[This is the 3rd and final part of this story. Read part 1(Bravado) and part 2(Insidious) if you haven’t already. ]

The next morning Charlie started his day normally, heading outside to wake the farm at dawn. As soon as he left the coop Betty called all the hens together.

“Our very own rooster has been scheming against us. Stealing our eggs for that fox!”

A few gasps, followed by excited clucking at this unexpected news.

“Shhh,shhhh, pay attention! I heard them talking yesterday and Charlie promised him even more eggs!”

Agness fainted at those words.

Betty continued, “Now…we are not going to let that happen! No more of us are ending up like our dear Millie!From now on, we use a buddy system to make sure all the eggs are guarded each day until the farmer collects them. He won’t be so bold as to take them when we are watching.”

The hens all agreed and each picked a buddy to help guard the eggs. They had just returned to their perches as the rooster returned from his task.

Charlie entered the coop and seemed to pick up a changed vibe. It was as if the hens avoided looking at him as he strolled the length of the coop.

“Good morning, my dears!”, he said.

Blank stares greeted him in return.

All that day he did not find an egg he could sneak away, too scrutinizing were the hens. He decided he needed to escape the stares and headed outside.

“Where are the eggs you promised me?” The words felt ,as much as heard, the fox close enough he could feel Fred’s warm breath.

“There will be no more eggs”, Charlie said quietly, all bravado gone. “They know.”

Without a word the fox pounced on the rooster. Charlie crowed his last, a plea to anyone that could hear.

It was enough to alert the farmer who came running toward the coop only to see the fox dash under the fence and into the woods, rooster still in his jowls.

The farmer secured the fence so the fox no longer had a way in. Then set out to find another rooster, knowing there was no saving Charlie now. He retuned later in the day with a cage. He walked it out to the coop and set it down inside.

“Girls, meet your new rooster, Randy!”

[The end]

Word of the Day Challenge: Unexpected

Special thanks to the following:
Capri23auto for the hens image
Pixel-mixer for the fox with chicken image (I know those are wolves not a fox)
pneumann70 for the crazy rooster image

I hope you enjoyed the story!

© 2018 – James Sponseller – mindescapes.net

(I originally posted this at SharedHere. This is the last story to repost from over there.)