Episode 18 - No Rain Thanks

Gee, Freddy's in a good mood. He's marching around the farm with a beaming smile and singing as he goes - "It's finals time! It's finals time!" Hey, that's our footy finals song. I guess he likes to remember the time he scored that winning goal for the "Crop Cannibals".

"Looking forward to next year's footy season Freddy?" I asked as he passed by.

"Of course I am Billie, but at the moment I'm looking forward to the farm finals - you know, the harvest," he replied. "Actually, I've been invited to do the Harvest Report for the Downsanup Downs News and I'm pretty excited about that. I've already written my notes on how good the seeds look. They've dried out just enough to be ready for harvest. All I need to report on now is how much seed we've all made. It's going to be a great story! "

"You'll have to wipe that smile off your face Freddy," came the sound of a familiar voice from underground. Albert Annelid pushed his head out into the air. "I just know disaster's on its way!" he said. Freddy and I sighed. Albert's always predicting disasters. "What is it this time?" we asked. "Rain!" he replied. He gave us a 'just think how bad that will be look and wriggled back under the soil.

Oh dear. Albert's right. Rain at this time of the year means fungus, and fungus is BAD. If it gets on the wheat, the Jones won't earn enough money to send Jason to Japan, and being mouldy will make Wally Wheat even more depressed than he was last year.

"There's no time to waste Billie," said Freddy when Albert had gone. "If Albert's right, we've got to make sure the Jones get the crop harvested before the rain comes and spoils everything."

We talked about how to do it as we walked to the farrmhouse to see the Jones. Freddy thought that if we all cooperated, we could drive the header (that's what we call a harvester). Some of us could work the pedals, while the rest of us steered and navigated through the paddocks. "Chelsea Chickpea would be a good navigator, and we must keep Mike Medic away from the accelerator. Now, if we did a 6 hour shift each day, and if Mrs Jones, Julie Jones and Mr Jones each did a 6 hour shift as well, we'd harvest 24 hours a day, and get the job done much faster," Freddy concluded as we approached the sheds near the farmhouse.

Hey, that looks like Jason. What's he doing home from boarding school? Has he come to help with the harvest? Will Freddy and his gang get to drive the header? Now that's another story...