Mollie the Mole

Chapter 1

"Grrrr! I've got you where I want you, Sneeze Breath!"
Okay, I sounded too cute to say that, but hey, I was twelve!
Who am I? My name is Mollie Bank, daughter of millionaire and owner of the largest bank in all Cremeville, Joseph Bank. He spends hours at the bank watching over people's money. I don't see him much, so he bought me some little figures to keep me busy. I would then slip away into my own little world.
Max the Mole, my favorite, crime fighting, super hero was trapped in the secret building of his arch nemesis, Sneeze Breath the weasel. His secret building was made entirely of stone, with no dirt for poor Max to dig his claws into.
"You're trapped, Max! I've got you now," snarled Sneeze Breath.
Max's fur touched the wall; there was no place for him to go now. One hundred rats surrounded the mole lead by their leader. Actually, I only had four rat figures, but I always pretended it was more.
The rats rapiers were tickling the mole's fur when his friend, Skie, the eagle flew in through the large glass window on the far wall! She swooped in screeching and pecking at the rats that surrounded Max.
"Mollie!"
I heard my mom, but I just kept on playing.
"Caaww! Max, are you ok? Caaww!"
"Yeah, got everything under control." Max grabbed the sword of Sneeze Breath the weasel and broke it in two with his bare claws! "Are you having fun, Skie?"
"Caaww! Yeah, just a bit hungry! Caaww!"
"Mollie! Your father needs your help out in the field! Hurry up now!"
"Sorry, guys, gotta go," I said to my toys and left my room. I walked down stairs and hugged my mom. "Missed ya, Mom. How was work?"
"Now Mollie, don't try to stall by asking about how work was. You know good and well work is work, and it helps keep food on the table until the crops come in. Now get out there and help your father." Even though she hurried me out the door, I knew she was smiling.
So, I'm not the daughter of a millionaire or a rich banker. My father is Joseph Bank, the farmer. During the off-season, Mom goes to work in the town at the general store while Dad gets the crops ready for harvest.
I walked out to the field, making sure to walk between the rows of crops and not step on any. I found my dad at the far end, loosening the soil. "Hi, Daddy, need some help with the crops?"
He stood, wiped the sweat from his brow, and leaned on his hoe handle. He stood a lot taller than me when I was twelve. He pushed back my shoulder length, jet-black hair, looked into my eyes, and smiled. "Later," he said in a gruff voice, with a slight chuckle. "Right now, I've got a gift for ya, little lady." He gestured to a large wooden treasure chest sitting outside the crops on the field.
"What's in there?" The words were out of my mouth before I could help it. I just stood there, staring at it until my dad spoke again. There was only one time I could remember him using the shiny but old wooden chest to give me a gift. That was when he gave me my action figure toys.
"Go ahead and open it and take a look."
I thought about walking up to the treasure chest and slowly open it, but I ran instead and threw open the top. My jaw dropped as I stared down at a beautiful, single blade, one-handed axe! The handle was a brown leather wrap at the base of a stout steel beam. A silver twist ran up the side of the steel shaft to a golden top spike. On one side of the shaft stuck out a large steel blade. A long steel spike stuck out the other end to balance out the weight.
I wrapped my small fingers around the handle and pulled the wonderful weapon from the chest. Although I could lift the axe with one hand, it took both hands for me to swing it. And swing it I did! The only thing that stopped me from swinging was the fence. I'm just glad it wasn't my father!
As soon as he finished laughing, he picked up the axe from beside the broken fence and handed it back to me. "Now go clean your axe before you chop down the entire forest, my dear." As I took the axe and looked up at him, tears began to swell up in my eyes. I pointed at the fence. He just shook his head and chuckled. "Don't worry about the fence. We'll have plenty of time to fix it."
I hurried back to the house, eager to show my mom what my dad had given me. The minute she saw it, I knew she wasn't pleased. "You be careful with that," she said harshly. "You could hurt somebody with that."
I frowned at her. "Yes, Mother." I then bounded up the stairs to show my new gift to Max.
Max didn't say much. He just sat there with his smug look on his face daring me to find one of his evil villains and slay them with my new axe! I didn't want to ruin my toys, so I just looked around my room till I found a nice spot to hang my weapon of mass destruction. Tee-hee-hee, I was silly back then.
The rest of the summer, I spent working with Dad in the fields, getting the crops ready for the harvest. I used my shiny new axe to help chop wood for the fence and stakes for the crops. It was a lot of fun helping my dad, but it was also hard work.
It was just days before harvest time when I was out in the field one day with Dad. The crops were unusually tall that year. I just happened to notice some of the crops shaking and pointed it out to Dad. He grabbed his hoe and said, "Stay here, Mollie, I'll go check it out."
As he got close to the shaking crops, a skinny little goblin jumped from behind them! Dad swung his hoe at the creature, but it was too quick for him. After Dad had taken a few lunges at the goblin, it leapt onto Dad and threatened to stab him with his little dagger.
At that point, I rushed in with my axe raised. Just as Dad threw the goblin off him, I swung at him and cut off his left arm. After giving me such a nasty look, the goblin went howling into the nearby woods and vanished from sight.
"Are you ok?" I turned to my dad and asked.
He smiled. "Don't think he'll be coming around here anymore. Yes, I'm fine. Good work with that axe!"
It felt good to hear Dad say that, but deep down inside, I was worried. "Where did he come from?"
"A goblin cave somewhere deep in those woods. That's the only place it could come from."
A goblin cave... in my woods! I could not have that. I vowed that day that I would find that cave and deal with whatever goblin tribe lived within!
"Come on, Princess, let's head back to the house. I'm sure Mom will have supper on the table by now. Let's not keep her waiting."
He threw his arm around me, and we walked back to the house. I smiled; I was glad to have my daddy next to me. I'm sure he was glad to have me around too.
Mom did have supper waiting for us when we got back to the house. She didn't seem at all pleased with the encounter with the goblin. We chose not to tell her where we thought he had come from, and I dare not tell her about my vow to rid that cave of its goblin inhabitants. I went to bed that night dreaming of finding that cave and fighting the hundreds of goblins that lived there.
Days passed, and the harvest turned out to be one of the biggest our little farm had ever seen! No wonder the goblins were after the crops. Dad earned enough that season to put me through three years of what he called, Proper Schooling. It was very important to him. I learned about history, science, math, health, self-defense, home life, and many other interesting subjects. But the subject my dad wanted me to focus on was personal finance, how to manage money. He said that it would not only help me, but that one day I could help others with their money. I could see clearly that Dad had really wanted to own a bank, just as I had fantasized.
Over the next three years, I grew like a weed! Mom was buying me new outfits every month! It was crazy! I grew almost as tall as Dad. Every day I was with my dad, working in the field with the crops. I got quite good at it. I even got strong enough to swing my axe with just one hand. Dad and I worked on a shoulder sling for my axe. I wore it over one shoulder and around my back. It had a spot for the handle and an iron hook, which allowed me to wear the axe on my back. It was great!
During the month or two that we didn't work on the crops, I was helping my mom at the general store, learning how commercial finances worked. Let me tell ya, it was confusing!