George the Orphan Crow and the Creatures of Blossom Valley
George the Orphan Crow and the Creatures of Blossom Valley
The previous chapter ended with George having woken from a long coma
and still being treated in hospital.
The evil ladybird, Heather has been captured and is now being tried for her crime.
Heather's Trial
The trial would be held at the Music Hall. As it was too small to hold every single creature of Blossom Valley, it was arranged that the head of each family would pick twelve adult members of mixed gender. They were told what tier they would be sitting and that disciplined behaviour should be observed at all times.
When the double doors of the Music Hall were thrown open, the creatures, obedient to discipline entered the Hall and took their places. On the top tier sat the members of all the bird families. In the next tier down, sat the squirrels, rabbits and hedgehogs, then the ants, Speedo, the snail and next to him Conti, the frog. On the bottom tier, sat Thelma and Orpheo, the butterfly prince. On the far right of the row, tight-lipped, and stormy faced, sat Rosa, Heather's mother. On the small stage of the Hall, stood a desk and a high chair behind it, where the judge, Plato the owl was seated.
Stony-faced, wings folded across his chest, Plato stared towards the entrance as the guards, two stout magpies brought the ladybirds in. Everyone up in the seats craned their necks to get a good view of them as they stood to face the judge. Heather stood at the front, one guard on either side of her and her young sisters stood behind
Plato, rested his stern eyes on Heather and spoke. "Ladybird Heather, you are here to be tried for the wicked deed you committed. You cunningly lured the innocent, gullible butterflies out of the Valley and onto the Devil's Gorge with intent to kill them, but not before you put them through a terrifying ordeal. George the crow, saved the butterflies from a cruel death, but sadly, he can't be here to tell us what happened as he is gravely ill in hospital because of you.
" We did nothing wrong," Heather shrieked casting a hateful glare at Plato. "We were playing a game and having great fun." "Describe to us Ladybird Heather, the game you were playing that was such great fun" Plato demanded.
"Hold on," Rosa blurted out. "My daughter told you, they played a game to have fun. A game is a game and we all know what fun is. What more do you want?" "The question is not for you to answer Rosa, so sit down please," Plato said in a calm but commanding voice.
"No, I won't" Rosa snarled. And you, being the learned judge that you are, have a duty to listen and take note of what the defence tells you. Firstly, my Heather is a kind being. She can be loud and rough at times, but she means no harm. Secondly, I never allowed my daughters to fly outside the Valley. I don't know where Devil's gorge is, so how would any of my daughters know? You, you know-all owl, should know that ladybirds, especially us five spot rare species, don't fly to such heights as only birds can reach. It was the crow who led the butterflies out on the gorge, my daughters simply followed. Once up there, he coaxed them into playing games while he hid in the bushes. What he had in mind was to come out and kill them. Why? Cause he's evil, all crows are. Witches best mates," she hissed through half closed lips.
It did not straightaway dawn on the creatures that the crow Rosa was talking about was George and they all looked at one another with total puzzlement across their faces. Plato choked up in horror and it took him a while before he could get the words out of his mouth. "what did you say?" "What? What?" the crows yelled, their eyes widening in disbelief. "Does she mean it was George?" Then an outburst of raging carks shook the entire Hall. "Get her out of here!" the crows kept carking. "Chuck her out!" the blackbirds and sparrows protested in deafening whooping cries. The din roared inside Plato's head and sent it spinning. He rubbed his temples and took some long calming breaths. "Order! order! everyone!" he cried. After the din had died down, the creatures lapsed into dismal silence. The rabbits, sensitive to this kind of behaviour, were gripped by continuous snuffles and tears but stopped as everyone was giving them funny looks. Afterwards, they started scratching their ears until they bled, and groaned as they felt the pain. The red squirrels snorted, darting their heads up and down, left and right non stop. The hedgehogs gawked at the squirrels then rolled up on their seats and did not move. The ants let out a series of tiny grunts and Speedo, the snail stared at Conti, the frog next to him, then gave a quivering shrill and scooted in his shell. Conti, eyes bulging out of his head, sat chewing on his tongue jabbering. All of a sudden, he jumped up like a jack-in-the-box and still jabbering, took some huge leaps over the seats and landed in front of Plato. He rolled his cloudy eyes and spluttered. " You, of all creatures Plato, shouldn't allow her to tell such sickening lies about George. Kick her out at once!" "kick her out! kick her out!" All creatures stood up and joined in. "Please be quiet! you too, Conti," Plato called. "No, I won't," Conti croaked stubbornly, "cause George is my buddy and I know he wouldn't hurt a dead fly. He's the kindest creature in the whole wide world." His head drooping and tears rolling down his face, Conti hopped back to his seat.
