"He won't be mad. Why would he have used fencing that we could squeeze through if he didn't want us on the other side?" Molly asked.
"Yeah," Matilda chimed in, "that fence is there for the dog. See? The holes are too small for him to get through so that's how you know it was made for him, not us."
"Maybe he just didn't realize that we could squeeze through." said Betty.
"What are you girls doing?" asked Dee, the smallest of the bunch.
"Just 'cause you guys call yourselves the 'Mocha Mafia' doesn't mean you scare me." Dee said, scratching at the ground.
"Don't count ME in that Mocha Mafia!" said Betty, "I'm not even mocha, see these feathers? they're black, that's why I'm Black Betty so don't you go counting me in with THAT crowd! I don't want any part of the trouble they're gonna get themselves into trying to go through that fence!"
Dee jumped up exclaiming, "Go through the fence?! I can go through the fence!" and with a shriek from the Mafia, Dee was off and running, through the rectangular mesh of the metal fencing.
"DEE!!!" Betty exclaimed. Then turning to glare at the Mochas she scolded, "Now look what you've done! You girls better go get her before she gets hurt!"
"Woohoo! Let's go girls!"
All four of the Mocha Mafia (otherwise known as the 4 M's - Mildred, Molly, Martha and Matilda) took off, squeezing through the fence and onto the other side.
"Hurry up before the Warden sees!" shrieked Betty.
"Oh! What are those girls doing now?" sighed Jack.
"Don't blame me" said Betty, "I told them not to go!"
"Oh Jees! Really? This is how it's gonna be?" moaned Jack, "It's my job to watch over you girls and they're just gonna run off? Darn those girls! I'll never fit through that fence. How am I supposed to keep all 9 of you in line anyway? Hey! Come back here! Ugh! I'm too young for this job."
"Now, Jack, just calm down. The girls will be back, they're way too scared to be out there on their own for too long." said Aunt Bea.
"Yeah, I hope you're right, Aunt Bea. We just got here and the Warden told me it was my job to watch over you all. I just don't know if I'm ready for that much responsibility. Uh-oh. There goes the Warden - he didn't even get a chance to build that gate he was talking about. Wow! He's not as old as he looks! He just jumped that fence...I wonder if I can do that."
"Oh, I didn't know Warden Old Head likes to play! Look at him run with the girls!" cried Gertrude.
"He's not running with the girls, Gertie, he's running after the girls, I told them not to go through that gate, but nobody listens to me." said Betty.
"Well, I"m gonna run with them." said Gertrude excitedly "Woah! Maybe not, did you see Warden's face - that's not a happy face. I think I'll just stay here. Oh, look! A cricket! See ya later!"
Jack yelled, "Girls! Get back in here, you're gonna get us all in trouble. And watch out for his feet - they're pretty big."
The girls, turned and looked at Warden's face and realized that they had better get back in the fence so they quickly slipped back into the chicken yard. "Act natural, maybe he won't know it was us. Slow...slow...scratch...peck. Damn! Run girls! Into the hut! Go, Go, Go! Here he comes!"
The whole flock ran into the hut, seeking refuge under the nesting boxes as Warden Old Head rounded the corner, grabbed the door and locked it. "That's it!" he said "Lock Down!"
Silence ensued in Chicken Hut Number 1 as the flock reflected on the past few minutes. "Great," said Gertrude, "now we're all on lock down, and I was having fun chasing that dragonfly too."
"Hee hee" chuckled Dee, panting from all the excitement, "that was fun".
"Stop it Dee!" scolded Betty, "being tenacious isn't always a good thing, you know."
"Hee hee."
Everyone settled in and slowly the stories of the day started to fade as their attention turned to pecking and scratching through the hay on the hut floor, grabbing pieces of crumble from the feeder and exercising their flying abilities to see who could fly the highest to try and reach the top roost. The sun slowly set as the flock settled down to a quiet night's sleep, all wore out from the excitement of the day.
The next morning they awoke to see the Warden open the door to check on the food, but were somewhat surprised to find that they were still on lock down as the door shut again.
"I told you we were in trouble", said Betty.
"Shut up!" said the flock.
A couple of hours later, the Warden came by and opened the door. "Ok girls" he said, "Let's see how that works."
One by one, the girls slowly came out into the yard, cautiously looking around.
"Oh! Hey! I love what you've done with the place, Warden!" exclaimed Martha,"Very 'Tiki Chic!', what do you think girls?"
"Ooooh, nice!" they all clucked, "very nice!"
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