sore and sullen, went to watch television.
It was a program about birds. The hen-bird came tiptoeing onto the screen, thin and brown and nervy, jerking its little head in just the same way that Mrs. Platt did when she explained something for your own good. The cock-bird strutted on and bent its neck back just like Mr. Platt. Then it spread out a great circle of tail and looked exactly like Mr. Platt admiring a greenhouse.
âPlatt, Platt!â shrieked Daniel Emanuel and ran to find Linda.
Linda was cooking. She had tipped in a bag of flour and a bag of sugar, and she was trying to crunch in a dozen eggs with a fork before Mrs. OâFlaherty stopped reading and found her. âIâm busy,â she said. But her sleeve was being pulled in a particular way. She went with Daniel Emanuel and a trail of flour and mashed eggshell and looked at the television. âPeacocks,â she said.
âPlatts,â Daniel Emanuel said. He went into the front garden among the pieces of car and thought of a peacock. When the peacock came, it was blue and green and trailed its tail like a film starâs skirt. It stood in front of a shiny hubcap of a piece of car and looked at itself and admired itself greatly. Daniel Emanuel nodded and thought of a peahen. She tiptoed up like Mrs. Platt going after somebodyâs stray pet. Daniel Emanuel nodded again. âPeacocks,â he murmured. âHundreds and hundreds.â And he thought of himself holding open a gap in the hedge behind Mr. Plattâs greenhouses to let a long, long line of peacocks and peahens tiptoe through. Hundreds, hundreds â¦
When Mrs. OâFlaherty had finished dealing with Linda, she was very relieved to find Daniel Emanuel curled up asleep beside the hubcap of a piece of car. âOh, isnât he an angel!â she said.
And the Platts were suddenly overwhelmed with peacocks. They sat in rows on the cottage roof, and the garden was a mass of tiptoeing green and brown, mixed with spreading tails and horrible sudden peacock screams. Peacocks got in the greenhouses. They invaded the house⦠But long before this, Holly Smith had rushed home shouting the news. Mrs. Smith telephoned everyone in Chipping Hanbury and all the adults promptly pretended to be ill and sent their children to the football field. Mrs. Willis gave up typing for other people and typed instead the news brought by a stream of children on bicycles. James and Sarah cantered from house to house delivering little cryptic notes saying things like: TWO MORE FELL THROUGH THE GREENHOUSES and SHE GOT PECKED and DROPPINGS ALL OVER SOFA and ONE LAID AN EGG IN THEIR LOO and ROOSTING ON TELEPHONE WHEN THEY TRIED TO RING VET.
A row of interested heads watched over the hedge when the Platts tried to get their car out and drive a load of peacocks to the vet. The running, the chasing, the shooing, the squawks and clouds of feathers was quite indescribable. Mrs. Willisâs note summed it up: THEY COULDNâT . So Mr. Platt tried going around to all the houses asking for help. The peacocks seemed fond of him. Twenty or so followed him faithfully from door to door and drowned his voice with screams when the doors were opened. Mr. Platt was sorry to find that everyone opened the door wearing nightclothes and holding a handkerchief to their faces. There seemed to be quite a flu epidemic. So he went home, followed by his procession of birds, and the Platts waited for the peacocks to go away. But they didnât. If anything, there seemed to be more every day.
The Platts stood it for almost a month and then they went away themselves. Everyone recovered from flu in time to wave good-bye to their car as it drove off with peacocks clinging to the roof rack and more hastily waddling and flapping behind. Linda had a marvelous time that day. Mrs. OâFlaherty was touched and puzzled at the way everyone seemed to be thinking of treats for Linda and Daniel Emanuel.
The Plattsâ
It was a program about birds. The hen-bird came tiptoeing onto the screen, thin and brown and nervy, jerking its little head in just the same way that Mrs. Platt did when she explained something for your own good. The cock-bird strutted on and bent its neck back just like Mr. Platt. Then it spread out a great circle of tail and looked exactly like Mr. Platt admiring a greenhouse.
âPlatt, Platt!â shrieked Daniel Emanuel and ran to find Linda.
Linda was cooking. She had tipped in a bag of flour and a bag of sugar, and she was trying to crunch in a dozen eggs with a fork before Mrs. OâFlaherty stopped reading and found her. âIâm busy,â she said. But her sleeve was being pulled in a particular way. She went with Daniel Emanuel and a trail of flour and mashed eggshell and looked at the television. âPeacocks,â she said.
âPlatts,â Daniel Emanuel said. He went into the front garden among the pieces of car and thought of a peacock. When the peacock came, it was blue and green and trailed its tail like a film starâs skirt. It stood in front of a shiny hubcap of a piece of car and looked at itself and admired itself greatly. Daniel Emanuel nodded and thought of a peahen. She tiptoed up like Mrs. Platt going after somebodyâs stray pet. Daniel Emanuel nodded again. âPeacocks,â he murmured. âHundreds and hundreds.â And he thought of himself holding open a gap in the hedge behind Mr. Plattâs greenhouses to let a long, long line of peacocks and peahens tiptoe through. Hundreds, hundreds â¦
When Mrs. OâFlaherty had finished dealing with Linda, she was very relieved to find Daniel Emanuel curled up asleep beside the hubcap of a piece of car. âOh, isnât he an angel!â she said.
And the Platts were suddenly overwhelmed with peacocks. They sat in rows on the cottage roof, and the garden was a mass of tiptoeing green and brown, mixed with spreading tails and horrible sudden peacock screams. Peacocks got in the greenhouses. They invaded the house⦠But long before this, Holly Smith had rushed home shouting the news. Mrs. Smith telephoned everyone in Chipping Hanbury and all the adults promptly pretended to be ill and sent their children to the football field. Mrs. Willis gave up typing for other people and typed instead the news brought by a stream of children on bicycles. James and Sarah cantered from house to house delivering little cryptic notes saying things like: TWO MORE FELL THROUGH THE GREENHOUSES and SHE GOT PECKED and DROPPINGS ALL OVER SOFA and ONE LAID AN EGG IN THEIR LOO and ROOSTING ON TELEPHONE WHEN THEY TRIED TO RING VET.
A row of interested heads watched over the hedge when the Platts tried to get their car out and drive a load of peacocks to the vet. The running, the chasing, the shooing, the squawks and clouds of feathers was quite indescribable. Mrs. Willisâs note summed it up: THEY COULDNâT . So Mr. Platt tried going around to all the houses asking for help. The peacocks seemed fond of him. Twenty or so followed him faithfully from door to door and drowned his voice with screams when the doors were opened. Mr. Platt was sorry to find that everyone opened the door wearing nightclothes and holding a handkerchief to their faces. There seemed to be quite a flu epidemic. So he went home, followed by his procession of birds, and the Platts waited for the peacocks to go away. But they didnât. If anything, there seemed to be more every day.
The Platts stood it for almost a month and then they went away themselves. Everyone recovered from flu in time to wave good-bye to their car as it drove off with peacocks clinging to the roof rack and more hastily waddling and flapping behind. Linda had a marvelous time that day. Mrs. OâFlaherty was touched and puzzled at the way everyone seemed to be thinking of treats for Linda and Daniel Emanuel.
The Plattsâ
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