8. You don't have to pity me.
The Tale of Lord Barleycorn
- - - - - -
Chapter 8: You don't have to pity me.
---
Other than having baked pears instead of the usual weeds and hay, the morning had been the usual routine for Corn Crib. Just like yesterday, she kept her eye open for the scarecrow as she passed the corn fields that lined the road. She almost called out to see if he would answer, but she didn't. She had to keep him a secret.
Just before she had left the house, Leadfoot had pulled her aside and interrogated her about talking to the fillies and colts at school about Lord Barleycorn. Of course, she'd said nothing. She'd promised the King of Scarecrows himself to keep their friendship secret! Still, she promised her brother not to talk about Lord Barleycorn, and had used the scarecrow's own words:
"A promise is a promise."
The forest-like surroundings of the corn fields gave way in a harsh transition to a sea of beans, then back to corn before the filly spied the schoolhouse. She liked it when the corn rows separated her from the schoolyard, it somehow felt like it gave her more breathing room before she had to put on her 'good student' hat.
She could already hear the chatter of some of her fellow students. Nothing seemed intelligible until she arrived in the schoolyard. One colt, Wind Row seemed to be professing something to the other children.
Despite him being their neighbor, Corn Crib knew him only from class. He always hung around his brothers and took their word for everything, and not all of it was good. Leadfoot had once mentioned that he thought the oldest Sprout, Haystack, was kind of a punk...
"I'm telling ya, it was a monster!" Wind Row professed to the student body, which was really only about ten assembled fillies and colts.
"Pfft, yeah right wind Row. And I'm sure those killer hay stacks your brothers told you about were real too!" A filly called Saw Dust snickered.
Wind Row looked way, flushed in embarrassment. "I know what I saw. It was a scarecrow, a giant one!"
Corn Crib stopped in her tracks and looked back at Wind Row. Lord Barleycorn said he was going to try and remain unseen...
The other children waved Wind Row off as they all started toward the school house. The dejected colt lowered his head, and followed behind the others.
Holding back, Corn Crib joined the youngest Sprout brother as he walked.
Corn Crib cleared her throat. "Hey, what was this scarecrow like?"
"You don't have to pity me..." Wind Row muttered under his breath.
"I'm not!" Corn Crib whispered, but her voice carried a harsh tone. "What'd this scarecrow-"
"Corn Crib, Wind Row, please take your seats. The bell's about to ring!" Came the voice of the teacher, Mr. Stockholm.
Corn Crib grimaced, her chance to talk seemed doomed... for now. Before she took her seat, Corn Crib managed to say; "You can tell me at recess."
---
Leadfoot had spent all morning preparing his room for his cousin's arrival. Much of his personal belongings wouldn't cause him any undue embarrassment. His rock collection was taken out to the barn, and his hoof trimmings were gathered up from the corner and thrown away. He felt a little silly when it came to dusting, but his mom had insisted that he be thorough.
Corn Crib's room was easier to clean, much to Leadfoot's shame. The reason being that Corn Crib was more apt when it came to keeping her corner of the house in order, or at least in some semblance of order.
The entire time, Leadfoot was pushing what was to come tonight out of his mind. The scarecrow. It said it was sleeping in the barn, and Leadfoot and his sister would have to sleep in the barn.
The thought crossed his mind about telling somepony about this. His dad was the first to come to mind. But the first thing he would do, once Leadfoot proved he wasn't talking crazy, would be chasing the scarecrow off with anything he could get his hooves on.
It was ultimately the stitches that kept Leadfoot from telling Summer Harvest about the scarecrow. His father liked to pretend he was invincible, and he was more than a little protective of the fields. Those stitches would undoubtedly pop if Leadfoot's dad were to give chase to anything faster than a turtle. Heck, he wasn't even supposed to be working in the fields!
His mother, on the other hoof, Leadfoot had no idea what she'd do if she saw the scarecrow. The whole morning she'd been humming as she made preserves out of all those pears.
Still, his pop deserved to know what was going on. With both rooms ready for company, Leadfoot headed downstairs, and there was his mom, putting the wax in the jars to seal the jams she'd finished.
"Hey mom, I just got the rooms ready for tomorrow." Leadfoot said as he came into the kitchen.
"Good, thanks for doing your sister's room. She'll appreciate it, I'm sure." Harvest Moon glanced over to her son, "If you want, I still have some leftover jam in the pot."
Never one to pass up free sweets, Leadfoot trotted over to the oven where the pot was sitting. The large wooden spoon which his mother had used to keep the pears from burning was still there. Work was important, but it wasn't very often he could have sugar.
