“Private Chuck Bob!”
       “Yes Colonel?”
       “We did it Private Chuck Bob, we did it.”
       “Yessir. Uh sir?”
       “Yes Private Chuck Bob?”
       “Uh, what did we do? Sir?”
       “Well isn’t that obvious Private Chuck Bob?
       “Uh right sir. Obvious, sir. Um, sir?”
       “This is the port, private Chuck Bob, and that ship, that is arriving, that is the ship on which our target is currently hiding. There’s no escape now private Chuck Bob. We have simply to wait in hiding here where the gang-plank will land, and wait for two young people and a chicken to disembark before we step up and apprehend them!”
       “Wow sir, that’s a great plan sir, but sir?”
       “Yes Private Chuck Bob?”
       “What happens if they put up a fight or run away or something? Sir?”
       “Well, Private Chuck Bob, that’s the best part.”
       “Which part is that sir?”
       “The best part, Private Chuck Bob, heh heh heh, I have a trick or two up my sleeve, Private Chuck Bob. A trick or two.”
       “Sir, you are a very wiley operator, sir. May I ask, sir? What is the trick you have up your sleeve?”
       “You may, Private Chuck Bob, you may. In fact, they should be arriving just about . . . now!”
       “Sir! Oh my gosh, sir!”
       “That’s right Private Chuck Bob, the many vehicles loaded with dedicated soldiers that are disembarking around you just now are the elite squad of special forces for the Lithuanian Guard. I called in an old favor back at the airport, and they’ve come through in spades! With this fighting force surrounding the ship, no one will escape. Not this time!”
       “Sergeant!”
       “Yes sir!”
       “Deploy your troops around the perimeter of this docking facility. Don’t let anyone leave without being searched.”
       “Yes sir! What is the target sir?”
       “The target is a small, brown, chicken, sergeant.”
       “A chicken? Sir?”
       “You heard me sergeant, that chicken is of the utmost importance to the security of the United States of America, and truly, all of civilization. We must apprehend it. Are you clear sergeant?”
       “Yes sir!”
       “And sergeant?”
       “Yes sir?”
       “Keep this in mind, and tell all of your men, we have intel that this chicken may be hiding in a bowling ball bag. Look for those specifically.”
       “Yes sir!”
       “Good, now go, and deploy your soldiers accordingly. Now, Private Chuck Bob. We’re ready. We’ll get that chicken. We’ll get that chicken this time.”
       
       ***
       
       “Captain? You need to look at this.” The first mate was looking over the rails of the top deck of the shipping vessel. What he saw made his heart sink.
       “Yes, Yuri? What is it?”
       “Sir, take a look at the landing slip. We’ve got trouble.”
       The captain took the binoculars from the first mate and scanned the port. “Well,” he said at last, “we knew there would be trouble. I didn’t think the special forces would be involved, but it makes no difference. Will’s plan is a good one, and it doesn’t matter who is in the port waiting.”
       “But sir, the soldiers, do you think they’ll shoot us?” Yuri had gone quite pale.
       The captain gave a hearty laugh, but couldn’t hide the strain in his voice. “Why, Yuri, these are our countrymen!” He said, “they could no more shoot us than if we were their own brothers.” The captain slapped Yuri heartily on the back, and moved of to rejoin his steering crew on the bridge. Yuri picked his binoculars up again and began to nervously scan the port, noting the size and quantity of machine guns the special forces employed.
       On the bridge, his steering crew was carefully plotting their trajectory into the port. Small murmurings of minor course corrections and the sound of static over the radio with the port authority were the only sounds that filled the small space. The tension in the room was thick. Somehow word of the soldiers at the dock had spread quickly amongst the crew.
       On each of the sailors’ minds was the fact that at this very moment, Will and Sally were in a small dinghy headed to a little park not far from the port. That they were alone, and that the group of sailors who had become so close with them in such a short time would be unable to help them if something happened to them. Which, with the arrival of the soldiers, seemed even more likely.
       Just then, Moze walked into the room. The captain looked up from his charts and graphs. “You look perfect, son. Is Jonas ready?”
       “Yes, captain.”
