The Body in the Barn

Yesterday, we had three teenagers staying with us. They were heading home last night, so before they left, I thought I'd put them to work. I took them out to the barn, which was still full of, shall we say, remnants of the previous owner's horses. I gave them each a shovel. Then I went back in the house since the baby was asleep.

Once the baby woke up, I carried him out to the barn with me to check on their progress. The stalls looked great, but what caught my attention was a voice saying, "I'm telling you, there's a dead body up there." I made my way to the back of the barn. "Hey, guys, what's going on?"

Andrew looked up at me. "We think there's a dead body in the hay loft."

I felt myself doing the single eyebrow raise. "Huh?"

"It looks like a complete set of clothes, and it kind of smells nasty up there."

"Okay," I said. I mean, what else could I say? I wasn't going to climb up there. Immediately, I had visions of police cars in the driveway, crime scene investigators swarming through the barn, the zippered black body bag being carried away. Yes, I watch too much Law & Order.

Apparently miffed that I didn't seem to believe them, Rachel decided to climb up again and take another look. She kept letting out these little shrieks, which were all due to the wasps flying around up there, and maybe a spider or two. Then she yelled, "There are teeth!" My blood ran cold.

"No, wait," she corrected, "it's just a wasp's nest."

Andrew climbed up behind her, but neither of them would actually approach the "body," so they both came down again.

When hubby got home, Andrew informed him of our potential crime scene. Fearlessly, hubby climbed into the loft. A moment later, he emerged. "Yeah," he said, "somebody left their jacket up here." Mystery solved.

There did turn out to be a body in our barn, complete with feet: a dead chicken. I'm thinking CSI won't be stopping by any time soon.