There fell a spell of gloomy silence until Rosa's screechy voice filled the Hall. "Ask the crow. Go on, ask him, but you can't, can you Owl? cause he can't speak. He is in a coma which means he's as good as dead." She curled her lips into a sly grin. "I know, cause nothing escapes me. I heard the old owl nurse telling you. The crow is going to die and whatever he saw out there will go with him to his grave."
There wasn't a single cough, whisper or shuffle in the Hall. They all sat rigid on their seats, gobsmacked and horror stricken. Conti, quietly hopped on the tier above his and tapped Bond, the red squirrel on his back. "Hear, hear!" he whispered. "George isn't in coma. He was, but he's now awake and recovering. Pass it on to the crows and tell them to keep it to themselves and, if you want to know what 'coma' is, it's when we fall into a very deep sleep and can't wake up. Tawny Owl explained it to me. I was at his bedside determined to tell him the dream I had. He was in it, and I reckon that did it. My dream pulled him out of his coma. Tawny Owl was very happy that I did."
After a short spell of gloom and silence, Plato coughed to clear his throat and spoke. "Will Heather's sister come to the front please." A young ladybird, walked to the front and lowered her head in a polite bow. "I am Daisy and behind me is my sister Po...' "Be careful Daisy, my treasure," Rosa shouted. "don't let the old owl lead you on. You must protect your sister, our Heather." The young ladybird looked right into Plato's eyes, her voice steady and clear she repeated. "I am Daisy, and behind me, is my sister Poppy and we are not Rosa's daughters. Heather is, and she did it. She and her mother plotted the whole thing. Heather had tried the hypnotic power of the sleeping weed on some meadow ladybirds. It had worked she told us. The meadow ladybirds, who she called common and worthless, had gone over the edge of the gorge and perished in the brambles. We begged her to stop and she threatened to kill us, didn't she Poppy?" "She did," Poppy stammered. "We're sorry we couldn't stop her..." The young ladybird choked on her tears and sat down. "You ungrateful creatures, after all I've done for you, is this how you repay me?" Rosa broke down into fake hysterics. "Yes it is," Daisy said firmly. "You told us we were strays and a merciful being that you were you'd take care of us. Instead, all you gave us was fear and punishment."
Sadness gripped the silent Hall. Only Conti's loud sniffles and hiccups could be heard. Letting out a deep long sigh, Plato stood up and spoke in a sombre voice. "Fellow creatures, are you ready to give your judgement?" "Yes we are," the creatures replied in one voice. "Only the head of each family will answer my question. Do you judge the ladybirds Daisy and Poppy to be innocent or guilty?" "Innocent!" shouted each family head. "Do you judge ladybird Heather to be innocent or guilty?" "Guilty!" The entire Hall rocked as all creatures stood up yelling angrily, "Guilty! guilty! guilty!"
"Thank you, please be seated now." Then he fixed his eyes upon Heather, searching for signs of remorse, but what he saw in her eyes was malice, darkness and ill will that came from deep inside her. "Ladybird Heather," he spoke, "you have been found guilty of a dreadful deed, and for this reason you are banished from Blossom Valley. You 'll be taken far beyond the hills and plains, so far, that you'll never find your way back. Guards, take her away."
"Liars, liars..." Rosa raved. "what's banishment, huh? You're going to kill her. Say it clearly. Murderers! You'll kill my beautiful daughter, and you," her searing eyes stopped at Thelma, "you, wretched spider, listen to my words cause you'll hear them only once. I vow revenge on you and your precious butterflies." Foam flecked the corners of her mouth and her eyes blazed with such hatred, that Thelma shrank back shivering. While Heather was shrieking, pushing and kicking to wrench herself free from the guards, Rosa stormed out of the Hall. She filled her lungs with gulps of fresh air, then hid under a nearby cluster of bluebells.