Sheep Herder

Chapter Thirteen

It was early morning when I stepped out of my house, the sun barely peeking over the horizon. I did a long stretch, my body still groggy from sleep, and let out a big yawn before stepping off the porch. Little did I know, there were three unwelcome spies trailing behind me, but my grogginess prevented me from noticing them.

As I walked down the path, away from my house, I headed towards the large red barn that was a decent walk away. The three girls, who had seen this building before when they first came here, had never paid much attention to it. They only knew a few things about the conditions of the will, like the fact that I was set to inherit a billion dollars and that I was stuck living on this seemingly deserted piece of land.

Unbeknownst to me, the girls were hiding behind a couple of trees, watching my every move like a suspicious trio of harpy vaulters. I eventually stopped in front of the barn doors and looked back and forth, checking to see if anyone was watching, before unlocking the door and carefully entering.

"So this is where he goes?" Jessie pondered, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Apparently so," Martha answered, placing her hand on her chin thoughtfully.

"Looks like our golden ticket is just a farm boy now," Karen added snarkily.

"Well, this is boring. I thought he was going to some super secret bunker or something," Jessie complained. "Instead, he's just taking care of chickens and cows."

"Yeah, he's just as lame as he was before," Karen chimed in.

Martha scoffed, cocking her hips aggressively. "Come on, girls. It's clear that this was a-" Suddenly, they heard a stampede of heavy thumping coming from within the barn, causing the ground to lightly rumble beneath them.

"What the fu-" Karen cursed before being silenced by Martha.

"Shhh." Martha pressed her hand over both girls' mouths and pulled them closer to the tree they were hiding behind. "Apparently our boy Jerry is hiding something after all," she smiled wickedly.

"I've never heard cows like that before," Jessie mumbled, wriggling her mouth free.

"You've never been out to a farm before, dimwit," Karen rolled her eyes before reprimanding Jessie.

"Stop arguing, you two bimbos. I have an idea," Martha hissed.

"Hey, I'm no-" Karen started to retort, but she was immediately silenced by Martha's fierce gaze. The two girls fell silent, unwilling to argue with such a viper. 

"Tonight, when little Jerry goes to bed, we'll sneak into the barn and find out whatever it is that's more important than us." With that, Martha pulled the girls away from the barn and back to the house, where they patiently waited for the cover of night.

~

The stars shone brightly in the moonless night sky as the milky way stretched across the fields, casting an ethereal glow on everything below. Under the cover of darkness, three sneaky little rats scurried through the shadows. They followed the path they had taken earlier that morning and soon arrived at the large barn. Everything was quiet and peaceful, except for Jessie's constant complaints about the cold.

"It's too cold," whined the fake cowgirl, hugging herself tightly.

"Well, you should've packed a jacket," groaned Karen, her heavy boots stomping on the gravel road.

"Shut up! We're trying to be sneaky here," Martha snapped, slightly annoyed by her less-than-stellar accomplices.

Finally, the three girls reached the barn and stood in front of the large red doors. Karen stepped forward, grabbed the handles, and gave them a hard tug.

"Locked," she cursed in frustration.

"Okay, we tried. Let's just go back to bed," whimpered Jessie as she began to walk away.

Martha quickly grabbed Jessie's blouse and pulled her around the side of the barn. "There are still the windows," she snapped. The three girls walked away from the entrance and reached a closed window. They peered inside, trying to make out any hidden secrets, but the darkness prevented them from seeing anything clearly.

"Okay, Karen, open the window," commanded Martha, pointing at the window.

"I'm not your mule," Karen protested, crossing her arms defiantly. Martha gave her the stink eye until Karen reluctantly agreed. "Ugh, fine." Karen went up to the window and, with a grunt, opened it with a loud creak. One by one, the girls climbed through the opening and fell into a pile of hay inside.

"Ew, it's all in my hair," Jessica complained, picking out sticks and grass from her tangled locks.

"Shut up," grumbled Martha as she stood up, dusting off the dirt and hay from her skirt.

"No, you shut up!" Jessica snapped back, placing her hands on her hips.

"What are you going to do, fake valley girls?" growled Karen.

"This!" Jessica forcefully shoved Karen, attempting to push her into the pile of hay, but Karen stood her ground. The two girls started to fight, drawing Martha into the tussle as well. Amidst their scuffle, they failed to notice a dark figure rising behind them. It grew taller and taller until it loomed over the girls, its black silhouette darker than the night. With its large brown square irises shining brightly against the starry sky, the figure stood there, silently watching.

A whole minute passed before the girls finally took notice of the ominous figure standing before them. With a collective gasp, the three of them let out a piercing scream.