And Then There Were None

Ned: Welcome to another episode of my personal podcast, Ned Knows. Today I'm talking to the creator of Paws & Tales, Dave Carl. Well, thanks for being with me today, Dave.
Dave Carl: It's a pleasure to be here, Ned.
Ned: So because I'm me, I happen to know that you have written the first-ever Paws & Tales book. Tell me more about that.
Dave Carl: I'd love to. It's called The Overcomers, and reading this book will be like reading maybe five regular episodes. The club is in the middle of a big new adventure and there are new characters we introduced.
Ned: That's fascinating, Dave. I have it, though, by good authority that this book centers around Ned and how he saves the day for everyone.
Dave Carl: Well, no, that's not what the book is about. It is significantly about the struggle against evil that lurks high up in Wild Mountain. If anything, I'd have to say it centers around Stacy.
Ned: What? I gave you really good notes when you were writing this. What happened to all my great ideas?
Dave Carl: Well, mostly I didn't read them. There were a lot of notes, Ned. In the book I did write, we meet Smidge, a badger who really wants to become someone who will make a difference. And he meets up with Crockett, a genuine overcomer who begins to teach him how to survive in the woods and how to take care of the miners digging for gold in the tunnels of Wild Mountain.
Ned: Ned knows what this book was supposed to be about. In those notes you did not read, Ned inherits a million dollars, but he does not let anyone know about it. And he sneaks around and secretly helps those in need and uses all kinds of really neat gadgets to fight crime.
Dave Carl: I did read that part of the notes. But in this first Paws & Tales book, The Overcomers, we follow the club as they begin a new adventure and we see how Crockett battles bandits and the evil Minion in only the way an overcomer can.
Ned: Well, I did not know that you changed the whole book, Dave. This is a bitter disappointment. Well, this ends this episode of Ned Knows. Thanks for joining me, Dave Carl, who ignored all my notes. I'll see you all next time for another episode of Ned Knows. Don't stop tape.
Insight for Living: Welcome to the world of Paws & Tales. Wild Mountain can be a pretty dangerous place. If you stay on the trails and stick with me, there's adventures to be had there, too. CJ, jump! It's too far! It wasn't too far for me! Insight for Living is proud to present Paws & Tales. Howdy and welcome to Wildwood. Getting towards the end of another school day, but what a day it's turned out to be. Miss Harbor is once again in rare form as she teaches the class about leadership.
Miss Harbor: For you see, in those ancient days of England, there were no laws. Each kingdom did as they wanted. They fought each other for land. Who wants to be a king?
CJ: Oh, I do, I do!
Goose: There's a shock.
Miss Harbor: All right, CJ, stand up. You are the King of Brownshire.
CJ: Brownshire?
Miss Harbor: I am the Queen of Harbershire. I have lots of land and lots of sheep, but my crops have failed and my kingdom needs food. In Brownshire, your kingdom, your crops have done wonderfully, but your sheep have mostly died from disease.
CJ: Nuts. I hate it when that happens. What do we do, our two kingdoms?
Stacy: Oh, oh!
Miss Harbor: Goose?
Goose: You meet and talk over the situation. Then you share some of your sheep with CJ, and he shares some of his crops with you. Then you decide to have a party and celebrate and make invitations with little sheep and, oh, I know, you glue a little bit of wool and a little bit of sparkles and—
Stacy: She cracks me up.
Miss Harbor: That would be a great way to handle it. However, that is not the way some of the old kings chose. That's not what the Queen of Harbershire chose. Attention, all you soldiers of Harbershire. Tonight, you will march on the unsuspecting town of Brownshire. And while they are yet sleeping, you are to attack. Kill if you must, but do not come back unless you bring with you enough grain to feed my people throughout the winter.
CJ: Well then, I would just attack you back.
Miss Harbor: That is exactly what happened over and over and over. The motto of that day, according to the book, was might is right. Whoever was the strongest made up the rules. That's why they needed a king over all of them. Arthur was just a boy, but he was soon going to become that king.
CJ: Did he know that he was going to be king?
Miss Harbor: He did not. Now, there are different kinds of leaders. Some lead by example, some can get their people to follow them and love them and follow them into anything, and some lead by creating fear. There are certainly other ways to lead.
