Hey there, and welcome back to Animal Farm: The Novelization. The previous chapter was the last we see that contains anything from the book. From here on out, in these last three chapters and the epilogue, these will be OC.
I have a confession to make. I've made a big mistake when it comes to location. For this story, I've had this mainly near Willingdon. But when I looked up locations of the book on Internet maps, I saw that it's Repton, not Willingdon, because Repton is where the Red Lion is at (then again, Old Major was called Willingdon Beauty). As for the location of Forest Farm near Ashdown Forest (which the Hundred Acre Wood from Winnie the Pooh is based on), I've decided to redo that and put the Forest Farm near Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood fame.
Please forgive me for that not-so-little mistake. I might need to go back and redo some of that stuff.
Uploading Date: November 3, 2021
Enjoy!
Chapter 19: The Second Stand
Sam, Jessie, Benjamin, and Clover backed away from the window, sharing scared looks. They had been horrified at what they had heard and seen. The images of the pigs looking no different from the humans would remain in their minds until the day they died.
"I still can't believe it," murmured Clover, her eyes still haunted and wide with horror. She kept looking back towards the farmhouse and wept remorseful tears. "The pigs have become no better than Jones. How could we have been blind to this? What have we done?"
"Hopefully, it's not too late," Sam reassured the old mare. "There's still a chance for all of us to stand together. Are you ready?"
Jessie and Benjamin nodded firmly. Clover looked troubled at first, but in the end, she nodded as well. The four animals headed back to the other animals and reported what they had seen. A lot of them had been shocked at hearing that the pigs now walked on two legs. Now they were even more shocked to hear that the pigs planned on making them work hard and eat even less, as well as becoming alike to man.
But some animals were skeptical. "Why should we help you?" a brown goat demanded of Sam, his horizontal pupils narrowed. "You're an enemy of Animal Farm. You killed Pinscher."
"It was a car that killed him," said Sam. "But I won't deny that I had a paw in his death, though it was by accident. I was fleeing the farm to go to a better life. Doesn't anyone here want a better life?"
Those who doubted the four animals now whispered among themselves, most looking convinced. While a few were still unsure, they raised no further arguments.
"Okay, we believe you," said the goat who had complained earlier. "But what can we do about it?"
Benjamin suddenly looked up, and the animals followed his gaze. The pigeons were just landing at the window of the barn loft, coming in to roost for the night. Napoleon had been using the pigeons less and less, even more so now that he had secured power for himself on the farm.
"Pigeons, I have a favor for you before you retire for the night," called Benjamin, quietly so that the farmers and pigs did not hear.
The pigeons peered down at the old donkey, as attentive to his words as they had been for Snowball and Napoleon. "Benjamin, you and the others have come back!" whispered the head pigeon. "What can we do for you?"
"Spread the word throughout the countryside," Benjamin told the pigeon. "Tell any animal who values their freedom to meet us at the edge of this farm. Let them know what the pigs of Animal Farm have done."
So the pigeons were sent out. They gathered together as they had done when Snowball was around and when Napoleon still had use for them. With a flutter of wings, they took to the dark sky, using the moon as their guide before it could disappear. Dark clouds were already starting to roll in from the west.
"When did you become the optimistic one, Benjamin?" asked Jessie with jest.
"I'm not," said Benjamin with his usual frown. "Seeing you all start coming to your sense just gave me some resolve back. If we pull this off, we'll all be free."
...
When word of this powerful change began spreading, animals everywhere were incredulous. Dismayed and indignant, they headed toward Animal Farm from all directions, instinctively uniting once again for a common cause.
It was midnight when the animals finally arrived on the farm, the pigeons guiding them. Cows, horses, ducks, chickens, and even some pigs and sheep had gathered together. It wasn't only the animals of varying farms that had gathered. Normal pets that did not come from farms like house dogs and house cats had answered the call. Even the wild animals - rabbits, foxes, weasels, stoats, badgers, deer - had come forward to help.
"My fellow animals," began Sam, "you have already heard of the tales of Animal Farm. Or Manor Farm, as it's now called...again. It is a farm for animals only and run by animals only. It is a farm where all animals are equal, working together for the overthrow of the human race. They also worked together as they toil on their land and work according to their ability."
