Chapter Text
- January 5th, 1958 ; Yorkshire, England
A sunset shone down on the rolling English countryside, casting its bright yellow mixed with orange lights on the serene beauty of the yorkshire dales. It did seem like everything looked untroubled and peaceful. Except for the chain-link fence. Topped barbed wire, fence surrounding an ugly- muggy, dusty yard that sat several rows of chicken huts. Lovely countryside came to a screeching halt at it. Everyday the place looks a bit like a war time prison camp, but on a smaller scale. A two yr old young Red-Rhode Island hen (27 years old in human years), #23, holding her egg in her arms.. Sat on top of hut 18, face to hill far away from her- Watching from the distance.. the sun setting the other side over the hills to end another day. As well as a group of geese flying towards the sunset. An Egg a young hen was holding just made a kick just a minute as she sighed. Maybe anytime now that her new chickling would hatch soon.
“Heaven help us.. And my child..” young hen sighing to herself. “Please let us get out of here..”
“Ms. Julia?” a child's voice calling up to her from the ground below.
A chickling (possibly a few weeks old in chicken years) has thick scottish glasses on her. Standing below Hut 18 where Julia’s sitting on top of.
“Are the grown ups still in for another escape attempt?” She asked.
“Of course, Mac. We’re on it still.” Julia said briefly. “I need you to do me a big girl favor for me Mac, Just spread the word to the adults. We’re having a meeting at Hut 17.”
“On it.” Mac said.
She went to spread the word to the rest of the grown up hens. Meanwhile Julia, parts of her long purple and red comb felt a cool breeze she likes whenever it’s sundown in Hell. At least while it wouldn’t be snowing right now. She fixed up her Olive Green Beret on the back of her head she wore with one wing (with another wing holding her egg) and looked back up at the sunset.
“Meeting at Hut 17! Ms. Julia’s holding a meeting tonight!” Mac orders out to the rest of the adult chickens.
And as well as the chicklings around her chicken age almost knew what’s up for the meeting, even for the oldest chickling Bunty. Usually for Bunty she was already toughen up on her attitudes during every attempt on the grown up’s escapes, and fails as she’s the only chickling to go through some of the escape attempts with the Grown ups. As she’s a bit older to go with for their escape attempts as of 2 in a half weeks old. However, she and her mom Imelda almost have gone to the chop once they were caught for Bunty’s second time on their escape attempt.
“Oh no..” Imelda, while holding Bunty, looked up to the male farmer above her.
It’s not the first time Bunty rolled her eyes upwards for another grown ups only meeting, like ‘here we go again with the meeting’.
“Company.. Attention!” An old Rooster shouted as soon as he walked to the edge on top of one of the Huts.
Later that night, a few of the chicklings darted to the door of Hut 17. As they darted, all three of them pretended they were flying like a British aircraft plane, mimicking noises like it. Then stopped as they got to the coop door. Two of them leaned on the wall and one stood there waiting.
“Duckie, Agnes, what was the secret door knock again?” One chickling asked in a sweet tone.
“I’m sure it does like this, Babs.” Agnes does the secret door knock so that one of the grown ups opens up the coop door.
Right away, the peephole opened. Then closed after a second or two and then the coop door opened for Agnes, Babs and the other chickling to slip in to close it. Knock knock
“That must be them.” Julia said as she opened the peephole on the Coop door.
“You called Ms.?” A young rat asked.
“Yes, I’m Glad you’re here Nick.” She said as she opened the coop door.
“And Fetcher, Ms.” Young Fetcher speaks out as well. “Don’t forget about me.”
“Don’t worry kid, I didn’t forget about you.” Julia said.
Some of the dog barking starts picking up an alert to Julia, young Nick and Fetcher by looking at the window of the farm house. A man farmer squints through a curtain to see the problem outside through a window.
“Follow me.” She said sternly.
Julia closed the hut coop door behind her as she carried her egg with her with some fabric done like a small one strapped bag around her in front & went behind hut 17 to hide from the farmer looking out of the window, so did the young rats follow her.
“We need some more things for our next attempt.” Julia said.
“Right, here Ms.” Nick said. “Here’s some supplies you might need according to your plan.”
Here and there Fetcher sets down a Thorne’s Extra Super Crême Toffee tin box, and opens up the lid. He passes some of the equipment to Nick and then to Julia. Which included a human size spoon, forks, sewing kit including some soft fabric and a pink scissor.
“It may not be as much but we can still look for some more useful stuff in the farmer’s house to find a way to escape before Samantha would be next to go to the chop.” Nick said.