Goose: Some lead by promising stuff, like treasures.
Miss Harbor: Good, Goose. That is another way. Now, at some time in the future, it's possible you will all need to lead others in something. Just what kind of leader will you be? This is an important question. Now, what kind of leader would young Arthur need to be to bring peace and order to his country?
CJ: The strongest one. Might is right!
Miss Harbor: That is the question for you all to work on for Monday's homework. That's all for today.
Chorus: Miss Harbor, please! Don't stop now!
Miss Harbor: We will do more on Monday, class. Tomorrow's Friday. What does that mean?
Chorus: Spelling test!
Miss Harbor: The test will be first thing in the morning. Okay, don't forget to work on your word list tonight. We'll see you all tomorrow.
Insight for Living: Well, in the excitement of becoming knights in shining armor, the club decided to have their meeting in Stacy's barn. Stacy's barn is famous for having all manner of this and that. Her dad calls them treasures. Stacy's mom just calls it junk.
Stacy: So it's agreed? We meet at the Shady Days Rest Home tomorrow?
Chorus: Yeah. Okay.
Stacy: Bring your garden tools. I don't think any of you guys are paying attention.
CJ: This will be the best armor ever created. A crate? Your armor is an old crate? I'm not listening. I have the mightiest sword in the land.
Stacy: You're going to hurt someone with that.
CJ: That's what swords do, little missy. Take that and that. Hey, maybe we should have a contest to see who should be king.
Stacy: Give it up, CJ. You're not going to be our king.
CJ: Stacy, here I come!
Stacy: I'm not ready!
CJ: Better get your sword up.
Stacy: CJ!
CJ: How do you like that?
Stacy: Knock it off, CJ. That was too hard.
CJ: That's because I'm the mightiest king in the land. And you know the rules: might is right.
Goose: You're going to hurt someone, CJ.
Stacy: You're certainly the mightiest goofball in the land.
CJ: Take that and that. Give me your crops, Sir Ned.
Ned: Leave me alone. I don't have my armor done yet.
CJ: Well then, I have caught you unaware and defenseless. I'm warning you. Sir Ned-in-a-box can't defend himself. I have captured your castle. You are now my subject of—
Stacy: Looks like the might-is-right guy just got dethroned by a beaver's tail.
CJ: Not funny. No real knight would hit you with his tail.
Stacy: The point of King Arthur is that he changed things.
CJ: Don't tell me you know because you've already read the book.
Goose: Did you really?
Stacy: As a matter of fact, I have. King Arthur changed it from might is right to might for right.
Goose: Oh, I like that much better.
CJ: Same thing.
Stacy: It means that King Arthur made rules for everyone to follow. He brought peace to the land because he wouldn't let the toughest guy just do anything he wanted anymore.
Goose: He used the might of his kingdom to do right. Well, that's kind of like leading by example.
Stacy: Yeah. And he led a little by fear, too. He took all of those big-mouth might-is-right guys and tossed them out of the kingdom.
CJ: What's everybody looking at me for? Very clever fellow, this King Arthur. Someone ought to write a book about him.
Stacy: Maybe we should make some rules.
Ned: Rules for what?
Stacy: You just want to make rules so you can make us do what you want.
CJ: No, we can all come up with the rules. We can make our club a more peaceful place.
Stacy: So what kind of rules?
Goose: No being mean to each other.
Stacy: That's a good one.
Ned: No telling lies.
CJ: Yes.
Ned: No telling secrets.
Stacy: I don't think that's a very good one.
Ned: That's a great one. Wait a minute, I'll write these down. Being mean, lies, secrets.
Goose: Oh, no turning your homework in late.
Ned: Good. Number four.
Stacy: No wearing pink and red together.
Ned: I suggest not saying silly things, but—
CJ: Okay, we're all making these up together. We have to memorize a verse every day.
Stacy: Too much. One each week.
CJ: That's much better. Fine, no one's king here. We're all doing this together.
Goose: No swimming until 20 minutes after you eat.
Ned: No tattling. Slow down. Okay, how about we all need to stick up for each other?
Goose: That's a good one.
Ned: No being late to club meetings. Now, is that really necessary?
