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Wen and Wy Join the Farm

The sun rose, promising another warm day for the animals of Ebony-Dodo Farm.

"Good morning all!" Rico the Rooster sang out cheerfully. "Ready to tackle the day??"

"Good morning, Rico," said Dood the cow politely doing some deep knee-bends, swishing out her tail around and twirling her neck from side to side. 

Yippee and Youppee, the two oxen, were surly as they always in the morning and grunted responses which were lost behind their snaffles of their breakfast hay. 

Olé the Goat danced around on the hard earth, and threw in a couple of twirling dance moves. "I am ready!!" She announced, letting her rear legs do a separate dance to her front ones
- which was always the cause for admiration and confusion by the other 4-legged animals whose legs only worked neatly together. 

There was a small squawking commotion over in Chickens' Corner, as two hens fought over a tasty piece of corn. When the first feather flew, the other animals knew it was serious and stopped to watch. Sure enough, Chante-clean, the fearsome Head Hen, strode over with her wings on her hips and put a stop to it with two well-timed pecks - one at each of the squabblers. 

And with these small settling in matters, the animals were ready to start their day. 

Then they realised it wasn't a day like all the others. 

Because, later that morning, an unfamiliar car rolled up to Ebony-Dodo Farm. Their Human Farmer and the car's human driver had a long chattering discussion in the silly human words the animals could never understand. Then their Human Farmer took two wriggling bundles from the human driver, who then drove away. 

The two wriggling bundles were... Puppies! 

The other animals sighed. And sure enough, as soon as they were put on the ground, the two puppies ran over to the other animals. 

"I'm Wen!" Barked the dog with the fat, white sausage tail. "And this is my brother, Wy."

"Yeah!" Barked Wy, who had a small curved tail like an apostrophe. 

They both had grey fur. Wy had a black mask on his face split in the middle by a silver line and Wen had a black eye patch on one eye. 

"And WE 'RE in charge!" Said Wen grandly. 

"No, you're not!" Chante-Clean retorted loudly. 

Dood winced. Chante-Clean had a short temper, but it was even shorter than usual this morning after the squabbles amongst her chooks. 

Normally Dood would manage the newcomers and gently put excitable new dogs like these in their places - so that they were part of the farm, not in charge of it. 

Instead, Wen and Wy began barking furiously to Chante-Clean. "Yes we are! Yes we are! Yes we are!"

After that start, Wen and Wy didn't settle neatly into Ebony-Dodo Farm as they should have. They kept themselves apart from the other animals, looked down their muzzles at the other animals and started and finished every conversation with their claim that they were in charge. 

Until the night FricassĂ©e Fox visited. 

With shrieks and cries and squawks of dismay from all the chickens, FricassĂ©e Fox slipped in quick as can be, grabbed Chante-Clean as she stood with her wings outstretched, trying to protect the other hens. 

In spite of angry bellows, bleats, cries and Rico's angry attacks, Fricassée pulled Chante-Clean off her feet and took her out into the night!!

Oh no! Oh no!

Wen and Wy came running from inside the main house. (They didn't stay with the other animals, and they said this was another reason they were in charge! But Chante-Clean always just treated this remark with a rude, huffing cluck). 

Olé called out urgently. "Wen and Wy!! Chase the fox! Quick! He's taken Chante-Clean!! Who will look after the hens? What will the Farmer Human say? Quick! Chase the fox!"

"You're the only ones who can!!" Added Dood, just as anxiously. "You're the only ones who can see and smell in the dark, and who can run as fast - faster - than the fox!"

Wen and Wy looked at each other silently. 

They didn't like Chante-Clean because she laughed at their claims they were in charge, and called them 'Where' and 'How' mockingly whenever they were around.  

But they couldn't have a fox running onto their farm and stealing their animal friends!!

And with that thought, Wen and Wy were off, racing after FricassĂ©e Fox. They used their sensitive noses to track its steps: over the hills, down the dales, across a road and through some woods. They lost the scent at a stream where FricassĂ©e Fox had tried to disguise his path in water. 

But Wy found the scent again and the chase continued. 

Soon, Wen and Wy could hear Chante-Clean's muffled clucks of outrage. 

Then they could see the dark shadowy outline of the fox, gliding silently silently ahead of them. 

Without needing to talk, Wen and Wy split up. Wen chased the fox on its left. Wy chased the fox on its right. 

Chante-Clean, still trapped in the fox's jaws, saw Wen, and felt huge relief that her farm friends were helping her. She started pecking at FricassĂ©e Fox's neck with renewed energy and heard him grunt in pain. 

With Wen and Wy almost on top of him and Chante-Clean stabbing him with her beak, FricassĂ©e Fox dropped Chante-Clean suddenly, veered off to its left and put on an extra burst of speed and disappeared into the dark shadows. 

Wen and Wy came to a stop around Chante-Clean as she sat on the grass, dazed. 

"Are you alright?" Wen asked, sitting down in front of Chante-Clean, and giving her a hug and a small lick. 

Wy sniffed her all over, trying to smell if she was hurt. He sniffed a ticklish spot under her wing and made Chante-Clean giggle. 

"I'm ... not hurt," she said at last. "Thank you for rescuing me."

Wen and Wy wagged their tails. "You're very brave." They replied. 

They started on the road back home. Chante-Clean sat on Wen's back for the first part of the trip while Wy acted as lookout, then Wy carried her while Wen acted as look-out. 

The three tired animals arrived back at the farm just before dawn, just before the farmer human would soon be waking up to feed them. 

The other animals gave them a quiet but rousing cheer for thwarting FricassĂ©e Fox. 

After that, Dood and Olé were pleased to see that there were far fewer squabbles between Wen and Wy and Chante-Clean. You could almost say they were friend-like, if not actual friends!!

*****

About a month later, the familiar dark silhouette of FricassĂ©e Fox snuck into the farm again. 

But this time, it went to a different part of the farm - far away from the barn, and from where Wen and Wy now sometimes slept. 

It went to a small paddock, where Dood and OlĂ© had asked to spend the night under the fresh summer night sky. 

Dood and OlĂ© did not seem surprised to see FricassĂ©e. Indeed, they seemed to have a great big bundle for him. 

"How are things?" FricassĂ©e asked with a  sly grin. 

"Much better!" Dood grinned back. 

"Oh yes!" Olé chuckled. "Chante-Clean and Wen and Wy are no longer fighting all day long. They're even friends."

Dood and Olé handed over a great big bag full of summer fruit. "Thank you very much for helping us! And for willing to be our bad guy!"

Fricassée looked at the big bundle of fruit with delight. "It was my pleasure!"

He stopped and then added, "well, except for the bit when Chante-Clean started pecking me while Wen and Wy were closing in on me! That got a bit painful!"

They laughed and then FricassĂ©e Fox tucked his big bundle of fruit into his back and trotted off, well-satisfied with his payment for a night's work. 

Dood and OlĂ© touched muzzles in quiet self-congratulation, and no-one on Ebony-Dodo farm was ever the wiser about how Wen and Wy and Chante-Clean became friends. 


The End. 


(Written at Chez Dadi, for the occasion of her birthday, and with the two Cherubs under foot, trying to steal a glimpse of every word before it was written!!)



Comments

  1. We think this is an exciting story!
    Cherubs 1 and 2

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Cherubs 1 and 2,
    Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it!! :-)
    xoxox xoxox

    ReplyDelete

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