A few nights later there was a change in the weather, as the night air was not freezingly cold, and Everybody was optimistic that the rain would come soon. It is believed, or maybe it is a scientific fact that if the day and night temperatures differ too much, the possibility for rain is just about nil.
I woke up in the middle of the night after this change in the weather, and felt that something very bad was wrong with my feet, as it felt as if something heavy was lying on them, so I almost fell out of bed, always keeping in mind that the snakes can easily sail in through the roof! It was no snake, but my bedding was soggy, as brown water was streaming through my drapes and onto my bed! At first I groaned and moaned, but as the significance of this got through to me, I stormed to the window to have a peep and make sure that it was actually raining!
It was not only raining, it was pouring, and small rivulets of water was already running down the driveway. It was wonderful, but I had to now look for somewhere else to sleep further, as my mattress was soaked, and the only option was to run down to the bottom in the rain. For the hundredth time I wished that I could find somebody who could put a door in between the main house and the new part, but people were too scared, as the house was built with huge rocks, and they were scared that the whole thing would collapse.
I took a vow to get the roof done, but the mishap with the previous attempt had taken a lot of money, and to get real thatchers, I mean a thatching bussiness, was at this stage a bitty out of my reach. The problem is, when it rains and everything gets wet, I vow every time to have it done, but as it does not rain all that much, I soon forgot about my vow when the rain was over! If I knew it was going to rain, I usually take precautions, so it was not that bad at all, and it was only a few leaks anyway! Mmmmm!
Jan and Nina's chickens had grown into heavy weights while I was away, and the different clans were still fighting each other, as the Greys still lusted after the red hens, and the red cocks did not like that at all.
The poor Don Juan that was so manhandled by the grey cocks the previous year was looking bad, as he had almost no feathers left on his neck, and his body also looked a bit patchy. Jan was moaning that it was becoming impossible to keep the two lots apart, and decided that he would slaughter the grey cock that was as vicious as a teased wasp, and was the main culprit when it came to terrorising the reds.
Jan decided to take his friend's advice and wring the cock's neck.
So, with the whole family chasing after this cock, who was literally running for his life, and as quick as lightning, they managed to corner the poor thing, and Rene, the eldest son managed to catch it, and it was a quite disheveled Jan who walked down to behind the pig's stye to do the killing, while his family hid behind the big Pepper tree, and me safely behind my closed doors!
According to Jan he did just as he was told by Pierre, but when he put the chicken down, this bird did not run a few yards and then dropped dead, but he legged it across the stubby field, his neck sitting at a strange angle, and Jan called in the help of his family to catch the half strangled cock! Not an easy task, as the cock by now realized what was cooking, and fear gave his wings power, and it was quite some time before they caught the by now far from cockey cock.
I went to see what was happening, and Nina told me that Jan was in the store room with the chicken and his ax, and that he was going to chop the cock's head off. After a few minutes Jan came out, holding the now headless chicken by the legs, and he was crying like a baby, swearing that that was his last chicken slaughtering! Once the chicken was dead the family appeared again, and all of them helped to pluck it!