“Thanks Nick, and Fetcher.” Julia said as she gave them her next plan drawn out on paper and she pointed out some of the items being drawn in there. “If the current plan doesn't work out this time, we’ll need some of those things next if I were to pass on my leadership to my kid. Can you get them?”
“Hm. Of course Ms., It doesn’t seem hard to get some of these from the farmhouse. It’s gonna cost some pay.” Nick said.
“Sure, the same as always.” Julia said as she gave them one bag of carrots.
“Not sure if this is worth a bag but maybe next time the pay could be bigger.” Fetcher said.
“Maybe the pay would be like your egg that you have with you? The next night you would pay us that?” Nick said. “It sure looks delicious.”
“What, no! My baby could hatch any day now!” Julia said. “You can’t possibly just eat my kid..”
“Whatever. He or she would’ve tasted good while it's unborn anyway.” Nick rolled his eyes.
Julia looked disgusted, and horrified as well on how Nick thought of eating her own egg as pay. As of them being like 3 months old in rat years, it just feels wrong to her. Even Fetcher agreed with Nick.. Before she could say something else, Fetcher closed up the lid and picked it and their pay of carrots up.
“After you, Fetcher,” Nick said. “Let’s get the supplies.”
“Right after you.” Fetcher follows as they exit the opposite direction. “See you tomorrow night with the supplies, Ms.”
After they exit, Julia went back to the hut, hoping the farmer wasn’t looking out of the window anymore. Good thing he stopped. Although the radio was blaring out music that was playing in the farmhouse. A simple ‘huh?’ got the best of her curiosity before she turned straight toward Hut 17’s coop door. She never heard something like that before from all those two years. She tilted her head, confused about what that sound was in there at first but it sounded peaceful to her. She goes up to the gate slowly and she grips through the holes of the chicken fence from both of her fingers, as she listens from afar.
‘Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don’t fence me in
Let me ride through the wide-open country that I love
Don’t fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evening breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don’t fence me in’
Farmer’s music still goes on during those three minutes of hearing what that is to Julia. Although, she snapped out of it on something that was new to her and let go of the fence holes.
“Gosh-dammit. I can’t like what the farmers do like..” Julia groans.
She went straight to the hut coop door with the supplies she held behind her back like another bag and opened it before she looked back there.
“Kinda admit though.. Whatever that was.. It did sound peaceful to hear rather than the dogs barking all the time..” Julia admits before she goes inside and closes the hut door behind her.
“So, did those rats give you the supplies that we need?” Her right hand-Hen walked up to her and asked.
“Yes Lynn,” Julia said affirmatively as she’s putting her egg back to her own hay bed she lays on to keep warm.
“Here’s the supplies.” She pulls out a Spoon and a fork. As well as her taking off the fabric she used as a bag and taking out a sewing kit with some fabric & a pink scissor to Lynn.
“This is great, Julie. This is what we needed for our plan. I hope that we can escape for sure with our plan.”
“I’m hoping so too, Lynn. I really don’t want our kids to grow up miserable after we keep failing for two whole years. Flamin’ Hell, even if it takes til my father or me would die trying, I would want my kid to not have a miserable childhood as well. Wish that my mate would still be here to not have that miserable life as well if we do escape..”
“I know Julie..” Lynn puts her gray-ish wing on Julia’s shoulder, and then the other fixing couple of her combs. “We’ll keep trying. No matter what it takes, we will get out of here and die free. Benjamin always has appreciated everything you’re doing for him for all of us to escape.”
Julia knew Lynn was right, she knew they’re only goal was to escape the farm without any of their kids dying.. As well as Nobody else heading to the chop by the farmers, even if they could try to at least save Samantha from the chop. Lynn hugged her for comfort and she hugged back.
“I hope it works out for sure.”
“I'm sure it will, Julie.”
“Okay, I'm ready. Let’s get the meeting set up before we start explaining the next plan. It does look like for some fabric it should take at least Three to four months to take our time finishing at least. Jane should help us out with this one.”
Julia gathered up half of the supplies she lended to Lynn and they both headed to the council table.. while most of the adult chickens discuss their surroundings for what they knew so far outside of the farm, some pouring tea to drink, one keeping an eye out through the hut window for farmers, and then 85% of the chicklings took a nap on their parent’s hay bed, even if they got to sleep in different huts. As well as 99% of the newly produced eggs, their mum’s eggs were laid for farmers to pick up for tomorrow morning. 15% of the chicks were still awake and served some of the tea from their parents. Bunty, well, the only one not taking the meeting set up very well while she’s sipping up some of her tea her mother poured for her.
