Little Lost Leon: Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

This is the story of Little Lost Leon, which is actually a somewhat misleading nickname.  For it is true that he was very young and rather small for his age when people started calling him this, but Leon was never really lost in a geographical-sense.  It was in an emotional/spiritual-sense, however, an entirely different story.  Therefore, we must start at the beginning of that story in order to properly present the full story of Little Lost Leon.

Alfred and Ruby were as close as a brother and sister could ever be.  A more cynical soul would insist that they had to be so close to survive the sadistic abuse regularly administered by their father, but they genuinely had a very deep affection for one another.

Their father's name was Manfred, and he did indeed have an exceedingly black heart.  For he hid it well when it suited him, and he was not opposed to turning on the charm when bullying would not be as effective to accomplish his objective.

I suppose it is arguable that Manfred grew up in an environment that cultivated such despicable behavior.  For his mother died while giving birth to him, and his father spent a great deal of his remaining years spoiling his only child.

His name was Frederick, and he certainly did not intend to raise a rotten son.  It was just that he had been so looking forward to finally becoming a father, and it helped ease the excruciating pain he felt over losing his beloved wife, Mabel, to cater to the boy's every whim.

Frederick most definitely had the resources to do so.  For he founded Shire and had made a small fortune supplying wooden barrels to distillers far and wide.  It grew into a huge fortune manufacturing wagons, stagecoaches and carriages, as well as some of the finest furniture ever designed.

Manfred enjoyed the gifts showered on him by his father, but what he truly lusted after was power.  For to hold the fate of someone's life in his hands held more value to Manfred than all of the gold in the world, but he recognized that the great wealth at his disposal was a means to his end.

Manfred's first experience with how intoxicating power could be to him occurred when the house staff scurried to meet his demands, and it quickly became a game to Manfred to see just how much abuse they would take.  Since they all truly loved his father, they took a lot.

Frederick was very endearing to all of his employees.  Aside from paying them very well, he treated them with great respect.  For he humbly made requests instead of demanding for this or that to be done, which made his employees most willing to go above and beyond the call of their duty.

Manfred found his father's attitude thoroughly disgusting and counted the days to when he could take control of his father's empire.  In the meantime, he focused his attention on learning as much as he could about his father's business interests in order to better recognize opportunities ripe for exploitation.

Manfred also studied how other titans of industry achieved and held their power.  He was especially impressed with slaveholders and those who treated their very poorly-paid workers like slaves.

As it came to pass, Manfred did not have to bide his time nearly as long as he had calculated.  For while out on the family lake in a boat fishing with his father, Frederick fell overboard and drowned.

No, Manfred had nothing to do with it.  For it truly was an accident, but Manfred could have been prosecuted for at least the equivalent of depraved indifference.  For all it would have taken to save his father from drowning was positioning the boat where Manfred could pull him to the side and paddle back to shore, which he was perfectly capable of doing.  Whereas, Manfred just sat there in the boat and watched his father floundering in the water until his head sank below the surface for the last time.  Ah, but there were no independent witnesses to come forward, and Manfred was not inclined to feel any guilt—let alone enough to compel a confession.

In fact, Manfred found it hilarious that his father had a hand in his own demise—albeit indirectly.  For the beer his father was drinking too much of in celebration of his son's eighteenth birthday had been aged in a Shire barrel and hauled in a Shire wagon.  Furthermore, the revelry led to the impromptu midnight fishing excursion on a lake formed from damming a creek running through Rainbow's End, which was the name his father gave to the secluded estate he resided at with his family around a mile away from the Shire complex.

Several of Frederick’s close friends and business associates still demanded a thorough investigation be conducted, but the authorities shied away.  For they did not want to risk losing any of the substantial amount of tax revenue they had been collecting from Frederick and wanted to continue to collect from Manfred.

To say that Manfred was ecstatic over what he considered to be his good luck would be quite an understatement.  For he had inherited more money than most people could ever reasonably spend in a lifetime, as well as hundreds of employees and their dependents to toy with like a cat does with a mouse.

However, Manfred soon tired of treating his employees like slaves.  For it was simply too easy to him, and he hungered for much more challenging game to savor.

No, that was not meant to be taken literally.  For Manfred had no taste for cannibalism.  Although, the initiation rite into the underground cabal he was a member of involved taking a bite of the heart of a potential enemy he had just cut out while the person was still alive.

