After church, Ma and Jenny decided to just come home and lounge around the garden, sunbathing in deckchairs.
Ooty was stretched full out in the shade of the water butt, twitching his feet and probably dreaming about fishing as usual. Ma wore the straw hat covered in red flowers that she'd been given on hiring day. Jenny was wearing shorts, a spotty blouse, a pair of sunglasses and a huge blue floppy hat she'd found in one of Ma's boxes in the barn.
'Oh this is the life.' said Ma sipping her lemonade. 'Don't let me nod off and forget to pick Pinny Pipit up at 4 o'clock.'
'I won't' said Jenny. 'I hope captain Sam won the gold cup this time.'
They both closed their eyes and lay back enjoying the warm sunshine, listening to the soothing singing of the bees in the flower borders.
An odd rustling noise suddenly disturbed them and a shadow passed over their faces. Thinking a cloud had covered the sun Ma and Jenny opened their eyes and looked up. Miss Birdie Stump was standing in front of them.
'I goin' now den Ma.' said Birdie. And she started limping off down the garden path towards the front gate.
Jenny and Ma stared briefly at each other then frantically tried to get out of their deckchairs. By the time Ma had rolled onto the grass and was still struggling to get up off of her knees, Jenny was already behind Birdie Stump grasping at her shawl.
'No Miss Birdie, please don't go.' cried Jenny.
Ooty leapt at Birdie's red knitted shawl and swung from the back of it.
'Pesky puss, pesky scrag.' hissed Birdie taking off her shawl and throwing, it along with Ooty, into the bushes. This was followed by a massive shove that sent Jenny reeling backwards into the flowers borders to land on her bum next to Ooty. Birdie was just about to open the gate when luckily Ma arrived and grabbed her arm.
'Where are you going Birdie? You can't just go off wandering around the village on your own my dear.'
'I gets me some work.' said Birdie angrily. 'I is free hundred and thirteenth you knows, an’ I not stays in barn with smelly mickies no more.'
Since Miss Birdie Stump had returned to Mawpin cottage she had spent all of her time in the barn alone, apart from when Ma had taken her supper out to her, no one had visited her at all. All the scarecrows hated her and even Jenny didn't like her, in fact Jenny was still a bit scared of her. Birdie always moaned about the children poking her at the museum but being shut up in the barn on her own was even worse. Miss Birdie was a problem. Ma just didn't know what to do with her and Birdie Stump was as unhappy as a scarecrow could be, which isn't very unhappy, it just means that Miss Birdie was even more bad tempered than usual.
'Please will come inside with me Birdie?' asked Ma gently. 'I'll put the kettle on and we can have a good chat and a nice cuppa tea.'
'No teas, I goes now.' said Birdie trying to open the gate again.
'Oh dear.' sighed Ma.' her hand firmly on the gate, 'and just when I've got a whole tin full of marmalade iced buns that I don't know what to do with....Oh well, never mind, if you're definitely going then Birdie I guess I'll just have to throw them all away.'
Birdie stopped tugging at the gate and looked thoughtful for a while.
'Well .. Birdie could eats them up for you... an’ then I goes work after.'
Ma winked at Jenny.
'Thank you Birdie, that's very kind of you to help me out with the buns, let’s go and put the kettle on now shall we, we can't have buns without tea.'
Jenny thought Ma was very clever.
Birdie Stump had lived in the countryside museum ever since Ma's parents had died and that was many years ago. Ma couldn't remember what Birdie had done before that. She guessed that Birdie had worked in the fields, probably for two hundred years or more, but now Birdie was too fragile to be out in the wind and rain all the time. Ma made a pot of tea and put a jar of marmalade on the table so Birdie could add a few spoonfuls to her cup. Birdie looked in the cake tin and chose the bun she wanted...they were all the same but she picked one from the bottom first. Jenny and Ooty sat over by the back door and decided to keep quiet. Birdie glared at them both.Ma poured out the tea into the china cups.
'Birdie' said Ma 'what sort of job were you thinking of doing...I mean when you do go to work. There won't be much field work to do after they bring in the harvest.'
'I goes big 'ouse, minds babs.' said Birdie flatly.
