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* {{Golem}}: Being a magically automated effigy of a human which [[LiteralMinded blindly]] carries out instruction, the Silent Servant recalls traditional depictions.
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* ScaryScarecrows: It's decidedly scary-looking even before it comes to life.
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Shortening my recaps.
Changed line(s) 4,41 (click to see context) from:
Frank and Kiki, on a recent attempt to sneak into a second movie screening, were stopped just in time by Betty Anne, and are none too pleased about it. Betty Anne stands by her intervention, and ponders the power of silence, resistance to which, in this case, prevented her friends from breaking the rules. Silence can be soothing - or sinister. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, she calls her story “The Tale of the Silent Servant.”
At night, in a barn, George cowers on the floor, while someone or something bangs on inside of a cupboard door. Mr Earlstead commands the unseen prisoner to be still, and resolves to “take care” of George…
Twenty years later, Jarred Connor visits the farm of his Uncle Pete Peterson and cousin Anne. As Jarred takes Anne through yet another game of baseball, she fails to catch the ball - which breaks the window of the farmhouse door.
Pete gently admonishes the gaffe, and sets the two to work off the price of a new window, and has older sibling Mark confiscate the baseball gloves. For their first task, Pete has Anne and Jarred take some beans down the road to Mr Galloway.
On their bikes, they pass the barn of a neighbouring farm, which Anne explains to have once been used by Old Man Earlstead. Jarred wants to look inside.
In the field before it, they pass several tombstones. One, marked “John Earlstead 1905 - 1974” is engraved with two facing dragons. Anne notes his reputation as some kind of sorcerer, who had invisible servants work his farm.
Inside, Jarred is inspired to make a baseball dugout with some wooden boards. As he and Anne prise one from across a cupboard door, the door swings open, and out falls a tall scarecrow.
Jarred has the idea of using it instead of building a fence. Anne, while sceptical, helps him lift it - and finds, in its shirt, a wooden carving of a bone, set with two miniature dragons - like those on the gravestone outside. She pockets the strange curio.
Back at the farm, the two erect the scarecrow, and back up to survey it. Beneath its battered fedora, the cloth face, with small holes for eyes and nose, looks eerily skull-like...
Mark arrives, With a wry smile, he reaffirms their obligation to help build a fence. Anne admits never to have reached Mr Galloway’s. Mark sends them on their way, and gives the scarecrow a look of unease…
In Old Man Earlstead’s barn, they retrieve the beans. Suddenly, the cupboard door swings open, and out stumbles a grey-haired, wild-eyed man. In frenzied mania, he rants about the power of “the dragons,” which only the “true master” can dispel, to drive the Silent Servant, who, to this day, awaits the command: “calor vector solemnus.” Unnerved, the kids leave him to his ravings.
Back at the Peterson farm, Anne introduces the man as Crazy George, who used to work as a farmhand for Mr Earlstead. Anne sits down, and remembers the wooden bone in her pocket. She now realises it to be engraved with two dragons.
Jarred finds an end of the bone to be detachable. In its hollow interior, he finds a worn piece of paper. Intrigued, he recites its lengthy, written command for a “silent one” to heed its master’s call, and to steadfastly fulfil any command. Outside, with a boom of thunder, a flash of lightning illuminates the scarecrow…
Pete asks Anne and Jarred to take out the garbage. As they carry the bags through the night, they hear a creak from behind them. They turn to see, stood close behind them, the scarecrow. They scream in fright.
They find Mark, blurt an account of their frightful encounter, and lead him round to the front of the house...to find the scarecrow slumped innocently against the wall. Mark supposes Pete to have taken it down. He announces to have acquired the new glass for the window, which the two will help fix tomorrow.
Jarred grumpily kicks the prone scarecrow, and suggests it fixes the window.
Next morning, they approach the window...to find it fixed. Jarred supposes Pete to have fixed it. Pete arrives, and supposes Mark to have taken pity on the two.
After the three work on the fence, Mark prepares to leave for his baseball game, and happily allows Jarred to come.
While Anne remains unnerved by the unexpectedly fixed window, Mark continues to doubt the magic of the silent servant. To test his point, he commands the scarecrow, now hung on a post, to finish the fence for them.
At night, in a barn, George cowers on the floor, while someone or something bangs on inside of a cupboard door. Mr Earlstead commands the unseen prisoner to be still, and resolves to “take care” of George…
Twenty years later, Jarred Connor visits the farm of his Uncle Pete Peterson and cousin Anne. As Jarred takes Anne through yet another game of baseball, she fails to catch the ball - which breaks the window of the farmhouse door.
