By the time they were five years old, Buck¹, Libby, and Arlo were expected to help around the farm. The hard work seemed to come naturally to Libby and Buck. They always did their chores—and they even knew how to have fun while doing it. Libby loved tricking Buck and getting him to do her work for her.

 

One time, when she didn't particularly feel like watering the crops, she hid in the high stalks of corn with a mouthful of water. When Buck was within range, she aimed and took her shot... spraying him right in the face! Libby quickly retreated into the fields—laughing hysterically² at her shocked brother.

 

Determined³ to get revenge, Buck ran to the trough and filled his giant mouth with water. Libby peeked⁴ out from behind the corn and stuck her tongue out at him, then darted⁵ out of sight again.

 

In his attempt to hit her, Buck sprayed the entire field. When Libby saw that each stalk had been watered, she raced out. Buck chased her through the rows of corn but when he finally caught up, he hardly had any water left. He wound up only spraying her with a light drizzle⁶.

 

With a big smile on her face, Libby called, "Momma! I finished my watering!"

 

"Good job, Libby!" Momma answered back. "Buck, get back to your chores!"

 

Libby grinned as she watched Buck begrudgingly⁷ begin his work.

 

But things were very different for Arlo. He struggled to find his place. Being smaller than his siblings⁸ didn't help matters, but Arlo's biggest problem was his fear. He was afraid almost all the time and of almost everything. And it held him back—making it difficult for him to accomplish even the simplest of chores.

 

One morning, Momma helped Arlo get ready to do one of his dreaded⁹ daily chores: feeding the claw-footed squawkers. He hated those birds. They made terrible noises and he was sure they could pierce right through his foot with their sharp, hooked beaks¹⁰. The way they looked at him with their empty, dead eyes ... it was like they were thinking up different ways to peck him to pieces. Just the thought of them sent a ripple¹¹ of shivers down his spine¹².

 

Momma smiled as she hung the basket of corn kernels¹³ around his neck and gently nudged him with her big tail. Reluctantly, Arlo headed off alone.

 

He slowed as he approached the fenced-in coop. As much as he hated all the noises those feathered fiends made, what was even more eerie¹⁴ was the present silence. Carefully and quietly, he peeked inside, wondering where they were.

 

Just then a rustling¹⁵ in the grass startled him and he jumped, scattering¹⁶ some feed onto the ground.

 

"Who is that?" Arlo asked, looking toward the sound. He craned his neck through the grass and saw Eustice, a fuzzy, little, baby squawker, tangled¹⁷ up in some weeds. Relieved, Arlo bent¹⁸ down to help her. He peeled off the weeds, one by one. And even gave her a kiss on the side of her soft head.

 

As he freed Eustice, a pair of big, old, ugly clawed feet scratched into the ground beside him.

 

Squawk!

 

It was Henrietta, Eustice's scary momma!

 

Arlo screamed as Henrietta chased him away. She screeched¹⁹ and squawked, horrifying²⁰ Arlo with each awful noise.

 

"Aaahhhhhhh!" Arlo screamed as he ran for cover.

 

In his panic, Arlo ran to the silo—where Poppa, Momma, Libby, and Buck were working. He curled himself up in Poppa's tail and closed his eyes. It was his favorite hiding spot.

 

Poppa unwound his tail and looked down at Arlo. "Everything alright?" he asked calmly.

 

"Oh, that?" Arlo said, trying his best to hide his fear. "That was nothing—you know that Henrietta."

 

Poppa chuckled²¹. "You're okay."

 

Arlo watched as Poppa went back to work. He filled the silo with corn through the opening, and closed up the hole with a boulder²². Then he turned and faced the family.

 

"That should do it. Today we are forever through with the critters. Why? Because I have made this silo 100% Critter free," he said proudly.

 

Momma gazed lovingly her husband. "Put your mark on there, Henry," she said. "You worked hard."

 

Then Poppa pushed his foot into a thick puddle²³ of mud, making a footprint, and stamped his foot onto a rock. He lifted the printed rock and slid it into place—at the top of the silo. "There," he said smiling. He turned to his wife and said, "You make your mark, Ida."

 

"What for?" she asked.

 

"I couldn't have built this farm without you," he explained.

 

Then Momma made a mark, too, on the big boulder next to Poppa's.

 

All three kids excitedly charged toward the silo, shouting, "Me, too! I'm doin' it! Mine's going to be the highest!"

 

Arlo moved toward the mud puddle first. He wanted to put his print up on the silo right away. But Poppa stopped him. "Well, you gotta do something big to earn it. Then one day you'll put your mark on the silo. And I can't wait to see it."

 

Arlo was inspired by Poppa's words. He gazed up at Poppa and Momma's footprints, imagining his up there, right next to theirs. He was determined to make his mark.

