Ginger and her kids woke up to the sound of talking coming from outside. What was going on this early in the morning? It wasn't even time to train yet
"Ricky, keep it down." Lillian grumbled
"It's not me, sis." Ricky yawns and sits up
Ginger feels the empty spot behind her and knew that it must be Rocky they were hearing since he wasn't in the nest beside her. She got up and went outside, following the sound of the voices to see her husband talking to Nick and Fetcher
Rocky peers into a sack and hid it behind him after hearing his wife
"What are you doing with these two crooks?" She asked
"Nothing, sweetheart." Rocky smiles innocently
"So huh. How about them eggs?" Nick interrupted
"Eggs?! Don't tell me you promised them-" Ginger was cut off, Rocky raising a finger
"Yep! Promised them every egg I lay this month." Rocky winks at the hen
"And uh, when can we expect the first installment?" Nick and Fetcher smile
"I'm brewing one up as we speak, guys. I'll keep you posted." Rocky assures the pack rats
"Pleasure doing business with you, sir." Nick and Fetcher turn around and walk away
Rocky waves farewell to them and he managed to hear Nick call him a sucker in reality it was the other way around. Roosters couldn't lay eggs after all
Ginger shook her head at her mate. She hated it when he lied
"What?" Rocky turns to her
"You lied to them!" Ginger said furiously
"I didn't lie, doll face. I just...omitted certain truths. I'll give them exactly what I promised." Rocky was unfazed
"Which is nothing." Ginger puts her wings on her hips
"Which is what I'll give them." Rocky turns around and starts to rummage through the flour sack
"And what will you give us?" Lillian asked, dropping in on the conversation as she came over
Rocky showed his wife and daughter what the rats smuggled for him. A pair of Mr. Tweedy's suspenders. "Thrrruuusssst!" The Rhode Island Red stretches it to show her and trying to imitate Mac
Lillian and Ava pulled a bunk back, having modified it with wheels as Ethel and Lola helped the two move it backwards. Bunty was atop the cart and she was very nervous about this idea. What they had made was basically a large slingshot. They stretched the suspenders as far back as they could
"You ok, sweetheart? Good, good. Now this is just a little help to get you going, it's a thrust exercise." Rocky tells the blunt hen
"Dad, are you sure about this?" Grayson whispers
"Positive. You need to relax." Rocky looks at his oldest son
"Dad!" Lillian gets his attention
"Right. Release!" Rocky orders
The hens let go of the cart, slingshotting Bunty forward across the chicken yard. The length of the rope that was attached to the back of the bunk uncoiled and then, went taut. The bunk shot Bunty forward off of it
Grayson and Ricky watched with wide eyes. Was she truly going to fly over the fence? Was it now possible?
"Come on! Flap! Flap!" Ginger encouraged
Bunty stuck out her wings to the side and flapped them furiously
"Yes, yes, yes!" Lillian cheers, soon frowning
Bunty was stopped by the barbed wire fence and was sent flying backwards, colliding with Nick and Fetcher who were in their "bleachers". The chickens moved out of the way of the rolling ball. Ginger looks at her husband
"Oops." Rocky smiles nervously at her
Grayson and Ricky sighed, their hopes gone. So much for flying
The bell started ringing throughout the chicken yard. Roll call
"Roll call?! I haven't laid any eggs." Ava panics
"Why didn't you tell us?!" Ginger asked
"I was so busy with the flying and-" Ava began
"They're coming!" Judy ran past them
"Sweetheart, stay by us. We'll protect you if they even try to take you from us." Rocky tells his daughter
The chickens anxiously awaited for the Tweedy's to enter the chicken yard as they stood impatiently in their designated spots. Everyone became tense when the evil greedy woman arrived. Ava was shaking like a leaf she was so nervous! Rocky grabbed his daughters wing to calm her down
"Everything's going to be ok, princess." Rocky whispers
So far it was going good as Mrs. Tweedy made her way down the rows of chickens. Ginger and Rocky tensed up when they saw her stop in front of Ava. Instead of picking up the ginger hen, she bent over and measured a hen standing behind her instead. Babs. Ginger was perplexed at this
"Double their food rations, Mr. Tweedy. I want them all as fat as this one." Mrs. Tweedy smirks
Babs fainted and Grayson caught her. "Oh me life flashed before my eyes...it was really boring..."
"You're ok now, aunt Babs." Grayson assures the round hen
She perks up after hearing an all too familiar sound. "Chicken feed! My favorite!" She got up and went over to the feeder along with the rest of the flock
Ginger glances over at the Tweedy's watching outside the fence. She knew what they were up to! It wasn't too hard to put two and two together
"Why can't they love me just as much as they love chicken feed?" Ricky sighs at the sight of the hens stuffing their faces
Ginger turns over the chicken feeder in order to get their attention after saying their names and trying to hold them back didn't work. "Something is wrong here, can't you see that? First strange boxes arrive in a van, Ava stops laying but doesn't get taken to the chop. Don't you see what's happening? They're fattening us up! They're going to kill us all!"
The hens frowned at this and swallowed their food
"Woah, woah! Heavy alert!" Rocky rushes over to the British hen. "She didn't mean that, gals." He grabbed Ginger by the arm and pulled her down from the feeder
"Do you mind? What are you doing?" Ginger asked
"Keep eating. Save some for me." Rocky smiles. He walked away with a fuming Ginger, disappearing from view, hearing her sputter, "What are you- let go of me!"
