"Come on Gertrude!", said Tricksy, a silver penciled Plymouth Rock bantam hen. "We need to clear out this attic. My family moves in here tomorrow." Tricksy was small in size, but she sure could take charge.

I started rooting through a dusty box.

"Hello there!", said a large hen named Sunflower. "Sorry I'm late but I needed a snack break."

"Before we even started?", I asked.

"Let's get to work!" Tricksy reminded us, so I went back to the box. Under an empty scratch bag, a heat lamp, and some dust, I saw an old tattered book. On its cover, I could barely make out the words: Journal of Lt. John McCluck. I started reading the first entry.

April 18, 1775; I was on lookout duty in the coop tonight. Around 11:30 pm I heard a man riding a horse through the town of Lexington, Massachusetts, where I live. He was yelling, "The British are coming!" But his voice wasn't strong enough for the people to hear him. No one was awake and no one was getting up. I knew I had to do something, so I mustered up my strength and crowed my loudest. After nine of my best and strongest crows, a light went on in one of the houses. A person, holding an oil lamp came out of the house just in time to hear the man on the horse yell, "THE BRITISH ARE COMING!!!!!"

I was amazed! I had a famous rooster as my great-great-great-great-great Grandfather! I kept reading........

April 21, 1775; Today there was a battle here in Lexington, and at the end, a flag of the thirteen united colonies was raised. I think if I had not crowed a few nights ago when I heard the man, the outcome of the battle would have been quite different. Today I was named an an honorary Lieutenant as a reward for my military heroism. If any of my offspring are reading this, I want them to know that I helped to free the colonies from British rule.

As I slowly closed the journal, I heard something clink on the attic floor. It was a lieutenant badge. I picked it up and placed it back in the book. My head was swimming with thoughts of the American Revolution. A sneeze brought me back to my task at hand, and I saw Tricksy and Sunflower up to their beaks in dust and knickknacks. I put the journal in the keep pile and went on to the next box.