       The captain looked over the young man. The ship’s barber had done an excellent job of dying and cutting his hair, and with the clothes switch, the look was nearly perfect. He was the spitting image of Will. Just then, Jonas came into the room. He was a slight man, and despite the best efforts of the ship’s barber, looked quite a bit less like Sally than Moze looked like Will.
       There were a few laughs as Jonas walked in, wig and all, but the captain’s serious gaze stared them down, and the men fell back to doing their work in silence. “Jonas, lad, come here.”
       Jonas walked over to the captain, gaze slightly down. “Jonas, my boy, chin up. You’ve been chosen for a very important assignment. You may have heard, there will be soldiers with guns at the port. This is a very serious business, indeed. Crimson’s only chance will be if you give her time to escape. You must be swift, and you must be clever. And there is a high likelihood that you will be captured. When this happens, you must not resist, or they may shoot you.”
       Jonas recoiled at these words, but the importance of his work sank in, and he held his head a little higher. He nodded a curt nod. “Thank you captain. I will remember your words.”
       The captain broke the formality and pulled Jonas into a long hug. “My lad,” he said, “may the winds of fate keep you safe always.” He wiped away a tear and then went back to his work station. Jonas joined Moze and the two of them walked out onto the upper deck.
       The captain’s voice called out on the intercom all over the ship: “My lads, now is the time for docking! We will come to a stop very soon, and then the plank will reach the shore, and then, my lads, then! Then we will sing the songs of our fathers and rejoice as old friends meet old friends and the north wind which brings cold chaos is defeated and summer reigns through the hearts of us all!
       A great cry came from all around the ship. Cheers and then, slowly at first, but building and building, the sounds of a song – an ancient song of wood and wine and the sea – rose up from all the decks as each man according to their rank and voice, joined their voices until the ship rang with their call to challenge fate and time and any enemy who dared stand in their way.
       And the ship lurched finally to a stop. They had arrived.
       
       ***
       
       “I don’t know about this,” said Sally, “the water’s awfully choppy, do you think we’re going the right way?” They had been in the dinghy for several hours and now the sun was just beginning to crest over the horizon. Sally and Will were navigating by compass, and the little motor in their craft seemed fit enough.
       “I think we just have to stay the course,” said Will. “We’ll get there in good time. Follow the compass and we’ll arrive all right.”
       They had been dropped off out of sight of the port, and were given a bearing to follow. Their landing target was a small park to the north of the port. Actually, most of the coast to the north of the entrance to the port was park, and so they really just needed to head east, and they’d hit something. Still, Will and Sally were nervous.
       “I just hope it works,” said Sally for the millionth time.
       Will let out a sigh, “I know Sally, I know. But I think it will. Anyway, Crimson Hen has confidence that it will.”
       “You’re right,” she said again for the millionth time, but there was tension between the two. A minute or two of silence passed before she said again, “but what if it doesn’t? What do we do if it doesn’t?”
       “It will!” Will was beginning to lose patience, but even still, he shared her concerns. Just then, a dark line appeared on the horizon. “Look, Sally! It’s land, we’re going to make it.”
       They shared a moment of revel and happiness with the thought of landing on the shore and disappearing into the Lithuanian countryside. Will looked down at the bowling ball bag at his feet, and smiled to himself. We’re going to make it! He thought to himself, and tightened his grip on the handle of the little motor pushing them toward shore.
       Minutes passed, and the little line grew longer and wider and thicker and darker. Suddenly, Sally sat up sharply pointing, nearly upsetting their little craft. “Will!” She shouted.
       “What! What is it?” Will turned to crane in his seat to see what Sally was pointing at. On their tail was a small dark blob, just visible in the morning haze.
       “What is that?” Sally asked. They both watched it for a while and it dawned on them at the same time that the little blob was rapidly growing into a bigger and bigger blob. “It’s a boat, Will and it’s headed straight for us! Can this thing go any faster?!”
       “I have it full out, I’m afraid,” Will said grimly. He was looking at the land ahead and back at the rapidly advancing boat, and then back at the land. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it, Sally, it’s going to be close.”
       “Oh Will, it’s a military vessel, it has guns on the deck! Will, I’m scared! I think we’re caught Will, what will we do?” Sally was kneading her hands with anxiety. “What are we going to do Will?”