Stacy: Yes, it is.
Ned: Fine. So what happens if someone breaks a rule? Yeah, what happens then?
Stacy: This isn't my thing. I don't know.
Goose: How about you get points against you?
Ned: Oh, yeah, like demerits.
Goose: Good. So then what?
CJ: And if you get 10 demerits, then you have to leave the kingdom for a month.
Stacy: A month? So if sometime in the next year I get 10 demerits, I'll get kicked out of the club?
CJ: Well, every month you'll start over, like each month you'll start over with zero demerits.
Stacy: Sounds good.
Goose: 10 seems like a lot of demerits.
Ned: Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
CJ: 10 seems like not enough to me. Okay, let's go with five. Five demerits in one month and you get kicked out of the club.
Stacy: I have a bad feeling about this.
Milo: Hi, I'm Milo from Michigan. I love listening to Paws & Tales when I'm getting ready for bed at night. Oh, and my parents listen, too.
Ned: Welcome, everyone. Ned the Beaver here, beloved star of Paws & Tales. We have some parents with me today that would love to tell you what they think about the fun, the biblical teaching, and the music of Paws & Tales. Go right ahead, please.
Guest (Female): Well, I love—
Ned: Closer to the microphone, please.
Guest (Female): Oh, sorry. I love that Paws & Tales is fun for kids and parents. I kind of expect my kids to learn from the episodes, but so do we.
Ned: Very nice. And you, sir? You're next.
Guest (Male): I love that some of the episodes are telling the Bible stories. My kids totally know the story of Esther now because of Paws & Tales.
Ned: Yes, so good to hear. Now, you, ma'am, that I have never met before.
Guest (Female): Well, I love that the kids in the club are so fun and take care of each other while they're all learning about God.
Ned: Mom, read the whole script.
Guest (Female): And I love that Ned Cleaver character. He is my favorite.
Ned: Better, much better.
Guest (Female): Stop slouching, Ned.
Ned: Mom.
Guest (Female): You're slouching.
Ned: Mom, stop.
Insight for Living: Well, the club was right excited about all of these new rules. As they walked to school the next morning, they even added more to the list. This sort of talking went right on until class started.
Miss Harbor: All right, class, settle, please. Let's pass your spelling list up to the front and let's get ready for the spelling test.
Marsha: Oh, no. Miss Harbor?
Miss Harbor: Yes, Marsha?
Marsha: I left it on the counter at home.
Miss Harbor: Oh well, bring it in on Monday.
Marsha: Thanks.
CJ: Rule number four: no late homework.
Stacy: He's right. That's a demerit.
Marsha: What?
Miss Harbor: Please stop talking and get ready for the test now.
Stacy: You broke rule number four, no turning homework in late. It's your rule.
Marsha: Oh, stop it already.
Miss Harbor: Marsha, CJ, that will be enough.
Stacy: It's started.
Marsha: Did not.
CJ: Did too.
Marsha: Stacy, did it start?
Miss Harbor: What is going on here? I will have quiet in this class. Do you understand?
Chorus: Yes, ma'am. Sorry.
Insight for Living: Saturday morning came and they all straggled into the Shady Days Rest Home to help weed out the flower beds. When you end up at the Shady Days, you can count on two things: the ever-present smell of coffee and Gus. Gus is a retired sea captain. Old Gus has seen more things and had more adventures than Hercules. One of the reasons the kids love to come help out at the home is because they know Gus will be there.
Stacy: Hey, guys.
Chorus: CJ! Gus! Hi, Gus! Morning! Hello! How are you, Captain Gus?
Gus: Morning to all of you. Good of you to come. Those weeds just grow bigger every day and they laugh at me when I walk by. Of course, I could bend down and get them myself if I wanted. I just couldn't get back up is the problem.
CJ: Well, we'll get them for you.
Gus: Well, what have you all been up to lately?
CJ: We've been making up rules and Marsha already broke one.
Goose: Goose!
Gus: Rules?
CJ: King Arthur made England a better place because he made everyone stop doing whatever they wanted to.
Gus: Well, he brought the rule of law to merry old England.
Stacy: Hey, he knows!