Manfred had chosen the seven year-old son of one of his father's old business rivals, who was actually more of a friend than a rival.  Manfred would have much preferred totally enslaving the boy's mind, body and soul instead, but he recognized that some rules were worth observing.  For the underground cabal promised to be an excellent source of information not widely distributed.

The cabal was indeed underground in every sense of the word.  For gatherings were held four times a year in a cave with a hidden entrance and tunnels dug as possible escape routes.  Membership was by invitation only, and only those greatly interested in things polite society found intolerable were invited.

During one of the gatherings, Manfred learned about female circumcision.  Granted, he could see where it could have its advantages, but the thought of still being able to sexually arouse a woman after thoroughly brutalizing her in other ways aroused Manfred even more.

After agonizing over every detail for months, which was much more a labor of love than a burden to him, Manfred was finally ready to start implementing his master plan in earnest.  The first few steps could be completed in short order, and Manfred looked forward to spending the rest of his life basking in the glory of his accomplishments.

The first step was the secret purchase of a very rough piece of land around five miles away from Rainbow's End and the Shire complex to prevent prying eyes from seeing too much.  Manfred accomplished this by promising a long-time employee that he would be given clear title to the land after he completed the establishment of a Shire branch overseas, which should not take longer than five years.  The man was then given the money to make the purchase of the land in his own name, with a rider attached to the deed stipulating reassignment of the title to Manfred if the man did not complete his task within five years.

Soon after the paperwork was filed, Manfred killed the man and dismembered the body.  He next dissolved the flesh in a vat of lye, ran the bones through a hammermill and scattered the remains over a sizable part of his newly-acquired property.

It should not be discounted that an evil genius is still a genius, and Manfred was indeed an evil genius.  For he chose to use lye instead of sulfuric acid because he could produce the lye himself without attracting any unwelcome attention.  Whereas, a large enough purchase of sulfuric acid would undoubtedly attract at least some unwelcome attention.  Since too much bone would still remain, Manfred pulverized it in a common piece of machinery generally used to process large grains, like dried corn.  Scattering the pulverized bones of a large area was utilized because the discovery of a substantial deposit of even tiny bone fragments is sure to raise a lot of questions.

Oh, but the memories of others could not be so easily disposed of.  Therefore, Manfred chose someone who did not have any immediate family left in the area in order to avoid the person being missed to the extent of too many questions being asked, which would undoubtedly lead to a hunt for him.  Specifying an extended stay far away bolstered this precaution.

At the end of a trail off of the main road was an abandoned homestead with some out-buildings of various sizes that was perfect for what Manfred wanted to accomplish.  For the homestead was situated where one had to really want to go, and it would not take much to get ready.

Signs were posted warning uninvited visitors to proceed at their own peril along the trail, which was barely wide enough to accommodate a wagon.  There was once a new tax assessor who ignored the warning. For he was dedicated to serving the public good, and assessing if enough property tax was being collected was certainly part of that as far as he was concerned.

The tax assessor was never heard from again, and no formal investigation was conducted after Manfred strongly voiced his opinion against one.  Yes, some were rather curious about why Manfred would be so opposed, but they were shouted down by others who either he had much to gain or fear from Manfred.

The next step was finding a fair maiden suitable for conditioning.  Manfred stumbled some with this step.  For the first one he chose proved more willing to die than conform to his will.  Despite his bitter disappointment, Manfred was still all too happy to oblige and dispose of the body in his usual way.  Then the same thing happened again...and again...and again.

Manfred could clearly see that he needed to change his ways if he was ever to savor true satisfaction, but he did not mind enjoying some failures along the way.  For it filled his exceedingly black heart with such joy to see the light in the eyes of his victims growing dimmer and dimmer, but this joy left with the exhaling of their last breath.

Manfred had been sifting the dregs of society in four towns far enough away from home and each other to avoid being recognized.  Well, at least until he became more untouchable in his mind.  “For what good is it,” Manfred would reason to himself, “To be this great when so very few really realize it?”

Manfred trolled the so-called red light districts, where he engaged in rough sex with several ladies of the evening before finding one just right.  His thinking was that such women would consider it very fortunate to be rescued from a life so full of despair and eager to do anything to avoid being sent back.

There was, however, a slight problem with Manfred’s original plan.  For what he started subjecting them to more and more of was the proverbial last straw that broke the back of their will to live.

