The Scarecrow Counts to Twelve
horrorEveryoneWren doesn't go to the field. Instead they run to old Mr. Pell, the last neighbor still living nearby, and bang on his door. "You've watched this happen eleven times," Wren says. "Tell me where they all went." Mr. Pell goes pale. He pulls Wren inside and locks the door behind them.
Mr. Pell hands Wren a yellowed notebook. "I wrote down every family it took, and the date. There's a pattern. It always points the morning the crows go quiet, and it can be stopped, but only before sundown that same day." Wren grips the book. The crows went quiet an hour ago.
What happens next?
1 ways forwardWren reads fast. The notebook says: bring the scarecrow something it lost, before sundown. On the last page is a pressed, dried sunflower and the words, "This was the first thing it ever guarded. Give it back." Wren grabs the flower and runs for the field, sun already sinking low.