Gus: Sure I do. Without the rules and laws, disaster awaits. Once we were sailing to the islands of the southern seas, and one of the men new to the ship decided that the rules didn't apply to him.
CJ: What did he do?
Gus: Well, he had a way with the ropes like I'd never seen. He did little things his own way, not the way he should have. He tied knots in the rigging that no one knew how to untie. His stubbornness put the whole ship in danger.
Ned: Just because of his knots?
Gus: Well, a squall came up out of nowhere. Nothing we couldn't handle, though. I ordered the sails to be brought in. The men could not get these special knots untied. We had to slash through the ropes with an axe while we barely got them sails down in time. We nearly capsized.
CJ: What happened to the guy who tied the knots?
Gus: Well, he was thrown in the brig. As soon as we got to port, we showed him off the ship, not so very politely.
Stacy: How not so very politely?
Gus: We tied him hand and foot in our own special knots. We left him on the dock.
Goose: You left him on an island?
Gus: Well, don't worry, it was a busy shipping lane. He just needed to hire on with another ship after he untied those knots.
Stacy: Seems pretty mean to me.
Gus: Well, it's very serious business sailing the open sea. One man deciding that the rules don't apply to him puts the ship, its cargo, and every man aboard at risk. Following the rules on a ship can be a matter of life and death.
CJ: So on your ship, it was might for right.
Gus: Exactly. Now are you kids going to watch the weeds or are you here to pull them?
CJ: Oh, yeah.
Gus: Put your backs into it, you scurvy dogs!
CJ: Did you say that to your sailors all the time?
Gus: You know, I never said that before in my life. I don't know where I heard it.
Insight for Living: Well, they did get those weeds pulled in spite of Gus's stories. Then they decided to spend the afternoon in the best possible way: swimming and fishing.
CJ: One more lap! No, I'm done. I beat you four times. Face it, it's over.
Stacy: I almost had you last time.
CJ: I stopped because you were so far behind. I'm a beaver. I swim better than you. Give it up.
Stacy: Next time, fur ball, you're going down.
CJ: I'm yawning from boredom. We have a rule about too much big talking.
Goose: Oh, yeah. Ned, could you hand me my backpack? I've got the rules numbered and listed out. Last night, I made copies.
Stacy: You made copies?
Goose: Here. Now we can all have one and keep it with us all the time.
Ned: Oh, goody. I want to carry a list of rules all the time.
CJ: Good thing we didn't make a rule about bad attitudes. Now, we can't just call out a rule like we did with Marsha's homework.
Marsha: No one said it had started.
CJ: Maybe we should have a code or something so that we could alert each other if a rule has been broken.
Stacy: Like what? A secret wink?
CJ: No, that'll only work if we are looking at each other.
Stacy: A noise! We can have a little secret noise.
CJ: I like it. I can use my special ring whistle.
Goose: Oh, that's really fun. What can mine be?
Ned: I can just smack my tail on the ground.
CJ: I have an old police whistle.
Stacy: There's a surprise.
Goose: I'll make my noise.
Stacy: What's your noise?
Goose: The noise I do with my eye.
CJ: The whole point of this is that we make a noise loud enough that we can hear it.
Goose: How do you do that? You do that with your eye?
CJ: Okay, let's make a rule against rubbing your eye noises. That's not normal. What's your noise, Stace?
Stacy: What?
CJ: What?
Stacy: No telling secrets, rule number 11.
CJ: It wasn't a secret.
Stacy: Then why did you say it?
CJ: I said my noise would be me saying CJ thinks he's a king. I don't think you get it, Stace. It's supposed to be a short kind of—
CJ: No being mean to others, rule number two.
Goose: Please! She didn't mean it to be mean. Ned said basically the same thing yesterday about CJ trying to act like a king.
CJ: No tattling, rule number—where's the list?
Stacy: You said that?
Ned: No, I didn't. I just said that I—
Stacy: You're lying. No lying, rule number one against Ned.
CJ: No being mean, number two against Ned.
Ned: Stacy, Marsha, a little help here?
Marsha: You didn't help me with the homework thing.
CJ: Number eight on both of you. You're not sticking up for me. Where's the list? Ned, know your verse?
Ned: Don't—don't do it.
