it was an unusually cool evening in September when my son Richard and I
started to put up the new scarecrow the latest storm had blown the last one away
and we needed to protect the wheat from the crows and sparrows my daughter Lucy
had decorated it herself she wanted it to look like me
so she chose some of my old work clothes and my old cowboy hats at peacefully on
its head hopefully there wouldn't be another storm until after the last
harvest once we had finished we took a moment to admire the straw man looks
mighty fearsome PAH Richard wiped the sweat from his brow I had let him do
most of the work I reckon it'll do the job for the next few weeks I supposed
out loud now hurry up and head inside mama's got supper cookin and he need to
wash up Richard took off towards the house and left me alone with the
Scarecrow I pushed up my hat to get some of the cool air on my scalp and stared
at what we had made Lucy had done a good job dressing up the straw men I spit
into the dirt and put my thumbs in between my flannel and suspenders in
true farmer fashion in the distance I could hear our German Shepherd Rover
barking at Richard as I pondered our financial situation we needed this
harvest supper had been brisket cornbread mashed taters and sweet tea it
was my favourite and my wife Marceline knew it would cheer me up on days like
today the taxman came earlier and told us that the government would no longer
be subsidizing the excess wheat which would leave us in financial ruin if we
didn't sell at all after our nightly prayer we ate dinner in silence the
sounds of knives and forks scraping plates had eventually subsided Richard
help your sister with the dishes and then you both head up to bed I need to
speak with your mom private I watched them collect the plates and
head to the sink Marceline and I stepped into the den I poured myself a tall
glass of scotch to ease the nerves and waited for the children to head upstairs
before talking business what it's sheriff Taylor say she asked me sounding
more than little concerned I took a large sip
inside he said they don't need the extra hands over the winter I spoke quietly he
said to check again in spring and that I can put in another application I'd been
looking for any work I could find but nobody in rural Nebraska was looking to
hire in an old farmer if I couldn't find anything we'd be forced to sell the farm
which had been in my family for generations
well maybe you can ask another department Marceline was kind and
hopeful more hopeful than me I wasn't typically a drinkin man so my
head was already starting to spin I'll find something eventually everything
always works out for us I tried not to sound as dejected as I was I don't think
she bought it come on upstairs and I'll cheer you up real quick
she smiled her wonderful smile and giggled like a schoolgirl
so I embraced her with all my might let me just put some wood in the furnace
it's gonna be a cold night I kissed her gently on the lips don't you go starting
without me again I couldn't contain my wicked grin I always hated going into
the basement ever since I was a child my older brother would tease me that there
were monsters waiting to get me there the wood furnace didn't help as it
looked like a giant man-eating monster itself I never stayed down there long
normally I'll just have Richard go down for me the stairs creaked as I walked
down it helped that the moonlight pouring in from the ground-level window
illuminated the entire scene I grabbed a couple of logs from the distant corner
to put in the furnace when the moonlight was cut off it was just for a moment as
if someone had run past the window I got goose bumps
but assumed it had simply been a bird or a cloud flying over that's when Rover
started barking outside I dropped to the wood and ran back up the stairs Richard
had heard the commotion and had been standing on the stairwell with Marceline
and Lucy get back upstairs I commanded
go on get I added when they were frozen in fear Lucy had started to cry when
Rovers barks got louder and vicious I went to the kitchen and grabbed the
double-barrel shotgun we kept there I scrambled to find the shells in the
nearby drawers as we never kept the two together Rovers barking suddenly cut off
and was replaced by a quick Yelp of pain and then there was silence I cursed
loudly when I couldn't find the shells I yanked the last drawer out completely
spilling random junk all over the floor the box of cartridges hit the ground
sending them flying in every direction I grabbed two and hurried to the front
door as I was struggling to load the two shells I found her over he had been
laying just in front of our porch blood leaked out of the open wound in his neck
and he was completely still he was clearly dead the weed in the field just
a head shook as if something was running through it I took aim and fired both
chambers blindly but whatever had killed Rover was long gone
sheriff Taylor came out with a couple of his deputies to search the scene of
course they didn't find anything not even a single coyote the only thing out
in the field was the new scarecrow the deputies left to write the report while
Taylor stayed to check marceline poured us some tea and let us be I'm sorry
about your dog Bill beautiful creature Annie and I just said to put ours down
last fall Sheriff Taylor took a sip from the tea he had been woken up in the
middle of the night to come look at a wheat field a scarecrow and a dead dog
what do you reckon did it I asked I had no interest drinking the tea but I
sipped some anyways purely out of habit well I say odds are a group of coyote
got real hungry and desperate foods been real scarce lately and making them bold