Pete gently admonishes the gaffe, and sets the two to work off the price of a new window, and has older sibling Mark confiscate the baseball gloves. For their first task, Pete has Anne and Jarred take some beans down the road to Mr Galloway.
On their bikes, they pass the barn of a neighbouring farm, which Anne explains to have once been used by Old Man Earlstead. Jarred wants to look inside.
In the field before it, they pass several tombstones. One, marked “John Earlstead 1905 - 1974” is engraved with two facing dragons. Anne notes his reputation as some kind of sorcerer, who had invisible servants work his farm.
Inside, Jarred is inspired to make a baseball dugout with some wooden boards. As he and Anne prise one from across a cupboard door, the door swings open, and out falls a tall scarecrow.
Jarred has the idea of using it instead of building a fence. Anne, while sceptical, helps him lift it - and finds, in its shirt, a wooden carving of a bone, set with two miniature dragons - like those on the gravestone outside. She pockets the strange curio.
Back at the farm, the two erect the scarecrow, and back up to survey it. Beneath its battered fedora, the cloth face, with small holes for eyes and nose, looks eerily skull-like...
Mark arrives, With a wry smile, he reaffirms their obligation to help build a fence. Anne admits never to have reached Mr Galloway’s. Mark sends them on their way, and gives the scarecrow a look of unease…
In Old Man Earlstead’s barn, they retrieve the beans. Suddenly, the cupboard door swings open, and out stumbles a grey-haired, wild-eyed man. In frenzied mania, he rants about the power of “the dragons,” which only the “true master” can dispel, to drive the Silent Servant, who, to this day, awaits the command: “calor vector solemnus.” Unnerved, the kids leave him to his ravings.
Back at the Peterson farm, Anne introduces the man as Crazy George, who used to work as a farmhand for Mr Earlstead. Anne sits down, and remembers the wooden bone in her pocket. She now realises it to be engraved with two dragons.
Jarred finds an end of the bone to be detachable. In its hollow interior, he finds a worn piece of paper. Intrigued, he recites its lengthy, written command for a “silent one” to heed its master’s call, and to steadfastly fulfil any command. Outside, with a boom of thunder, a flash of lightning illuminates the scarecrow…
Pete asks Anne and Jarred to take out the garbage. As they carry the bags through the night, they hear a creak from behind them. They turn to see, stood close behind them, the scarecrow. They scream in fright.
They find Mark, blurt an account of their frightful encounter, and lead him round to the front of the house...to find the scarecrow slumped innocently against the wall. Mark supposes Pete to have taken it down. He announces to have acquired the new glass for the window, which the two will help fix tomorrow.
Jarred grumpily kicks the prone scarecrow, and suggests it fixes the window.
Next morning, they approach the window...to find it fixed. Jarred supposes Pete to have fixed it. Pete arrives, and supposes Mark to have taken pity on the two.
After the three work on the fence, Mark prepares to leave for his baseball game, and happily allows Jarred to come.
While Anne remains unnerved by the unexpectedly fixed window, Mark continues to doubt the magic of the silent servant. To test his point, he commands the scarecrow, now hung on a post, to finish the fence for them.
to:
Frank and Kiki, on a recent attempt to sneak into a second movie screening, were stopped just in time by Betty Anne, and are none too pleased about it.pleased. Betty Anne stands by her intervention, and ponders the power of silence, resistance to which, in this case, prevented her friends from breaking the rules. Silence can be soothing - or sinister. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, she calls her story “The "The Tale of the Silent Servant.”
At night, in a barn, George cowers on the floor, while someone or something bangs on inside of a cupboard door. Mr Earlstead commands the unseen prisoner to be still, and resolves to “take care” of George…
Twenty years later,"
Jarred Connor visits the farm of his Uncle Pete Peterson and cousin Anne. As Jarred takes Anne through yet another game of baseball, she fails to catch the ball - which breaks the window of the farmhouse door.
Petegently admonishes the gaffe, and sets the two to work off the price of a new window, and has older sibling Mark confiscate the baseball gloves. For their first task, Pete has Anne and Jarred take some beans down the road to Mr Galloway.
On their bikes, they pass the barn of a neighbouring farm, which Anne explains to have once been used by Old Man Earlstead.Jarred wants to look inside.
