With scenes from the video.
By Cheryl Null and Carol Gad

CHAPTER 1

The day was passing quickly. Mike the Mule and the other Barnyard Buddies had been enjoying an afternoon walk through the countryside. They suddenly realized they had gone farther than ever before! Their surroundings became unfamiliar.

They decided to start their walk back to the Finn farm, their home. Gary the Goat came stumbling up the path after them. He had paused to nibble on the sweet flowers that grew along the fence line.

"We must head home now, Gary the Goat," said Mike the Mule. "It's getting late. Scott and Stacy Finn will start to look for us."

Polly, the prim and proper pig, sighed, "I just want to stop and rest for awhile before we start back. I'm exhausted!" She sat down in the tall grass and sighed again. "I think I have lost weight on this walk. I don't want to lose my girlish figure!"

"It is so warm. How would all of you like to carry this wool on your back in the heat all day?" pouted Sofie the Sheep. "I think we should rest, too!" She stomped her hoof on the sunbaked dirt path.

"Alright! We can rest for a little while," answered Mike the Mule, "but then we must start back. Sofie the Sheep lay down in the tall grass beside her friend, Polly the Pig, and began to chew her cud. Mike the Mule joined Bruce the Bull at the top of the hill. Mike enjoyed the breeze that was blowing there.

"This is such beautiful country," said Bruce the Bull. "I'm glad we decided to come this way today. I have gotten many new ideas for paintings. Just look at that view. Isn't it breathtaking?"

"Yes, it is! That barn at the bottom of the hill is so unusual looking. There! Look there!" Mike the Mule motioned, with his hoof, in the direction of the barn.

Evening shadows were falling everywhere as the menagerie slowly maneuvered around the rocks and trees that blocked their downward path.

Gary the Goat was too interested in the flowers along the way to notice the excitement in the other animals' voices.

Roberta the Rabbit was as frightened as Polly the Pig and Sofie the Sheep. She hopped behind with Gary the Goat. Though Gary was not as bright and eager as the others, he was the oldest. He always protected her. His memory eluded him sometimes, but she always felt safe with him.

"Maybe we should forget this and head home," Bruce the Bull mooed hesitantly. "It is really getting late and we have a long way back." He and Mike the Mule had paused to wait for the smaller animals to catch up with them.

"This will only take a minute," Mike the Mule answered, as the other animals caught up with them.

"What are we doing here?" questioned Gary the Goat. "I don't think I've been here before. Oh my!...Oh my! Where are we?"

Everyone ignored Gary the Goat and followed Mike the Mule slowly toward the big double doors of the barn. Suddenly, an owl hooted from the distant treetop. They all jumped!

Randy the Rooster flapped his wings excitedly. "I told you so! This place gives me the jitters! Let's go home right now!" he crowed.

"We're almost there, now hush," said Mike the Mule.

Mike the Mule pulled on the barn door latch with his teeth, but it was so rusted that it would not budge. "How can we get this open?" Mike the Mule asked.

"Well...maybe I could butt it with my head," said Gary the Goat. "But, why would you want me to do that?"

"That's why we're here, Gary the Goat, to get into this barn," Mike the Mule explained.

"Well...Uh...Why are we getting into this barn and not our own?" Gary the Goat asked confusedly.

All the animals moaned! Even though he didn't understand why he was breaking open the door, Gary the Goat proceeded to butt the latch until it loosened.

Slowly, Mike the Mule pulled open the door. It squeaked because it was old and had not been used. They all peered into the darkness.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud as something fell from the wall of the barn. Birds, that had been roosting in the rafters, began flapping excitedly around the ceiling of the barn. Their usual quiet atmosphere had been disturbed.

The Barnyard Buddies scattered in all directions in fear, then peeked out from their hiding places. The dust and feathers that had been stirred up by the movement drifted downward and settled back on objects in the darkness.

"I told you so!" squawked Randy the Rooster, as he flew back to the top of Mike the Mule's shoulder. "We should have gone home. We're going to get into trouble! It's against the law to trespass on other people's property."

Mike the Mule approached the open door. He and the rooster stood looking into the dimly lit barn. "Everything will be alright. Don't get so excited. That law is only for people not animals," Mike the Mule whispered.

Slowly, one by one, the other animals joined Mike the Mule and the rooster at the doorway, then followed them into the barn. When their eyes became accustomed to the partial darkness, they were amazed at what they saw!

Standing before them were wagons so big that it would take four or more horses to pull them. The wagons were lined up in a row and were covered with straw and dust that had fallen from the hay mow above. Cobwebs hung loosely from one wagon to another. The huge wooden wheels were starting to rot. Paint was peeling from the wagons.

"What kind of wagons are these?" asked Polly the Pig.

"I don't know. Do you know, Bruce the Bull?" inquired Mike the Mule.

"They look like circus wagons! Look there!" Bruce the Bull nodded to the top of the one nearest to him. A large, golden statue loomed high above the corner of the wagon. "Only circuses had ornate wagons like this."

Mike the Mule, with Randy the Rooster still clinging to his back, stepped over to another wagon. "Randy the Rooster, use your wing to brush the dust from this wagon," said Mike the Mule.

The rooster flapped his wing over the sign on the wagon; then he and the mule moved back to the others and Mike read the sign aloud.

"THE GREAT BREWSTER CIRCUS. Well, you were right, Bruce the Bull. They are, or I should say--they were, circus wagons. Someone has let them sit here and deteriorate," said Mike the Mule sadly.

"What a shame! They are so beautiful," said Bruce the Bull. "I wonder what happened to the Brewster Circus?"

Gary the Goat climbed up the ladder rungs of the wagon at which they were looking and said, "I think I remember the Brewster Circus. Yup! I think I do."

"Then tell us this instant!" stomped Sofie the She"We want to go home. It's getting dark. Well, hurry up,you old goat!"

"I can't remember anything about the circus. I just remember the name. Oh my...! Oh my! That was a long time ago," mumbled Gary the Goat.

"It must have been a long time ago. These wagons are rotting," Bruce the Bull said sadly. "Someone should restore them. Sometimes humans don't realize what things like this mean to them until it's too late. Just think how beautiful a parade would be with all these wagons."

"I've never seen a circus parade," said Polly the Pig. "Do they have pigs in circuses?"

"I think clowns use pigs in their act," answered Mike the Mule. "Well, we'd better start back to the farm. We'll come back again soon. Maybe tomorrow."

They all took one last look at the antique wagons, then followed Mike the Mule out of the barn. He latched the door the way they had found it. There was still no sign of people anywhere around the farm. It must have been deserted along with the old things left in the barn.

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