Manfred believed it to be pure serendipity when he wandered across a traveling tent revival one day.  For standing outside of the entrance inviting people in to hear the Good News was a young woman of exceptional grace and charm by the name of Amelia.

Manfred entered the large tent and sat in the back.  During the sermon, Manfred frequently glanced over his shoulder to look at Amelia, and he caught her looking at him with a smile on her face every time.  The smile grew wider as the evening progressed.

After the sermon was over, Manfred asked Amelia to come sit with him and talk.  They talked for hours, and the more he listened to her talk about her faith, the more he realized the error of his ways.  Well, at least in one respect.

You see, Manfred had never had any use for religion of any sort.  Although, it is arguable that he was actually very religious.  For Manfred considered himself to be a devout Darwinist and a faithful follower of the law of the jungle, but despite how tasty Amelia looked to him at first sight, he had never considered just how much religion could enhance the flavor of his prey.

Manfred knew that he needed to learn as much possible about something in order to fully exploit it, and Amelia was proving to be an excellent teacher of her Christianity.  By the end of that first encounter, Manfred had fallen deeply in love.  No, not necessarily with Amelia. but most definitely with her beliefs and how well they blended with his original recipe.  For a good Christian wife being subject to her husband and forbidden from committing suicide made his mouth water.

Manfred was having to do a lot of things differently in order to securely ensnare Amelia.  For he only had to talk for an hour or so to convince the others to willingly come with him.  Whereas, just the first encounter with Amelia had lasted around twelve hours, and it would take several more hours to get to the next step.

The next step was to formally meet and receive the blessing of Amelia's parents.  Her father, Benjamin, who liked to be called, Rev Ben, was the primary evangelist of the traveling tent revival.  Her mother, Sandra, led the choir.  They had been away on a short missionary trip to a more remote region nearby when Manfred first met Amelia, but they were back by the end of the week.

Amelia's parents were concerned about Manfred being almost twice their daughter's age.  For she was still in her teens, but they could see how happy Manfred made her.

Amelia's parents were even more concerned about Manfred claiming to have been just called as a missionary to Africa, which was to begin as soon as the reception after the wedding ceremony was over.  For he was just a newborn from a Christian perspective, and they believed only those very mature in their faith should undertake such a challenge.

Manfred put their minds at ease by boldly proclaiming, "If the Lord is with Amelia and I, no one can stand against us, and unless we fall into unrepentant sin, surely the Lord will be with us always."  He poured it on even thicker by telling them, "I was a sinner beyond measure when I first attended your tent revival, but your daughter led me out of the darkness and into the Light.  Now, if she is able to soothe the savage soul of someone such as I was—who can she not reach?"  The extravagant wedding Amelia had dreamed of since she was a little girl was held three months later.

Amelia could not remember a time when she was happier as she sat next to her newlywed husband, who was supposedly driving a wagon to pick up some supplies to take on their African missionary trip.  On the other hand, she felt a little guilty.  For Amelia had been taught that feeling the love of God in her heart should make her the happiest, but she was fairly sure He understood.  “After all,” Amelia reasoned to herself, “I would have never met and married Manfred if the Lord had not brought us together.”

Manfred was not feeling too bad, himself.  For Heaven's Gate was just a few more miles away, and he was quite confident that Amelia would satisfy all of his despicable desires.

Calling his place with the abandoned homestead Heaven's Gate was an inside joke to Manfred.  For he absolutely rejected the notion of Heaven and Hell actually existing as presented in Christian doctrine, but he did like the idea of Heaven and Hell being what one made them.  To further connect the proverbial dots, his Heaven was Hell to most, and this tickled his fancy in a very perverse sort of way.

The beatings began as soon as Manfred gently carried Amelia over the threshold of the cabin and roughly threw her down on the floor of the front room.  I will not go into much detail.  For the horrors Amelia were subjected to should remain unspeakable, but I can reveal that Manfred did back off some when it became obvious that she was with child.

What did not ease was the chores Amelia had to perform each day.  They included preparing meals with the foodstuffs Manfred would bring from the storehouses at Rainbow's End.  He usually made the trip once a week and was careful not to attract any unwelcome attention.  Since the employees at Rainbow's End would dive for cover whenever they saw him coming and stay hid until he demanded of them to present themselves, Manfred could usually come and go without being approached.  In regards to being spied on, his employees had been taught the very hard way that curiosity kills more than cats.