In the field before it, they pass several tombstones. One, marked “John "John Earlstead 1905 - 1974” 1974" is engraved with two facing dragons. Anne notes his reputation as some kind of sorcerer, who had invisible servants work his farm.dragons.
Inside, Jarred is inspired to make a baseball dugout with some wooden boards. As he and Anne prise one from across a cupboard door, the door swings open, and out falls a tall scarecrow. \n\n Jarred has the idea of using it instead of building a fence. Anne, while sceptical, Anne helps him lift it - and finds, in its shirt, a wooden carving of a bone, set with two miniature dragons - like those on the gravestone outside. She pockets the strange curio.
Back at the farm, the two erect thescarecrow, and back up to survey it.scarecrow. Beneath its battered fedora, the cloth face, with small holes for eyes and nose, looks eerily skull-like...
Mark arrives,With a wry smile, he and reaffirms their obligation to help build a fence. Anne admits never to have reached Mr Galloway’s. Galloway's. Mark sends them on their way, and gives the scarecrow a look of unease…
way.
In Old Man Earlstead’s barn, they retrieve the beans. Suddenly, the cupboard door swings open, and out stumbles a grey-haired, wild-eyed man.In frenzied mania, he He rants about the power of “the dragons,” "the dragons," which only the “true master” "true master" can dispel, to drive the Silent Servant, who, to this day, awaits the command: “calor "calor vector solemnus.” Unnerved, the kids leave him to his ravings.
"
Back at the Peterson farm, Anneintroduces identifies the man as Crazy George, who used to work as a farmhand for Mr Earlstead. Anne sits down, and remembers the wooden bone in her pocket. She now realises it to be engraved pocket - set with two dragons.
dragons...
Jarred finds an end of the bone to be detachable. In its hollow interior, he finds a worn piece of paper.Intrigued, he He recites its lengthy, written command for a “silent one” "silent one" to heed its master’s call, and to steadfastly fulfil any command.master's call. Outside, with a boom of thunder, a flash of lightning illuminates the scarecrow…
As Peteasks Anne and Jarred to take out the garbage. As they carry the bags through the night, trash, they hear a creak from behind them. They turn to see, stood close behind them, the scarecrow. They scream in fright. \n\nThey find With Mark, blurt an account of their frightful encounter, and lead him round to the front of the house...to they later find the scarecrow it slumped innocently against the a wall. Mark supposes Pete to have taken it down. He announces to have acquired the new glass for the window, which the two will help fix tomorrow.
Jarred grumpily kicks the prone scarecrow, and suggests it fixes the window.
Next morning, they approach the window...to find it fixed. Mark prepares to leave for his baseball game, and happily allows Jarredsupposes Pete to have fixed it. Pete arrives, and supposes Mark to have taken pity on the two.come.
After the three work on the fence, Mark prepares to leave for his baseball game, and happily allows Later, Jarred to come.
While Anne remains unnerved by the unexpectedly fixed window, Mark continues to doubt the magic of the silent servant. To test his point, hecommands the scarecrow, now hung on a post, to finish the fence for them.
At night, in a barn, George cowers on the floor, while someone or something bangs on inside of a cupboard door. Mr Earlstead commands the unseen prisoner to be still, and resolves to “take care” of George…
Twenty years later,
Jarred Connor visits the farm of his Uncle Pete Peterson and cousin Anne. As Jarred takes Anne through yet another game of baseball, she fails to catch the ball - which breaks the window of the farmhouse door.
Pete
On their bikes, they pass the barn of a neighbouring farm, which Anne explains to have once been used by Old Man Earlstead.
Inside, Jarred is inspired to make a baseball dugout with some wooden boards. As he and Anne prise one from across a cupboard door, the door swings open, and out falls a tall scarecrow.
Back at the farm, the two erect the
Mark arrives,
In Old Man Earlstead’s barn, they retrieve the beans. Suddenly, the cupboard door swings open, and out stumbles a grey-haired, wild-eyed man.
Back at the Peterson farm, Anne
Jarred finds an end of the bone to be detachable. In its hollow interior, he finds a worn piece of paper.
