"Bandit In The Barnyard"
Eric and Beth ran up to Uncle Ned who stood waiting by his pick-up. They were followed by Frisbie and Furball, their pet dog and cat.
"We were catching tadpoles in the pond with your bait-net," said Beth.
"Did you catch any?" asked Uncle Ned.
"Not yet," said Eric.
"Well," said Uncle Ned, "I've got to run a short errand. Do you think you'll be okay until I get back? Your Aunt is in the house in case you need her.
"Sure!" they cried confidently.
Uncle Ned climbed into his truck. "By the way, kids, please stay away from the henhouse because something has been killing my chickens." Waving goodbye, he backed down the driveway.
Beth looked at Eric. "I wonder what it could be?"
"Let's find out!" exclaimed Eric, an excited grin on his face.
"But, Eric... Uncle Ned just told us to stay away from the henhouse!"
"Aw, come on, Beth. I'm curious! We’ll just take a quick peek."
Together, they headed for the henhouse with Frisbie and Furball close behind. "Uncle Ned will be proud of us if we catch his chicken killer," said Eric.
"But he'll be angry if we get hurt!" argued Beth.
Suddenly, Frisbie ran into a dark corner of the henhouse and began barking.
"I wonder what he's after?" asked Eric.
Beth stared into the darkness. "Look!" she said, pointing with excitement. "There's two glowing eyes beneath that mound of hay! Golly... they're scary looking." She began to back up.
"Quick, Beth!" said Eric. "Run and get that flashlight we saw in the barn!"
"Okay!" Beth said, running towards the barn door. In two minutes she was back. Frisbie was still barking excitedly.
"Point the flashlight at it, Beth, and hold it there while I get the bait net."
Beth put one hand on her hip and glared at Eric. "Eric, don't you dare leave me alone with this thing!" Eric ignored her and ran out the door to get the bait net.
Suddenly, Furball's ears flattened and she began creeping towards the mysterious creature. Beth stood frozen in terror, holding the flashlight on the mysterious 'thing' and wishing Eric would hurry back. Why did she ever listen to him in the first place? she thought. He was always getting them into trouble.
Furball, their big, fat cat, continued to creep towards the mysterious eyes peering out at them from the hay mound. Just as Furball began to spring forward, Eric rushed in with the bait-net. Furball lunged at the 'thing' and then backed off while Frisbie, their little dog, kept up his non-stop barking. Eric and Beth could see the strange animal better now and its open mouth revealed a row of threatening teeth covered with dripping foam.
"Holy Schmoley, Beth, will you look at those teeth!" Eric cried. "Is that a giant rat or what?"
"Rat?" Beth repeated. "Did you say, 'rat?'" She shivered and backed away.
"Get away, Frisbie!" Eric yelled, while he moved in to throw the bait net over the animal. Frisbie backed off but kept growling. Furball charged again, but the thing lunged at her and she quickly retreated. Finally Eric brought the net down on top of the animal and pinned it to the floor! It thrashed about furiously, fighting to escape!
"Don't take that light off of it, Beth!" he shouted with excitement.
After a few moments Eric could no longer contain the struggling animal with the bait net and it escaped. It charged straight at Furball who was right in its path, just missing her by inches. Little Frisbie moved in to challenge the animal who was twice the dog's size. "No, Frisbie, no!" Beth yelled. "It'll hurt you!"
Suddenly a shot rang out and the animal fell over dead. Standing there in the doorway was Uncle Ned, a smoking rifle in his outstretched arms. "Uncle Ned...you got here just in time!"
"You kids okay?" he asked, kneeling down and hugging them both.
"We are now, Uncle Ned," Beth sighed.
"I forgot how adventurous city kids can be, so I came back to get you." Uncle Ned walked over to the dead animal and turned him over with his boot.
"Gosh, with that black mask and bushy tail it looks just like a little bandit," Beth remarked.
Uncle Ned chuckled. "All raccoons are bandits, Beth. It's unusual to see one during the day, though. They're nocturnal and usually do their foraging at night. This one looks like it holed up in my henhouse because it was sick."
"Sick, Uncle Ned?" Eric asked.
"With rabies. Did it bite any of you?"
"No," answered Beth. "But he almost nipped Furball."
"Well, I'm going in to call Doc Gordon."
"Why, Uncle Ned?" Eric asked. "It's dead, isn't it?"
"Yes, but all rabies cases should be reported to the Health Commissioner. Now don't any of you go near it."
Later that evening everyone was sitting around the supper table talking about the day's experience. Eric made the first remark. "I'm sorry we went into the henhouse after you told us not to, Uncle Ned. I talked Beth into it." Eric hung his head, expecting a tongue-thrashing from Uncle Ned. Uncle Ned said nothing.
"I didn't have to follow him," Beth added, "so I'm just as much to blame as Eric is."
"Heck, kids..." Uncle Ned replied, "I was mischievous at your age too. The important thing is, you learned a lesson."
"We sure did, Uncle Ned," they chimed together.
"And I learned one today, too," Uncle Ned added.
"What was that?" asked Beth.
Uncle Ned smiled and took another bite out of his ear of corn. "Never leave a couple of city slickers alone on a farm."