       Will looked down at the bowling ball bag and said with his teeth gritted, “We’re going to keep going, Sally, we’re not going to give up until Crimson Hen has found her friends!”
       The little boat plunged on in silence as the giant military craft over took them in leaps and bounds. Then the little boat was a hundred yards from shore, then the military boat, loaded with soldiers passed them and went screeching into the shallows coming to an abrupt stop. Dozens of heavily armed men piled out of the boat into the shallow water. They were clearly well trained in this kind of maneuver because by the time the little dinghy pulled up to the shore, they stood in a tidy semi circle around where the dinghy came to rest, weapons trained directly at Will and Sally.
       “Hands up!” Came the command. Will and Sally stepped out of the little dingy onto the shore with their hands up. Will looked at Sally, and Sally looked at Will.
       “I’m sorry Sally.” Will said quietly into the silence.
       Sally was suddenly calm. Waves crashed around them, though nothing else seemed to move. There was no breeze in the early morning. Something in Sally gave, some primordial thing, something she’d been carrying for a long time that the crisis of their current circumstance made impossible for her to carry any longer. So in her heart, she laid it aside. Something about her fears being realized made them seem less important. Less powerful.
       She looked at Will and smiled. “I love you, you know.” Will forgot about the men with guns. He forgot about being undocumented in a foreign country. He forgot about Moze and the Captain and the crew. He even forgot about Crimson Hen. He just looked into Sally’s eyes. And he smiled.

        “Who taught this sheep to drive!” yelled Alise as they whipped around another corner.
        “I don’t knoooowww!” Nebraska called as he strained against his seat belt on the next corner.
        “I drive good?” The sheep’s broken English would be adorable, if they weren’t hurtling down the road at a break neck speed, narrowly missing guard rails and trees along the way.
        “Do we have to go so fast?” Alise asked at the next break in the curves.
        “Well,” said Nebraska, “if Crimson is in the capital city, she might need our help.
        “That makes no sense,” said Alise, “we have no idea where Crimson is. It’s extremely unlikely that she’s in the capital city. Unless, of course, you know something I don’t know.”
        Nebraska stared out the window into the darkness. Dawn would come soon, and he didn’t know what hope they had of finding Crimson Hen, but they had to try. Something, he thought, something was telling him that the Sheep’s haste was warranted. He couldn’t say what for sure, but he felt in his bones that Crimson Hen needed him.
        “Where should we go to find Crimson Hen if she were in the capital?” Nebraska said out loud. Always make a plan. His stomach was in knots. He missed Crimson so badly, but he knew in his heart that she was still alive. He knew, somehow he knew that she still drew breath.
        “What about the airport?” Alise said.
        They all thought a minute about that.
        “No, no good,” said Nebraska, “she wouldn’t be able to get on a plane. She’s a hen, after all.” They were silent again. “The question is, where did she go when she disappeared?” No one had a good answer, and the sheep took another hard turn and they all strained against their seatbelts. “But if she had appeared nearby, she would have made her way back to us quickly. If not . . . who knows if she’d be able to get back to Lithuania.”
        Alise said, gently, “who knows if she’d know to come here.”
        They were silent a while. Then the sheep pointed at a sign they passed. “Port!” she shouted, and hit the brakes hard while spinning the steering wheel. Alise tumbled out of her seatbelt against the window, smearing her face against the glass. Nebraska slipped down into the wheel well. Somehow the Sheep was able to stay in their seat as the car took the exit from the highway on two wheels.
        When they were back on the road, and all the car’s wheels were on the ground again, Alise said meekly, “Please, little Sheep, please don’t do that again.”
        Nebraska swallowed hard to keep from being sick. “Yes, please, don’t do that again.” After he recovered for a minute, he said, “what did you say?”
        The sheep smiled, “port! Where are boats.”
        The car was silent again as Nebraska and Alise digested this information. The sun was peaking above the horizon. “That … is a good idea,” said Nebraska. “We don’t really have a better plan. Let’s check out the port.”
        “Ok,” said Alise. “you’re right, we don’t have a better idea.”
        They drove on again in silence as the dawn broke around them. Soon, the three travelers began to see signs that they were approaching the port. Tall ships lined up along a narrow channel. The Sheep mercifully slowed the car to a reasonable speed.