“None of the escape plans are gonna work at all, mumma.” Bunty rolled her eyes. “The last time and the before that and so on we just kept getting caught by them. We already lost Attila’s mum, and now we might lose Agnes’ mum by the end of the week..”
“Bunty, don’t take this too hard on this one.” her mother patted her head. “Nobody else is going to the chop this time. I’m sure Julia’s next plan is going to work. We still have to keep having hope and faith, so that all of us can live a better life without any farmers and dogs boot camping us. Especially for you kids.”
“Well, let’s look at it this way Bunty..” Jane said as she’s teaching Babs how to sew a flat, fabric Green newsboy look alike cap. “On the other side of these hills should be greener than what we have: Muddy grounds. Cool, Green Grass we can lay on and you kids can play on. No farm cages to keep us captive forever, with no humans to bother us. Where-ever we can go with no farmers and dogs can have wide open fields to run around through and play.”
Sure of it, at first Bunty didn’t want to believe if there were no farmers & dogs around in those wide open fields herself and everyone could someday escape to. With Cool, Green Grass to play on. Who really knows once they escape they wouldn’t be farmers around to take them back to the farm if they find them free? Or even other people around them, maybe keeping them hostage as pets? Or for the worst. At the same time though, Bunty did think it would be really nice for the chicklings including herself and Julia’s newborn baby chick to play on without having to worry so much about any more adults going to the chop. In other words, on a holiday babs would think. Perhaps if the chicks were to be taken to the chop as well once they were older, It would definitely be the time for every chicken to escape as soon as possible, or die trying.
“I hope you're right Ms. Jane.” Bunty sighed as she took another sip of her tea.
“Maybe that’s where the farmers have taken Attila’s mum and Cynthia’s mum may have gone, to that place on a holiday!” Babs cheerfully said. “Maybe the farmers thought every adult that went on a holiday needed a break from laying eggs all the time so that they let them go to paradise like we always wanted to go..”
“Dear, no human on land wouldn’t have a heart to just let us go just like that..” Jane said.
Sometime a few minutes later, Jane had finished sewing an Green flat newsboy cap Babs taught her to sew. Looking brand new for Julia’s brand new chick as soon as she or he hatches. “I really hope Ms. Julia’ll love his hat for her new baby..!” Babs cheerfully said. By then, Julia was ready to start the meeting with Lynn. All set up and ready to start the meeting. She grabbed a dark brown smoking pipe she uses as a judge's gavel for escape plan meetings and slams it three times on the table to catch all the chickens’ attention. Meanwhile they’re still continually discussing their surroundings and thinking of plans as they can think of. And tea being poured.
“Order! Order!” Julia yells to catch their attention for the meeting, and slamming the smoking pipe three more times on the table. “Quiet everyone! Settle down please. I would like to call in order if you’ll just settle down…!”
“Quiet down!” Fowler yells as he bangs the table with his brown cane, which now catches all the adult chickens including Imelda, Jane and Samantha. “Let’s have some discipline in the ranks.. what what!”
“Thank you dad.” Julia said.
“In my R.A.F days, we were never allowed to waste time with unnecessary chit-chat..” He continues talking as they gather around.
“Yes father, thank you, we’ll talk about the R.A.F later. I got it from here.” Julia sighed.
“Right..” he cleared his throat and saluted. “Carry on.”
“Okay, now….”
Julia starts up her plan while her speech to the rest of the chickens. Lynn meanwhile takes turns to go over the plan as Julia shows the supplies shown on the table. Jane sees this as an opportunity to have 15% of the chicks go to bed now, the plan did look like it’s for adults only to discuss that escape plan for now while Julia and Lynn go over it.
“Babs dear,” Jane looked at her while looking at the supplies in front of Julia and Lynn. “You should go take a nap now. And have your friends take a nap now, this plan looks like it’s for adults only.”
“Okay mumma.” Babs said.
Babs went over to Bunty, Mac, Agnes & 15% of the other chicklings that are still awake at this time to have herself and the others go to sleep in their parent’s hay beds, some go to their parent’s assigned huts to sleep while the meeting continues. So they did go to bed, at least almost Bunty didn’t really want to. She was the last to go to sleep anyway. Julia sees this as an opportunity after she saw 15% of the chicklings go to sleep after 2 minutes. And continued on with the plan as well as not having the chicks involved with the plan this time.
