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Three big black crows had been
flying above the farm all day long. Now and then they’d stop to rest on
the branches of a tall tree, but most of the time they swooped around in
lazy circles above the house.
Duncan had gone outside early in the
morning to see if there was some cheese or a few grains of wheat lying
about and had spotted the crows. "I wonder what they’re up to," he said.
He thought of the scarecrow hanging on the wooden pole in the cornfield.
"The scarecrow will keep them away," he felt confident.
He ran from here to there and
noticed that whenever he ran, the crows flew from the branches and started
to fly down to where he was. He was just too quick for them though. He
could hear them cawing loudly as he nibbled on some wheat that had dropped
from a burlap bag. "I wish they’d go away. I don’t like crows almost as
much as I don’t like cats," he mumbled.
Kennedy came outside a while later.
He too noticed the crows. The first thing he did was check the cornfields.
The crows weren’t near the corn. They seemed to be searching for something
below. "I wonder where that pesky mouse, Duncan is. Has he seen the
crows?" Kennedy sighed and ran towards the house.
Duncan came running out of the barn
and headed to the horse’s watering trough. Kennedy spotted him and watched
in horror as one of the crows swooped down and picked Duncan up by the
tail. Duncan was squealing and squirming, trying to get out of the crow’s
talons.
"Those crows can’t do that. Duncan
is my mouse. I’m the only one allowed to eat him," Kennedy thought
angrily. He watched the crow as it flapped its wings and headed up to the
high branches of the tree. The other two crows sat nearby.
Kennedy was pretty good at climbing
trees, as most cats are. He ran silently towards the bottom of the tree,
staying well hidden, so the crows wouldn’t see him. He could see Duncan.
He was still dangling from the crow’s claws. Kennedy started climbing the
tree. He jumped from branch to branch, getting higher and closer to the
big black birds.
Duncan hung upside down. It was a
long way to the ground and he didn’t know which would be worse; to be
eaten by the crow’s sharp beak or dropped. He looked at the tree and saw
Kennedy climbing up. "Oh great. The cat’s after me too," he pouted. None
of the crows saw the cat. Slowly Kennedy crept and finally came to the
branch the crow was perched on. Duncan watched the cat move along the
branch. He thought it better to be silent. Suddenly, Kennedy leapt and
grabbed hold of the crow. It squawked and cawed. The other crows started
swooping down, trying to peck him.
"Grab onto a leaf or something,"
Kennedy shouted to the mouse. Kennedy was flung around as the two animals
wrestled. Duncan finally caught hold of a leaf and no sooner had wrapped
his tiny arms around it when the crow let go of him. All three crows
started pecking at Kennedy, who nearly fell to the ground. They flew away
and Kennedy lay still. He was tired.
Duncan crawled up onto the branch
and sat in front of the cat. "You rescued me from the crows. Why?" he
asked.
Kennedy huffed and puffed. He
couldn’t speak. He was too tired. "I…I…I….," was all he could say.
"Well, thank you," Duncan said. He
ran down the tree branches, grabbed hold of the trunk and soon reached the
ground. He looked up at the cat, who was still holding onto the branch.
"Thanks again," he shouted up to the cat and then ran back to his mouse
hole.
The cat lay still for an hour. "The
next time I try to rescue that mouse, I had better think twice." He
climbed down slowly and went into the house. Exhausted, he lay in front of
the fire and didn’t move till morning.
When he opened his eyes, there was a
bowl of thick cream lying in front of him. A little note was attached,
"Thank you for rescuing me, Duncan." Kennedy smiled. For a while he felt
good about saving the mouse, but it was only for a short time. By the time
the sun had risen over the horizon, he was back to chasing Duncan all over
the farm. Duncan didn’t mind. He was happy to have things back to normal. |
