Pigboy

PIGBOY: The Legend of a Wildchild

By Kenneth D. Swan

Illustrated by Shawn Swan

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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To my grandchildren

Copyright 2010 Kenneth D. Swan

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Pig Without A Tail

Chapter 2: Boy Or Beast

Chapter 3: The Mystery Of Pigboy

Chapter 4: In The Slop

Chapter 5: Pigboy Gets A Name

Chapter 6: Pigboy Walks On Two Feet

Chapter 7: Freak Accident

Chapter 8: Learning Human Language

Chapter 9: Wandering Away

Chapter 10: First Encounter

Chapter 11: Learning A Few Things

Chapter 12: Mama Pig Dies

Chapter 13: Forcefully Taken

Chapter 14: The Orphan Gets A Home

Chapter 15:Pigboy, Living In A Human World

Chapter 1: The Pig Without A Tail

If you cannot find your way,

If you cannot trust your sight,

Then love’s a ray to light the day.

Two little children, a boy and his sister, wandered away from home throwing rocks, picking wild flowers, and chasing butterflies. Soon they came to a woods thick with tall ash and maple trees. In the spirit of adventure, they entered the woods. A blue jay, flitting from tree to tree, screamed at the intruders.

The time was May, 1835, west on the Mississinewa River, near a new town, recently established, called Marion, Indiana.

Are we lost? asked the little girl.

I don’t know, replied her older brother.

I’m getting scared, Jack! exclaimed the girl.

"Don’t worry, Sally, I can find our way back home.

So Jack, the oldest, searched for something familiar to guide them back home. But as hard as he tried, he did not know which way to go.

Suddenly, Sally started crying. What should we do, Jack? Mommy will miss us.

Her brother tried to be brave. Don’t cry, Sally. We haven’t gone far.

The two children kept walking, looking all around but only managed to go farther and deeper into the thick woods. The shadows of the late afternoon grew quickly, and the woods darkened, although dusk was still a few hours away. The children could now see black thunder clouds overhead, and it began to rain.

What should we do, Jack? For a moment the two stood under a tall ash tree, trying to find shelter from the rain.

Jack looked all around. A path! I think I see a path, Sally. The boy said excitedly.

The children started running toward a break in the trees. And sure enough, it was a small but well worn path.

This will lead us home. said the boy.

However, the path did not lead home because Jack turned the wrong way. Instead, it brought them to a little cottage nestled in the woods. By this time both children were all wet and shaking with cold. So they were happy to find the little cottage.

Perhaps someone will help us. But it was with some fear that Jack knocked at the door of the cottage.

The door swung open, and a big man stammered, Yes? Yes? Well, what do we have here? Two drowned piglets! Wife! Wife, come and see what the rain blew in. Well, come on in, children. Don’t just stand there in the rain. Come in and dry off.

The big man seemed like someone they could trust. So they stepped inside but hesitated a little when they took a good look at the man. He was somewhat large, round at the waist, had a friendly smile but a rather odd face. In fact, the children tried hard not to laugh or even chuckle. They knew that would be very rude. He had large eyes and a wide mouth, and his rather large nose turned up abruptly. His face was round and his cheeks rather puffy. The children could not help but stare with a smile at his nose.

The big man was aware of the children’s stares and smiles. He smiled in return. He was just about ready to speak when his wife came rushing into the room and saw the poor children all wet, dripping, and shivering.

Mercy, mercy! she cried and ran out and came back with two large towels.

As she dried the children off, she kept repeating, You poor little things, you poor little things. You’re gonna catch your death of cold. Here let me get you something warm.

The woman decided that the children needed something warm to drive away the chill. So she gave each child a hot cup of sassafras tea with honey, along with a whole platter of oatmeal cookies hot from the oven. While the children were delighted with their treat, they had not lost their interest in the man who, at that time, hobbled over to the table to sit beside them. It was then they noticed that the man walked with a limp.

Thinking that it would be embarrassing to ask about the man’s nose, the boy finally had enough courage to ask about the man’s limp. Sir, he said, did you have a bad fall and hurt your leg?

Well, yes, I did, the man answered, rather startled at the question. But first, I want to know about you: what are your names, where did you come from, and why did you come to our little cabin in the woods?

Well, said the boy, my name is Jack, and my sister’s name is Sally. We were taking a walk and playing, and got lost. Then we found a path and thought that it would take us back home, but it led us to your cabin. We are very glad to have found it. Sir, we would very much like to get home, would you please help us?

Yes, Mommy will be looking for us. We’ve been gone too long. said Sally.

Well, I would be glad to help. Maybe if you tell me your last name, I will know where you live.

My name is Jack Davies, said the boy, and my Daddy’s name is Jack Davies. We live on a farm near this woods, not too far from the river near a big bluff."

Oh yes, replied the man, I have met your father and I know exactly where you live. You have wandered quite a ways from home, and you must know that there are many dangers in the woods. But I will walk you home. In the meantime, while your clothes dry, would you like to hear a story of another child who was lost in the woods?

Yes, yes, the children responded.

By this time the children were fascinated with this strange man with a funny nose and a limp and were eager to hear the story.

I have been limping all my life, and I guess that’s why some people call me ‘Hip’.

The children chuckled. Hip? They asked, Why Hip?

Well, I don’t rightly remember because I was so young. But I was told by a man who knew me as a child that I must have had a hard fall or an accident that injured my hip and made me walk with a limp. But let me tell you about the boy found in the woods.

Found in the woods? Jack questioned. Was he lost in the woods, too?

Yes, replied Hip, but he was not so much lost as orphaned.

Orphaned? What do you mean by orphaned?" asked Sally.

You mean his Mom and Dad died and left him in the woods? asked Jack.

Hip replied, Not exactly. Let me tell the story, as it was told to me by my father and mother, and you will understand.

Yes, please tell us, the children responded.

________________

Hip then began the story:

‘There was a farmer in Indiana who raised pigs near the Mississinewa River. Often in the summer, some of his pigs would get out of the fence and eventually end up deep in the woods near a bog. In the fall, when the pigs were fat and ready to butcher, the farmer would go to the woods and try to round up his strays. On this particular day, the farmer was in the woods near the bog and an oak tree with a large hollowed out trunk. Sometimes a mother pig, a sow, would have a litter of piglets and use the hollow in the old oak tree as her den.

Sure enough, when the farmer came up to the old oak tree out ran the mother sow and her piglets. The mother sow grunted and the piglets squealed and scampered into the thick underbrush. The farmer gave chase but had trouble rounding up the pigs. As they ran through the underbrush, he caught a glimpse of them and was amazed about what he saw.

That’s peculiar, exclaimed the farmer. I can’t believe my eyes. One little pig doesn’t seem to have a tail.

The very next day the farmer returned to the big bog and the old oak tree all the more determined to catch the tail-less pig. Once again, he chased the pigs through the briars and bushes but was unable to catch the strange piglet. He came very close because the one without a tail couldn’t quite keep up with the others. However, the farmer got only a look at the back end of the little pig because of the thick scrub bushes and thorny blackberry bushes.

That’s strange, he said. Something’s different about that little pig, and I am going to find out what.

On the third day as he came near the bog and the big oak tree, he found something that troubled him. On the ground some bones lay scattered, human bones and a skull. Some of the bones were missing, but it seemed evident that a man had been attacked by some kind of wild animal but not like wolves or wild dogs. The farmer had seen a wild boar with large tusks in this woods which was very threatening and vicious. The farmer wondered if the man had been attacked by a wild boar. He also remembered a family who, last spring, was reported missing. The man and his new wife had come to Indiana the year before. The man’s neighbors, who lived