Chapter 2

Chapter 2 "We're here!" announced Barbara. She walked around to the back of the car, popped open the hatch, and gently placed the birdcage on the ground. "Welcome to the farm!" She grabbed her backpack, opened the birdcage door, and headed toward the house. "Make yourselves at home." J. J. jumped out of the hatch and bolted toward the wide, grassy field. Moosh sprung out right behind him and then made a beeline for the front porch to reunite with her sisters. Dirt, Poppy, and Sweetie hopped out of the open birdcage and waited for Sugar to join them. "Well?" prodded Dirt.

"I have a weird feeling," said Sugar. "I can't put my finger on it." "Oh-kay," Dirt said slowly. "What kind of weird feeling?" "It's called instinct, kid," answered Sugar. "Oh-kay," Dirt said slowly again. "Do you feel it now?" asked Sugar. "Feel what?" asked Dirt. "The weird feeling?" Sugar insisted. "Yes," replied Dirt. "A mob of awkwardly silent chicken cousins is staring at us now. And you're right, that does feel really weird." Dirt turned to the crowd and gave them a small wave. "Be right with you!" J. J. trotted back to the cage. "Well?"

"Sugar feels weird," explained Dirt. "Sugar is weird," sighed J. J. He shrugged and ran back toward the open fields. "Are you afraid of new places too?" asked Sugar. "You can have my shoe: I always take it with me when I feel a little bit scared. It's right here in the car." "Who said anything about being scared?" asked Sugar. "I just—" "Come on, Sugar!" Moosh called, emerging from the family flock on the porch. "Come meet your cousins! They're all so excited!!" "Coming, Mom!" Sugar reluctantly left the cage and trudged to the front porch with Poppy, Sweetie, and Dirt. Before the first cousin could open his mouth, a Moosh look-alike appeared next to Moosh and blew into a whistle hanging around her neck. "Line up! Single file! No talking! Take your places!" Dirt and Sugar exchanged glances. "Like we practiced!" said the Moosh look-alike. The

chaotic mob of porch chickens was now an orderly single-file line that wrapped all the way around the house. They marched past the chicken squad and nodded hello, giving their names one at a time. "Bailey." "Bassie." "Beatrice." "Belle." "Bernadette." "Bert." Sugar, Dirt, Poppy, and Sweetie nodded politely at each chicken as they politely introduced themselves, with no end in sight. After the first few minutes, Moosh and the Moosh-look-alike whistling chicken climbed back to the porch to catch up with their sisters.

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"How are we ever going to remember all of their names?" cried Poppy. "I don't want to be rude!" "They're in alphabetical order," answered Dirt. "And I'm writing them all down." "They all have B names, kid," said Sugar. "You can't alphabetize words that start with the same letter." The chicken squad continued to