"Any sign of them, Homer?" Mrs. Zuckerman asked her husband, who was climbing out of the cab of his truck.
"None, Edith," the farmer shook his head, "I drove practically every road in the county; no sign of them. None of the other farmers saw them either. I asked everyone to keep an eye out for them, though." He leaned against his truck, looking perplexed. "Why would that old ewe and those geese just run off like that? I treat them well here; they've got lots to eat and lots of space. Did they just want to know what freedom tastes like...?"
He sighed softly, then glanced around. "Arables leave already?"
"Twenty minutes ago. Thing is, though, Fern was still insisting it's not Wilbur in there," Mrs. Zuckerman pointed at the pig in the pigpen, "She was really adamant about it, saying it was a pig named Sixtus from J.L. Barrens' farm, and that he'd been switched with Wilbur last night."
"Really?" Mr. Zuckerman chuckled, "She sure has a bright imagination, that one. Don't you agree, Wilbur?" he asked Sixtus, who oinked loudly.
"Anything, Mr. Zuckerman?" Lurvy was approaching with slop buckets.
"Nope, Lurvy. They must be in the woods somewhere; right after dinner, maybe we'll get some dogs and search there," his employer mused, his eyebrows shooting up as Sixtus eagerly devoured the slop the moment it was dumped into Wilbur's trough. "Well, he's really hungry tonight," he remarked.
"That's the strange thing, Mr. Zuckerman," Lurvy agreed, staring perplexedly at Sixtus, "The pig's been eating like a cyclone all day whenever I've brought him something. It's almost like he hasn't eaten anything for weeks beforehand."
"Is he now?" Mr. Zuckerman's mused. "Oh well, I guess all the excitement around here's gotten him worked up into a feeding frenzy."
He wiped some sweat from his brow before continuing, "Anyway, want to tell the two of you first: in between calling all the neighbors, I also called the county fair commissioner this afternoon. I've made preliminary arrangements to take Wilbur to the fair next month. Shouldn't take too much longer to finalize it after this."
"That's wonderful, Homer. He's bound to win a prize for sure," Mrs. Zuckerman exclaimed, beaming down at Sixtus.
"Yep, I feel good about his chances, Edith. Once I've officially finalized his entry, I'll make the announcement public. You're going to be the star of the fair, my little friend, I know it in my heart," he rubbed the squealing Sixtus on the head affectionately. He started walking away with his wife and hired hand, still going over the details of the future trip to the fair. Sixtus slumped to the ground. "It's no good," he conceded to the other animals, who had been watching, "We can't get it through to them that I'm not your Wilbur. And since they won't believe that girl Fern, I don't see how we ever will."
"We'll just have to keep trying," one of the cows told him, "If Charlotte can't get Wilbur out of your old boss's farm, it'll be up to us."
"I hope she's close to rescuing him by now," a lamb spoke up, looking worried.
"Trust Charlotte," the rooster assured her, fluttering down to the fence, "Right now, I just know she's formulating a master plan to bring him back here..."
"What you're proposing's really elaborate, Miss Cavatica," Orville told Charlotte, flying over the treetops on the far side of the river from Barrens' farm, "I'm not sure if we're going to be able to pull this off. And, if I may be frank, I'm not sure if it's something we should do. Releasing all those domestics out into the wild where they'll be probably set upon by predators, if not starve to death from being unable to survive..."
"You have valid concerns, Orville. I'm trusting that they'll be able to make their way to more sympathetic farms before they starve or Barrens catches back up to them. And my conscience won't let me abandon them when they're suffering. We need to help as many as we can as well as Wilbur."
"For a small spider, you sure have a big heart," the eagle cracked a small smile. He glanced down at a clearing in the woods by the river below them. "Looks like the assembly's nearly complete."
"I appreciate you spreading the word I wished for assistance to as many residents of these woods as you could. Let's hope they'll be able to help us. Take me down," Charlotte instructed him. Orville obligingly descended down into the clearing, which was now filled with scores of bears, foxes, deer, beavers, and other woodland creatures, as well as the other members of the rescue team from Zuckerman's farm. "Charlotte, we've been waiting for you," the goose greeted the spider once Orville had landed on a stump in the middle of the clearing, "Is Jeffrey all right!?"
"He and Templeton are with Wilbur at the moment. Wilbur won't let anything happen to him, I can promise you and your husband that," Charlotte assured her.