"Ava? Are you ok?" Lillian places a wing on her shoulder
"No! I'll never be able to lay eggs again." Ava pushes her off
"Hey, hey. It's ok." Grayson embraces his little sister
Ava nuzzles into her brother's chest and took a deep breath before crying. She hated this awful place. None of them deserved this kind of treatment, being forced to lay eggs day in and day out for those greedy humans
A grumpy Rocky soon returned, gasping upon seeing the chicken yard full of depressed hens after rounding a corner of a hut. He watched them from the shadows as Mac played a harmonica and Babs held up a noose that she knitted, Bunty dropping a wingful of chicken feed in sadness. Rocky saw that even his kids had lost hope, the four of them in a group hug and showing defeated expressions on their faces. They were all depressed and lifeless, something the American rooster had never seen for as long as he lived at this farm. His face fell as he felt sorry for those poor old girls and his kids. He had an idea and left to go find the rats. He needed a favor
Ava wasn't feeling any better throughout the rest of the day. Why should she? Herself and her siblings faces were devoid of all expression. They were tired of fighting, tired of thinking. It was good to have a small glimpse of hope of being free while it lasted...
"It's official. I hate my life." Ricky sighs
"Story of my life." Grayson lays down on the rooftop
"Same." Lillian messes with her green scarf
They heard music playing and went to check it out. They saw their father standing by a radio with Nick and Fetcher as the hens stood around in confusion, some of them moving the bunks around so there was more open space to move around
"Here she is, gov. Ask and you shall receive." Nick said
"That's biblical." Fetcher explains
"That's pure craftsmanship is what it is. Solid as a rock." Nick watched as the rooster examines the radio
"It's supposed to do that!" Fetcher smiles after beating on the radio to demonstrate, a dial popping off of it
"It's perfect, guys." Rocky smiles
"Mom, what's all this?" Lillian asked the feisty hen
"I don't know." Ginger shrugs
Rocky browses through the different channels on the radio until he comes across a catchy tune, snapping his fingers
"I don't see what this has to do with-" Ginger started
"You will. We've been working too hard. It's time to kick back a bit and shake those tail feathers!" Rocky does a little dance
"Look at him. Nellypodging around like a- what's happening?" Ava looks down after feeling her foot tapping
"That's called a beat, sister. Feeling it pulsing through your body?" Rocky gives his daughter a little nudge
"Yes. It feels quite nice." Ava smiles at this strange new feeling
"Hey then go with it, baby!" Rocky grabs his daughters wings and spun her
Ava did a little jig. "Look! I'm going with it!"
"Ava, what's got into you?" Babs smiles at her niece
"Same thing that's got into you apparently." Ava said
Ava and Babs did a sideways shimmy, Rocky taking Babs by the wing and spinning her. "Just go with the flow, gals. Let it go."
The chickens all started dancing to the catchy upbeat song. Ricky was dancing with Agnes and Grayson was dancing with Buttercup. The two roosters shortly switched off, Grayson dancing with Agnes and Ricky dancing with Buttercup
Fowler entered the hut, surprised at the scene before him. "Now see here! I don't recall authorizing a hop!"
"Oh shut up and dance!" Bunty grabs the old bird and pulls him inside
Ginger and Rocky danced together for the first time and it went very well. It was much needed since the couple wore away the stress from their argument earlier
After the song ended, it was replaced by a much more slow tuned song. Agnes thanked Grayson for dancing with her and kissed him on the cheek, making the young cockerel blush. His first and probably his last kiss!
"I'll see you around." Agnes said before walking away
"Yeah, see ya." Grayson sheepishly replies
Lillian follows after Ava, sprinting to their parents. "Dad!" Ava smiles, hugging the rooster. "Thank you. I didn't think you cared about us."
"I'll always care about you." Rocky kisses the ginger hen on her cheek
Ricky excuses himself and went outside to get some fresh air. Buttercup was worried and went after the rooster to see if he was ok
"Ricky? Is everything alright?" She quickened her pace
Ricky stopped in his tracks and glanced over his shoulder. "I might ask you the same thing. Aren't you enjoying yourself in there?"
"Yes. I was just wondering if you were ok." Buttercup takes a step towards him
"I'm fine, angel face." Ricky smiles assuringly at her
"Can I ask you something?" Buttercup tilts her head
Ricky turns his body. "Mhm."
"It's just that...it's driving me a little crazy that one minute you're flirting with me and then the next you're flirting with Agnes. It's confusing as to who you're really interested in when we don't have a clue." Buttercup explains, Ricky listening closely to every word
"Well, what's your idea of a dream boyfriend?" Ricky asked
"Someone who listens to me, cares about me, makes an effort to stay in my life, would do anything to make me happy, tells me I'm...beautiful..." Buttercup trails off
Ricky chuckled softly. "My idea of a dream hen is someone who's not afraid to speak her mind, doesn't embarrass herself to get my attention, stays true to who they are, stays committed to whatever they set their mind to and most importantly, someone who's downright gorgeous." Ricky slowly approaches Buttercup
"I don't have those things." Buttercup sighs
"You are what you believe you are. I'm surprised you doubt your value." Ricky said in a serious tone
Buttercup blushed and looked away. Was it just the moonlight or did Ricky look as handsome as a full feeder bin? This certainly wasn't the carefree, charming, smooth talking, snarky rooster everyone knew he was. Maybe there was a completely different side to him that he kept from others. She felt fingers come into contact with the bottom of her beak, her head being turned to look at the partial Rhode Island Red
"Don't doubt yourself." Ricky winks
"I try not to. It's hard in times like these." Buttercup swallows hard. "You know, you're pretty wise considering how young you are."
"You don't have to be older to be wiser, doll face." Ricky chuckles a bit
Buttercup smiles at him, opening her beak to say something when the ground suddenly rumbled and shook for a quick second, the guard dogs barking at the barn doors. Ricky and Buttercup went over to the fence as the other chickens flowed out of the huts, curious as to what was going on inside the barn
Who's the apple of Ricky's eye? Agnes or Buttercup? Hm...