The jam was perfectly sweetened without taking away any of the natural flavoring. Pear wasn't the norm for jam, but Leadfoot remembered the saying 'beggars can't be choosers.'
"How many bottles have you made?" Leadfoot said as he scraped the side of the pot.
Harvest Moon looked over at the jars, counting silently with her hoof. "About fifteen half-quart jars. Normally I'd figure that this would see us through winter... but I think I'm going to take most of it into town to sell."
"You think somepony would buy them?" Leadfoot smiled as he stuffed the jam covered spoon in his mouth. "Maybe we'll have to eat it all ourselves."
Harvest Moon gave her son a knowing smirk, then scratched her ankle with her hoof. "Nice try, but I'm not letting you eat it all." She turned back to the jars and began setting them back on the kitchen counter, out of the way for the eventuality of supper. " We don't have any fruit orchards in Hollow Shades, so I think I can get a fair price. I'll let the jam set up for a day, then I can take some of our produce and sell them both at the same time."
Leadfoot set the spoon down, then licked his lips. "You sure, we could keep a jar or two..."
"Or four or five, but we need the money." Harvest Moon stated dryly.
Leadfoot frowned, it was like they only had pears just to go back to those blasted weeds. "Can't we at least keep some of the fruit for ourselves?"
"We will, for a while. But I'll take a bushel into town with me to see how they sell." Harvest Moon smiled, looking out the window. "I think our luck might be turning around. First the pears, then the rabbits disappear."
Leadfoot had turned to head toward the kitchen door, when suddenly he stopped. "The rabbits?"
"Your father came in just a little after you started on Corn Crib's room. He said that he hasn't seen a single hare, rabbit, or bunny all morning." Harvest Moon beamed, suddenly giddy with whatever was on her mind.
The rabbits were gone? Leadfoot had to see this for himself. He thought back to the scarecrow's talk about curing the town of its rabbit problem. The stallion shook his head. No way could that scarecrow had been able to do that in one night. Could he?
After saying his goodbyes to his mother, Leadfoot went out into the fields. He walked through the beans, making sure his hooves were as heavy as possible. Not a single pair of long ears perked up, not a single creature darted through the rows. Leadfoot even went along the rows near the forest, where the infestation was heaviest, and the only trace of evidence that rabbits had ever been there was the damage they'd already inflicted.
Was that scarecrow responsible for this? If so, Leadfoot had to wonder how this repulsion had been accomplished. The stallion hoped it was because it had some hidden magic Lord Barleycorn had. If it turned out to be some mundane trick, Leadfoot would only feel foalish for not thinking of it himself.
---
To be continued...
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How did he cure their rabbit problem, didn't he only just start setting up traps the day before?
3075597 There is an answer to that, and it was meant to be the stinger for this chapter which I'm splitting into two. Don't worry, this isn't a plot hole.
3075597
He caught them, and ate them.
Yes, in one day.
Neat little update. I for one am always in favor of smaller but more frequent updates instead of longer waits and massive chapters.
We've almost come full circle with the members of the Harvest family. The only one left to meet the resident scarecrow is Summer Harvest. I'm curious how the different sideplots and the eventual family visit will all tie together. I didn't spot any typos in this chapter by the way.
3076028
Probably not all of them. I figure he did something to ward the Harvest family fields against them. We'll see what exactly that was.
3076028 He was very hungry.
VERY, hungry.
3076123 Well it has been evidenced in the story and the show that rabbits are at a high enough level of sapience to keep track of time, remember planned events, and communicate to a degree. And our good enigma Barleycorn has been made aware of this to a degree... So a suitable warning sign at the outskirts of the farm could dissuade any rabbit raiders. In the form of, say a head on a pike, or a rude sign, or both.
He, Barleycorn is a living Jack Skellington isn't he?
I'm getting the feeling I'm being Captain Obvious here, but the inspiration is obvious. Not that I'm complaining. He's awesome.
One thing:
"wouldn't cause him any undo embarrassment." Pretty sure it is "undue", while "undo" is something you revert to the state it was before you did something. Like pressing undo when you accidentally make a mistake in a computer document.
3075611 He ate the one as a warning to the rest of them...
You'd be amazed at how effective that tactic is with people too!
5234187 Hu, Hu, Hu my friend. Don't forget decimation, effigies, and public torture.
I just started reading this and it's way cool, you have my attention.
3075597
Dunno about equestria but rabbits tend too use runs in thicker bush, setting a snare on a heavily used run is quite effective. Once snared/shot 15 in a course of 2 days
This is really good I can't stop reading
Well... it is simple, but I doubt you could stomach it, my equine friend.