Escape on Cloverdale Farm

   It was a bright sunny morning in mid-June on the Cloverdale farm.
    The Cloverdale farm was a very unique farm.  It lay sprawled on several acres of swamp and pond ground, with some pasture land and enough dry ground for buildings and some exercise pens.  But that wasn't the only way it was unique.  It's name had some meaning to it.  You see, the farm got it's name because that's what it's inhabitants ate.  Clover.  And the dale part has some significance to it too.  You see, all the inhabitants had the name “Dale” or some form of it.  There was Dale, the oldest inhabitant, and Deli, Dala, Daly, Dela, Delta, Dalta.... and Chip.  (Yes, that does go with Dale.  Chip and Dale, remember?)  But the most unique thing about the inhabitants was not their names, not their location, but their identity.  You see, they were turtles!  Red Ear Slider turtles!  And giant ones, at that. 
    The owners of Cloverdale farm were Farmer Joe, Mrs. Joe, and their children, Joellen, Joella, Joellie, and Little Joe.  They had all been named after their father.  Cloverdale farm was full of people and turtles who had alike names.  We will now, however, get back to the action of the story!
    It was feeding time on Cloverdale farm.
    Joella and Little Joe had morning feeding chores.  They swung a bale of clover between them as they entered the breakfast building.
    Dale, as usual, was first in line and as soon as the clover was dispersed, he gulped down a few bites and crawled to the top of his favorite rock.  He sat like a king with his claws crossed, surveying his subjects.
    Deli spied a big bit of clover and grabbed it away from Delta.  Dale narrowed his beady eyes and crawled rapidly down from his rock and over to the fighting turtles.  He whacked Deli on the head with his right claw and backed off in pleasure as Deli shrank back into her shell and left the clover for Delta.  Soon breakfast was over with no more incidents, and Joella and Little Joe rounded the turtles up and herded them into the west pasture.  They returned home to find out the agenda for the day.  Joellen and Joellie were already in the agenda room, so Joella and Little Joe raced to their seats before Farmer Joe and Mrs. Joe got in.
    “Alrighty, Joellen, you're assigned to patrol duty today.  Joellie, you'll be checking the clover supply and clover fields.  Joella, Little Joe, I noticed the west pasture fence needs fixing, so you two can work on that.”  Farmer Joe read down the task list.
    “The-- uh -- d-did you say, the west pasture fence?”  Joella stuttered, her eyes wide.
    “Yes.  Is there a problem?”  Farmer Joe asked, looking up from the list.
    “Um, well, um,” Joella gulped.  “We put the turtles in the west pasture.”  Farmer Joe’s eyes widened.           The Red Ear Slider turtles of Cloverdale farm were infamous for their escaping and hiding tactics, and if they weren’t stopped it could take days of high tech searching to locate all of them!
    “Oh, no. Oh, no!  All right, Let’s go, let’s go!”  Farmer Joe lunged for the door, the task list falling neglected to the floor.  Mrs. Joe and the children scrambled after him, tipping their chairs over in their haste.  Poor Little Joe was last in line and stumbled over the fallen chairs and task list, falling head first to the floor.  He righted himself quickly and sped after the others, grabbing his hat from the hat rack on his way out.  It wouldn’t do to forget that, no matter how urgent the situation.
    The Joes quickly loaded their miniature jets with ropes and cages and sped off into the air over the swamp ground.
    You see, if you will remember, this farm was located on swamp acres, thus, making it very difficult to go after fugitive turtles on anything with wheels! 
    So they loaded up in their jets.  They had three jets, so they could go in pairs of two, one manning the jet while the other searched.  This made it very convenient to go on turtle chases.  Though of course this didn’t happen very often.  It was merely a precautionary action.  It’s always better to be safe than sorry.  Now where was I?  Oh yes, the turtle chase!
    Mr. Joe and Mrs. Joe and all their children gunned the engines on their jets and flew over to the west pasture.  No sign of the turtles.  They’d already made their clever escape.  The fleet of jets flew on toward the swamp grounds, the passengers’ eyes peering through binoculars to try to spot the turtles. 
    Many tense minutes passed. 
    “Air! Air!  Quick, Joellie!  I need air!”  Joellen gasped, eyes wide.  She was so nervous her hands were sweating and she was loosing her grip on the controls.  Joellie’s eyes widened in terror and she fumbled with the controls on her side, frantically trying to find the air conditioner switch.
    “Hurry, hurry!”  Joellen wailed, fighting the controls with slippery hands.  Her right hand slid off and the plane dipped to left, the wing coming dangerously close to the ground.  Joellie’s hands flew, still not finding the switch.  Joellen grabbed at the controls, gripping them at the last second and the plane righted itself with a violent jolt.  Joellie’s hand flew up and hit something.  A blast of air exploded through the cabin of the plane.
    “No, no, no!  Not that much air!”  Joellen cried above the noise of the wind through the opened windows.  Joellie’s jaw dropped, and then she quickly recovered and resumed her search for the air conditioner switch.  She found the close windows switch first and the cabin began to heat up again. 
    “Joellie, what’s wrong?? Why can’t ya find the switch?”  Joellen was about to panic.  Just as her hands began to slip again, Joellie’s hand hit the right switch and a blast of cool air swirled through the cabin.  Joellen relaxed and concentrated on flying again as Joellie adjusted the binoculars and began to scan the ground.....
   
