A/N: I'm back with another chapter! I'm sorry this took a little longer than I wanted it to, but at least it didn't take as long as it took me to post that last chapter! I've just been busy with finals, as well as going to a convention to meet the cast of It! That was a lot of fun! But anyways, I'm done with school now, so I have more time to write! Yay! I want to thank Gary123 and DylanJ10000 for your support you gave me on the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one! I would say this chapter takes place after Trick-or-Treat, probably sometime during the following November.
Bill, Beverly, Richie, Eddie, Stan, and Ben all rode together on their bikes toward the Hanlon Farm to get a personal tour from their relatively new friend, Mike. Georgie sat behind Bill on Sliver, Bill's bike, clinging to the back of his big brother like a baby koala. He was thrilled at the thought of seeing all the animals on the farm.
As they approached the farm, they saw Mike waiting at the entrance. "Welcome to the Hanlon Farm, everybody," Mike greeted as the other Losers all parked and got off their bikes. "C'mon, I'll take y'all out back." Mike led them back toward the area where all the barns and animal pens were located.
"I wanna see the animals!" Georgie said impatiently.
"Th-that's where we're going now, Georgie," Bill said, placating his brother.
"Yep. We got all sorts of animals here, Georgie," Mike elaborated. "I think you'll like them."
As the Losers got closer to the animals, the overwhelming odor of their fecal matter grew ever stronger. "Gross, it smells disgusting here!" Eddie said as he covered his nose.
"No, shit, Eddie!" Richie said. "We're on a farm with animals! What did you expect?"
"It smells like the bathroom after Billy uses it!" Georgie said mischievously.
Richie burst out into a fit of laughter at Georgie's remark. "Nah, it still smells better than Bill," Richie retorted, causing Georgie to giggle.
"B-b-beep, beep, Richie!" Bill said, unamused.
To their right was a large chicken pen with a wooden fence and several coops inside. Chickens were roaming around peacefully, clucking softly and pecking at the occasional seed on the ground.
"Ooooh, look at the chickens!" Georgie exclaimed as he leaned against the fence of the pen. He then went into the pen and started chasing the chickens around, laughing and saying, "Here, chicky-chicky-chickens! Come here!" The chickens all scurried and fluttered away from the little terrorizer.
"Well, looks like all Hell broke lose in the chicken pen," Stan said dryly.
"G-Georgie!" Bill scolded. "Get outta there! You're scaring them!"
"Don't worry, Bill, I'll round 'im up," Mike said. "I just hope he doesn't scare the chickens to death," he chuckled. As he entered the pen, he said loudly, "Georgie! Some new baby chicks just hatched not too long ago. Wanna see 'em?"
Georgie immediately stopped in his tracks at the promise of baby animals. "Yeah!" the boy squealed.
Mike lead the young boy over to one of the chicken coops. He knelt down and looked inside. He rummaged around for a minute or so and popped back out of the coop with a fuzzy, yellow, little chick cupped inside his hands. "Here's one!" Mike said gently as he placed the chick in Georgie's hand. "Isn't he cute?"
"Aww, yeah!" Georgie said as he raised the chick close to his face. "Hi, there, little chick! You're so cute and fuzzy!"
"Be gentle with him, Georgie," Mike said.
"I know," Georgie responded. The little chick started chirping, and Georgie rubbed his cheek against the tiny, yellow bird. "You're so soft, little chicky!"
"Yeah, they are pretty soft, huh?" Mike said while soothing one of the adult hens. He needed to calm her down after Georgie caused such a scare. He felt her heart rate drop, and he assured her through the calmness in his eyes that everything was going to be fine. Whereas any other person may have just seen expressionless eyes on the chicken, Mike saw the beautiful soul of a fellow living creature within. It was times like these that really hurt Mike to think of what they eventually had to do to some of these chickens here on the farm. But now certainly wasn't the time to bring that up. He wanted to let Georgie live in blissful naivety, at least for now. He shouldn't have to go through the harsh realization that Mike once had to endure when he was around his same age.
"Ow! Hey, knock it off, cock face!" Both Mike and Georgie whipped their heads around to see Richie's feet being pecked by a rooster.
"Richie, don't s-say that!" Bill said. "G-Georgie's here, remember?"
"But that's what he is, Bill. A cock. I'm not wrong," Richie said in a smartass tone.
"That's a rooster, you dummy!" Georgie said.
"'Cock' is another word for 'rooster', you dummy," Richie fired back.
"No, d-don't teach him that word!" Bill said frustratedly. He turned to Georgie and said, "Don't say that w-w-word, Georgie!" He then turned back to Richie. "Second, you d-don't call my brother a d-dummy."