Another one of Amelia's chores was cleaning the house, which was mostly after herself.  For one of Manfred's most effective conditioning tools was a narrow leather strap that would draw blood after a few well-placed blows, and this blood would splatter on the walls and floor.  It would sometimes take hours of scrubbing with a lye solution to remove it all.

Of course, the blood would stain the clothes of both, and Amelia was required to wash them completely clean.  She would not be allowed to wear clothes for a week when she failed to remove all of the stains.

Yes, Manfred was indeed diabolical to the bone.  For even as bad as the physical abuse was, the mental/spiritual abuse was even worse on Amelia by him using her primary source of strength against her.

Manfred had become quite versed on the content of the Bible before they were married.  Now that they were married, he would force Amelia to read out-loud certain passages emphasizing how nothing can happen unless the Lord God Almighty wanted it to, along with passages about it being the righteous duty of a good Christian wife to always be subservient to her husband.

When Manfred would sarcastically ask if there was anything she would like to refute about what she had just read, Amelia would remain silent.  This had more to do with her simply not having anything to say in rebuttal than being too afraid to speak up.

Manfred could hardly contain his delight.  For Amelia's faith had clearly failed her from what he could tell, but even with her spirit appearing to be completely broken, she remained alive and available for his good pleasure.

Manfred had told Amelia early on that he would kill her and the baby if she failed to provide him with a healthy son.  Amelia evidently was not as completely broken as she appeared to be.  For she secretly cherished the possibility of their early demise at his hands.

As the time drew nigh, Manfred hired a midwife to take care of any potential complications with the birth.  She was an older woman with no remaining family in the area, who had been hired through a third party to keep Manfred's involvement secret.  He killed her and disposed of the body in his usual way after her work was done.

Amelia gave birth to a very healthy boy by the name of Alfred.  Manfred had already named him beforehand, and it was another inside joke to him.  For he had no doubt about being able to completely possess the boy's mind, body and soul like he had Amelia, but he did not want to make it too obvious to the rest of the world.  Well, at least not yet.  Oh, and if you do not get it, Alfred was meant to stand for Allfred.

The birth of Alfred was rather bittersweet to Amelia.  For his smile shined like a beacon in a world so full of darkness, but she had been dreaming of her awful existence coming to an end by now.

Amelia even seriously considered killing Alfred and herself, but she believed that this would surely condemn her to an eternity in the real Hell.  Nonetheless, she did take some comfort in thinking that there was no way the real Hell could be worse than what she was enduring at the hands of her husband.  It would just last longer.

Amelia hoped that it would not be as bad for Alfred, and it was not—at least not directly.  For the older Alfred became, the more his mother's beatings hurt him.

No, it did not take long for Alfred to learn that it would just make matters worse for them both to try to openly defend his mother against his father's assaults.  Oh, Manfred first considered it high entertainment to see this toddler trying to shield his mother from receiving anymore blows from the strap, but it stopped being so funny when Alfred managed to burn his father's leg with a hot poker from the fireplace.  Manfred almost killed both Alfred and Amelia in a blind rage.

Alfred's conditioning began in earnest as soon as he recovered enough from his first severe beating.  During many of the sessions, Manfred would make Amelia chant, "Spare the rod, spoil the child."

Alfred soon proved to be of enormous help to his mother with doing her chores.  This freed up some time for Amelia to start secretly teaching him as much as she knew about reading, writing and basic arithmetic.

Alfred especially loved caring for the matched set of Shire draft horses his father used to pull his wagon.  Alfred would sneak apples out to them, and they would start whinnying and prancing about in their stalls as soon as he entered the barn.

Amelia had three miscarriages after giving birth to Alfred.  She hoped to never deliver another child, but Manfred eased off enough on her beatings to allow for a full term to be completed.

Manfred did not hire a midwife this time, and he was gone after more supplies when Amelia gave birth.  A crashing wave of terror engulfed her when she saw her newborn daughter.

Amelia did not know what to do.  For she truly believed that Manfred would make good on his threat to kill her and the baby girl, which Amelia did not think was not such a bad thought.  For their deaths would finally put an end to her torture, and stop it before it began for her daughter.