The farm animals nodded. Back when Snowball was in charge, they had heard of the tales of Old Major, the prized Middle White boar from Willingdon. They had heard of his wisdom and wish for all animals to be free and equal, getting rid of man to solve their problems of hunger and overwork forever.
"Today, however, here's the truth of it all," Sam continued. "The animals there are treated no better than they were when Mr. Jones was still alive. They may be treated even worse. The pigs of Animal Farm and the other pigs in the farmhouse claim to have your best interests at heart, and what do they do? They make you work harder for little food to support yourselves and your families and punish you for any wrong-thinking. You all see that law painted on the barn wall?"
All of the animals followed his gaze. They saw the damning commandment that explained that pigs were superior to the other animals.
"That shows that Animal Farm's pigs have made all animals together equal under misery," Sam went on. "I didn't believe everything that Old Major said on that night, but I know evil when I see it. These pigs are absolutely evil."
"You'll see evil when you get to be as old as me," said Benjamin. "After all, donkeys live a long time, and none of you has ever seen a dead donkey...but you might get your chance tonight."
"What about the humans?" asked a hen. "Aren't they bad?"
"Four legs good, two legs bad!" bleated a sheep.
"That's not what I heard," piped up a calico cat. "They're saying 'Four legs good, two legs better' now."
That made the same sheep reply with "Four legs good, two legs better!"
The calico glowered at the sheep. "I wish I hadn't said that," she meowed. "Those phrases are annoying."
As the other animals were starting to argue, Benjamin gave a loud "Hee-haw!" to quiet them down. They did settle down, ready to hear the continued speech. It was fortunate for them that Napoleon and the pigs and humans inside the farmhouse were arguing among themselves again, so they didn't hear what went on outside. The animals stopped talking, and Sam let Jessie speak next.
"There are both bad humans and good humans," admitted Jessie. "Don't let anyone tell you that there are only good animals or only bad humans. Napoleon, for example, is a bad animal who needs to be dealt with. The publican who helped Mollie was a good man."
Then a gasp came from the animals as a familiar animal walked forth. Some reacted with reverence, and others reacted with horror. But here was Snowball, marching through the crowd to meet Sam and Benjamin in the middle with his head held high. Behind the Landrace boar, animals were singing "Beasts of England" and then "Beasts of the World" for the others to hear. Mollie was trotting behind them, not as pretty as she had been in her youth but still holding her head high.
"You both came," Sam greeted the two. Clover had then appeared beside Sam to gently greet the younger mare.
"Of course," said Mollie, dipping her head and accepting a nuzzle from Clover. "I may have fled Animal Farm years ago, but I never forgot any of you. Now I wish to help before I retire for good."
She lowered herself to the ground to let five animals climb down. Four of them had been seen at Forest Farm: the mole, the water vole, the toad, and the badger. These four climbed off of Mollie's back and stood with a deer and a gruff-looking rabbit. The fifth animal was one that Sam recognized; it was the fox that had attacked them for supposedly stealing his kill. This fox neatly jumped off and gave Sam and Jessie a friendly nod, to show that he held nothing against the dogs, and they returned the nod as well.
"What's Snowball doing here?" whispered Clover.
"This is the someone I told you that we ran into," answered Benjamin. "I'm surprised that he came after all."
"But Napoleon and Squealer were saying that Snowball's a criminal," Clover countered. There was no malice in her voice, just confusion.
Once he had everyone's attention, Snowball began to speak. "Comrades," he began, "I know that you're all surprised that I've appeared on this farm, after all these years. Yes, I know that you see me as the scapegoat of animals, how I had been working with Jones or Pilkington or Frederick. It all depends on how Napoleon's agenda was threatened."
"But Jones might be back if Snowball's here!" honked a goose.
"Jones is dead," Jessie cut in, which caused gasps to emerge from the crowd. "Whatever lies Squealer's been feeding you about Jones, you don't need to worry. He killed himself at the hospital not long ago."
Whispers came up from the crowd. They had known that Jones had not bothered to come back since the Battle of the Cowshed. Now they knew that Jones was gone from this earth, and Squealer would not scare them with the former farmer's name anymore.
