Dale and Deborah always told him that his birth dad was unkind and mistreated him. Ben thought he knew everything about his past, but he had put it behind him, and stopped thinking too much about it. He had a new life. Apparently, his old life wasn't finished with him yet. Ben's life wasn't the only one in danger, Leanna was too! Ben took the letter with him as he crawled out the door to Jet. He climbed onto the horse's back, looked at the map and dashed away.

Leanna struggled against the net, but it was no use. She was being scraped all over and she had tears on her cheeks. Alvin had tied Leanna's net to his horse's leg, and now Leanna was being dragged along. She had no idea how long it had been when finally, Alvin's horse stopped, and he climbed off. Alvin walked over to Leanna, scraped and bleeding, untied her net, and took her out. Alvin took her arm, and started to walk her over to a cage that was there waiting for her. Leanna didn't fight Alvin. She was in too much pain. Alvin stuffed her into the cage and locked it. He looked down at her and sneered,
"Sorry for all the pain I caused you." Laughing, he walked away and crouched behind a bush, with a gun. Now all he had to do, was wait.

Ben rode around the corner, and was surprised to see Leanna, scraped and bleeding, and in a cage.
"Leanna!' he shouted. She looked up and gasped.
"Ben! You have to get away from here! It's your dad! He's here!" Just then, Alvin came out from behind the bush. It was time for him to do what he'd been waiting years to do. He pulled the trigger.

CHAPTER SEVEN-
Jet stopped moving, and fell over, throwing Ben off her back. Ben landed in the grass, and laid still. He was ready to give up. Jet was gone, and he had no more way of getting to Leanna.
"Oh Ben, it's been too long." someone said. Ben looked up from the ground and immediately saw his messy brown hair and blue eyes on an older man. This had to be his father.
"Come on Ben, come live with me. I can tell you the truth about your past." Alvin said to his son. Ben stared back at him, confused.
"You can't trust your adopted parents. Did they ever tell you why your legs don't work?" Ben slowly shook his head. Alvin grinned.
"I know why. Do you want to know, Ben?" Ben stared into Alvin's eyes.
"I don't know, do I?" he answered.
"Ben," Alvin sighed, "The truth is that your parents are wizards."
"No your lying, I know you are!" Ben screamed at him. In truth, his heart was pounding and his mind was spinning. He couldn't believe what Alvin was saying was true. He wouldn't.
"I lying, huh? What makes you think that?" Ben didn't answer. Instead, tears came down his face.
"What makes you think I'm lying?" yelled Alvin again. This time, Ben had an answer.
"If my parents are magic, why haven't they healed me?!"