The Extra Eggs

Edda lives in a small house. It is at the end of a quiet road. Behind the house there is a garden. In the garden there is a little wooden hen house. Three hens live in it. One is white, one is brown, and one is grey.

Every morning Edda walks to the hen house. She carries a basket. She opens the small door and counts the eggs. Three hens, three eggs. It is easy.

On Tuesday she opens the door. There are four eggs. She counts them again. One, two, three, four.

"That is strange," she says. "I have three hens."

She looks at the hens. They look back at her. The white hen makes a small noise. It does not tell her anything.

On Wednesday there are four eggs again. On Thursday there are five. Edda stands in the garden with her basket. She is very surprised.

"Do you have a secret?" she asks the hens. "Do you have a friend?"

The hens only eat their corn.

Edda looks at the new eggs. Her own hens lay brown eggs. But two new eggs are small and light blue. They are very pretty.

"These are not your eggs," she says. "Who lays blue eggs?"

At lunch she talks to her neighbor across the road. He is a tall man with a big beard.

"Do you have hens?" she asks.

"Yes, I have four," he says. "But I get no eggs these days. I do not know why. They look healthy."

"What color are your eggs?" asks Edda.

"Light blue," he says. "They are always blue."

Edda starts to smile. "I think I have your eggs," she says.

"My eggs?" he says. "How?"

"I do not know yet," says Edda. "But I will find out."

On Friday she gets up very early. The sun is not yet up. She makes a cup of tea. She sits on a chair near the hen house. She does not move. She does not make a sound.

The garden is cold and quiet. A bird sings in the apple tree. The grass is wet.

After an hour, Edda sees something at the back fence. It is a small black hen. She is not one of Edda's hens. She pushes through a hole in the fence. She walks across the grass. She walks very fast, like a person late for work.

The black hen goes straight to the hen house. She hops through the door. Edda waits. After ten minutes the black hen comes out. She walks back to the fence. She goes through the hole.

Edda opens the hen house. There is a new blue egg in the corner.

She laughs so much that she spills her tea.

Later she walks across the road with her basket. The neighbor opens the door.

"Good news and bad news," says Edda. "The bad news is this. Your black hen visits my garden every day. The good news is that I have your eggs."

The neighbor puts his hand on his head. "She is a thief!" he says. Then he laughs too.

"I will fix the hole in the fence," he says.

"Please do not fix it too fast," says Edda. "I like her. She is a hard worker."

They put six blue eggs on the table. They share them in half.

The next day the neighbor brings Edda a pie. It is warm and it smells of apples.

"I made it with your eggs," he says. "Or with my eggs. I do not know anymore."