My Precious Friends

Early morning, the sun just up over the horizon. Its easy at this time, my friends in the barn still lazy. Will have to feed them soon, grass and corn and the like. People always say tending to animals is difficult, but I say bah to them. You just need a little know how, and observation. They aren’t so different to us. As I sip my tea, however, I hear tires screeching up this way. Easy to hear that out here, nearest home is a mile away. A grey sedan, Mary is coming in a hurry. She pulls up to my house fast, I'm almost afraid shell run into me.

"Edna, Tommy's gone to!" she yells. I rub my ear, she’s awful loud. "The police can’t find anything either."

"Maybe he left early. He was moving to the next county over if I remember." I answer her. "I'd love to chat, but I need to tend to my animals. Feel free to come with if you want." I tell her as I get up. She just looks at me in surprise, or shock. I can hardly tell with the young people. Still she follows me, maybe worried about me, or not wanting to be alone.

"You do know what’s been going on don't you?" She asked me, grabbing a bag of feed I was about to lift. We do raise children to be mannered in these parts, so I'm happy that stuck. "People have been vanishing all over."

"Oh I know all that. I've known most of the people in this county near on twenty years." I explain as I enter the barn. Inside are all my friends. A pair of horses, male and female, a few pigs, a cow and several chickens. I have them all separated in spacious pens. We go about feeding them as we talk. "Ever since they decided to move they been vanishing. I keep well informed on the good folk. I still think they just left early. The sheriff isn’t well funded out here. Probably can't do a proper search."

"How can you be so calm? Don't you think they would have told you if they were leaving early?" Mary askes. She's new to the area, moving in to an abandoned farm three miles away. She doesn’t know how we do things. People just get on with it. Just then I hear loud squeals; I turn with a start. Poor Mary fell over just as she put the pig slop down. The little dearies saw her and immediately sounded. Frantic little things, not used to others beside me.

"Now you all behave. Mary is here to feed you." I command. They didn't listen, but they did get the attention of the other animals in the barn. At once they turned to Mary and called out. "Dear lord you all, its not like you’ve never seen another person before."

"What's gotten into them? They are spooked by something. I'm telling you, animals know things we don't. They can tell something foul is happening, this is a warning." Mary tells me. I laugh.

"That’s your new fangled superstitions. The good lord wouldn't let something foul happen to good people." I correct her. "I'm the only person they ever see. They are just excited."

With a nod at her silliness I go about feeding the rest. They quiet down, whatever they wanted now lost. Mary continues to help, but she stops at each one. Looking into their eyes, searching for something. Mary always seemed the odd sort, nice and mannered but odd. She offers to help clean the pens to, and only a fool would refuse good help. I may be in good shape but an old woman I still am, after all. As she’s cleaning out the pig area she takes a long look at the hair on one of their heads.

"Clarence has hair like this pig." She tells me. "I don't normally see pigs with enough hair to style. You do that on purpose." The pig in question looks up to her when she says the name.

"Of course, Clarence always acted like a little piggy. Could always get him to help out if I offered him a pie." I explain. I see a small chuckle but likely forced. I can tell she’s still worried about the people who’ve gone missing, bless her. She looks at the other pigs, something about them catchers her attention.

“I’m fixing on leaving.” She finally says after a long minute. I’m brushing the mane of one horse, stopping as the words come out her mouth. “Not for long, just a little while. Somethings off, someone or something is taking people.” I relax a little on hearing that.

“Maybe a few days away will do you good. See some family.” I offer.

“You should come with me. If something is wrong here, I don’t feel good leaving you on your own. I wont lie, I won’t be coming back if they can’t find anyone.” She tells me. I laugh a little at that, shaking my head.

“A little spooked and these young people always want to run away. That never solves anything, does it Bruno?” is say to the horse. Mary looks at me a for a moment.

“Bruno, like that handy man who went missing?” she asked.

“Just the same!” I say with a laugh. Now she looked worried, confused. I sigh and leave Bruno alone. He and the other animals watch me, and as one they sound off. Mary looks around again, even more confused. I move to the barn door and reach inside a little wooden box. Easy as I can I pull out an old, withered book. “Rigescunt Indutae” I shout. Mary tenses up, her jaw clenched, limbs like lead. She cannot move. I take a deep breath, then walk over to her. “Mary, you are a good women, and I consider you a friend. Like everyone here.” I say, and though she cannot move I can see the recognition in her eyes. “That’s right, all our neighbors, didn’t vanish. They’re in here, with me. My friends.”

I leave it a moment, just in case she has trouble. Hard to tell when she can’t talk, so I continue.

“Twenty years, we’ve all been friends for twenty years. Now, land prices go up, crops aint growing as well, no money to pay the handymen, you get the idea. They wanted to move, and I don’t think that was a good idea.” I explain. “Moving on, strange place, no guarantee of work or income. Seemed to me to much risk. So, I made a better choice for them. My husband, good man, died some five years past. Left me alone, but with a decent nest egg and this little book. Turns out he found superstations interesting. Didn’t know it was a spell book. Off topic, sorry dear.”

She looks at me, her eyes able to move at least. I know she wants to say something, but it wont matter to much now. She deserves the truth, I think, so I tell her. A small part of me feels guilty about this though, I’ll admit that.

“These people, they did right by me. So I was going to do right by them. As animals, no worries, no money problems. I can take care of them all easy enough. And a small selfish part of me, wont be lonely. I was never leaving this land, so it’s a benefit to everyone. Now, to you Mary. The police don’t believe in these superstations, even if they saw this book it wouldn’t matter. Probably think its and old bible, for the lord lets us do magic, I think. So, you’d end up leaving, and that is just not good. You know now, so I’ll do for you what I did for them. It won’t hurt, don’t worry.” Then I whisper the incantation. “Sicut Ovis”.

At once her body contorts. She hunches over, and squeezing and morphing into hooves, he clothes turn into wool, her face elongates. Its never a pretty sight, I wont lie. But there and then, before me, is Mary the sheep. I can see horror in her eyes, but that’s just the way of it. She will get used to it soon enough. Just like all my precious friends.