Stray Pea

     "Wow, Momma, look at this." Anna stood very still staring out the french doors at the porch railing.Hearing the hushed tone in her voice, TJ tiptoed to stand next to her. "His tail goes all the way to the floor," she whispered in excitement. I stood between them gazing at the stray peacock that had found its way to our porch railing.
    
Back story
     PeaPea, better know as Pea, has been a part of our family for a year and a half. We have all, including Bob- who becomes quite angry when Pea eats freshly sprouted corn, cabbage, beans, or any other garden vegetable - yes, even Bob, have grown quite fond of him. Pea eats cat food out of our hands, pecks bugs off our shirts, hollers before the 5:00 AM alarm, roosts on the back porch, comes when called, and has been known to make his way into the house via the doggy door. Anna and TJ think he is really cool, as if living on a hobby farm isn't unusual enough. Pea sets them apart. None of the other children have a peacock for a pet.
     Two weeks ago Bob called us to the chicken house. "You've got to see this." He had a specific tone in his voice that he only gets when he makes a new discovery, like the day he stood 36 inches from a live beaver frozen like stone on the shore, or the afternoon he brought two very large snakes from the chicken house into the living room - three girls went screaming out the back door, down the stairs, and as far away as we could get on that memorable day.
     Forming a pre-school style line, I followed Bob, Anna followed me, and TJ followed Anna. "Look," he said nodding his head toward the tractor. He was hard for me to see amongst all the chickens, but I didn't know what I was looking at. Then he informed me, "That's not Pea."
     Not many days after Stray Pea made himself comfortable, I noticed Pea was not grazing with the chickens as is his normal routine. I called from the back deck. No Pea. I shook cat food in a plastic container. No Pea. Worried, I went looking for him, first to the hen house. I slowly opened the door - snakes, you know - and what did I see but Stray Pea strutting in the middle of the chicken floor and my poor PeaPea huddled under the roosts, in a corner! Stray Pea, on seeing me, skidaddled out the chicken coop. Pea stayed put. It took some coaxing, but finally Pea cautiously crept out of the corner and followed me back to the yard.
      The next day, instead of Pea foraging with the chickens, it was Stray Pea. I am not going to have my Pea treated as the outsider in his own home! All I had to say was "shoo!" Mister and Ellie Mae took off after that bird with a fervor! They chased Stray Pea high into the pine trees and there he sat until evening when he disappeared into the forest.
      That was five days ago. We were all convinced that our little ten pound dogs had informed Stray Pea who is boss around here. Apparently we were wrong, for there he perched on the porch railing with a perfect view into the dining room. On the other side of the deck, in his normal seat sat Pea, next to the kitchen door, his neck strained to peer in the windows.
      Maybe they are forming a bond. If not . . . I hear peacock is a fine delicacy!