She had already eaten her first bun covered in orange icing and was now busy choosing her second. Ma and Jenny were puzzled by what Birdie had said and so gradually Ma coaxed Birdie into telling them about her earlier life. Apparently, when Birdie was first made she was hired out every year to a grand manor house called Stokely Hall. (It had been pulled down years ago but Birdie didn't know that.) When Birdie worked there the women field workers used to take Birdie and sit her in the hedgerow and put their babies (babs) on her lap. They would tie ribbons to the babies waists and tie the other ends to Birdie's wrists. Birdie would have five or six babs on her lap and quietly sing lullabies to them. She would make sure they stayed safe and didn't try to crawl away, while their Mother's picked the strawberries or cut the corn. At the end of the day the field workers would then take Birdie back to her post before they went home. For a couple of hundred years Birdie Stump had looked after nearly every baby in Hod-me-dod-lee. Ma and Jenny were amazed. Nasty old Birdie Stump actually loved babies. It seemed it was when they grew up, became scrags and poked her with pokey sticks that she didn't go much on them.
Ma gently explained that Stokely Hall had gone now and that Mother's no longer left their babies in the hedgerows all day. Birdie looked very sad to hear this as she munched her fifth bun and slurped her second cup of tea.
'Is there anything else you can do?' asked Ma.
Birdie thought about Ma's question over yet another cup of tea while she stirred three big spoonfuls of marmalade into it.
'Cilla tells me does mendin an sewin.' she said at last.
Ma's mouth fell open. She was astonished.
'Cilla does..I mean did. Do you mean to say you did sewing for my great great granny Pricilla?'
'I best at patchin bed fings.' added Birdie. 'Cilla takes ‘em to market. Cilla gives me suckies.'
'Well blow me out to sea.' said Ma 'I never knew you could sew Birdie. Could you do sewing for me – as a proper job I mean?'
Birdie was already choosing her seventh bun and didn't even look up when she agreed
'OK Ma I likes suckies.'
Ma looked at Jenny and winked.
'What are suckies?' whispered Jenny.
'Sweets I think.' said Ma 'Sounds like we'll have to learn how to make boiled marmalade sweets Jenny.'
Jenny nodded and then looked at the clock on the mantle shelf. It said 4.05
'Ma look at the time!' cried Jenny jumping up. 'We forgot about Pinny.'
'Oh my goodness,' gasped Ma ' you run ahead Jenny. Birdie take yourself and the cake tin off to the barn and I'll see you about your new job when we get back.'
When Jenny and Ooty got to the canal, Captain Sam was sunbathing on the roof of his narrowboat.
'Sorry we're late' puffed Jenny nearly out of breath from running. 'Ma's on her way.'
Captain Sam was a handsome young man, tall, thin and as brown as a sparrow from being outside all year round.
'No rush it's a lovely day.' smiled Sam happily as he swung his legs over the edge of the roof and jumped down onto the tow path. The boat rocked madly from side to side and Ooty grinned as he watched the fat orange TigTig desperately trying to cling onto the roof. If cats can laugh, then Ooty laughed like a cat when TigTig suddenly found himself upside down on the tow path.
'Didn't get the gold again but we won another silver.' Sam told Jenny.
'They had a dog show too. If TigTig had been a dog I reckon he'd have won gold.'
'Doubt it, unless it was an ugly dog show.' grinned Ooty to himself wand
ering off down the towpath to do a spot of gardening.
Ma soon arrived puffing like a little train, she'd ran all the way. Captain Sam handed Pinny Pipit to her. Pinny had a big smile on her face.
'Just been telling your girl we got the silver cup again Ma.' said Sam 'Thanks for the hire of the scarecrow. I've got some old ties and a few shirts here if they're any good to you.'
'Lovely, thanks Sam' said Ma. 'Well done for getting another prize. Where you off too now then?'
'Me and TigTig fancy we'll take the boat up country. It'll take us a few weeks but we like to see all the family nownagain.'
'Well bless you and have a safe journey then Sam. Hope to see you next spring.'
'You will Ma. Me and TigTig will send you a postcard. We'll be going all out for the gold cup next year so we'll need your little doll again. Bye for now.'
And Sam waved as Ma and Jenny walked back up the tow path. Ma looked into her apron pocket. Pinny looked very happy sitting inside.
'Did you have a nice time mogelling Pinny?'
'I bootiful mogel showing off.' Squeaked Pinny proudly.