Thankfully, the horses showed up quickly. They were a little spooked, but unharmed as they returned to the stables. But they couldn't find the culprit. Many more strange things kept happening, and we could never find out who did them. One morning, the hay bales came loose and tumbled down the hill. The next, the trough had been tipped over. It always seemed to happen when none of us were around, but that didn't stop them from accusing each other. I couldn't help noticing the scarecrow was always in a different position.
I spent most of my time outside instead of in the farmhouse where I was reminded of the fire, but it wasn't much better out in the farm. Louisa showed me the secret passage once. She crouched down next to the fireplace and pushed the stones out of the way. I stared into the dark opening.
"You could try crawling through," Louisa suggested. "It really isn't that hard."
"I don't know if I can do it," I muttered.
"Come on, at least try," Louisa insisted. "I miss being able to, but now I'm too big."
"Alright, fine," I agreed.
I lowered my head through the passage. I could fit my entire body through as Louisa encouraged me, but the further I crawled, the narrower it became. I winced as I banged my head, before lowering my body. I heard a thud behind me and turned my head. My heart sank as I realized the stones were covered up, obscuring the light from the kitchen. Louisa must've trapped me in here.
I began to panic as I crouched there, the musty darkness surrounding me. Then I raised my head as I saw a light at the other end. I crawled forward until I could see Louisa. She reached out and helped me out of the passage.
"You made it, Fern!" Louisa beamed at me. "I ran out here so I could see you."
"And did you cover up the passage as well?" I demanded, glaring at her. "How could you do that? Do you know how terrified I was?"
"I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't chicken out," Louisa insisted. "Besides, you managed to make it out, didn't you? Was it really that bad?"
I hesitated. "I… I guess not," I admitted. "It wasn't as bad as I thought."
"Good. If anything, I did you a favor," Louisa reminded. "You have to remember to push the stones aside at the end. Like this."
Louisa crawled into the passage and showed me. I even crawled in again to practice, before she let me out. I yelled at her when she pretended she was showing me. But I was surprised that I actually enjoyed my time with her. It got lonely at home, all by myself. I almost wished I could always have my sister with me.
One morning, something terrible happened. After we had finished ploughing the field with the tractor, we were harvesting the crops in another. Or rather, Louisa and her mom did while I stood behind and watched. I was afraid of messing up again. I jumped as a group of birds flew over the plants. Louisa waved her arms, trying to bat them away. They swooped down, pecking at the newly planted seeds.
"Those birds!" Louisa exclaimed. "They always ruin everything."
"It's too bad we don't have any scarecrows here," Janet remarked.
Louisa lunged at the birds, and a few of them scattered. "It's easy scaring them away." Then she glanced at me. "Maybe you could be our scarecrow, Fern."
"Huh?" I demanded.
Louisa waved a few more of the birds away. Their wings flapped wildly as they flew off. "Since you're not going to help us, you could at least keep the birds away. They're pretty easy to scare off, but it takes a lot of effort when we're trying to work in the fields."
"I don't know," I muttered, staring at the birds.
"Don't worry, they're not like the farm animals," Louisa assured. "They're just like the crows back at home. You have those in the city, right?"
"Of course we do," I said.
"Give it a try," Janet suggested.
I reluctantly approached the group of crows. I kicked my leg out, afraid to crouch down. They quickly scattered, flying away in a blur of feathers. It was easier than I thought.
Louisa laughed. "See? They're cowards."
"Alright, I will," I agreed. I felt slightly guilty about not helping them.
"It's one of the most important jobs on the farm," Janet remarked. "I asked Peter about making more than one scarecrow, but he always refused. I don't know why. He has enough old clothes to fit on an entire army of scarecrows. Then again, I suppose the one on the cornfield is frightening enough."
"Yeah, you have an important job, Fern. Getting rid of all those murders," Louisa encouraged. I stared at her. "That's what they call a group of crows. You know that, right?"
"Oh," I muttered.
As Louisa and Janet left to sow more seeds, I remained on the field, keeping an eye out for any more birds. But no more of them came by, and I quickly grew bored. I realized they probably wanted to get rid of me. I supposed I couldn't blame them. I didn't do anything but cause problems.
