The Flying Lesson. Pat Clarke

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      Laya was resting in the shade when Rex found her. ‘Do you want to know a secret?’ he asked the new hen.

      Laya’s eyes shone brightly with interest and she nodded eagerly. Rex strutted closer and spoke softly into her ear, telling her she was the most beautiful hen he had ever seen.

      Laya blushed and twittered, ‘That’s not a proper secret!’

      Rex laughed. He never let a chance go by and hadn’t been able to resist a bit of flattery. ‘Okay, then,’ he said, and whispered the secret.

      ‘But remember,’ he told the amazed Laya, ‘you can only tell one other

      bird. That’s the rule!’

      With that, Rex launched himself onto the hen house roof and waited for the fun to begin.

      In no time at all, the other hens had gathered around this newest member of their community, clucking and cackling with

      curiosity and bursting to know what the rooster had told the new

      girl.

      Laya, puffed up with importance, called for silence. As a hush fell over the barnyard, she explained the one-bird rule concerning secrets, and told them to line up, one behind the other.

      When things settled down, Laya whispered the secret to the first hen in the queue, which then turned and whispered it to the second, and so on and so forth, all the way down the line.

      By the time the secret reached half way, the hens looked a bit uneasy.

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