 

到了巴克、莉比和阿乐五岁的时候，他们就能帮忙分担农场里的工作了。对于莉比和巴克而言，辛苦的劳作似乎也能得心应手。他们经常做一些农活，甚至他们知道如何从中获得乐趣。莉比喜欢捉弄巴克，让他替自己分担一些农活。

 

一次，莉比实在不想给庄稼浇水，就含着一口水，躲在高高的玉米秆中。当巴克出现在她面前时，她对准他，朝他喷了出去……正好全都喷在了他的脸上！莉比赶忙退回田里——对着惊魂未定的弟弟狂笑不止。

 

巴克决心扳回一成，他跑到水槽那里，含了一大口水。莉比躲在玉米地里，向外偷看，还朝他吐舌头，然后又跑得无影无 踪了。

 

为了喷到她，巴克将整个玉米地都喷了个遍。当莉比看到每一根秆都浇了水之后，她才跑了出来。巴克穿过层层玉米秆追赶她，但当他终于追上她时，嘴里的水也所剩无几。他绕了一大圈，也只喷了姐姐一点点水。

 

莉比大笑着叫道：“妈妈，我的地浇好了！”

 

“好样的，莉比！”龙妈妈回道，“巴克，快回去干活！”

 

看到巴克无奈地开始干自己的活，莉比咧着嘴笑了。

 

然而，对阿乐而言，情况却完全不同。他努力想找到自己的一席之地。比哥哥姐姐身材矮小并不打紧，阿乐最大的问题是胆小。他无时无刻不处于担心恐惧中，他几乎害怕所有的东西。恐惧使他逡巡不前——对于他而言，连完成最简单的农活都很难。

 

一天早上，龙妈妈帮阿乐做好了准备，让他去做一件他觉得可怕的日常工作：给长着爪子的夜鹭喂食。他讨厌这些鸟，它们总是发出吓人的叫声，他确信它们锋利的钩状鸟嘴能刺穿他的脚。它们用空洞而死寂的眼神看着他的样子……就像在琢磨用什么方式把他啄成碎片。只是想想，他的脊背就一阵颤抖。

 

龙妈妈笑着把装有玉米粒的篮子挂在他脖子上，用大尾巴轻轻地推了他一下，阿乐不情愿地独自朝夜鹭走去。

 

快要接近装有围栏的笼子时，他放慢了脚步。那些长着羽毛的魔鬼发出的噪声令他深恶痛绝，但现在的寂静却越发让他觉得诡异。他小心翼翼、蹑手蹑脚地朝里看去，想知道它们在哪儿。

 

这时，草丛里传来一阵沙沙声，吓得他跳了起来，把一些玉米粒撒在了地上。

 

“谁？”阿乐望着发出声音的方向问道。他伸长脖子探向草丛，看到了尤斯蒂斯，一只毛茸茸的小夜鹭，它被缠困在草堆里。阿乐如释重负，弯下腰去帮它。他一点一点地拨开草叶，还在它柔软脑袋的一侧留下了一个吻。

 

就在他救出尤斯蒂斯时，一对又大、又老、又丑的爪子紧抓着地面，出现在他身侧。

 

嘎嘎！

 

是汉丽埃塔，尤斯蒂斯可怕的妈妈！

 

汉丽埃塔驱赶着阿乐，阿乐吓得尖声大叫。汉丽埃塔发出尖厉而粗野的叫声，每一声都可怖得很，吓坏了阿乐。

 

“啊啊啊！”阿乐一边大叫着一边跑着找藏身的地方。

 

慌乱中，阿乐跑向爸爸妈妈和哥哥姐姐正在干活的筒仓边。他蜷缩着躲到龙爸爸的尾巴下，双眼紧闭。这可是他最爱的藏身地。

 

龙爸爸收起尾巴，低头看着阿乐。“一切都好吗？”他平静地问道。

 

“噢，那啥？”阿乐极力掩饰自己的恐惧说道。“没什么呀——您知道那个汉丽埃塔……”

 

龙爸爸咯咯地笑了：“没事了。”

 

龙爸爸接着干活时，阿乐看着他从筒仓入口往内装满玉米，然后用一块巨石堵住筒仓口。接着龙爸爸转过身，面向家人。

 

“大功告成了，从今往后我们再也不怕小动物的入侵了。为什么呢？因为小动物百分之百进不了这个筒仓了。”他自豪地说。

 

龙妈妈深情地凝视着丈夫。“在这里留下你的标记吧，亨利，”她说，“你辛苦了。”

 

接着，龙爸爸将一只脚伸进了一个深深的泥潭，让脚底粘满了泥土然后在一块岩石上狠狠地跺了一脚。他搬起那块岩石，把它放在筒仓上。然后，他转向妻子，微笑着对她说：“艾达，你也在那儿留个标记吧。”

 

“为什么？”她问。

 

“没有你，我哪能建起这个农场啊。”他解释道。

 

然后，龙妈妈就在龙爸爸脚印旁边的巨石上留下了自己的标记。

 

三个孩子高兴地冲向筒仓，大喊着：“我也要！我现在就要弄！我的脚印要留在最上面！”

 

阿乐最先冲向了泥潭，他想马上就在筒仓上留下自己的脚印，但爸爸阻止了他。“嗯，你得做一件大事才行，到了那天你才可以在筒仓上留下你的标记，我已经迫不及待想看到那一天了。”

 

阿乐听了爸爸的话，受到了鼓舞，他抬头注视着龙爸爸和龙妈妈的脚印，想象着自己的脚印也在那里，就在爸爸妈妈的旁边，他下定决心要留下自己的标记。

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