        “What should we be looking for?” Alise asked?
        “I don’t know,” said Nebraska Rooster, “anything out of the ordinary?”
        They were silent for another minute or two as they crawled along the main road along the port area. Suddenly, the Sheep hit the brakes hard, throwing Nebraska Rooster into the windshield, and sent Alise tumbling forward against the back of the front seats.
        “What! Was that?” Alise said.
        “MmDrrrph Drr Drppfh,” Nebraska Rooster said from the footwell.
        “There!” Said the Sheep, pointing down the road and off to one side.
        Nebraska pulled himself up and looked where the Sheep was pointing. “My god!” he said.
        Alise pulled herself together and followed where the Sheep and Nebraska were looking. “Well, that’s got to be something, don’t you think?” she said.
        Down the road the little group could see truck after truck disgorging a huge contingent of army soldiers.
        “Yep,” said Nebraska Rooster who was letting a knowing smile cross his beak. “That looks like we’ve found Crimson.”
        The Sheep put the car into gear and inched forward. Then they parked the car behind a group of shipping containers. Carefully, they got out and inched their way around to a spot where they could see more clearly what was going on.
        Off in the distance they could see a large cargo ship coming to rest at the dockside. They could see dozens of soldiers dressed in all black with large guns stationed around the docking area, weapons at the ready. Then, they listened as a sound rose up into the morning air. It was singing. A beautiful sound of singing rose up and up and up. It was coming from the cargo ship, and it was getting louder.

        When the singing had risen to it’s loudest pitch, the crew started down the cargo ship’s gangplank, two abreast. Among them, hidden to the eyes of the soldiers, were the two small crewmen disguised as a young man and a young woman. Each and every crewman carried a black, bowling ball bag.
        A whistle blew. “Over there! One of the soldiers shouted as Moze and Jonas slipped out of the crowd and made their way hastily down the side of the docking slip. A whole group of soldiers broke away and gave chase, but the two little crewmen were quick, and knew the layout of the dockside. They quickly disappeared into the tangle of cargo and equipment that lay around everywhere.
        Another whistle blew. The remaining crew, laughing and slapping each other’s backs, completely ignored the presence of the soldiers. They ignored calls to halt. They ignored calls to put their hands up. The soldiers were completely dumbfounded. Their guns at the ready, they couldn’t seem to bring themselves to shoot happy, laughing sailors as they departed the ship. Finally, a soldier stood directly in front of one of the crewmen, and seized his bowling ball bag. Without a word, he dumped it over. Plop! Out dropped a heavy bowling ball, right on to his foot.
        He dropped his gun, howling in pain. The seaman clapped the soldier on the back with a hearty slap! which knocked him over. The sailor calmly picked up his bowling ball and kept on walking.
        Other sailors began to be stopped by the soldiers. One by one their bowling ball bags were dumped over, only to reveal simple bowling balls. As the soldiers were looking at each other with confusion and dismay a cry went up. “Over here. I’ve got them over here!” There was a rush as soldiers ran over to where the voice was calling out. A circle of guns pointed at Moze and Jonas as they were corralled, back to back.
        “Wait!” came a shout. It was the Colonel. “I want to be the one to capture the chicken!”
        There was a snort from one of the sailors, followed by a chorus of guffaws, then loud raucous laughter. The soldiers looked uncomfortably from one to another, but each held their ground. The Colonel, followed closely by Private Chuck-Bob walked through the soldiers and into the circle where Moze and Jonas were standing back-to-back. Triumphantly, the Colonel walked up to Moze and ripped the bowling ball bag out of his hand, opened it, then tipped the contents out.
        A bowling ball was the Colonel’s reward. Shaking with fury, the Colonel grabbed the bowling ball bag out of Jonas’ hands, which, when dumped out, produced nothing but a regular bowling ball. Jonas gave an exaggerated smile and shrug of the shoulder.
        “What is this!!” cried the Colonel. “WHERE’S THAT CHICKEN!!??”
        The sound of laughter from the sailors was all that could be heard. Then one, then another of the soldiers put their weapons down and backed away from the circle.
        “Wait!” cried the Colonel, “you haven’t even searched the ship!” But it was too late, the soldiers were packing their gear and preparing to leave. The Colonel ran up to the Captain and demanded an explanation.