“…..Well this time, I don’t want our kids to get involved in this one.” Julia sighed. “I know that Bunty had been in a few of our past escape plans, but she and Imelda almost got killed in our last one. We can’t risk getting Imelda's eldest and the rest of the chicks to be mauled by those dogs any sooner. Not like what happened to Helena. If our brand-new plan doesn’t work in about four to five months from now, I’m pretty sure the male farmer would take me to the chop first instead of Samantha .. If it does work with two farmers buying the fact that we’re dead, well..”
Julia pulls out a paper out like a blueprint and spreads the paper open. The paper has everything drawn out for their breaking in plan if her first part of the plan works. She points out her breaking point of the fence as she explains and Chickens peeking in at the blueprint.
“We can try breaking back in to get our kids and they won’t have to use their dogs to come look for us through here. If the farmer knew our plan was fake and kept the farm heavily guarded by then.. Hell knows that none of us would survive from the dogs if we get caught breaking back in this way. Male Farmer knows our past escape plans very well that we’re organized. Not stupid creatures. Female farmer doesn’t know anything about our past escape attempts or anything, so it’s just him and the dogs for now. We don’t know what she could be capable of with the Axe she uses for the chop & the shotgun just left on the porch. She’s the least of our worries for now. We have to keep this plan hidden from the farmers and the dogs, so that they won’t have to know we’re planning this. We'll keep it a normal chicken life for now during the day and work during the night in each hut all of us are assigned to..”
Meanwhile, Julia’s egg started to wobble a little on her bed, from a rustle on the hay woke up Bunty. “Hm?” Bunty yawned as she stretched her wings on her mom’s hay bed and watched Julia’s egg move a little at a time. Bunty hears from a few inches meanwhile, Julia and Lynn discuss two parts of the plan and other chickens agree along. At the same time they worry too much if both of the plans were not going to work at all and that they could lose her & Samantha at once. And the kids mostly. Better to try the plan out after five months would pass….
Crack!
Bunty flinched right as Julia’s egg started to hatch, not expecting the egg to hatch during the usual meeting. Pop it’s little feet out of the egg, and then another out of the egg. More hustle, Bunty started panicking not knowing what to do when the baby’s already on its feet to mess up the hay bed by moving around quickly, although informing Julia is the right thing to do with her egg hatching.
“Ms. Julia!” Bunty yells as she interrupts the meeting, which soon has all the adult chickens including Julia and as well as chicklings slowly waking up to catch attention to the egg. “Your egg’s hatching! What I do?!?”
“Oh! Bunty, grab it quick!” Julia hesitated as she and Lynn tried to get every supply for the plan, not a mess on the table and the blueprint paper as well, but she accidentally tripped over the table, which caused everything including the supplies to fall off, flipped herself over and landed on her back.
“Uh, Meeting adjourned..!” Lynn said.
“What’s going on?” little Edwina yawns. “Why Bunty yelling?”
“Woo-hoo!” The Egg’s first words squealed as she hops off of her mum’s hay bed
Bunty tried grabbing Julia’s egg with her little wings as soon as it hopped off but she fell off the bed right when she tried, missed and hit Julia’s side of the bunk hay bed. It was too quick for little Bunty to catch. “Ow, my wing!” Edwina couldn’t process why Bunty fell out of the bed either, even she, and the rest of the baby chicks watch the grown ups panic as they try to capture Julia’s egg. One another of each they bump into several bunk beds each time they miss while the egg is running around the hut twice and hopping over obstacles as it goes, and almost to the Hut coop door.
“Dad! Wake up!” Julia shouted as she got herself up and ran towards the hut coop door where her egg’s heading. “A Live shell!”
“Wheeee!” The Egg squeals right when it jumps at an old roaster, which makes him wake up as the egg knocks him on the Hut Coop door down to open up. He landed face planted on the ramp, as the egg ran down Hut 17’s ramp.
“Great Scott!…” He exclaimed.
No time, one of the chickens on lookout spotted the male farmer coming out of the house with a flashlight on his hand. “Get the kid, Julia! Farmer‘s coming!” She yelled out as she blew a horn.
Meanwhile, most of the chickens scream in panic as they run to hide all the escape plans, drawn out maps and objects as part of the operation-cover up being rehearsed many many times and signs that the farmer would even notice, while Julia chases after her egg to bring back inside. “Operation, coming up!” Fowler said. The farmer happens to notice Julia running after an egg hopping its first steps around the farm and jumping on a gray tinted chicken feeder.
“Huh?” He flinched.
