Welcome to Dreamtime Stories with Jackie.
Thank you so much for coming and joining me for another chapter in the adventures of Old Granny Fox.
I am really enjoying this story and I hope you are too.
When last we left Granny and Reddy in chapter 24,
They had just managed to worm their way into the hen house of Farmer Brown.
Oh my goodness!
So let's see what happens.
But before we do,
Let's get ready for a wonderful sleep time.
Maybe give yourself a big stretch and then snuggle down in your blankets or quilts.
Maybe hug your favorite little animal and we'll begin chapter 25,
A Dinner for Two.
Dark deeds are done in the stilly night,
And who shall say if they're wrong or right,
Old Granny Fox.
It all depends on how you look at things.
Of course Granny and Reddy Fox had no business to be in Farmer Brown's hen house in the middle of the night or at any other time for that matter.
That is,
They had no business to be there as Farmer Brown would look at it.
He would have called them two little red thieves.
Perhaps that is just what they were,
But looking at the matter as they did,
I am not so sure about it.
Because to Granny and Reddy Fox,
Those hens were simply big birds,
Delightful eating if they could be caught.
They were bound to be eaten by somebody.
You see,
Among the little meadow and forest people,
There is no such thing as property rights,
Excepting in the matter of storehouses.
And because these hens were alive,
It didn't occur to Granny and Reddy that the hen house was a sort of storehouse.
It would have made no difference if it had.
Among the little people,
It is considered quite right to help yourself from another storehouse if you are smart enough to find it and you really need the food.
Besides,
Reddy and Granny knew that Farmer Brown and his boy would eat some of these hens themselves,
And they didn't even begin to need them as much as Reddy and Granny did.
So,
As they looked at the matter,
There was nothing wrong in being in that hen house in the middle of the night.
They were there simply because they needed food very,
Very much,
And food was there.
They stared up at the roosts where the biddies were huddled together,
Fast asleep.
They were too high up to be reached from the floor,
Even when Granny and Reddy stood on their hind legs and stretched as far as they could.
We've got to wake them up and scare them so that some of those silly things will fly down here where we can catch them,
Said Reddy,
Licking his lips hungrily.
Oh,
No,
No,
That won't do at all,
Snapped Granny.
That would make such a great racket and waken Bowser the Hound,
And then he would wake his master,
And that is just what we don't want to do if we hope to ever get in here again.
I thought you had more sense than that,
Reddy.
Reddy looked a little shamefaced.
Well,
If we don't do that,
How are we going to get to one of those biddies?
We can't fly,
He grumbled.
You stay right here where you are and take care that you don't make a sound,
Said Granny,
And then Granny jumped lightly to a little shelf that ran along in front of the nesting boxes.
From this she could reach the lower roost on which sat four fat hens asleep.
Very gently she pushed her head in between two of these and shoved them apart.
Sleepily they protested and moved along a little bit.
Granny continued to crowd them.
At last one of them stretched out her head to see who was crowding her,
And like a flash Granny seized that head,
And the biddy never knew what had awoken her,
Nor did she have a chance to awaken the others.
Dropping this hen at Reddy's feet,
Granny crowded another until she did the same thing,
And just the same thing happened once more.
Then Granny jumped lightly down,
Picked up one of the hens by the neck,
Slung the body over her shoulder,
And told Reddy to do the same with the other hen and start for home.
Aren't you going to get any more while we have the chance,
Grumbled Reddy.
Enough is enough,
Retorted Granny.
We have got a dinner for two,
And so far no one is any the wiser.
Perhaps these two won't be missed,
And we'll have a chance to get some more hens another night.
Now come on,
Reddy.
Well,
This was plain common sense,
And Reddy knew it,
So without another word he followed old Granny out the way they had come in,
And then home to the best dinner he had had for a long time.
Oh my,
So it is time to snuggle in those blankets and have yourself a wonderful night's sleep,
And come back soon for chapter 26.
This is Jackie sending you so many hugs.
Good night now.
