Zick

“Zick, get down from there at once and come here!” calls his mother, who is standing beneath a tree, nibbling at a low-hanging branch.

Zick is standing on the roof of a little garden shed, watching three ducklings happily splashing about in a puddle. Really, he would love to do the same, but the water is so dirty, and his mother would be terribly angry if he got his beautiful coat all muddy. Besides, he likes being up high, so he simply switches off his ears and pretends he hasn’t heard a thing.

His mother calls again, and this time she starts walking towards him. Oh dear, this looks serious. Zick turns around and hops down on the other side. He lands in a pile of wet leaves, the rain hasn’t stopped for very long, and gives himself a thorough shake.

“We have to go to the other pasture,” his mother says when he finally reaches her. “The farmer has visitors and doesn’t want us around the house. The others have already gone ahead.”

With that, she turns around and trudges off towards the western pasture, trusting Zick to follow obediently. But Zick has something quite different in mind. Visitors the farmer doesn’t want his goats to see? That’s strange. There must be something behind it, and Zick is determined to find out what.

So, very quietly, he slips away from his mother’s shadow and races towards the farmhouse, always keeping behind something that will hide him from the farmer. He hears voices coming from inside and quickly jumps onto the bench beneath the living-room window. There they are! Two men are sitting opposite each other at the table, counting… money! The farmer is nowhere to be seen, only these two men. What could that mean? Zick is puzzled.

He runs around the house to look through the other window, and there he sees him: the farmer. He is standing beside his wife, who is clutching his arm with a desperate look on her face. The farmer looks furious, but he does nothing. Then the two men get up, pocket the money and stomp out of the room, not without giving the farmer a good shove as they pass him.

Now Zick has to make himself scarce. He must not be discovered! He races after his mother and reaches the western pasture only a moment after her. At once, he looks around for his special friends, Scheck and Bär, and waves to them.

“Come quickly! Really quickly!”

He bounds towards the forest, looking back over his shoulder every few steps. His friends become curious and hurry after him.

“What’s going on?”

“Quick! Two men have gone into the forest. We have to see what they’re up to!”

Obediently, his friends trot after him into the forest. Far ahead on the path they can see two men carrying backpacks.

“Careful! They mustn’t see us!” whispers Zick. “No questions. I’ll tell you later!”

A little while later, the men reach a ramshackle hut in the forest. Someone is already waiting for them there.

“Well? Did the farmer hand over the money?” is the first question the younger of the two men asks outside the hut.

“He did. But he says you mustn’t come by again. He doesn’t want to see you anymore. And you’re no longer his son.”

“I thought he might say that. He’ll change his mind once we’ve completed the deal!”

“From your lips to God’s ears. I’m still not sure we’re going to get out of this safely.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, Bert! It’s going to be the deal of our lives, you’ll see. The man seems capable and he certainly knows his business. If he accepts our proposal, we’ll be set for life!”

“If. Not when. Well, you must know what you’re doing. It’s your father’s money and farm that you’re putting at stake.”

The men disappear into the hut. Before long, food and beer are on the table, and they make themselves comfortable.

The three friends look at one another.

“What’s all this about?” asks Bär. “And what has it got to do with us?”

So Zick tells them what he saw in the farmhouse: how distressed the farmer’s wife had looked and how angry the farmer had been.

“He’s our farmer. He takes care of us, and we belong to him and to this farm. So it’s not unimportant to know what’s going on and what’s troubling him, is it?”

“Well,” says Scheck, “but that’s human business, not goat business, and we don’t understand any of it anyway.”

Zick nods sadly. They really can’t do anything about it. So they return to their pasture and hurry to nibble enough grass and leaves before bedtime.

Life on the farm carries on as usual, but the farmer always looks grim, and his wife seems unhappy. Weeks pass. The goats have long since forgotten the incident, but Zick still thinks about it. Sometimes he runs to the hut in the forest, but it is always empty and deserted.

One day, a car stops in front of the farmhouse. The farmer is in the forest; only his wife is at home, and she comes out of the house. Two men get out of the car. The older one is the same man Zick saw in the living room. The other is the farmer’s son.

He runs towards his mother and takes her in his arms.

“Mother, we did it!”

He presses a wallet into her hand.

“Quick, put this in the household money box as though nothing had happened. Then tell Father that I’ve paid back what I owed him and that I’ll come back this evening to apologise. Do your best to soften him up, Mother, please!”

He hugs her once more, gets back into the car and they are gone.

The farmer’s wife stands there as if rooted to the spot, completely overwhelmed by surprise. Then she gathers herself and goes back into the kitchen. A few hours later, the farmer comes home. He washes and sits down at the kitchen table for lunch. Everything is laid out as usual, but there is no food on his plate.

Instead, there is a wallet.

“What’s this supposed to mean, woman?” he asks in astonishment.

“Look inside.”

“Money. A lot of money… What’s this about? Where did it come from?”

“Count it.”

Completely bewildered, the farmer counts the money. And then something dawns on him.

“Was Heinrich here?”

“Yes. And he’s coming back this evening to apologise. Do me a favour, Georg. Talk to him and accept his apology. I can’t bear this anymore!”

The farmer grumbles something under his breath, but he nods.

“We’ll see.”

Zick spends the whole afternoon fidgeting around the farmhouse. His friends try to calm him down, but nothing they say or do helps. He is terribly excited. At last, evening comes. The goats are already in the stable and fast asleep.

A car approaches. Zick is wide awake. He hears the engine, quietly slips outside and makes his way to the house unnoticed. The farmer’s wife welcomes the visitors and goes inside with them. Quickly, Zick hops onto the listening bench again and peers through the window.

The farmer is sitting at the table. He does not get up when his son and his friend enter the room. The farmer’s wife remains standing by the door while the two young men walk towards the farmer.

“Father, I’m sorry for what happened the other day. Please forgive us and let me explain what happened.”

“Sit down. And you talk!” growls the farmer.

Meanwhile, the mother sets the table for all of them, but does not serve the food yet. The son begins to tell his story.

“You made it possible for me to study engineering, Father, and I really threw myself into it. I invented something that I hoped might have a chance on the market. My friends helped me, and Markus here got in touch with a large company that might be interested in my invention. We needed the money to register the patents.”

“And?”

“The company bought the invention, and production has started. So I was able to pay back your loan. - Father, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me this opportunity, for paying for my education and for giving me the loan. I now have a secure future, and that is thanks to you and Mother.”

As he speaks, the farmer’s grim expression gradually softens. He listens attentively. Then he raises his head and looks at his son.

“Woman, where’s the food?”

And so they feast together in peace, while Zick happily returns to the stable.