4 Calling Birds

AN: To be completely transparent I had no idea what a calling bird was but wanted to be true to the song so I looked it up. For anyone that wants to know, the bird in the original version of the song was a Colly, which is a blackbird. I also read the song could be referencing crows, so for this story I am going with that since it worked better!

"You are never going to believe what I just heard!"

True had been talking to Billy and she spun around to face Creed. "What?"

"Jonathan is afraid of birds!"

"Wait, what? How can you possibly know that?"

"His Pa was talking to my Pa about needing to get rid of some crows nests in his barn because Jonathan was afraid the birds would swoop down at him when he went in there!"

"No way!" True's smile grew wider when an idea began to form.

"Oh no! I know that look!" Billy said. "I'm not gonna get in trouble again this week!"

"But don't you want to know the plan?"

"No! I'm gonna go help Ma!"

True watched him run off then looked at Creed. "You in?"

"You really need to ask? Of course I am!"

The following day all the children were milling around waiting for school to start. True made sure she was close enough to Jonathan so he could hear her then started talking to Creed. "Guess what Josiah said last night? He said that seeing four crows sitting in a row meant bad luck for the person that saw them and if one of them lands on you it meant death was coming for you." They both smiled when Jonathan stepped a bit closer to hear them better.

"For real? I heard that too but thought the person that told me was messing with me."

"Well Josiah is a preacher and does all that spiritual stuff. It has to be true if he said it."

The bell rang and everyone started heading inside. "Jonathan? Are you okay, you look a bit pale." Miss Willis asked.

Jonathan had overheard True and Creed and was trying to figure out if the birds in his barn were crows. "Y-yes ma'am. I'm fine." He said as he took his seat. If they were crows, at least they were up in the rafters and from what he saw, they were not gathering together so he figured he was safe.

The school day wore on until they were finally released for recess. True hurried over to a nearby tree. She looked up into the leaves where she'd asked four crows to hide. "Ready my feathered friends?"

They all cawed in response then flew down and landed in a line on a branch without many leaves as True and Creed hurried away to their normal spot and waited for the show.

Jonathan was heading over to the tree he normally sat against when he ate when he saw the four crows perched in a line on the branch. He froze in place and felt his limbs start trembling. They had to be here for him, they were in 'his' tree afterall.

It took all True had to not react and give herself away. She gave one of the crows the signal and it flew from the branch towards Jonathan. The scream he let out was one of sheer terror as he dropped his lunch and ran with his arms covering his head so it couldn't land.

His actions caught the attention of the rest of the class and they all started laughing when he yelled "No, go away! I don't want to die!"

Miss Willis had heard the commotion and hurried outside. She saw the crow chasing Jonathan and then True make a hand motion to tell the other crows to join the chase. She went over to her and took her by the arm. "Stop them now."

"What are you talking about?" She asked as Jonathan did his third lap around the yard.

"I know you are doing this. Stop it now or I will get Vin right this second."

She'd never sit again if Miss Willis went to get him in the middle of class! With a sigh she called off the attack.

"I cannot do anything about this now but you will stay after class. You as well Creed. Do you understand me?"

"Yes ma'am." They replied in unison.

Miss Willis went over to the crying Jonathan and tried to calm him down but he just kept looking at the sky and babbling about crows causing bad luck and death. He was making quite the spectacle of himself so she took him inside, but after a few moments she realized that she would need help and asked Martha to go get Nathan.

Vin and Chris were with Nathan when Martha came to get him. It was not often that he was called to the school so, concerned, they decided to join him. True saw them coming and took Creed's hand in solidarity. Once the story was out they would face this firing squad together!

They were only inside the school house for a few minutes when Chris and Vin stormed out and headed directly for them. Neither of them said a word as they each grabbed one child by the scruff of the neck and started marching them away from school. They stopped long enough to get the whole story from the two miscreants before continuing the embarrassing march through town.

Chris stopped at the Hardware store to explain what had just occurred to Jared while Vin directed True into the boarding house and into their room.

"I cannot believe you did something so mean spirited!" Vin said as he pulled off his belt.

"I'm sorry!" Which was mostly true. "I thought he would just run away! I didn't think he'd get so upset!"

"You didn't think a boy afraid of birds would lose his mind when birds started chasing him, especially after what you and Creed said?" When she had no reply he directed her to bare her backside and bend over. True didn't think she'd ever been tanned so thoroughly and was only producing hoarse cries by the time Vin deemed her truly remorseful. Once she calmed he left her laying face down on her bed and went to check on Jonathan.

"Guess the bad luck part was true." She muttered before drifting off to sleep.