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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 5508819" data-attributes="member: 67">When the Lord of Spring came thievingpart oneCome, gather round and hear the tale of how the Lord of Spring came thieving and Dog and Turtle brought back what he had taken.  It happened in the early spring, when all things seemed new and young.  Turtle was spending a pleasant morning down by the Pond, lost in prayer and meditation.  About this time, the serenity of the morning was disrupted by the coming of Boy, riding in a toy saddle affixed to Dog’s back.  Turtle almost laughed at the ridiculous sight; Boy’s feet nearly dragged the ground as Dog galloped along.A moment later, her mirth was replaced with concern, for Boy had fallen off of his trusty mount and lay on the new grass, bloodied and crying.  Dog whimpered and leapt to Boy’s aid, but his affection was rebuffed.  By this time, Turtle had reached the Boy and invoked an incantation of healing for the lad.  Boy, now no longer hurt, sat bewildered for but a brief moment, and then quickly climbed back into his saddle again.Alas, Dog had carried him no further than the length of the Pond before Boy tumbled off, once more.  This time, there would be no reparation.  Boy stood up and ran all the way back to the House, where he disappeared from view.  Dog’s distress was great, but passed quickly.  His friend, Turtle, was about, and the day was beautiful, so the two decided to take a walk into the Wilderness.Dog had marked out some small patch of territory in the Wilderness and, so, placed Turtle gently in the saddle, still strapped to his back, and the two spent a pleasant day out of sight of the Farm.  At last, however, the day was done and dusk came to herald the coming night.Dog and Turtle returned to the Farm to find the Hen-house in an uproar.  While they were away, it seemed, all of the eggs had been taken from the Hens, without their notice.  Dog, whose duties included guarding the Hen-house, was ashamed at his absence on this hapless day and immediately set about to sniff out the thief, but he could not smell anything amiss, except that a presence seemed to have materialized and then vanished.  There was nary a trail to follow.Dog and Turtle determined to keep watch through the night, but all else seemed in order.  Yet, when the next morning came, Songbird wailed in dismay from down in the Orchard.  It was soon discovered that the New Buds on the Trees were gone.  Again, Dog could smell that a presence had come and gone, but left no trail.Dog and Turtle both assumed the disappearances to be related to that of the eggs and went to wake Grandfather Owl, to seek his wisdom.  Once they had gotten past his initial irritation, they were able to convince Grandfather Owl that the Young Things on the Farm might be at risk.  Grandfather Owl told them that he would spend the night keeping an eye on the Garden, lest the Sprouts vanish.  Dog and Turtle decided to keep an eye on the Caterpillars down by the Pond.Once again, however, the night passed, seemingly without event.But, in the morning, all was not well.  In the House, there was hysteria, for Boy was gone.</blockquote>

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