4. Scary Scarecrow

Chapter 4 Scary Scarecrow Bradley carried the shirt and jeans across the yard to the barn. Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose were sweeping the floor. They had piled a lot of stuff on the workbench. Bradley noticed a tricycle he used to ride. He also saw an old basketball and a rolledup fishing net.

At the other end of the barn, Brian, Nate, and Lucy were looking through a pile of boards. "Mom let me have Dad's old shirt and jeans," he told the other kids. "They'll be perfect," Lucy said.

"So what do we do?" Brian asked. "I got a hammer and nails." Lucy pulled out some thin boards. "This tall one can be the body," she said. "And these can be the arms and legs. We just nail them together." "That's supposed to scare animals away?" Nate said. "It'll just be a big stick figure." "No, it'll look like a big human after we put the shirt and pants on and stuff it with straw," Lucy explained. The kids knelt on the floor. Lucy arranged the boards. "See? Arms and legs. Who wants to hammer?" she asked. "I will," Nate said. Brian handed Nate a nail. "Don't hit your thumb," he said. "I won't," Nate said. He held the nail in place, lifted the hammer, and hit his thumb. "Ouch!" he said. "Told you," Brian said. "Let me try," Bradley said, taking the hammer. "I helped my dad build a bird-house last year." Soon the boards were nailed together. "Okay, now we dress him," Lucy said.

The kids tugged the shirt and jeans onto the wood frame. "He looks like he's starving," Nate said. "Grab some straw," Lucy said. "We'll make him look fat!" They each brought an armful of straw and began filling the shirt and jeans. "Give him a big chest," Brian said. "He'll look like a giant!" Bradley found some rope, and they tied it around the scarecrow's waist for a belt. They tied more around his wrists and ankles so the straw wouldn't fall out. When they were done, the scarecrow looked almost real. "He's cool!" Nate said. "Except for one thing. He needs a head." "Wait a sec," Bradley said. He ran into Polly's stall. His pony was munching from her pail of oats. He patted her neck, then took the empty oats bag. It said OATS on one side, but the bag would make a perfect scarecrow head. He ran back to the others. "How's this?" he asked.

"Great," Lucy said. "Stuff it with straw." After the head was filled with straw, the kids tied it onto the frame with more rope. "It's not very scary," Brian said. "But I know how to fix that!" He raced out of the barn toward the house. "We could draw a scary face with Magic Markers," Bradley suggested. "Let's splash his face with red paint that looks like blood!" Nate said. Brian ran back into the barn. He showed the other kids a Halloween mask. The face had warts, snaggly teeth, a big scar, and one eyeball hanging out of its socket. "What do you think?" Brian asked. "Awesome!" Nate said. Bradley laughed. "Cool, Brian. Not even Dad will go in the garden when he sees this!" Brian tugged the mask over the stuffed oats bag. "Okay, let's bring him outside," Lucy said. The kids each took an arm or a leg, and they lugged the scarecrow into the garden. Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose stared as the younger kids and the scarecrow moved through the barn.

They used rope to tie the scarecrow to the fence. "That is so amazingly awesome!" Nate said. "It looks like someone I know," Brian said. He closed his eyes, pretending to think. "Oh yeah! It looks like you, Bradley." Bradley grinned. "Well, if it looks like me, then it looks like you, twin brother!"