I decided to head back to the farmhouse. It didn't seem like they needed me for anything. But as I started heading back, I froze as I heard a low rumbling sound in the distance. I glanced over to see the tractor moving. I assumed they were riding it, but it was going the wrong way, cutting through the fields filled with crops. As the rumbling sound grew louder, I realized it was getting closer to me.
I quickly jumped out of the way. I watched in shock as the tractor cut through the soil, turning up the crops and sending them flying over the fields. I was sure Louisa would know better than to ride the tractor like that, and even if she didn't, Janet would ride it with her after our close call. The tractor picked up speed, destroying everything in its path. I stared in shock at the mess scattered on the fields. I was sure they would've managed to stop the tractor by now. Maybe it had malfunctioned, and needed to be repaired again. Or maybe there was someone else riding it.
I raised my head to the tractor, watching as it kept roaring through the farm. I gaped in shock as it suddenly turned to the left. I was sure there was somebody controlling it now. I realized it was approaching the cornfield. Without stopping to think about it, I began chasing after the tractor. I wasn't about to let it crash again. It turned right as it was about to crash into the stalks. I watched as it began to head down the path. There had to be somebody riding it, but I couldn't tell who. Maybe it was the same person who was responsible for everything else that had happened on the farm. The thought filled me with terror.
I knew I should've told the others, but by the time I did that, they might've been able to escape the farm on the tractor. I ran into the cornfield before I could think about it, yelling after them.
"Hey! Hey, stop!" I called. "Where are you going?"
My voice was drowned out by the loud roar of the tractor. I ran faster as I struggled to keep up, worrying it would crash again, but it managed to stay on the path. Then the rumbling began to fade away as it slowed down. I slowed down as well, watching in shock as the tractor came to a stop at the edge of the cornfield. I watched carefully as it remained completely still. I knew there had to be someone inside.
"Hello?" I called. "Who's there?"
There was no response. Now that the tractor had stopped moving, I could make out something inside. I jumped back in shock, but they were still as well. I slowly stepped forward, afraid of what I'd find. There was a floppy head resting against the back of the tractor, but it didn't seem like a human head. There was something familiar about it. I jumped as I realized it was a burlap sack.
I started walking faster, not sure if I believed it. When I was close enough, I peered inside the tractor. Sure enough, the scarecrow was there, lying against the front seat. Its grinning face stared straight ahead, while its arms lay motionless at its sides.
I let out a shriek of terror and backed away. The scarecrow didn't move. I slowly reached up and grabbed the arm. I tightly clutched the straw inside the tattered sleeve. I couldn't believe it had been driving the tractor, but it was the only thing there. I knew I couldn't let the tractor start again. I tugged at the arm, expecting the scarecrow to reach out and grab me. But it remained still and lifeless as I pulled it out of the tractor. I reached up my other hand to grab the other arm. With one last tug, the scarecrow fell out of the tractor and fell limply to the ground. I stared down at it, unable to believe it.
Then I jumped as I heard yelling in the distance. I turned to see Louisa and Janet running towards me, shocked looks on their faces.
"Fern! Fern, what are you doing?" Louisa called. "Have you seen the rest of the farm? It's chaos! We knew it had to be the tractor. Oh, there it is!"
She rushed to my side while Janet ran over to the tractor, carefully inspecting it. They didn't seem to notice the scarecrow on the ground, but they definitely noticed the damage the tractor had caused to the farm. And, as usual, they blamed me for it.
"It isn't what it looks like," I tried to explain. "The tractor just went crazy, and I tried to follow it…"
"Oh, really? Why didn't you tell us?" Janet demanded, glancing up from the tractor. I didn't know how to reply. "It's a good thing you've gotten better at steering this thing. It isn't damaged at all."
"But someone was driving it!" I exclaimed. "It turned, and headed over here. It even managed to stay on the path."
"That's right. It was you, wasn't it?" Louisa accused. "I would've thought you'd learned, after last time."
I stared at them helplessly. But what bothered me even more was the scarecrow on the ground. I knew the limp thing couldn't have caused such a chaos by itself. But something told me it could, remembering what had happened last time I was in the cornfield with the thing. As I leaned over the scarecrow, I jumped out of my skin. I could've sworn I saw the hand move. Then I screamed as I felt the straw tighten around my ankle.