As Pete
Next morning, they approach the window...to find it fixed. Mark prepares to leave for his baseball game, and happily allows Jarred
While Anne remains unnerved by the unexpectedly fixed window, Mark continues to doubt the magic of the silent servant. To test his point, he
Changed line(s) 44,45 (click to see context) from:
Thrilled, Jarred commands the Silent Servant to build him a baseball dugout. With the specified incantation of “calor vectus solemnus,” a wary Anne tries to cancel the command.
to:
Changed line(s) 48,49 (click to see context) from:
Mark then sternly calls them over to the fence, most of which has been dismantled. With no more persuasive explanation than of vandalisation by a magic scarecrow, Mark has no choice but to ground them. He returns the bag containing the confiscated baseball gloves, and leaves for his game.
to:
Mark then sternly calls them over to the fence, most of which has been dismantled. With no more persuasive explanation than of vandalisation by a magic scarecrow, Mark He has no choice but to ground them. He returns the bag containing the confiscated baseball gloves, and leaves for his game.
Changed line(s) 54,57 (click to see context) from:
Out in a field, Pete’s tractor stalls. He dismounts, and takes a bag - which contains not tools, but a baseball. In the corn lurks a silent figure…
In the car, Mark drives Anne and Jarred to Earlstead’s barn. Since only the true master, Mr Earlstead, can break the spell, Anne brings the dragons to his gravestone, across which she snaps the bone which mounts them.
In the car, Mark drives Anne and Jarred to Earlstead’s barn. Since only the true master, Mr Earlstead, can break the spell, Anne brings the dragons to his gravestone, across which she snaps the bone which mounts them.
to:
Out in a field, Pete’s Pete's tractor stalls. He dismounts, and takes a bag - which contains not tools, but a baseball. In the corn lurks a silent figure…
figure...
In the car, Mark drives Anne and Jarred toEarlstead’s Earlstead's barn. Since only the true master, Mr Earlstead, can break the spell, Anne brings the dragons to his gravestone, across which she snaps the bone which mounts them.
In the car, Mark drives Anne and Jarred to
Changed line(s) 60,62 (click to see context) from:
It then materialises before Jarred and Anne, who gives the command “calor vectus solemnus.”
to:
It then materialises before Jarred and Anne, who gives the command “calor "calor vectus solemnus.”
"
Changed line(s) 65,66 (click to see context) from:
A perplexed Mark then drives the two back to the farm. Meanwhile, Crazy George finds the discarded dragons, and laughs in delight...
to:
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Deleted line(s) 71 (click to see context) :
* BrokenBird: George claims Mr Earlstead to have driven him to his traumatised state.
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* GoMadFromTheRevelation: George claims Mr Earlstead to have driven him to his traumatised state.
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Changed line(s) 20,21 (click to see context) from:
Back at the farm, the two erect the scarecrow, and back up to survey it. Beneath its battered fedora, the cloth face, with small holes for eyes and nose, looks eerily skull-like. .
to:
Back at the farm, the two erect the scarecrow, and back up to survey it. Beneath its battered fedora, the cloth face, with small holes for eyes and nose, looks eerily skull-like. .
skull-like...
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None
Changed line(s) 71 (click to see context) from:
* AnimatingArtefact: The twin dragon effigies, via the specified incantation, drive the scarecrow to blind fulfilment of the speaker’s command.
to:
* AnimatingArtefact: AnimatingArtifact: The twin dragon effigies, via the specified incantation, drive the scarecrow to blind fulfilment of the speaker’s command.
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Changed line(s) 1,3 (click to see context) from:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2020_07_17_at_144256.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"It is always listening."
]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"It is always listening."
]]
to:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2020_07_17_at_144256.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2020_07_17_at_144256_6.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"It is always listening."
]]"]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"It is always listening.
]]
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None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2020_07_17_at_144256.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"It is always listening."
]]
Frank and Kiki, on a recent attempt to sneak into a second movie screening, were stopped just in time by Betty Anne, and are none too pleased about it. Betty Anne stands by her intervention, and ponders the power of silence, resistance to which, in this case, prevented her friends from breaking the rules. Silence can be soothing - or sinister. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, she calls her story “The Tale of the Silent Servant.”
At night, in a barn, George cowers on the floor, while someone or something bangs on inside of a cupboard door. Mr Earlstead commands the unseen prisoner to be still, and resolves to “take care” of George…
Twenty years later, Jarred Connor visits the farm of his Uncle Pete Peterson and cousin Anne. As Jarred takes Anne through yet another game of baseball, she fails to catch the ball - which breaks the window of the farmhouse door.