    “Look!”  Little Joe cried in the plane he and Joella were in.  Joella kept her eyes on where she was going and said,
    “What is it?  You see something?”
    “Yes! Look!”
    “No, I can’t!  I’m flying here!”
    “Oh.  I kinda forgot.”
    “Uh huh.  Then how’d you think we were flying?”
    “I don’ know..... oh!  I saw Dale.”
    “WHAT?”  Joella swung the plane in a tight circle and started flying back the way they’d come.
    “Up ahead.”  Little Joe said.
    “Little JOE!  Why didn’t you say something before I turned around?”
    “Well, you were in such a hurry I didn’t want to disturb you or anything.”  Little Joe grinned and started to chuckle.
    “Lil’ Joe, this ain’t a laughing matter!  We’ve got to get those turtles home!  Now you better get your rope out and be ready to get Dale!”  Joella instructed as she turned the plane around again. 
    “Alrighty!  I see him again!”
    “Okay.  Can you get him?” 
    “I think so.”  Little Joe frowned in concentration as he lowered his rope through the opening in the floor and got himself into a position to rope the turtle.  Joella began flying in a tight circle around Dale so Little Joe could get a better aim.  He twirled the rope around and around, aimed, and then let it go. 
    “Got ‘im!”  He cried triumphantly. 
    “Can ya haul him up?”
    “If I tie the rope to the pulley.”
    “All right then.  Tell me when you’ve got him and I’ll radio the others.”
    “Ten four.”  Little Joe connected the rope to the pulley and began to haul the big turtle up.  Several minutes and gallons of sweat later, the monstrous turtle was safe and sound in the cage.
    “Pa, do you copy?”  Joella asked.
    “Yes, go ahead.”  The voice came over the radio.
    “We’ve got Dale.” 
    “Good!  See any of the others yet?”
    “Not yet.”
    The search continued.  ...
    “Joella?”
    “Yes, Lil’ Joe?”
    “I’m hungry.”
    “Hungry?”  Joella shot him a disapproving glance.
    “Well, it is nearing dinnertime, after all.”  Little Joe explained, raising his eyebrows.
    “Well, if we could find these turtles, we could get home and eat dinner!”
    “Oh.  Right.  Well, let me finish this chapter and I’ll get back to looking.”
    “Finish your chapter??? Little Joe!  You’ve been reading??” Joella’s jaw dropped in dismay.
    “Well...”  Little Joe grinned sheepishly.
    “We’ll never get any of those turtles found if you’ve got your nose in a book!  Now get back to looking, would ya?”  Joella said, greatly exasperated.
    “Oh, all right, all right.”  Little Joe scowled and grabbed up the binoculars again.
    “Hey look!”  He shouted.  “I see ‘em!”
    “You do?  Where?  How many?” 
    “Right there, on that little island!  I think it’s all of ‘em!  Lemme see...  There’s Deli, and Dela, and Dala and Daly and Delta and Dalta!”
    “Where’s Chip?” 
    “Um.... he ain’t there... oh, wait!  There he is, swimming towards the island!”  Little Joe exclaimed excitedly.  “We’ve got ‘em!”
    “Not yet, silly.  We’ve just spotted them, is all.  Why don’t you radio the others and get us some help?”  Joella instructed.
    “Why of course!”  Little Joe hurried to the task and soon the other two jets were circling back towards the island.  With the expert roping of Mrs. Joe, Joellie, and Little Joe, soon all eight turtles were safe and sound in the jets, and the family was headed back towards the ranch. 
    Once the three jets had been safely landed, the turtles were herded into the barn and locked in tight for safekeeping until the fence in the west pasture could be fixed.  Then the family headed into the house for a long awaited and much needed meal!  After all, such hard work builds a mighty big appetite, especially for growing children like Joellen, Joella, Joellie, and Little Joe!
   
                The End!