Nonetheless, Amelia could not bear the thought of what would probably happen to her beloved Alfred after Manfred was left with only him to focus on.  Alfred had been doing a good job of pretending to be fairly well conditioned, but Amelia was afraid that it would not be enough to sufficiently appease Manfred.

Amelia's head was spinning too much to fully collect her thoughts for what seemed to her to be a long, long time.  Finally, Amelia was able to instruct Alfred to take his little sister out to the barn and hide her in the pile of straw used as fresh bedding for the horses.  Amelia managed a little smile in recognition of the irony to having her daughter hid in a pile of straw and her birth being the proverbial last straw that would break the back of her husband's self-control.  Moreover, she hoped that Manfred would kill her and both of their children in the blind rage that would surely ensue.

Manfred charged into the cabin carrying his daughter by her right leg and flung her across the room toward the fireplace.  Alfred was able to catch his little sister before she landed in the fire, but he could only watch in horror as his father dragged his mother out of the cabin by her hair.

Alfred did not hear his mother utter a sound, and he never saw her again.  Alfred was not yet five years-old.

Manfred went back into the cabin fully intending to put the baby girl out of his misery, but he stopped short when he saw how tenderly Alfred was holding his little sister.  For Manfred held out hope that Alfred could be molded into what he considered to be the perfect son with more conditioning, and his little sister looked like the right leverage to use against any resistance the boy might harbor.

Both of the horses used to pull the wagon were mares, and one had just had a foal.  So, there was milk with colostrum for the baby.

Alfred was not taught about such by their mother.  He just observed how much the foal craved the milk and speculated that it must contain essential nutrients, which might be also good for his little sister.  She thrived on it, along with more typical food items Alfred mashed to make it easier for her to ingest and digest.

Alfred was even more of a genius than Manfred.  For Alfred could master something after watching it being done just once.  Moreover, Alfred could make adjustments to the process that would result in improvements most had never thought of.

In sharp contrast to Manfred, Alfred was highly sensitive to the needs and wants of others, and he would always strive to meet them when possible.  He never condemned another for their shortcomings, and it was completely against his nature to seek to force others to do things against their will.

Unfortunately, Manfred recognized all of that in his son and sought to take full advantage of it.  This created a lot of conflict within Alfred, and there was many a night when he cried himself to sleep.

Alfred's little sister had been born with fairly long red hair covering her head, as well as a smile bright enough to lighten even the darkest of moods.  Therefore, Alfred concluded that Ruby was the perfect name for her—even though it would undoubtedly leave a hint of bittersweet on his tongue every time he spoke it.  For the name was in reference to a gold necklace studded with rubies that seemed to glow like embers in a fire-pit that their mother had once coveted.

The full story to the necklace was told to Alfred by Amelia during a lesson on the seven deadly sins listed in the Bible.  For it is a sin to want something already given to another, and the necklace was around the lovely neck of a lady riding in a carriage fit for a princess being driven past the traveling tent revival Grandfather Rev, Ben and Grandmother Sandra were in charge of.  Making Amelia feel even guiltier was that the lady had smiled sweetly when their eyes met

Manfred never acknowledged the name his son had given his daughter.  He just called her, Girl.  Alfred and Ruby both wished their father would never acknowledge either one of their existences at all.

Manfred knew just how far to take the beatings without doing any permanent physical damage, but the blood always flowed down the back of their legs before a conditioning session was over.  There never seemed to be a good reason for the beatings to Alfred and Ruby.  Needless to say, the hideous scars left on their souls were permanent.

As Ruby grew older, Alfred taught her how to cook and clean well enough to appease their father when it was possible.  Alfred also secretly taught her how to read, write and count like their mother had done for him.

Alfred was worried that Ruby might slip up and make their father aware of their very rudimentary education.  For Manfred wanted his children to be completely dependent on him for every little thing, and being educated might encourage them to think they could function on their own.  Fortunately, Ruby always played as dumb around their father as her big brother did.

It was not always an act.  For Ruby appeared to be as dim-witted as Alfred was bright, but her heart was every bit as untarnished as his.

The days passed like sorghum molasses flowed during cold weather, and both children dreamed of leaving their hellish existences far behind.  Alfred had been rather confident for quite some time that he could easily make good on his own escape.  For years of decadent living had taken a great toll on their father's overall health, but he feared that Ruby was still too frail.  So, he would wait until she was strong enough.