"Wha—he's the one who called me a dummy in the first place!"
"Why are you g-getting into arguments with a s-s-seven-year-old?"
"'Cause he's Richie, that's why," Stan said.
"I wanna see the other animals now," Georgie said as he got up from his knees.
"Alright, let me just put the chick back," Mike said as he took the chick out of Georgie's hands and placed him back into the coop.
Mike then led the group to a large pen where all the pigs were lazily basking in the mud.
"Ick, pigs are so frickin' disgusting," Eddie ranted to himself. "I mean, they literally lie around in their filth all day!"
"I don't know, Eddie, that doesn't sound too far off from a description of your mom!"
"Fuck off, Richie!"
"Eddie! G-Georgie's here, r-remember?"
"Oh, right. Sorry, Bill. It's just really hard not to cuss when Richie's around."
"Hey, it's not my fault you don't know how to control your temper," Richie said slyly.
Georgie began to climb up the fence of the pen to join the swine before Bill grabbed him by the shirt and set him down. "Oh, n-no, you don't!" Bill said. "M-Mom's gonna kill me if I bring you home covered in mud!"
Georgie giggled. "Aw, I wanted to pet the piggies!"
"The pigs aren't good to pet anyways, Georgie," Mike said. "Their skin is pretty coarse. But the sheep are very fluffy; you'll like to pet them. C'mon, I'll show you."
The sheep were currently grazing out on a pasture. Mike lead the group to the flock and said, "Here they are. They won't mind if you go up and pet them."
The Losers all spread out and started to pet some of the sheep. "Ew, I can't believe you're just going to pet them!" Eddie said, supposedly addressing all of the Losers, but he seemed to be targeting most of his disgust towards Richie. "They're probably all infested with fleas!"
"It's alright, Eddie, they don't have fleas," Mike assured. "I already checked them; they're all clean."
Georgie started petting an adult sheep, but then Beverly called him over saying, "Hey, Georgie, come here! I found a cute, little lamb for you to pet over here!" Georgie rushed over to where Beverly was and began petting the lamb. The little sheep then started to gently lick Georgie's hand. "That tickles!" Georgie laughed.
"That means he must like you!" Mike said.
"I like him, too!" Georgie sat down on the grass and pulled the lamb into his lap. The boy had so much love and compassion in his eyes. Mike could see that, and he figured the lamb could see it, too, which was why he was so calm around the boy. It was something Mike had as well—especially when he was younger.
It took him back to that time, back when Mike still had his parents. He loved all the animals on this farm much like the young Denbrough did. They were his only friends. The only ones he felt comfortable around, the only ones he could sincerely talk to, the only ones around which he felt he could truly be himself. So, as one might imagine, it was quite earth-shattering to realize that the very animals he shared a heart-to-heart talk with one day could have been the same ones he'd be eating for dinner the next. It was devastating. Heart-wrenching. Disorienting. Disenchanting. Disillusioning. All the same feelings he felt once again when his parents burned that fateful day.
But Georgie's innocence didn't have to be shattered quite as early as Mike's was. Mike wanted him to live in ignorant bliss for as long as he could. He'd let someone else be the one to break his child naivety. And hopefully that wouldn't happen too soon. Children deserve to be raised in a world where they feel comfortable to discover who they are, where they don't have to worry about their parents not being there for them, or where they don't feel like all the people in town see them as an outsider. Or, yes, where they don't have to come to grips with the reality that the very lamb they're petting right now could be served to them the next day as lamb chops. It was a hard reality for Mike to face even to this day, and he had been dealing with it for almost ten years now. It hurt him to know that the little lamb Georgie loved so much would be up to the slaughter later on in his life. It was the reason Mike didn't form as close bonds to the animals as much as he used to. It was easier that way. Not by much, but a little. But it made Mike yearn for emotional attachment all the more, especially with his parents being gone.
It seemed like the Losers were the exact thing he needed in his life. He had never felt so accepted before, and ironically, it came from a group of people who themselves never felt accepted by anyone else. But Mike supposed that's what they all had in common, and that's what brought them closer together. So, Mike decided to forget about the animal killing and his dead parents for now. They would be there, ready to trouble him soon enough anyways. He hadn't truly felt this happy in his life for a long time, and he didn't want to ruin this moment.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Yes, I do realize that Ben had no lines in this chapter and Beverly only had one; I just couldn't think of much that they could've said in this chapter, to be quite honest. It's a bit hard to juggle eight characters all together and make sure each of them has a significant enough presence. Naturally, some of them are going to be pushed to the sidelines. But I am trying to get better with this. Thank you so much for reading!