Goose: Eye noise! Number seven against Ned. Stace, that was kind of mean.
CJ: Number two on Stacy for being mean to Ned. Stacy, tell us your verse, the one for this week.
Stacy: The one for this week?
CJ: I'm waiting.
Stacy: I haven't really—
CJ: Number seven on Stacy. She doesn't know her verse either.
Stacy: That's five for Stacy. Oh, no. Maybe this should just be a practice run.
CJ: It's not a practice run. Rules are rules. They're important. CJ, don't do it. That was five demerits, Stace. I'm out of the club!
Landon: Hi, I'm Landon from Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. Don't go away, there's more Paws & Tales coming right up.
Dave Carl: Hey everyone, this is Dave Carl, creator of Paws & Tales. Stacy, is that what you wanted for this?
Stacy: Yeah, Dave, that's fine. Keep going.
Dave Carl: Okay. Well, I've been trying to get Stacy to tell us about her welcome cookies. As you know, Stacy's pretty famous around Wildwood for baking cookies and giving them to folks that have just moved in or what else, Stacy?
Stacy: You know, if someone is sick or just needs a cookie hug.
Dave Carl: I love that. Who doesn't need a cookie hug on occasion? Well, she bakes them with her mom and I think we're going to have a sample here. Where are the cookies?
Stacy: Ned! Did you eat all the cookies?
Ned: Well, they smell amazing.
Dave Carl: You can get a copy of Stacy's welcome cookie recipe and bake them yourself, with the help of your parents, of course. Just log on to pawsandtales.org and head into the Clubhouse to get your copy of Stacy's welcome cookie recipe.
Ned: Why is everyone mad at me? Why do I get blamed for everything?
Dave Carl: Ned, you have cookie crumbs on your chin.
Ned: Well, maybe I did it this time, but I get blamed for everything all the time.
Dave Carl: And we'd love to see your plate of cookies. So take a photo and upload it to the Clubhouse. We'll post them all on the Wall of Fame so the whole world can see what a great baker you are. But don't forget to give them away.
Ned: Oh, and try a couple first. It's just good quality control.
Dave Carl: I would try a couple first. Happy baking.
Insight for Living: Well, it started with Stacy, but it only took another couple of minutes for Ned, Marsha, and Goose to get enough demerits to get kicked out, too. So now we find the only remaining member of the club heading over to the Shady Days Rest Home.
CJ: Hey, guys.
Gus: Well, CJ, what are you doing? Did you forget something from this morning?
CJ: No. Got a minute?
Gus: Well, let me see. Yep, seems I'm free at the moment. Here, try one of these cookies. Mrs. Snodle made them.
CJ: Thanks. Well, what's on your mind? I got a problem.
Gus: Oh, a problem. Well, maybe we should sit down.
CJ: The rules.
Gus: The rules?
CJ: The rules we told you about.
Gus: Oh, yeah, the club rules. Right.
CJ: Yeah, it didn't really work.
Gus: The rules didn't work, huh?
CJ: Well, the whole thing, really. You get up to five demerits and then you get kicked out of the club for a month.
Gus: A month? That seems kind of harsh, doesn't it?
CJ: Seemed like a good idea at the time. Well, everyone but me got kicked out today.
Gus: All in one day, all of you?
CJ: It was bad.
Gus: I guess it was. Finish your cookie there, CJ. Now how do you account for everyone getting kicked out?
CJ: I don't really know. We all agreed to the rules.
Gus: Well, like what? What were the rules?
CJ: No lying.
Gus: Well, that's a good one.
CJ: Yeah, and no being mean, no tattling, no secrets, stuff like that.
Gus: Really?
CJ: What?
Gus: Well, son, rules are powerful things, important things. Some of those are not good ones.
CJ: Like what?
Gus: No tattling? Well, does that mean if someone does something wrong, you just stand there with your mouth closed? What exactly does that one mean?
CJ: I don't know. I just wanted to run a tight ship like you did, lead by example.
Gus: Well, did you? Were you being a good example?
CJ: You said rules were a matter of life and death.
Gus: Well, no, CJ, that's not exactly what I said. I said that on a ship it could be that. You're not on a ship with the lives of all aboard as your responsibility. You're a bunch of kids, and you're not their captain or their king, for that matter.
