The animals sat there watching the men and pigs drink, argue and play cards for a few more minutes, then down heartedly made their way back to the barn. They went inside and lay down for the night hardly making a sound. All the farm animals except Clover. She sat outside the barn trying to contemplate what had gone wrong, how the pigs had changed things back to an even worse state than during the days of Mr. Jone's. A tear welled up in her dimming eyes as she turned to enter her stall. Suddenly she saw a light moving in the field behind the farm house. It looked like a lantern swaying close to the ground, about the height of a dog or pigs mouth walking on all fours. Were her eyes playing tricks on her? She walked towards the lantern light. It was moving swiftly across the field. She saw the light bouncing off of other animal figures behind it. It looked like a group of very big dogs. She wasn't sure as her old eyes weren't what they used to be. As she approached the corner of the barn, she could make out definite shapes. It was a pig walking on all fours carrying a lantern in it's mouth followed by 8 very large dogs or rather wolves! Behind the wolves was another pig she did not recognize and a donkey pulling a cart with a large drum strapped to it in a crude way. Several crows sat atop the drum. A lump formed in her throat when she recognized the pig- it was Snowball! He approached her quickly and talking with the lantern in his mouth said, "Be very quiet- what I do, I do for all the animals of Animal Farm." She nodded in disbelief, then started to say something, when Snowball cut her off with a long "Shhhhh-." As the donkey got closer she could see it was Benjamin who pulled the cart, with Moses and another crow atop the big container. Snowball nodded his head first one way and then another, making odd growling noises as he did so. The wolves broke into two groups and encircled the house. They caught one of Napoleon's guard dogs on the far side of the house and ripped its throat out quietly before it could bark a warning. Snowball turned to Clover, saying, "Sweet old Clover, you should not witness what we are about to do, please go back to the barn and keep the rest of the animals quiet. Do not come out no matter what you hear." Clover nodded in a horsy way and slowly went back to the barn. She turned just once as she passed Benjamin. For the first time in all the years she had known him, she thought he looked happy. Yes there seemed to be a sparkle in his eyes, even in the latern light.

The pigs and men inside the farmhouse still argued and laughed unknowing of what was happening outside. After Clover was away and almost inside the barn, Snowball made a clicking noise and the crows went to work. Moses grabbed a hose that was attached to the large container on the back of the cart and flew into the air. The other crow grabbed another hose and flew down to the ground. Benjamin had positioned the cart just behind the house. The other pig, a young male whose name was Wilbur and who was from the Foxwood Farm, ran around the front of the house quietly pushing a porch chair under the front door. He then ran around the back of the house and did the same to the back door. As Wilbur blocked the doors, Snowball manned a pump at the back of the cart. He made two clicking noises and Benjamin began pulling the cart around the farm house. As Snowball pumped, the crows held their hoses tight. A strong smelling liquid gushed from the hoses. Flying up and down the crows began soaking the house in the liquid. Moses doused the roof while the other crow wetted the sides and immediate ground next to house. Benjamin walked slowly around the house, staying far enough away so as not to be seen through the farm house windows, and ending up where he started in the back of the old farm house. Snowball gave two more hard pumps and jumped down as the crows sprayed the cart with the remaining liquid. Then they landed on Benjamin's back and undid the ropes that secured him to the cart. The whole operation took just 12 minutes, without a pig or farmer inside the house the wiser. Snowball gave the lantern to Wilbur who set it down next to the cart. "On my signal," Snowball said to Wilbur, as he walked to the front of the house. Once out front he loaded the ceremonial gun and pointed it back at the house. He fired one shot though the front window.

