The Story of Iron John. Chapter 1.

There was once upon a time, a king, who had near his castle an enormous forest, in which wild animals of all sorts lived. one day he dispatched a hunter into those woods to take a deer, but the hunter did not return. "Something went wrong out there" said the King, and the next day he sent two more hunters out to search for the first but te they did not return either. On the third day, he called all is huntsmen in, and said :Scour that entire forest and stay at it until you ve found all three of them". Not a one of those hunters ever returned, and morever, the pack of dogs that went with them never returned either. No one after that dared to enter the forest, and let it be in its deep stillness and solitude. Only now and then an eagle or a hawk flew over it. This situation went on for years, and then one day a strange hunter appeared who wanted some work to do, and he offered to set foot for the dangerous woods. The king however refused to consent, saying, "It is not safe in there". I have a feeling that you will end up like the others, and this is the last we ll see of you." The hunter replied: 'Sire I m well aware of the risk, and fear is somethig I pay no attention to." The hunter took his dog with him and walked into the forest. It wasnt long before the dog picked up the scent of game and went in pursuit, but he hardly run three steps before he stood at the edge of a deep pool and could go no further. a naked arm reached out of the water, grabbed hold of him, and pulled him down. When the hunter saw that, he went back to the castle, got three men. who came with pails, and they bucketed out the water.When they got down to the ground they saw a wild man lying there whose body was brown as rusty iron. his hair hung down from his head and all over his face and all the way down to his knees. The tied him with cords and led him back to the castle. At the castle there was great astonishment over the wild man, and the king had him locked up in an iron cage that he had placed in the court yard and he forbade anyone on pain of death, to open the locked door. He gave the key into the keeping of the queen. Once that had been done, people could go safely into the forest once more. The king had an eight year old son, who one day was playing in the courtyard, and during that play his golden ball fell down into the cage. the boy ran to the cage and said "Give me my golden ball". "Not until you ve opened the door for me", the man anawered. "Oh no" said the boy, "The king wont let me", and he ran away. The next day the boy returned and asked for his ball again. The Wild Man said, "If you open the door", but the boy would not. On the third day while the king waws out hunting, the boy came once again and said "Even if I wanted to, I couldn t open the lock because I dont have the key".The Wild Man said "The key is under your mother s pillow, you can retrieve it." The boy, who really did want his ball back. threw caution to the wind, went into the castle, and got the key. the cage door was not easy to open and the boy pinched his finger. When the door stood open, the Wild Man walked through it, gave the boy the golden ball and hurried away. The boy suddenly felt great fear, he shouted and cried out after him "Wild Man, if you go away, they will beat me!". The Wild man wheeled round, lifted the boh onto his shoulders, and walked with brisk steps into the forest. When the king returned, he noticed the empty cage, and enquired of the queen how the Wikd Man had gotten loose.She knew nothing about it, went to check the key, and found it gone. She called the boy, but got no answer. The king sent a search party out into the fields, but they did not find the boy. It wasnt difficult to guess what had happened, and great grief and mourning settled on the royal house. End of Chapter 1. hope all you guys out there in MY cyberspace enjoy Chapter 1 of The Story of Iron John! Yours, Blossom from Bedfordview.