CJ: I didn't say I was.
Gus: You see, CJ, God gave us laws to help us, to spare us from pain, to keep us out of trouble. Now, I think you all made up rules so that you could control each other. Especially you did that. God also gave us a way to get back in, to get forgiven. Now, did you?
CJ: I guess not.
Gus: Well, how about another cookie?
CJ: No thanks.
Gus: Why not?
CJ: Well, they taste like chalk.
Gus: That's what it is! They do, don't they? And don't get me wrong, CJ. When you all grow up, there'll be rules and laws that if you break them, they'll affect you for the rest of your lives.
CJ: I know, that's what I'm saying.
Gus: Now, if you want to lead this group, this would be a great time for you all to be learning about rules, practicing with them, and learning about forgiveness now when a mistake won't make much of a difference. Now that's the kind of thing the good leader does. He helps who he leads. He serves them. A bad leader just tries to control them.
CJ: So you're implying that I'm a bad leader.
Gus: No, I'm saying it outright.
CJ: Gus!
Gus: But I'm thinking they'll forgive you if you ask them to. You see, everybody needs some of that. Come to think of it, you were mean to each other, weren't you?
CJ: Oh, yeah.
Gus: More than once.
CJ: At least.
Gus: How many demerits do you suppose that is?
CJ: Oh, man. I just got kicked out of the club.
Gus: Well, why don't you get your friends? Don't try to be captain. Don't try to be a king, but lead them. Lead them by serving them. If you want to be great in God's kingdom, learn to be a servant of all. Try to lead like that and see how it goes.
CJ: Thanks, Gus.
Gus: Now, what are you still sitting here for? Get up and go lead your crew!
CJ: I'm going, I'm going! What exactly is a scurvy dog?
Gus: A scurvy—well, I got to tell you the truth, I don't know.
Insight for Living: To order a copy of today's program, And Then There Were None, just log on to pawsandtales.org.
Guest (Male): What good is a candle if it doesn't have a flame? And what good is an arrow if it doesn't have an aim?
Guest (Female): A castle's not a castle without a moat.
Ned: And what good is a funny tale if it doesn't get your goat?
Chorus: Tweedle-dum, we're looking for a master and a brother. Tweedle-dee, you see, it can't be one without the other. He must be brave. He must be strong. With service as his motto. And if he leads us well, he will go and we will follow. We will follow.
Guest (Female): I'd follow someone like that.
Guest (Male): A leader has the vision to pursue God's higher call. Not just to stand beside you, but to catch you when you fall. He's helpful and he listens to seek the common good. And no green tights are needed for this kind of servanthood.
Chorus: Tweedle-dum, we're looking for a master and a brother. Tweedle-dee, you see, it can't be one without the other. He must be brave. He must be strong. With service as his motto. And if he leads us well, he will go and we will follow. We will follow. In God's mighty armor we're prepared from head to toe. But without a leader, we're dressed up and have no place to go.
Goose: So which direction do you think we should be heading?
Stacy: Oh, let's go to the left.
CJ: No, no, I think we should go to the right.
Ned: Blimey, we're going to end up going around in circles.
Stacy: Well, really, we should sit down and discuss this.
CJ: Okay, but where?
Goose: I have a round at this round table.
Ned: No, no, we should go to the square one.
Stacy: Oh my, we do need a leader, don't we?
Chorus: Tweedle-dum, we're looking for a master and a brother. Tweedle-dee, it's God he'll seek and not just ask his mother. He must be brave. He must be strong. With service as his motto. And if he leads us well, he will go and we will follow. And if he leads us well, wouldn't that be swell? We will follow.
Stacy: Now I do think we should continue discussing this.
CJ: I agree, but where should we sit to decide where we're going to sit?
Goose: I think this newfangled round table ought to—
Ned: A round table? Never seen one of them.
Insight for Living: And Then There Were None was written by Steve Golsby and David Carl and directed by David Carl. The song "We Will Follow" was written by Sandy Howell and Shelly Spady. Music was by Tim Hosman and our sound designer was Jerry Swafford. Paws & Tales is an Insight for Living production.