FOOTBALLS, COWS AND BROKEN GLASS?

     Jacob jumped from the tree and took off for the barn.  He was going to be in big trouble if Uncle Charlie saw that broken window before he had a chance to explain.  It wasn’t his fault the football went flying through the glass; Megan was supposed to catch it.

     “That’s what happens when you try to play football with a girl,” Jacob muttered.

     “What was that?”

Jacob spun around and was nose to nose with his twin sister.

     “Megan, I thought you’d gone in the house,”  he said.

     “No.”  She answered.  “Hey, why were you running?”

     “I thought I saw Uncle Charlie going into the barn.”

     “We should tell him about the window, Jacob.”

     “Tell him!  Are you crazy?  We’ll be grounded for a month.”  He threw his hands in the air.

     “He’s going to know it was us,” said Megan.  “It’s not like one of the cows could have done it.”

     “That’s it!”  Jacob roared.  “We’ll blame it on the cows.”

     Megan raised an eye-brow.  “And how do you plan on blaming a cow for a broken window?”

     “Just let me think.”  Jacob answered placing one hand on his chin and the other on his hip.

     “I hope you know Jacob, standing that way won’t make you any smarter,”  Megan sneered.

Jacob’s normally floppy hair was pasted to his face like papier mache in the afternoon heat.  A slight breeze rustled the nearby wheat field, but did nothing to cool the air.

     “Jacob, it was an accident.  You didn’t mean to throw the football through the window.  You just have a terrible arm.  Let’s just tell Uncle Charlie the truth.”

Jacob gave his sister a push.

     “It wasn’t my throw, it was the catcher who is lousy.”

     “Well, it doesn’t matter how it happened.  It happened and eventually Uncle Charlie’s going to find out.  If we tell him first, maybe we won’t get in as much trouble,”  Megan pointed out.

     “I still think we can blame it on the cows.  What if we said a raccoon ran through the barn and scared the cows?”

     “Likely story.”

     “One of the cows accidentally kicked one of those metal pails that Uncle Charlie keeps feed in, except this pail was empty.  The cow was so frightened it kicked the pail like a football, and it went through the window!”  Jacob said excitedly.

     “You honestly think a cow could kick something that far?”

     “I saw it happen once on television.”

     “Whatever Jacob.”   Megan shook her head and walked toward the barn.

     “Where are you going?”  Jacob asked.

     “I’m going to find Uncle Charlie to tell him the truth.  A cow kicked a pail and broke the window.  You’re too much, Jacob.  Too much.”

Just then Uncle Charlie came out of the house.  Jacob and Megan froze in their tracks and stared knowingly at each other.  Jacob tilted his head slightly and gave Megan a “Don’t even think about it” look.

     “Hey kids,” said Uncle Charlie “Have you seen my metal pail?  It’s not in the feed shed.”

     “No,.”  They answered honestly.

     “Maybe I left it the barn.”  Uncle Charlie trudged off toward the barn.  Jacob and Megan shuddered at their impending doom.

     “What on earth?”  Uncle Charlie bellowed.

     “Uh oh!”  Jacob whispered as Megan put her hands over her face.

     “Kids, come here and look at this.”

     “What, Uncle Charlie?” said Jacob in the most innocent voice he could muster.

     “One of those darn cows must have broken this window again.  I don’t know how they do it, but they do.”

Uncle Charlie picked up a rake and handed it to Jacob.

     “You kids don’t mind cleaning up the broken glass do you?  You’d better clean all the stalls, just in case the glass scattered.

     “We don’t mind at all, Uncle Charlie,” said Megan giving Jacob a confused look.

     “Be glad to help,” Jacob echoed.

Uncle Charlie chuckled as he left the barn, and the two spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the old straw and manure from the stalls.  When the work was finally done, they emerged from the barn exhausted and dirty, but happy that the cows had been blamed for the broken window and not them.  They noticed two glasses of lemonade sitting on the porch with a note attached to their football.

     “Found this in the barn.  Love, Uncle Charlie.  P.S.  Thanks for cleaning the stalls!”

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