Scarecrow
Amanda Hockless
Published by Amanda Hockless
Copyright 2012 Amanda Hockless
Every night Ray watched the Scarecrow’s shadow lengthen, and its nightly fog spread through the town. His bedroom window, one of the few above ground, faced the Fallout Fields, home of the towering figure. Rumor had it that the Scarecrow had risen from the ashes of Fallout almost 70 years ago when a devastating bomb destroyed more than half of Deathdefy’s inhabitants and its toxic gas killed half the survivors. From then, the Scarecrow watched over Deathdefy and became a symbol for its unlikely survival. The townsfolk gave him thanks for their clean daylight hours and were safely underground before sunset when his green-glowing fog let out.
The only life Ray knew was of a hard-working, self-sufficient town. Most folk avoided thinking about the green. A few doubted the Scarecrow and resented leaving him food. Like last winter, when there was less, Ray’s mother, Beatrice had to fog two poor brothers who stole from the Scarecrow’s portion. Fogging was Deathdefy’s death penalty; a conviction from the Marshall meant being left to fend for yourself after dark. Ray felt sorry for them, but after listening to their rants about the Scarecrow he was as glad as his mother to see them go, and no one lasted long once the Scarecrow got to them.
****
During the sunlight hours, Deathdefy was a dusty, melting wasteland. The cracked husks of old dwellings baked with you, the sparse greenery and smooth silver mounds that were the roofs of most folk’s homes shimmered mirage-like from a distance. Ray passed the imposing Scarecrow on his way to help set up the town square for tomorrow’s Kobal Night festivities. Kobal Night was the one night a year that the Scarecrow granted Deathdefy a reprieve from its nightly fog. The townsfolk ventured out from their underground bunkers and celebrated their freedom in the night air.
Ray noticed with annoyance that this year his mother had sent one of her lackeys to help him with the preparations. The girl was slumped on a stack of chairs in the back corner of the pavilion. Her arms were crossed, black hair falling over her dozing eyes, yet somehow Ray didn’t believe this peaceful image. The girl’s curiously high strapped boots were not hanging limp but facing straight ahead as if ready to jump into action. Ray decided to ignore the girl for the moment and just get along as he usually would.
Later, a voice came from beside him as he instructed three kids to string up corn husks around the stage border. ‘Nice how we start the blue-collar so young,’ Ray turned to see the sleeping girl, apparently up, and ready to help where she wasn’t needed.
‘Blue-collar?’ Ray asked. He recognized this girl. She was the one who told his mother about the Scarecrow thieves in the winter. Beatrice had been very impressed, nothing was better to her than blind loyalty. The girl had been personally apprenticed to her, ever since.
‘It’s Ivy, by the way,’ she said bluntly, ‘and blue-collar?’ She smirked, ‘it means hard work, no play: the Deathdefy way.’
‘I’m Ray,’ he blurted out, surprised by Ivy’s joke. In Deathdefy folk knew that in order to survive, self-sufficiency was the key and that required ‘hard work and no play’. ‘Where’d you pick that up?’ Ray asked instead, being one of the few inhabitants who could read, it was rare for Ray to come across an expression he had not heard.
‘Oh, just here and there,’ Ivy replied frustratingly vague. Ray couldn’t imagine what his mother saw in this creature, apart from loyalty.
Throughout the day, Ivy’s constant shadowing wasn’t exactly annoying but she made a lot of comments that Ray was sure his mother wouldn’t approve of. He was still perplexed by her presence, when he remembered his conversation with his mother that morning.
‘Ray!’ his mother’s voice, still thick from sleep called him from the kitchen.
‘Yes Beatrice?’ Ray chimed, although she was his mother, she was also Marshall of Deathdefy.
‘I gotta tell you summ’ Ray,’ she said, ‘I think we’re approachin’ a situation with the townsfolk.’
‘What kind of situation?’ Ray asked.
‘M’not sure yet, ever since those fools stole from the Scarecrow, folk haven’t been happy. Nothin’ like this has happened since your grandma was Marshall, I smell rebels breedin’.’
‘Rebels, wait, what happened with Grandma Eliza?’ Ray asked.
‘Not your problem, just b’careful out there.’
Ivy must be here as an extra eye to watch the townsfolk, as they helped set up the bonfires. Ray had noticed that instead of a communal atmosphere, many of the older folk watched carefully, and talked quietly in huddles. Now that Ray thought about it, Kobal Night would be the perfect opportunity for crime. He had read about evil doers using the cover of darkness, but never really considered nighttime as an opportunity. Apart from Kobal Night, it was only suicide.
‘My mother told me she’s been worried about the townsfolk, is that why you’re here, to keep an eye on things?’ Ray asked Ivy when the afternoon was getting ripe and the town was emptying out.
‘What exactly did Beatrice say to you?’ Ivy asked.
‘Only that ever since you dobbed in those brothers, she’s sensed unrest.’
‘Yeah, I’d say that some folk are getting mean towards old Mr. Scarecrow,’ she said, as if it was natural, ‘it’s been a long time since Fallout, folk are starting to want things a little better, I’d say they’re not as scared of the Scarecrow’s nightly gas works as our granddaddies were.’
Ray was getting disturbed, ‘but what about those Scarecrow thieves in winter, they were fogged.’
‘Well that’s just it,’ Ivy smirked, ‘everyone knows they didn’t come back, they also know that Beatrice didn’t haul their bodies out to the Fallout Fields like she normally does.’
‘Why are you spreading these rumors anyway? Don’t you work for my mother?’ Ray asked.
‘Don’t we all?’ Ivy replied, ‘I’m just saying what I’ve been hearing other folks say, that’s my job.’ She stalked away. Now, Ray was not so glad to be rid of her. Although this whole conspiracy was far-fetched, he wanted to hear more about the supposed rebellion.