HomeMy WebLinkAboutVillage Squire, 1980-01, Page 9The berry thief
BY G.P.
Danny Stubbs finished weeding the garden with a sigh of
relief. Boylike, he dropped the hoe at the end of the row without
returning it to the tool shed. "The gang'll be at the blacksmith
shop." he told himself, aloud. It was Elm Corners' one ongoing
attraction.
The moment he rounded the corner, he knew something was in
the wind. The four, the only other teenagers in the hamlet
besides himself, had drawn away from the big open door and
were whispering out of earshot of the men inside the smithy. He
was greeted with a "Hi, Stubby," and motioned to join the little
knot.
"Pete's been nosing around. Taylor's strawberries are hitting
their peak. so we are planning a raid for tomorrow. How about it,
Kid?"
Danny's mind was suddenly awhirl. He was in no way opposed
to snitching fruit, but this was different. Fred Taylor's was the
first farm beyond the Corners and next door to the Stubbs home.
They bought their milk from the Taylors who were close friends.
His only other source of pocket money other than a small
allowance for doing the chores were odd jobs on the Taylor farm
when an extra pair of hands were needed. On the other hand he
wanted to stay in with his buddies. In addition no one around
grew such fine berries. His mouth watered in contemplation.
Finally caution won. Pete and "Dib" Elder the parson's son
never could resist clowning. The risk was just too great. "You
gotta cut me out this time. Pop and Fred are pretty good friends.
If I did get caught, there'd be no more jobs on the farm. And,
well -darn it all the Taylors are almost family. I won't squeel.
You know that."
There were subdued hoots and catcalls. Words like coward
and scaredycat surfaced, but left him unmoved. Junior Hayes
summed it up: "We can get along without you if that is how you
feel."
When hungerpangs broke up the group at noon Danny had
resolved secretly that while he would not join the others, he'd
find a way of getting his share of the lush berries. He planned
accordingly.
The raid was to be staged at 1:00 the next day since it was
common knowledge that Mr. Taylor always took a brief nap after
lunch. They would approach the berry patch from the rear, using
the shallow valley cut by the creek for cover. Then they would
slip under the fence, never once having to show themselves on
the horizon.
A good 20 minutes before the appointed time, Danny moved
into the valley and hid himself in a small thicket where he could
watch events from the far side of the creek.
In the beginning all went as planned. Then "Dib" Elder's
subdued laughter broke on the quiet summer air. Taylor's dog
barked sharply and Mrs. Taylor followed by her son, emerged
from the door of the back kitchen to see what the noise was
about. The four were clearly identified by young Fred as they
tumbled over the fence in their hurry to escape.
All this Danny noted from his hidingplace. He waited until the
two men had moved off with the team toward the field behind the
creek where they were engaged in summer ploughing. Then he
moved in quietly through the same hole his companions had
used, ate his fill and slipped away confident in the belief that he
had not been spotted.
In those old days the law abiding folks of the little Methodist
community were of one opinion about the way to raise boys,
'spare the rod and spoil the child.' Mrs. Taylor sounded the
alarm. By nightfall each of the culprits had been introduced
anew to either belt or razor -strap. In addition the four were
ordered to visit the Taylor farm and apologize.
That evening after supper, Danny chanced to look down from
his bedroom window just as Fred Taylor opened the front gate.
At once he felt the finger of fear run along his spine. "Could he
have been spotted after all? He crept softly to the stove -pipe hole
and knelt down to listen, just as his Dad invited Mr. Taylor into
the house.
Their neighbour was known to be long-winded and leave the
thing uppermost on his mind to the last. 1t was no consultation to
the nervous lad upstairs as he listened to the men talk of the
weather, the crops, events in the capital and the news of an
earthquake in Turkey. He couldn't have been spotted, and yet---.
He waited twitching, every minute expecting his name would
come up. He began to wonder if he stood up and looked into the
, mirror whether his hair might be turning grey. He had read of
such things. His hands were clammy.
On droned the conversation below. "Guess you heard about
those young devils that got into our berry patch."
His Dad agreed that he had. "I'll warrant they all got their
backsides tanned for them."
• you take your young Dan." There was a pause. The
listening boy heard a match strike.
At last it was coming. The tention brought beads of sweat out
on the crouching boy.
"Now take your Dan," the voice repeated. "There's a good
lad. He wouldn't get mixed up in such things. When you see
him, tell him he is to come over and have a good feed for being
an honest boy." Slumping against his bed. Danny pulled out his
handkerchief and wiped his forehead. Next day the honest boy
had his promised feed, but somehow the strawberries didn't
taste just right. That night as he lay in bed Danny pondered the
events of the past two days. "I'll be sixteen in October, he said
softly, "It's time I grew up." Years later he confessed to the
Taylors when he presented them with a large box of chocolates.
"They are really payment with interest," he told them, "for two
big feeds of strawberries."
January 1980, Village Squire 7