By the time Ruby reached ten years of age, she was unwilling to wait much longer.  For she had noticed a certain look becoming more and more pronounced in their father's eye when he watched her doing chores around the house.  No, Ruby did not understand just exactly what this could mean, but she had a very ominous feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

One of the wisest things Alfred had done up to that point was keep his brilliance obscured from Manfred's sight.  For Alfred did not want to be perceived as a threat in any way, shape or form, but it sometimes felt so good to push Manfred past the boundaries of his comfort zone—both physically and intellectually.  Besides, the beatings were far less severe when Manfred was too tired to swing with the usual amount of force and repetition his favorite leather strap or whatever else he could get his hands on at the time.  This was one of those times.

Ruby recognized that it was probably now or never while watching their father chase after Alfred with a wooden barrel stave in his hand and blood in his eye.  For at the point where Alfred usually doubled back toward the house to keep their father's attention focused on him and spare her from being too much on the receiving end of his wrath, Alfred kept going away from the house.

When they were out of sight, Ruby took off as fast as she could run down the trail that led from the cabin to the main road.  No, She did not know just where the trail led.  For neither her or her brother had been allowed to travel down the trail, but at least it went in the opposite direction of where Alfred was heading with their father in very hot pursuit.

Ruby made it out to the main road and turned downhill toward the south.  She desperately wanted to keep going, but her spindly legs were telling her that they would not go much farther without some rest.  When Ruby spotted a thick patch of tall grass beside the road, she decided to hide in it for a little while and hopefully recover some strength to keep going for as long as she needed to.

Riding on a dark wave of physical and emotional exhaustion washing over Ruby was the thought that surely her beloved brother did not have much longer to live if he did not make good on his own escape.  Ruby started to visibly shake as the tears flowed down her cheeks.

Ruby was exhausted to the point of her bones aching, but she fought with all of her remaining strength to stay awake.  For she so desperately wanted to see her big brother coming down the road to find her.  Weariness won the battle, though.

It came to pass that Alfred did not have to make good on his own escape.  For while Manfred was chasing him, Manfred started gasping heavily for breath, and as Manfred turned around to head back to the house, he grabbed at his chest and collapsed in a heap.

Alfred had already stopped running away, but he remained where he was at for quite some time while keeping a wary eye on Manfred, who lay motionless where he had fell.  It looked like he was not breathing, but Alfred was deathly afraid of the monster merely pretending to be dead so he could grab him when he came close enough.

Alfred finally started to approach Manfred with great caution, and after poking him really hard with the barrel stave, Alfred could see that there was no trick being played.  Yes, the monster was indeed dead.

Alfred wanted to immediately rush back to the cabin to tell Ruby the good news, but it was hard for him to wrap his head around the truth being that the nightmare might be finally over.  Alfred concluded that he had to make sure before going to tell Ruby.

Alfred struggled with his dilemma for a few moments and decided to drag Manfred’s lifeless body over to a low place in the ground nearby.  He piled rocks over the body until there was a sizable mound to insure that the monster was not going to be able to crawl out from his makeshift grave.  Alfred even planned on coming back to add larger stones to the pile just to be more securely on the safe side, but he now needed to go tell Ruby that they were finally free.

Ruby awoke to the loud sound of wooden wagon wheels creaking.  It also felt like she was being jostled some in the back of a moving wagon, but she could not see for sure because her eyelids were simply too heavy to raise.  Just before drifting back into a deep sleep, a smile crossed Ruby’s angelic face while thinking that Alfred must of escaped and driven their father's wagon to find her.  For she would have been surely writhing in agony by then if he had not.

Alfred made it back to the cabin to find Ruby not there.  He next searched the barn and the rest of the buildings to no avail.

Alfred finally spotted Ruby’s footprints in the dust on the trail heading away from the cabin, and he tracked her to where she had lain in the tall grass.  This is where Ruby appeared to disappear.  For she was obviously not still there, but she had left no sign of leaving.

There were some adult boot-prints coming from fresh wagon tacks to the place Ruby had lain in the patch of tall grass, and the boot-prints were a little deeper on the way back to the wagon tracks.  Alfred determined that the wagon tracks were fresh because they went over some of Ruby’s tracks on the road, and the adult boot-prints were over the wagon tracks.  Alfred could only hope that whoever had found Ruby had good intentions as he followed the wagon tracks toward what he would soon discover as being more than he could have ever imagined.