The buck shot smashed through the pane killing one of the sleeping dogs and ripping apart a cabinet and china just inside the entrance way. Glass and wood splattered the living room. All the drunken laughter inside the house immediately stopped. Snowball waited for a second and then yelled, "Napoleon, I have returned!" Napoleon stunned, but uninjured from the gun blast, set down his cards. He looked in disbelief through the shattered front window at his rivals silhouette in the front yard. "Snowball?" he quietly said more to himself than anyone else."Snowball- the pig," said Mr. Pilkington in a drunken stupor. Snowball continued in his loudest voice, "What is the First Commandment!?! Whatever goes upon two legs is the enemy! You- Napoleon are no better than Mr. Jones! You are the enemy!" Napoleon jumped from the table on two hooves, instantly sober and insanely angry. "Kill him!" screamed Napoleon. The dogs jumped through the farmhouse windows, expecting an easy kill, but finding the waiting wolves instead. In a matter of minutes 18 dogs lay dead, their throats ripped out. Napoleon and the farmers starred out the windows in horror as the wolves made easy work of the dogs. The pigs and farmers were all becoming afraid, the effects of the nights drinking now quickly wearing off. How could Snowball be in league with the wolves, thought Napoleon, how could this be. He looked around the room, "We have to stop him! He want's to kill us all!" he cried. Squealer, visibly shaking with fear, ran for the front door, whimpering, "I've got to get out of here." When he got to the door however, he found it blocked. He turned to Napoleon squealing, "The doors locked- why is the door locked!" He pounded and kicked, but it would not open. At that Snowball yelled, Now!" and Wilbur kicked the lantern into the cart then ran as fast as he could. The flames tickled the gasoline on the ground, instantly igniting the cart. The cart burnt for a few seconds then exploded, blowing up the back of the house and showering the remaining parts of it in flaming wood and metal. Napoleon squealed and ran for the front door followed closely by yelling farmers and squealing pigs.The flames engulfed the house in seconds. Some of the farmers jumped through the windows, only to be ripped apart by the wolves. Snowball sat watching solemnly. He saw Napoleon scamper through the blown out front window and onto the grass, his shirt aflame. He began rolling around in the grass trying to put out the flames and screaming. Snowball slowly got up, flanked by one of the wolves and walked over to where Napoleon now lay smoking and motionless. "Not until I say," he whispered to the wolf. Once they came to Napoleon body, Snowball turned him over. He was still breathing, but in slow labored gasps. His face was burnt and cut almost beyond recognition. He opened his eyes and looked up at Snowball and said in a burnt and rasping voice, "I should have killed you years ago." Snowball got real close to Napoleon's charred ear and whispered, "I learned this from you. Remember...Four legs good...two legs bad." He stood up and nodded to the wolf who finished Napoleon in one quick bite to the neck. Snowball looked up at the house, it was a giant fireball. No one still inside would be alive. In front of the house two wolves were still working on a screaming farmer. It had gone as planned.

Snowball trotted to the barn and called to the animals inside. All were wide awake from the yelling and screaming. At his beconing they slowly came outside and were horrified to see the farmhouse ablaze. He brought them around the front of the house, to the inert and smoldering body of Napoleon. "Since I was gone," he began,"I have made contact with hundreds of other animals both on the farms and in the wild. There are many more farms and many more animals to liberate. I felt I should start here. What you see here tonight is the start of the real rebellion! This is only the beginning! Are you ready to join me- are you ready to fight! The animals stood in a long silence. How could this be, how could Snowball have killed Napoleon? Benjamin, Wilbur and the crows came to the group gathered in the front of what used to be the farm house. Clover looked at Benjamin. "Why didn't you tell us, " she asked quietly. "I couldn't- after Napoleon sent Boxer to the knackers, I went over to the Foxwood Farm. I had heard rumors Snowball was there. When I found out he had a plan to eliminate Napoleon once and for all, I couldn't tell anybody. I didn't want to jeapordize the mission." The animals nodded in understanding but did not say a word. From the back of the group one of the sheep began to chant, "Four legs good, two legs bad, four legs good, two legs bad!" More of the animals joined in. Soon all the animals were yelling, "Four legs good, two legs bad!", even the wolves. This was truly the beginning.

 

d.A. Sebasstian