        “I’m sorry we didn’t find your, um, chicken, Colonel. A favor is a favor, but this is one favor that is tapped out. Sorry.” Then he too began to pack his gear. Soon the dockside was empty except for the Colonel and Private Chuck-Bob. They sat on an empty crate looking stunned.
        On board the cargo ship, Crimson Hen poked her chicken head around a corner to see what was happening.

         Will and Sally stood on the beach, holding hands. If there wasn’t a group of soldiers standing in a ring around them pointing guns at them, Will would have felt a deep fluttering in his stomach. Sally felt the same way. As it was, they both felt a great deal of fear, never having had so many guns pointed at them all at once.
         There was a deep pause as the soldiers stood at a rigid attention. A soldier that seemed to be the leader barked an order, and the soldier nearest Will, walked forward and began to gesture to Will to set down his bowling ball bag. Will and Sally were frozen in place. A warm wind blew in from off shore. A bird flew overhead, and Will’s eyes followed it unconsciously. Then he slowly slowly slowly set the bag on the ground.
         The soldier very carefully and very deliberately bent down and agonizingly slowly opened the bowling ball bag. He quickly flipped it over. Out fell a bundle of the captains baggy floral underwear. The soldier twitched and then moved to Sally and her bowling ball bag. She set it down and backed up. The soldier carefully, but more swiftly opened the bag and dumped out the contents. A bundle of dirty kitchen rags fell onto the ground. The soldier looked at the lumpy pile then at Sally, then fell back into position. No one moved.
         Then a phone rang. The sound burst into the scene loudly. It was a salsa dance tune. The ring cycled once, then twice. None of the soldiers even twitched. Will noticed that the nearest soldier had a line of sweat running down his forehead. The salsa dance tune began ringing a third cycle when a soldier at the back of the ring swiftly dropped his rifle and pulled out a phone, speaking something quietly and sharply into it.
         There was a pause as the soldier listened into the receiver. Nothing stirred. The soldier said something sharp into the phone and then in one swift movement slipped the phone into a pocket of his fatigues. He shouldered his rifle and issued a sharp command. In one swift motion, every soldier stood tall, shouldered their rifles, and filed onto the boat they had come in on. Two soldiers pushed the boat away from the shore before jumping on board. The engine roared to life and a moment later Will and Sally were alone on the shore.
         They still stood holding hands. When the reality of their situation finally dawned on them, Will looked down at his hand holding Sally’s. He looked up and found she was looking at him. He met her gaze, and they held there, then he leaned in and Sally leaned in and they kissed. And then the tension of being pursued by the military and being held at gun-point released and they fell into a long and grateful hug. When the moment finally passed, Will and Sally walked further onto the shore and looked around.
         “Well, what do we do now?” Sally asked.
         “I don’t really know,” Will replied. “I haven’t really thought about what to do past our job drawing the military away from Crimson Hen,” he looked out at the sea thoughtfully. “What do you think made the soldiers leave like that?”
         “I’m sure they got a call from a superior, and got an order to go,” speculated Sally.
         “But, why?” Will said.
         A moment of silence passed between them.
         “We might never know,” Sally said finally.
         “Yeah,” said Will. “That was weird.”
         “I guess we just wait. Someone will come find us eventually, don’t you think?” Sally said.
         “Uh, yeah,” said Will. “We should wait.
         The pair sat down on an old log next to the frontage row along the shore and looked back out to sea. They sat this way for a long time. Then they could hear a car approaching. Will stood up and followed the car as it wove its way toward them. Sally stood next to Will and peered down the road as the car veered and swerved along the highway. It was lucky there wasn’t any other traffic.
         Pretty soon they could see that the face behind the wheel, which appeared to be quite white and furry.
         Will spoke what they were both thinking, “Sally, is that a . . . a . . . sheep?” “I think . . . I think it is.”
         They both stood at the side of the road in silent awe as the car pulled up next to them.
         “You come me?” The little sheep said to Will and Sally.
         Will looked at Sally and Sally looked at Will. They shrugged, and opened the rear door and slid into the car. The moment the door was closed, the little car lurched and pulled a hard U-turn, then sped down the road.