When Andrew bought a carved figure from The Peddler, he thought he was doing the old man a favor. When three violent criminals came to give his shop a shakedown, he realized it was the other way around.

In this fantasy, horror novelette, a luscious, green park stands as a beacon of thriving life in the midst of a fledgling city where criminals run rampant. The police are either helpless, ignorant, or criminals themselves.

Between the park and the city sits The Peddler, a blind hermit who whittles remarkably lifelike figurines of history's bravest warriors—miniature statues that seem to find their way to the victims of the city's injustices. Does fate favor the innocent? Or is there more to The Peddler and his carvings…

The Peddler is the third in an anthology series of stand-alone short works of spec-fiction called Black Band Shorts.

Channing Whitaker