Minecraft / Minecraft: Mob Squad

MAL

So here s what you need to know: My name is Mal, I live in a town called Cornucopia, and I would do anything for my friends. Literally. Which is why they always come to me for help.

My family runs the biggest cattle ranch, which I ve nicknamed Cornu-cow-pie-a as a joke. Most days, I wake up with the rooster and take the cows out to pasture, which isn t a very long journey, as our town is completely contained within impossibly tall walls. Still, we have to switch where the cows graze or they ll eat down to the dirt and possibly keep going. Cows aren t very smart. They are cute, though, and I like eating breakfast as they graze. Their crunching is very companionable.

Mal! a voice calls as I munch on my apple.

I look around definitely not a cow. And anyway, I know that voice.

Morning, Lenna!

My friend Lenna jogs toward me, out of breath and frantic, her poufy brown hair bouncing and full of leaves. Mal. You ve got to come help. Jarro has Tok and Chug cornered in an alley!

With Lenna, you have to stop and make sure you have all the details right.

Okay, slow down. I know Tok couldn t fight a sick beetroot, but Chug can take on Jarro any day of the week. What s the problem?

She cocks her head. Chug has a hoe.

Ah.

See, Chug and Tok are the other two people in our friend group. They re brothers, but as different as two people can be. And, yes, they re almost always in trouble for something or other. Scrapping with Jarro is one thing, but if Chug is holding a hoe and Jarro goads him enough, especially in a hidden alley downtown, we might have a real problem. Plus, if Chug breaks the hoe over Jarro s head, he ll be in even worse trouble.

It s not like hoes grow on trees.

You can buy them only from Old Stu, and they re pretty expensive.

And Tok . . . kinda goes through a lot of tools. He s always trying to create interesting gadgets to help around their family s pumpkin farm not that any of them seem to work. He s

Delilah S. Dawson