Chương 110: Chapter 106 – Kids, Chickens, and No Answers

Sarah woke up after a restless night; it was really late when the last of the school children finally went to sleep. They all crowded into the common room of the inn, and most of the adults with a child of their own were given a room upstairs. Sarah had woken up when one of the inn's staff had come out to clean off the few tables still set up for the kids breakfast.

Last night had been terrible because the kids were talking and telling ghost stories; some were still crying while others were homesick and just not able to come to the reality they were now in, and one little boy was snoring so loud she thought he would knock the shutters off the windows. When breakfast was over Dale invited her to join the council for a meeting about how to help the children. When Sarah walked in, she took a seat. Dale said, "Thank you for joining us, Sarah.

We figured you would want some input on helping us figure out the next steps." Megan, the trade representative on the council, said.

"We have sent runners north to have some clothing made in sizes that would fit the kids. It will take a few days for an order that big, but that will at least give them all a change of clothing." Garrick said, "Thank you, Megan, for thinking of that. I know that I instructed some of the builders to construct a boarding house to put all the kids. We can break ground in a couple days, and it can be done in a week's time." Elias said, "Garrick, why do you think we would want to stuff all the kids in a boarding house?

I think the best bet is to assign out kids to all the farms, and they can help farm and take care of the animals." Garrick said, "Fine, I will cancel the plans until we make a decision." Sarah said, "Hold up; we have been here not even a full day yet. Why do you all think you know what is best for me and the kids? We still have no clear idea where here is and what would be best for the children."

David, the livestock overseer, said, "No, the kids are not going to take care of the animals do you know how much effort we have put into them to get them ready to be working animals? The first wagon only left yesterday." The conversations went on for almost an hour. Everyone had an idea and a plan for how to solve the children's problem. Some were ok, and the rest were terrible. When tempers were about to flare over the situation, Clara burst into the room with a smile on her face.

Clara said, "Hey Dale, Ben and I are going to take the kids for a walk down to see the new chicks that were born while you old people argue for a while more." At that, all the adults just looked at this bold little 11 year old and then looked at the ground, realizing that it had gotten out of hand. Sarah stood up and said, "Clara, I think that would be a great idea how far away are these chicks you talk about?"

Clara said, "Not far at all; it's about two hours if you cut across the fields like I like to do, or about 30 minutes following the roads, which are dusty and not as much fun." Sarah's face went from a smile to a frown. This sounded great until she realized she was going on a long hike. But clara just turned around and yelled.

"The old people said it was ok; let's move it and follow Ben." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The kids had a delightful time walking to the farm where the chickens were kept; it was east of town toward the open grasslands. The kids made a game of running along the side of the road in the fields as the adults followed the dusty road. They quickly learned that the roads were magic.

You could walk 2 kids side by side at the same speed, one on the road and the other in the field beside the road, taking the same steps and walking at the same speed; the people on the road covered two to three times the distance. It became a fun game where a kid would walk on the road and another would run on the side and see who could go faster. The kids were finally catching on that this was not their old world. There was magic of sorts, and as they were told, there were killer rabbits in the fields.

All of the adults were packing spears in case one came out to eat the kids. Which the kids were all disappointed did not happen. When they finally got to the cabin and barn with the chicken coop and baby chicks, the kids all started to smile. There were about 25 chicks, so not enough that each kid could maul one, but enough that they were all quite happy about it.

Ben looked around and could not see his chicken, so he whistled the loudest his 9-year-old lungs could manage, and the biggest rooster that the newcomers had ever seen came around the corner of the barn. The thing was at least twice the size of a normal rooster. Ben said, "This is my chicken; his name is General Cluck. I got him as a chick maybe 2-3 weeks back." The parents and the teachers immediately started saying that chickens don't grow that fast.

When they heard a loud snort, Dale turned around and started to try and hide. The next thing you know, a giant 300-400 pound boar with giant tusks came running up and bumped into Dale, almost knocking him to the ground. Then it started circling him like he was its favorite person. Clara said, "Hey Dale, your pet pig is out." Dale said, "He is not my pet, and he is a Murder Pig or better yet, an oversized boar. He is lucky I have not turned him into bacon yet." Ben said, "Stop talking mean like that; he loves you.

You know you could never eat him. That is why he is here at the farm; you refused to let them slaughter him." Dale then explained to newcomers the story of Ava bringing home the piglets a few weeks back and how Ben and Clara took care of them and how he made the mistake of feeding this one scraps. Sarah said, "Wait, you're telling me that huge thing is like three weeks old." Dale said, "If you remember the walk here on the road, it's sort of a magic thing?"

Dale continued, "We have no books or manuals to explain how it works, but we have found that if someone takes personal care of an animal, they grow up super fast. Once they get fully grown, they stop growing, but it's crazy how fast they grow. They do take two to three times as much food to accommodate the growth, but yes, you can have full-grown chickens laying eggs in weeks rather than months or years." Just after Dale got done talking, all 25 chicks got picked up by 25 different kids, and they all said at once.

"This one is mine." Sarah and Dale just looked at the kids in shock. Dale said, "I am beginning to think these kids will fit right in." David walked over and told the kids that if they thought they were going to keep the chicks, there were strict rules and requirements. And he explained how to feed, water, and take care of them. Also explaining the amount of time each day they would need to spend personally to raise them.

When he finished explaining the rules, about half the chicks got put back into the coop, followed by other kids rushing over that did not think fast enough, picking them up and claiming them. At that Ben came forward and started talking about how to build a coop and how much fun it was to build his. He let them know how he and Clara built their own, and he could show them how to do everything, including chopping their own wood and making the string to tie it together.

Sarah just stood there with a distressed look on her face. Not only did she have 42 kids that she felt personally responsible for, but also a handful of parents, her teaching aide, and a bus driver with no bus. She now had 25 chicks to add to the list of things she had no idea how to solve.