3. Danger Farm

Hess stayed calm. Or maybe he was too old for a fight. The ropes tightened around him as the other animals didn’t dare interfere.

Kuku didn’t doubt and bit through the ropes with full force. When someone pulled the net upwards, she moved along with it.

Someone stood on the roof and wanted to claim their prize. Kuku’s paws dangled high above the ground.

“Very kind,” said Hess, “but unnecessary.”

With a sudden burst of speed, his claws slashed through the ropes and turned it into twenty useless fragments. He fell to the ground.

As opposed to cats, dogs aren’t very capable of always landing on their feet. Hess awkwardly crashed onto his back and rolled outside. The other animals strained to prevent Kuku from doing the same; they narrowly kept her inside.

“Hess? Where did you suddenly come from?” Elize’s hand was still on the door handle.

Hess ran away and tried to see who stood on the roof. Him and Kuku only saw an unrecognizable shadow that fled the premises.

The watchdog bumped into Harry.

“Ah! Finally you came alive. Found Kuku? No, of course not, lazy dog. We keep you around because our family has kept you for many generations, for otherwise …”

He didn’t see the invisible shed at all. Was it also untouchable? Otherwise he would’ve accidentally bumped into it at some point, wouldn’t he? In his ignorance, he walked past and pushed Elize inside.

Kuku wanted to walk to Hess, but the animals held her close.

“You stay here until we have a solution.”

First she’d felt safe. She could stay inside this invisible shed forever, right?

But once the other animals left her and locked the door, it jut felt like anther barn. Another tiny cage, without sunlight, without fresh grass.

At least Harry would not be able to touch her udders here. She saw how much it hurt when he milked mother with his large, clunky fingers.

Elize wasn’t much better. She imitated her father and thought you had to use all your force. And if an animal didn’t cooperate, she also yelled that it was a stupid animal.

No, she had to leave. They all had to leave. She didn’t believe for a second that Harry would really clean up his act and save the farm.

When the door opened again, Kuku didn’t know how much time had passed. The red light and the tall shadows betrayed that it was sunset.

“Harry is loading the truck,” Hess said hurriedly. “Come, come outside for a bit.”

Kuku hesitantly stepped outside, but stayed inside Hess’ large shadow.

Two trucks stood on the gravel path. Chest after chest of eggs and milk were loaded into them. It was unfathomable. One such chest could contain thousands of eggs. All the cows would be milked for months to fill one such trick.

And still they came back, almost every week, like a hungry monster whose stomach is a bottomless pit.

“Pardon?” screamed Harry. “The price agreed upon was one Soliduri per liter milk.”

“Fine, the Graviers Farm next door sells them for only ninety cents,” said a man in a suit. He leaned against the truck’s ribbed side. “We’ll go there instead.”

“This is madness! My earnings are down to almost zero. People should pay for quality.”

“If we make milk more expensive, nobody will buy it anymore. Then you’ll earn exactly zero.”

Harry crumpled the contract they’d offered him. Then he folded it open anyway and pushed it flat against the truck with the palm of his hand.

He signed the contract. “Thieves. All of you.”

The man in suit shrugged. “Your choice to run a farm.”

“You think? You really think that? You’re not only thieves, you’re braindead too!”

Harry stopped helping them load the truck. He greeted Elize, who cycled over the gravel on her way back from school.

Hess quickly pushed Kuku in a different direction. A different patch of grass behind the house. Here too, the grass was incredibly tall and could easily hide many animals.

“What does harry mean?” Kuku asked. With a mouth full of grass, she tried to imitate the noises she heard. “That you have been their dog for generations?”

He smiled. “I had the pleasure to experience the very first owner. A chimpanzee that established this farm, called Chef. Back then it was called Sulliwe’s Pride. Back then the world still had magic. Back then most Heavenly Objects were still on Somnia, in the hands of good beings.”

He shook his fur and watched as Harry squashed five eggs in frustration. Eventually, Elize had to take over the task.

“I was there when a sickness broke out that I’d never seen before,” Hess mumbled, his eyes trained on the tracks. “When someone left open all the doors and electricity vanished for a week without reason.”

Harry yelled at some cows and shut the barndoor with force. Elize apologized to the truck driver with some quick excuse.

“And all that time, the farm was passed on to the eldest son or daughter.”

Kuku looked around her. The electrical fence extended all the way to this spot. Harry seemed to put more moohney into making his farm a prison than caring for the animals. How could they ever escape?

“Harry didn’t want this,” said Kuku absently. “But he was required to take over the farm.”

“I can’t justify how he treats the animals,” said Hess bitterly. “I also don’t see how he could do anything else. He earns less every month and has to run this huge farm on his own.”

He leaned forward. “Elize works too much, it’s illegal. That’s child labor—and I was there when it was abolished! She misses more and more days of school. But if she stops helping too …”

Kuku’s four stomachs were full for now. She wanted to return to the safety of the shed; she wanted to roam freely through these meadows forever.

Darkness had fallen. Some lights on the walls flickered on, just enough to create white splotches. Harry had never paid for better lighting.

“I don’t like it that someone tried to capture me,” said Hess. His voice wavered for the first time. “It wasn’t Elize or Harry. Someone who could see the shed, even use it.”

“Mooh? How did you discover the shed?”

Hess smiled. “There is one Heavenmatter that I’ve been able to keep in this family all this time.”

He walked away. “I must stand guard. They don’t call me a watchdog for nothing! You must hide somewhere else, the shed isn’t safe anymore. Visit the horses.”

She dove into the grass and relied on its cover. The horses were all the way on the opposite side of the gravel road. They had no stables: they were either working or sleeping in the open air.

This meant she had to walk right past the house. No doubts. Don’t dilly-dally. Run!

She ran past the kitchen wall at full speed. She was short enough to stay well below the kitchen window. Still the lamp activated immediately.

Two seconds later, she scraped past the outer wall of the living room. There too, the lamp sprang to life and the window opened.

“There you are!” screamed Harry.

He kicked the doors open wide and stepped outside with a hunting rifle.