Pete gently admonishes the gaffe, and sets the two to work off the price of a new window, and has older sibling Mark confiscate the baseball gloves. For their first task, Pete has Anne and Jarred take some beans down the road to Mr Galloway.
On their bikes, they pass the barn of a neighbouring farm, which Anne explains to have once been used by Old Man Earlstead. Jarred wants to look inside.
In the field before it, they pass several tombstones. One, marked “John Earlstead 1905 - 1974” is engraved with two facing dragons. Anne notes his reputation as some kind of sorcerer, who had invisible servants work his farm.
Inside, Jarred is inspired to make a baseball dugout with some wooden boards. As he and Anne prise one from across a cupboard door, the door swings open, and out falls a tall scarecrow.
Jarred has the idea of using it instead of building a fence. Anne, while sceptical, helps him lift it - and finds, in its shirt, a wooden carving of a bone, set with two miniature dragons - like those on the gravestone outside. She pockets the strange curio.
Back at the farm, the two erect the scarecrow, and back up to survey it. Beneath its battered fedora, the cloth face, with small holes for eyes and nose, looks eerily skull-like. .
Mark arrives, With a wry smile, he reaffirms their obligation to help build a fence. Anne admits never to have reached Mr Galloway’s. Mark sends them on their way, and gives the scarecrow a look of unease…
In Old Man Earlstead’s barn, they retrieve the beans. Suddenly, the cupboard door swings open, and out stumbles a grey-haired, wild-eyed man. In frenzied mania, he rants about the power of “the dragons,” which only the “true master” can dispel, to drive the Silent Servant, who, to this day, awaits the command: “calor vector solemnus.” Unnerved, the kids leave him to his ravings.
Back at the Peterson farm, Anne introduces the man as Crazy George, who used to work as a farmhand for Mr Earlstead. Anne sits down, and remembers the wooden bone in her pocket. She now realises it to be engraved with two dragons.
Jarred finds an end of the bone to be detachable. In its hollow interior, he finds a worn piece of paper. Intrigued, he recites its lengthy, written command for a “silent one” to heed its master’s call, and to steadfastly fulfil any command. Outside, with a boom of thunder, a flash of lightning illuminates the scarecrow…
Pete asks Anne and Jarred to take out the garbage. As they carry the bags through the night, they hear a creak from behind them. They turn to see, stood close behind them, the scarecrow. They scream in fright.
They find Mark, blurt an account of their frightful encounter, and lead him round to the front of the house...to find the scarecrow slumped innocently against the wall. Mark supposes Pete to have taken it down. He announces to have acquired the new glass for the window, which the two will help fix tomorrow.
Jarred grumpily kicks the prone scarecrow, and suggests it fixes the window.
Next morning, they approach the window...to find it fixed. Jarred supposes Pete to have fixed it. Pete arrives, and supposes Mark to have taken pity on the two.
After the three work on the fence, Mark prepares to leave for his baseball game, and happily allows Jarred to come.
While Anne remains unnerved by the unexpectedly fixed window, Mark continues to doubt the magic of the silent servant. To test his point, he commands the scarecrow, now hung on a post, to finish the fence for them.
Next day, as Anne and Jarred prepare the tools, an astonished Mark leads them to the recently completed fence, and congratulates them with the afternoon off.
Thrilled, Jarred commands the Silent Servant to build him a baseball dugout. With the specified incantation of “calor vectus solemnus,” a wary Anne tries to cancel the command.
Later, as the two return from town, they find a newly erected baseball dugout - built from strangely familiar boards.
Mark then sternly calls them over to the fence, most of which has been dismantled. With no more persuasive explanation than of vandalisation by a magic scarecrow, Mark has no choice but to ground them. He returns the bag containing the confiscated baseball gloves, and leaves for his game.
Jarred finds the bag to contain only tractor parts. Mark wouldn’t steal the glove, reasons Anne. Jarred angrily says he’d like to kill whoever did. He and Anne instantly realise the potentially dire consequences of this utterance.
On their bikes, they race down the road, to where Mark relaxes with teammates and spectators. Anne and Jarred explain the scarecrow to be after the taker of Jarred’s glove. Mark realises to have given Jarred the wrong bag - and that the gloves must still be in the tractor.
Out in a field, Pete’s tractor stalls. He dismounts, and takes a bag - which contains not tools, but a baseball. In the corn lurks a silent figure…
In the car, Mark drives Anne and Jarred to Earlstead’s barn. Since only the true master, Mr Earlstead, can break the spell, Anne brings the dragons to his gravestone, across which she snaps the bone which mounts them.
