Chapter 39:

The Adventures of Frank and Periwinkle

"The Goat"

- Part 2 -

The next morning, bright and early the farmer’s wife came into the yard with a quarter bail of alfalfa for Mrs. P and Morton, and some slices of bread for Frank. Mrs. P raced over, but Morton was much younger and faster, and beat her there. As the farmer’s wife went back inside her home, Morton told Frank and Mrs. P: "No one is to eat until I have finished."

Morton glared at Frank who stopped short of his bread, for fear of a greater bruising than the day before, then at Mrs. P who was happily munching away on a mouthful of alfalfa as though she didn’t have a care in the world. Morton backed up and butted Mrs. P in the side, toppling her over and knocking the breath out of her for a moment. As she lay there on her side, Frank went over to comfort her, and Morton began eating Frank’s bread.

"I..." Mrs. P began, who was more stunned than hurt, "I was hungry." Frank sat down on her shoulder and told her how much he sympathized with her, and that they would have to stick together in this, and it would all come out okay in the end, even though they couldn’t see how.
Morton finished off the last of the alfalfa and bread, then told them he was now done eating. He trotted off to his place in the shade and lay down with a severe stomach ache from eating so much... but he had to make his point. He lay with his back to the others and let out a soft groan as Frank and Mrs. P searched the trough for bits of alfalfa and crumbs of bread to nibble on, but there were none so Mrs. P headed for a large clump of grass she had been saving for just such an occasion as this, and Frank went down to the muddy banks of the creek to look for minnows and dig with his bill for worms.

Later that afternoon Morton woke to see Frank with his bill in the dirt near the banks of the creek, and it looked as though he were eating something. Morton had not given him permission to find food that way, so he marched staunchly over to Frank and said, "What is it you are eating?"

"I’m not eating anything," said Frank guiltily as he swallowed the last part of a worm.

"Yes you were, and I want to know what it was!" Yelled Morton at him.

Frank was scared, and knew he would be forbidden from eating worms in the future because of the mood Morton was in (and because that was all Morton had really done since he arrived), but he said, "I... I was eating the worms."

"I didn’t give you permission to eat those!" cried Morton. "You must stop eating them from now on."

"But," said Frank, "worms are my favorite."

Then, to make his point, Morton began eating all the worms he could find with a sinister grin on his lips. After eating seven or eight worms as well as a large number of muddy stones, his stomach began to hurt again, so he walked off to his shady spot and lay down again with a soft groan.

Frank was very excited and ran to Mrs. P to tell her the good news: "Morton ate worms and muddy rocks!"

"Good," said Mrs. P, not fully grasping the situation, "maybe if he fills up on rocks he will leave us some alfalfa tomorrow morning." Then Frank explained the story to her, and she listened intently, having him repeat certain things, and tey both decided on a plan to get rid of Morton once and for all.