The Ragwort Chronicles Book I: The Beginning

The Ragwort Chronicles Book I: The Beginning

Meet Poppa Ragwort! A Master Carpenter in the Village of Brokenfell, not far from Twistedoak. He loved to puff on his pipe while sitting in his favorite spot, the hand of an ancient warrior dwarf statue and carving toys for the children or observing the hustle and bustle of the village below. The Ragwort Chronicles, The Beginning: The Ragworts of Brokenfell, is the first of three books about the Ragwort family of gnomes who befriended Phillip and Ivy Tuber, on their way to the Farmer’s Market in Phillip’s Quest, Book I:Winterfrost. Here, you will learn about the origins of this strange family and how they will forever become entwined with the gnomes of Twistedoak. A book for the younger readers, in a larger printed format and on Kindle, this book is as adventurous as Winterfrost and has some new and exciting creatures sure to delight all ages.

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You can read Chapter 1 of The Ragwort Chronicles, The Beginning: The Ragworts of Brokenfell right here on my website!

Chapter I: The Master Carpenter of Brokenfell Village

A blue autumn sky grinned upon the gnome village of Brokenfell. Cheerful voices danced amidst the mid-morning breeze. Busy towns-folk hustled and bustled along cobblestone streets and by crowded storefronts. Thomas Toadstool, the town’s blacksmith, clanked away with his iron hammer while wisps of steam hissed up from his bucket. Across the street, under the colorful, blue and orange tents of the town’s market, argued two farmer gnomes, Alex Greenleaf and Finery Foxglove. Arguing about nothing was a normal activity for these two. They just enjoyed the art of arguing. Mayor Basilroot was often seen doing his “How d’ya do. Lovely day isn’t it?” routine while shaking hands and hugging babies. The square was filled with lady gnomes and children getting their weekly supplies in the market and at Sweet Potato’s Dry Goods Store. Brokenfell was a busy little village, filled with gnomes of every size and shape.

The farmer gnomes of Brokenfell had built their homes in the hollow ears and heads of the great, ruined stone statues that stuck out of the green grass. Some of the great statues were buried so deep that only the heads were visible above ground. They were the best houses. Other statues rose hundreds of feet into the air, their swords proudly pointed to the heavens. Here and there, only huge stone arms and feet stuck up through the earth. These spots had been quickly claimed as playgrounds by the gnome children.

An old gnome, Poppa Ragwort, sat on the edge of one of the ancient hands and peered out over the busy gnome village.

“Busy, busy, busy,” grumbled the old gnome as he puffed away at this pipe. “They’re always running around and talking about this or that!”

Poppa was leaning against the statue’s fingers sticking up through the ground. Poppa Ragwort lived in the village of Brokenfell, a small town not far from Twistedoak, where many other gnomes lived. Some believed that these large, stone statues belonged to a warrior race of dwarves that first settled Brokenfell. Some believed that the Ragwort family had ties to them. No one knew for sure, only that the Ragworts were a bit odd and didn’t quite fit in with the other gnomes. Poppa Ragwort didn’t much care. He puffed on his pipe and made his little carvings out of wood. As he carved, the smoke from his pipe rose above him in curly-cues. Even the swirls seemed to form shapes, as it drifted away. The odd little gnome was always humming a tune as he carved. Sometimes he carved for hours at a time.

Not much for planting gardens, Poppa Ragwort just grew enough to feed his family. He grew taters, onions, pumpkins and beans. Besides Pollis Tuber, one of the first settlers of the village of Twistedoak, he was the only one who never touched the red and white, poison mushrooms. Those mushrooms popped up and grew all over Twistedoak and no one knew why. Soon after the gnomes arrived in Twistedoak, Poppa moved to and settled in Brokenfell. There, he raised his family and did his own thing, whatever that was.

Sure enough, Poppa Ragwort’s house was the head of the dwarf. It had one of those “mouth-like” doorways. It looked creepy, even though most of the teeth had worn away, but you could still see it had been a mouth. The door itself was carved with much detail. Many said that it was carved in the old Rune letters of the dwarves. Some, that there was a magic spell carved on the door. The spell was to send away evil spirits. Some other gnomes said that Poppa Ragwort carved the door to look like the night-time stars of a constellation. They thought it was the constellation Aquarius, the constellation of the Blue Witch. There was not another door like it in Brokenfell. In fact, there was not another home in Brokenfell that was like the Ragworts’.