"But I can assure you that I will not harm any of you," Snowball continued. "I still believe in the ideals of Animalism, passed on down from Old Major, and humans are not friends of animals. I want to ensure that all animals are equal." Then he lowered his gaze until it met Sam's. "But Sam is right in a way. Not all animals are comrades, and not all humans are enemies. It's not always black-and-white when it comes to man and animals."
"For once, I agree," added Sam. "And what is black-and-white is what we've seen: the tyranny of Napoleon and Animal Farm's pigs. Everyone's equal in misery because of them. It's up to us to stop them."
Snowball nodded. "If we can defeat Napoleon and restore strength in our comrades, count me in."
"You know I'll join," said Jessie.
"And me," said Benjamin.
Mollie stood side-by-side with Clover. "I'll fight too. I'm still not a good fighter, but I'll fight this time."
All of the surrounding animals nodded in agreement. To them, it now seemed that their world - which could or could not be a happy place to live - was in a worse situation than before, even for normal animals. On this night, they were going to do something about it.
"Are we all free animals?" Jessie barked.
"Yes!" the animals cried.
"Does Napoleon rule you all?" asked Benjamin.
"No!" bellowed the animals.
"So are you ready to fight for freedom?" finished Sam.
There was no doubt what the answer would be. "YES!" the animals roared.
"Follow us!" brayed Benjamin.
So all the animals marched together, in one army with one thought in mind: defeat Napoleon. Together, Sam, Benjamin, and Snowball marched at the front of the now-great army. Jessie, Clover, and the other animals hung back, preparing to spring into action if things went wrong.
They slowly approached the farmhouse yard, the light from the house becoming more visible. Once the pigs and the humans inside stopped talking, almost all of the animals outside stopped marching and talking. That left Sam and Benjamin to come forward, Snowball just behind them.
"Napoleon!" barked Sam as loud as he could. "Come out here. We want a word with you."
Hushed whispers sounded out from the farmhouse, the pigs and humans telling each other to shut up. A chair was shoved back, and as a roll of thunder sounded above the animals' heads, someone approached the door and opened it. It was Napoleon himself, wearing the black coat, ratcatcher breeches, and leather leggings. He still carried the whip in his trotter and looked around with a contemptuous glare, trying to find whoever had interrupted his meeting. When Napoleon spotted the small dog, he grimaced.
"Sam...so you've come crawling back to the farm, eh?" he sneered. "And you've come crawling to your doom. You know that I've announced the death sentence upon you when you killed Comrade Pinscher." Then he glared at Benjamin. "And you, Benjamin. You ought to be ashamed, dishonoring Boxer by helping an enemy of Animal Farm."
"You should be a lot more ashamed for defiling Old Major's memory," retorted Benjamin with equal venom. "I may not have agreed with that old pig, but you taint his memory by becoming a flat-out dictator. You even murdered Boxer; the blood of that good horse is on your trotters."
Napoleon scoffed. "He's a dead horse. What life was his compared to the brains of the farm: the pigs?"
Benjamin clenched his teeth and stomped forward, only for Sam to jump in between them. "Napoleon, I understand that you want to put me to death," he said. "But before you do that, I want to make sure that your reign ends tonight."
"And how do you plan to do that?" sneered Napoleon as he towerd over Sam on his hind legs. "You are only just a few animals. We pigs are numerous, not only on Manor Farm but all over the county!"
"Comrades Sam and Benjamin are not alone," snapped Snowball, stepping into the light. "Your nightmare over this farm will end right here and right now."
Napoleon almost jumped when he noticed his old enemy come forward to meet him. From the way Snowball was appearing from the darkness and into the light, he briefly looked like a ghost. Sam couldn't help but notice that these two enemies stood facing each other with one on four legs and the other on two legs, as if proving "Four legs good, two legs bad" right to an extent.
Then Napoleon smirked. "Well, well, well," he began with a sneer. "Look who finally decided to show his face on this farm after so many years. After tonight, that same face will never dare show up here again."
"Yes, 'comrade', I have returned," replied Snowball. "And it's not just the three of us either."
Hoofbeats and wings flapping caught their attention. Napoleon's eyes widened for fright, perhaps for the first time, at how much animals had come to oppose him. Cows and horses, geese and turkeys, cats and dogs, foxes and deer...all of them were joined together on this one night.
Then, with a fearsome bray, Benjamin shouted, "Forward, comrades! Attack!"
To be continued...