they killed a few for Miss Comstock's chickens a few days ago torn right apart
he finished his tea and placed the glass down on the table I reached over and put
it on the nearby coaster that he had seemingly purposefully ignored
thing is I interjected Rover weren't torn apart something up and tore out his
throat and just left him there to die didn't even bother to take another bite
well you did come out guns a-blazing shouldn't be doing that by the way you
probably just scared him off before they could Taylor retorted he spoke lazily
and was completely uninterested my blood began to slowly boil but I knew there
wasn't much I could do Sheriff's word was law around these
parts he could say the sky was purple and we'd all have to say yes sir a
mighty fine shade of purple at that once his mind was made up that was it he left
without thanking us for the tea the next few days at the farm went by like a grey
haze the children had quietly been sulking while doing their daily chores
and even Marceline's cooking couldn't cheer us up I can't blame them as we had
Rover since he was just a pup his MA Ben my older brother's dog and he gave us
one of her pups before he left for the city to distract myself I worked out in
the field more and more all the while I couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness
as if something was watching me toil in the dirt I brushed it off as simple
paranoia for some reason the feeling was worse the closer I got to the scarecrow
the straw man hung helplessly on its makeshift cross but I couldn't help but
I it with my peripheral it glanced in my direction before turning its head back
did it just move my head shut towards the Scarecrow and I saw that it was
simply staring forward I must have been seeing things it was almost time for the
harvest and I was probably just stressing myself out I still wondered
though more often I found myself turning to the
bottle to help get myself to sleep nerves were getting worse as I realized
that winter might come early and ruin the whole haul that would put us in the
poorhouse even sooner I didn't tell Marceline that we might be
screwed my head spun as I struggled to fall asleep Marceline snored lightly
beside me I stared into the ceiling waiting for sleeps embrace but it never
came instead I heard a blood-curdling shriek
come from Lucy's room it was shrill full of fear and it sobered me up real quick
after what happened with Rover I kept the shotgun nearby and loaded at all
times I found it right where I had left it before laying in bed I picked it up
and ran as fast as I could towards Lucy's room when I entered I saw that
the room was empty and that the window was open out in the wheat field I could
see something running and hear the sounds of Lucy's screaming in fear
without hesitating I jumped from the second-story window my right ankle
cracked loudly when I hit the ground and pain shot up through my leg but I
wouldn't let that stop me I must have broken it Lucy I cried desperately into
the night I limped through the wheat field and listened for her reply I
wouldn't dare fire blindly into the night this time Daddy
she screamed wildly it was so far away I tried to keep up and constantly called
her name but every cry back sounded further and further away eventually
there was no response at all except for the echoes of my voice in the field I
didn't know what to do I was lost sheriff Taylor came again this time with
all his deputies they scoured the endless field searching for any signs of
Lucy in the end all they could find was a bloody piece of her pyjamas nearly
buried in the dirt the feds came after the initial sweep was unsuccessful they
promised to find her as quickly as possible before they left
Tayler stayed to get as much information from us as he could then he started
inquiring no good comes from Taylor asking questions you know Taylor was
scribbling into his notepad 95% of the time a child goes missing her on these
parts it's one of the parents he lifted his head from his pad and hide me tell
me bill just how much did you have to drink tonight you smell like a damn
brewery I couldn't hold back the contempt I held for him anymore
I took a swing at him and took out one of his teeth he brought me into county
lockup as quickly as he could despite the need for medical attention I never
did see my daughter again two weeks had passed since Lucy had gone
missing Marceline got it in her mind that it was my fault and took Richard to
her mother's house I was alone for this harvest and there was no way I'd be able
to get all of it in I was going to have to sell the farm for sure I figured I
might as well collect what I could before winner took the rest the boot I
wore around my ankle didn't help at all doc said I might never walk right ever
again I toiled in the field harvesting the tall wheat stalks for hours as night
began to fall I happened to walk by the old scarecrow dread filled my belly
whenever I went near it so I always tried to stay away silly of me I know
but I couldn't shake the feeling I stared at it for a long moment before
heading home the last few days have been warm but the cold air that would ruin me
had been slowly creeping in from the north I had to go to the basement to put
firewood in the furnace as the basement steps creaked under my weight I saw a
black outline laying on the floor for some reason I had assumed it was Lucy
returning home but as I got closer I realized what it was it was the straw
man that we had put up but all of its clothes and hat were missing it had been
covered in dust as if it were laying there for weeks I froze in fear as my
mind processed what I was looking at and what the hell is out in the field
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