“Wheeee!” It continues to squeal.
More worried on Julia's beak as it jumped off a gray tinted chicken feeder, she grabbed it right on time as it continued to hatch while the farmer was startled. “Gotcha..! Thank goodness..” she said in relief. More relieved as she felt right now, now it would be the time to get back into Hut 17 before the farmer calls out his lover. It’s almost too late to hide her chick from the farmer standing in front of her.
“Mrs. Tweedy!” He calls out.
Julia gasped. “Oh goodness!” she exclaimed. It was too late that he had witnessed her baby hatching and running over the place before she had a chance to catch her. ‘Craaack! Craaaaack!’ She dashed back into Hut 17 with the top part of the egg bursting open to quickly open the Hut coop door and back inside. “Hurry Ducks, hide the kid!” Imelda shouted almost in a whisper tone as she shut the hut coop door behind Julia.
“What is it now, Mr. Tweety?” Mrs. Tweedy said as she came behind him.
Later, the hinged top of hut 17 lifted open as Mr. Tweedy and Mrs. Tweedy’s oafish-ed faces peered in. Mr. Tweedy already witnessed Julia’s egg hatching he told to her, he flashes his flashlight inside around each row with sleeping chickens sleeping in each bunk with no problem, including the baby chicks.
“I swear to it, Mrs. Tweedy, there was one egg hatching that Gingered one hid from that morning 21 days ago again.” Mr. Tweedy said. “Em’ dickens are organized.”
“So what, you dolt?” Mrs. Tweedy said in disappointment. “Even if those stupid creatures try to hide them to have babies themselves, Egg’s hatch, Mr. Tweedy. More to take to the chop and eat as they grow older if they don’t lay eggs daily. And they’re not organized. Come to bed already. I don’t want to hear another complaint from you about ‘em stupid creatures having kids again.. is that clear?”
“Yes love..”
..
Not long after, one chicken that was on a lookout peaked through the window to see if the farmer actually left. They both did. She gave a thumbs up to signal ‘the Coast is clear’. Julia sat up on her bed, alongside her baby on her right wing. Among Julia and the rest of the chickens, lays eyes on a beautiful orange leghorn baby girl, already hatched with Green Emerald eyes. Her two combs were purple. Little baby yawning and stretching after her first running steps in the shell. Julia fell in love with her child right away.
“Would you look at that.. Benjamin.. we’ve got ourselves a family now..” Julia said in awe looking up on the roof and back to her baby daughter. “She’s got your eyes..”
“Aw.. what a Bonnie wee hen..!” Lynn came by her bed to welcome the new addition to the family, smiling broadly.
“She's beautiful, Julia..!” Jane said, smiling.
“What are you gonna name her, Ducks?” Imelda asked, smiling.
“Hm, How about Ginger?” Julia suggested a name for her perfect baby daughter.
“Ginger.. That’s perfect Julie.” Lynn agrees.
“Welcome to the world Ginger..” Julia said.
Along with the rest of the adult chickens gather around.. Bunty, Mac, Babs, Agnes, Attila, Edwina and the rest of the baby chicks in Hut 17 gather around to meet their new best friend in the farm. The youngest so far. Babs had a green newsboy
“Ms. Julia, mummy and I made you a new hat for Ginny.” Babs hands her a Green flat newsboy cap her mom taught her to sew for Ginger, even at the point it would be the first time that Babs has heard of the name, she would learn it eventually.
“Oh! How lovely Babs! You’ve sewed the cap perfectly. Thank you dear.” Julia said.
“She has your feathers, young Julie..” Fowler said. “Bright orange.. Like the skies in the late afternoon..”
Chattering and Chattering still going on, Ginger seemed to not know what’s going on around her. She could tell all of the chickens surrounding her and her mum are her family too. And so would every other chicken outside of their hut. With a huge bright smile on her beak although, her eyes looked around her surroundings in hut 17 while her right little chicken feet went inside her beak and sucked on it.
“For Ginger’s sake, she needs to not know about the truth about what’s going on here for now, Julia. Up until she’s old enough to understand..” Jane said.
“I know. And for our sake too.. we’ll start working on our huge plan tonight to make this work. Samantha should make it tomorrow around us as long as we keep our heads low and do as we are told to lay eggs so that we won’t blow our cover on escaping. We will get out of here die-free chickens, even if we die trying. We will win our freedom away from the Humans!” Julia said.
All of the chickens cheered on her small speech. While at least in little Ginger’s concerns still not knowing what everybody else was cheering about.