The Anvil (16 page)

They
got
the
wolves
and
hiked
the
rest
of
the
way
back
to
Pine
Grove
.
They
got
there
and
Caleb
went
to
work
in
the
forge
.
Zack
and
Tom
went
to
one
of
Tom
'
s
friend
'
s
house
.
They
spent
a
few
hours
there
then
went
on
a
run
.
They
ran
to
the
lake
and
swam
.
As
they
got
out
of
the
water
they
noticed
some
people
about
their
age
.
They
walked
over
and
started
talking
to
them
.
They
found
out
that
they
were
from
Pine
Grove
.
There
were
about
five
people
in
the
group
.

They
wanted
to
see
some
magic
once
they
heard
what
the
boys
did
.
Tom
told
them
about
when
Alex
noticed
him
and
about
his
various
battles
and
missions
.
After
Tom
was
done
Zack
started
telling
his
story
.
They
spent
an
hour
talking
then
walked
away
to
practice
.
They
first
practiced
their
archery
,
some
of
the
group
watched
as
they
practiced
amazed
at
the
accuracy
and
speed
they
both
showed
.
Then
they
got
their
practice
weapons
and
fought
,
by
now
the
whole
group
was
watching
in
amazement
as
they
chopped
,
hacked
,
stabbed
and
used
the
environment
to
try
to
beat
each
other
.

Some
of
the
guys
wanted
to
try
fighting
them
or
their
friends
.
Each
time
one
of
the
town
boys
tried
fighting
Tom
or
Zack
they
lost
even
though
the
apprentices
were
going
easy
on
them
.
The
apprentices
showed
them
how
to
shoot
the
bow
and
crossbow
.
Then
they
sat
talking
and
laughing
until
the
sun
started
to
go
down
.
The
apprentices
walked
back
with
their
new
friends
.
They
got
home
tired
,
then
ate
and
went
to
sleep
.
They
woke
and
went
to
the
kitchen
to
eat
.

Once
they
finished
eating
they
packed
a
lunch
then
went
to
the
lake
where
they
were
planning
on
meeting
most
of
Tom
'
s
friends
,
including
the
group
they
met
the
day
before
,
and
spend
most
the
day
there
.
Some
of
Tom
'
s
friends
were
bringing
their
boats
and
canoes
.
Tom
and
Zack
got
to
the
lake
before
everyone
else
so
they
swam
to
a
bunch
of
rocks
sat
on
them
until
some
of
Tom
'
s
friends
got
there
.
Mykala
and
Jordann
got
there
a
few
minutes
after
the
boys
had
.
The
boys
saw
them
and
jumped
in
then
swam
to
shore
.
The
two
girls
got
to
the
shore
and
put
their
things
down
.
Then
Jordann
said
“
Hi
Tom
.”
then
turning
to
Zack
asked
“
Who
are
you
?
I
don
'
t
think
I
have
seen
you
around
Pine
Grove
.”

“
I
'
m
Zack
,
one
of
Tom
'
s
friends
from
Hilltop
Lake
.”
Zack
answered
.

Slowly
more
and
more
of
Tom
'
s
friends
showed
up
,
some
with
boats
and
canoes
.
They
swam
,
talked
,
boated
and
did
some
other
things
.
Tom
looked
around
as
they
ate
their
lunches
thinking
that
soon
many
of
his
friends
would
part
,
going
to
work
at
different
towns
and
different
jobs
.

He
knew
that
some
had
already
gone
but
still
many
were
here
like
Jordann
,
Mykala
,
James
,
and
many
others
.
Suddenly
a
bear
walked
into
the
clearing
growling
and
roaring
.
Tom
nodded
to
Zack
and
they
both
grabbed
their
weapons
.
Tom
ran
towards
the
bear
yelling
,
hoping
to
scare
the
bear
away
.
The
bear
saw
that
he
was
coming
and
went
back
into
the
forest
.
Soon
the
bear
was
nearly
forgotten
as
they
resumed
their
party
.

Once
the
sun
had
started
to
set
they
all
gathered
their
things
and
started
walking
back
to
the
town
.
They
ate
dinner
,
trained
and
went
to
sleep
.
The
next
day
they
woke
and
went
to
get
breakfast
.
They
spent
a
few
hours
helping
Tom
'
s
father
and
Caleb
in
the
forge
then
had
lunch
.
The
rest
of
the
day
and
the
next
day
Tom
and
Zack
spent
with
Tom
'
s
family
.
Then
as
they
were
about
to
leave
they
heard
a
knock
on
the
door
.