"How come he gets to have all the fun!?" one of the other goslings complained, "He gets to go deep into enemy territory, while we...!"
"Quiet please," Charlotte cut him off, standing up high on Orville's head. Good afternoon, and thank you for all coming on short notice," she addressed the woodland animals, "What I am about to ask of you will likely seem unusual, but I assure you it is for a greater good. I would like your help in helping to break a friend of ours out of Mr. J.L. Barrens' farm," she gestured at it, "And, in the process, help me release the other animals that have been suffering under his yoke."
"That's suicide," a weasel spoke up, "No animal in his right mind would go in there!"
"I'm well aware of that. But this is a humanitarian mission for our fellow animals. And if we all work together, we can successfully do this. And you'll all have the honor of knowing you did good in this world. Are you with me?" she asked them. The other animals conferred amongst themselves for a minute. "If you can guarantee our safety, we're in," declared a beaver.
"All right then. Listen closely, as this is a bit complex. Who can draw well?" Charlotte asked the crowd. A squirrel raised its hand. "Good, you can draw this out for us," she authorized it. It picked up a stick and awaited her cue. "We are here," she began, pausing briefly as it drew a line in the dirt to denote the river and an X to mark the animals' location, "Across the river is Barrens' farm, of course," she parachuted down to the ground and tapped the location she wanted drawn on next. "Our friend Wilbur is currently being held in the basement of the farmhouse here. There are twelve major barns in which other animals are being kept, in a cluster around here. Shortly after sundown, a truck will be arriving to take Wilbur to the airport for a one way flight away from here. I want some of you to make sure that truck never reaches Barrens' farm, at least not until after we're gone from here. Block it or disable it somehow. The rest of you, at the same time, will cross the river to the farm-I believe there's a ford about a half mile to the north from here?"
"There is," said a large deer, "I can lead you to it."
"Wonderful. Now I noticed a weak spot around that area earlier that is not usually guarded by either men or dogs. We'll have to cut or break through the barbed wire, but I believe we can do so. From there, charge the farm buildings and cause a major riot. Those of you who are strong enough," she turned to the bears, "break open the farm animals' enclosures and direct them to safety; we should really have multiple breeches in the security perimeter so they have multiple escape points. Spare me at least one or two oxen, though; I'll need their brute strength to break open the bars sealing off Wilbur's prison in the basement. Now when we have him and the dog down there with him that I also promised to get out, we lead him over towards this garage here," she gestured for the squirrel to draw another square on the ground, "There are several farm trucks in there. I've seen the basics of how humans drive, so we'll start one of the trucks up and drive him out of there. I'll just need some of you to make sure Barrens' men and dogs can't immediately pursue us out."
"Consider it done," the beaver who'd spoken up earlier said with pride, "But what if the men and dogs cut you off before you get to the garage?" he asked, worried.
"I have considered that. We'll throw a feint on them first and take Wilbur into this unused barn near the garage," Charlotte hopped to the right of the drawing denoting the garage, "If anyone follows us in, we can take them out of the pursuit there-although please don't do anything that would be fatal to them. I don't want to kill or seriously injure anyone. You can be in charge of that," she told the geese, "That way, you and your children won't be in harm's way; it's a quick jaunt out a hole in the back wall to the garage."
"Sounds good to me," the gander nodded. "What do you all say to that?" he asked the other animals.
"When can we start?" a fox declared eagerly, "This whole plan sounds terrific."
"Which, I might point out," the goose hissed softly to the old sheep, "My husband and I STILL say is spelled T-E-E-R-R-I-I-F-F-I-I-C-C-C-C-C-C!"
"Hush!" the old sheep hissed back. "Well then, if you're all on board with this, decide who's going to do what, then get in your preliminary positions," she informed the woodland creatures, "We move at exactly sundown."
With excited murmurs, the animals scattered to take their places. "I hope this works, Charlotte," the old sheep walked over to the spider, who was climbing back up the stump, "We're possibly putting a lot of animals in perilous positions here, especially if Barrens and his men are heavily armed. And there's no guarantee we'll able to safely drive back to Zuckerman's farm with Wilbur on our own."
"I know the risks. But they're worth it to get Wilbur home. All right, go with the geese," Charlotte instructed her, pointing at the geese, who were now waddling towards the river, "You can keep watch outside the barn; the moment we have Wilbur and the dog out, help us lead them to the barn. And above all, let's hope this works as I've planned it; this is probably our only shot at this..."