As the dragons separate, a flash of lightning fills the air. Behind Pete, as the Silent Servant approaches, it suddenly fades into thin air.
It then materialises before Jarred and Anne, who gives the command “calor vectus solemnus.”
The scarecrow crumples to an empty, smoking heap.
A perplexed Mark then drives the two back to the farm. Meanwhile, Crazy George finds the discarded dragons, and laughs in delight...
Once Gary douses the fire, Frank and Kiki contritely approach Betty Anne with invitation to another movie - and this time, they’ll buy the tickets, as long as Frank gets to choose the film.
!!This episode provides examples of:
*AnimatingArtefact: The twin dragon effigies, via the specified incantation, drive the scarecrow to blind fulfilment of the speaker’s command.
*BrokenBird: George claims Mr Earlstead to have driven him to his traumatised state.
*CountryCousin: Jarred stays on the farm of his uncle Peter and cousins Anne and Mark.
*EvilSorcerer: Mr Earlstead is said to have practised magic, and to have been of highly dubious character.
*LaughingMad: George’s tormented ravings include manic laughter.
*LiteralGenie: The Silent Servant, with swift efficiency, carries out Jarred’s instruction to build a baseball dugout - but thinks nothing of ripping up the newly built fence for material.
*ReasonableAuthorityFigure: On breakage of the window, Pete is quite amicably mild, and sanctions the misdeed by setting his daughter and nephew to work. His older son Mark reflects this even-handedness, and while he doubts the scarecrow to be any threat, readily responds to Anne and Jarred’s fear by driving them to the barn.
*SceneryPorn: Some lovely shots of the farm and surrounding countryside.
[[caption-width-right:350:"It is always listening."
]]
Frank and Kiki, on a recent attempt to sneak into a second movie screening, were stopped just in time by Betty Anne, and are none too pleased about it. Betty Anne stands by her intervention, and ponders the power of silence, resistance to which, in this case, prevented her friends from breaking the rules. Silence can be soothing - or sinister. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, she calls her story “The Tale of the Silent Servant.”
At night, in a barn, George cowers on the floor, while someone or something bangs on inside of a cupboard door. Mr Earlstead commands the unseen prisoner to be still, and resolves to “take care” of George…
Twenty years later, Jarred Connor visits the farm of his Uncle Pete Peterson and cousin Anne. As Jarred takes Anne through yet another game of baseball, she fails to catch the ball - which breaks the window of the farmhouse door.
Pete gently admonishes the gaffe, and sets the two to work off the price of a new window, and has older sibling Mark confiscate the baseball gloves. For their first task, Pete has Anne and Jarred take some beans down the road to Mr Galloway.
On their bikes, they pass the barn of a neighbouring farm, which Anne explains to have once been used by Old Man Earlstead. Jarred wants to look inside.
In the field before it, they pass several tombstones. One, marked “John Earlstead 1905 - 1974” is engraved with two facing dragons. Anne notes his reputation as some kind of sorcerer, who had invisible servants work his farm.
Inside, Jarred is inspired to make a baseball dugout with some wooden boards. As he and Anne prise one from across a cupboard door, the door swings open, and out falls a tall scarecrow.
Jarred has the idea of using it instead of building a fence. Anne, while sceptical, helps him lift it - and finds, in its shirt, a wooden carving of a bone, set with two miniature dragons - like those on the gravestone outside. She pockets the strange curio.
Back at the farm, the two erect the scarecrow, and back up to survey it. Beneath its battered fedora, the cloth face, with small holes for eyes and nose, looks eerily skull-like. .
Mark arrives, With a wry smile, he reaffirms their obligation to help build a fence. Anne admits never to have reached Mr Galloway’s. Mark sends them on their way, and gives the scarecrow a look of unease…
In Old Man Earlstead’s barn, they retrieve the beans. Suddenly, the cupboard door swings open, and out stumbles a grey-haired, wild-eyed man. In frenzied mania, he rants about the power of “the dragons,” which only the “true master” can dispel, to drive the Silent Servant, who, to this day, awaits the command: “calor vector solemnus.” Unnerved, the kids leave him to his ravings.
Back at the Peterson farm, Anne introduces the man as Crazy George, who used to work as a farmhand for Mr Earlstead. Anne sits down, and remembers the wooden bone in her pocket. She now realises it to be engraved with two dragons.
Jarred finds an end of the bone to be detachable. In its hollow interior, he finds a worn piece of paper. Intrigued, he recites its lengthy, written command for a “silent one” to heed its master’s call, and to steadfastly fulfil any command. Outside, with a boom of thunder, a flash of lightning illuminates the scarecrow…
Pete asks Anne and Jarred to take out the garbage. As they carry the bags through the night, they hear a creak from behind them. They turn to see, stood close behind them, the scarecrow. They scream in fright.
They find Mark, blurt an account of their frightful encounter, and lead him round to the front of the house...to find the scarecrow slumped innocently against the wall. Mark supposes Pete to have taken it down. He announces to have acquired the new glass for the window, which the two will help fix tomorrow.
Jarred grumpily kicks the prone scarecrow, and suggests it fixes the window.
Next morning, they approach the window...to find it fixed. Jarred supposes Pete to have fixed it. Pete arrives, and supposes Mark to have taken pity on the two.
After the three work on the fence, Mark prepares to leave for his baseball game, and happily allows Jarred to come.
While Anne remains unnerved by the unexpectedly fixed window, Mark continues to doubt the magic of the silent servant. To test his point, he commands the scarecrow, now hung on a post, to finish the fence for them.
Next day, as Anne and Jarred prepare the tools, an astonished Mark leads them to the recently completed fence, and congratulates them with the afternoon off.
Thrilled, Jarred commands the Silent Servant to build him a baseball dugout. With the specified incantation of “calor vectus solemnus,” a wary Anne tries to cancel the command.
Later, as the two return from town, they find a newly erected baseball dugout - built from strangely familiar boards.
Mark then sternly calls them over to the fence, most of which has been dismantled. With no more persuasive explanation than of vandalisation by a magic scarecrow, Mark has no choice but to ground them. He returns the bag containing the confiscated baseball gloves, and leaves for his game.
Jarred finds the bag to contain only tractor parts. Mark wouldn’t steal the glove, reasons Anne. Jarred angrily says he’d like to kill whoever did. He and Anne instantly realise the potentially dire consequences of this utterance.
On their bikes, they race down the road, to where Mark relaxes with teammates and spectators. Anne and Jarred explain the scarecrow to be after the taker of Jarred’s glove. Mark realises to have given Jarred the wrong bag - and that the gloves must still be in the tractor.
Out in a field, Pete’s tractor stalls. He dismounts, and takes a bag - which contains not tools, but a baseball. In the corn lurks a silent figure…
In the car, Mark drives Anne and Jarred to Earlstead’s barn. Since only the true master, Mr Earlstead, can break the spell, Anne brings the dragons to his gravestone, across which she snaps the bone which mounts them.
As the dragons separate, a flash of lightning fills the air. Behind Pete, as the Silent Servant approaches, it suddenly fades into thin air.
It then materialises before Jarred and Anne, who gives the command “calor vectus solemnus.”
The scarecrow crumples to an empty, smoking heap.
A perplexed Mark then drives the two back to the farm. Meanwhile, Crazy George finds the discarded dragons, and laughs in delight...
Once Gary douses the fire, Frank and Kiki contritely approach Betty Anne with invitation to another movie - and this time, they’ll buy the tickets, as long as Frank gets to choose the film.
!!This episode provides examples of:
*AnimatingArtefact: The twin dragon effigies, via the specified incantation, drive the scarecrow to blind fulfilment of the speaker’s command.
*BrokenBird: George claims Mr Earlstead to have driven him to his traumatised state.
*CountryCousin: Jarred stays on the farm of his uncle Peter and cousins Anne and Mark.
*EvilSorcerer: Mr Earlstead is said to have practised magic, and to have been of highly dubious character.
*LaughingMad: George’s tormented ravings include manic laughter.
*LiteralGenie: The Silent Servant, with swift efficiency, carries out Jarred’s instruction to build a baseball dugout - but thinks nothing of ripping up the newly built fence for material.
*ReasonableAuthorityFigure: On breakage of the window, Pete is quite amicably mild, and sanctions the misdeed by setting his daughter and nephew to work. His older son Mark reflects this even-handedness, and while he doubts the scarecrow to be any threat, readily responds to Anne and Jarred’s fear by driving them to the barn.
*SceneryPorn: Some lovely shots of the farm and surrounding countryside.
