The are two farms local to Horsmarlonerpool. Gentleslope Farm by the foot of Lomberstack mountain, and Pippin Farm next to the Meadows.
Gentleslope Farm is run by Farmer Tangle, and Pippin Farm by Farmer Headcorn. And even though they do similar jobs, and have quite similar farms in many ways, the two farmers have nothing in common.
In fact, they are quite competitive. Always arguing about who grows the best this, or who harvested the best that. Who has the most powerful tractor, whose hens lay the tastiest eggs. Or who had the best rubber boots? Anything you cared to mention, Farmers Tangle and Headcorn would argue about it and try and compete with each other.
But nothing in this whole world made them more competitive than the yearly ploughing contest. This was when both farmers would take their tractors and ploughs into the same field and see who could plough the earth up in the neatest lines and in the quickest time possible. A sort of race where you had to be very neat and a very good tractor driver.
The location of the contest would swap around every year. One year on Gentleslope Farm, and the next on Pippin Farm. Well this year, the ploughing contest was to be held on Farmer Headcorn’s Pippin Farm - and that made him want to win it even more than he usually did - which was a lot.
About two hundred people from the town had come down to watch, and that meant that there were tents and stalls selling cakes and models of toy tractors, and even rides on some of the other farm machinery. But the main attraction was the ploughing contest, and the rules were as follows.
Both farmers must start at opposite ends and opposite sides of the same field. They must plough in rows - back and forth - until one is the first to get all their rows all the way across to the middle of the field. Then, the judges will compare how neat the rows are. If the farmer who gets to the middle first has the neatest rows - then they win. But if they get to the middle first and the other farmer still has the neatest rows, then the other farmer wins.
At three O’Clock, Farmers Tangle and Headcorn climbed up into their two tractors which were parked in the yard. Farmer Tangle’s was orange with a white cab, and Farmer Headcorn’s was purple with a green cab, and gave each other one last stare before heading out to opposite ends of the big field. Everyone gathered along one side, most of them leaning on the stone wall and some of them sitting on each other’s shoulders to watch.
The main judge, Mayor Dubbin, stood on the judging platform with his big hooter and his megaphone and announced “Farmers, ready…”. Both Tangle and Headcorn revved the engines of the tractors and pulled the levers in their cabs that lowered the ploughing blades into the turf.
“Then - PLOUGH!” announced the Mayor.
Both farmers gently pushed their feet down on the accelerators of their tractors - not too fast to make the tractor slide but not too softly because speed was important - and off they both went down both sides of the field.
But within seconds, sparks started coming out of Farmer Tangles’ tractor engine. And at the same time, it veered off sharply to the left - headed to the centre of the field! Meanwhile, Farmer Headcorn’s tractor’s back wheels started going in opposite directions - one forward and one backwards, meaning his tractor just started twisting on the spot with its front nose banging into the side of the plough that was supposed to be behind it!
Both farmers struggled with their steering wheels and tried to get back to a straight line. “Oh, that Tangle!” said Farmer Headcorn, “he’s broken my tractor on purpose.”
“Oh, that Headcorn,” said Farmer Tangle, “he’s gone and messed up my tractor to try and cheat.”
But as they tried to get back into a straight line, two pots of paint that had been hidden on both cab roofs suddenly tipped forward, sending thick blue paint all down the windshields. Both farmers turned on their wipers, but it only smeared it all the more. WHAT was going on?
Well, watching amongst the very confused crowd were two machines. Lucy the lawnmower, who lived on Gentleslope Farm, and Yugi the cleaning robot, who lived at Mateo’s house. They’d become friends weeks before and looked at each other. “Let’s both head out there and help,” said Lucy to Yugi. “You go in front of Farmer Headcorn’s tractor and give him a straight line to follow, and I’ll go in front of farmer Tangle’s tractor and give him a straight line to follow.”
As both the lawnmower and the robot sped out into the muddy field to try and help, Vaila was in Bluebell Wood with her friend Wally Wolf building a very high treehouse. Hearing the noise coming from the nearby field she put down her hammer and plank of wood and looked out. She was so high that she could see the field clearly - and the two tractors that seemed to be going around in circles.
“That’s odd, Wally,” said Vaila. “The farmers seem to be in a bit of a pickle.”
But Wally was sniffing the air and then growled and pointed with his paw. Looking through the trees Vaila saw two figures with two remote controls standing right by the edge of the wood looking out over the field. Vaila recognized them immediately. Pebbles and Crater! The two only really naughty people in Horsmarlonerpool. They were controlling the tractors and making them go all wonky!
Meanwhile, out on the field itself, Lucy Lawnmower and Yugi were in front of Farmer Tangle’s tractor and Farmer Headcorn’s tractor and going in a very straight line so both could try and follow them. Both farmers were struggling to look through the blue paint all over their windshields and fighting with their steering wheels just to try and get in line.
But then, Yugi’s wheels got clogged up with mud, and Lucy’s roller got clogged up with mud, and they couldn’t go in a straight line either - in fact, they both started swirling off in circles and spinning around uncontrollably - and the two farmers in their tractors, doing their best to see out in the first place, just tried to follow them.
Pebbles and Crater were laughing to themselves as they pressed more buttons on their remote controls, making the tractors even harder to drive, but then they heard a growling noise next to them. They turned their heads slowly to see Wally Wolf - pretending he was about to pounce, and both the villains ran screaming out of the wood and into the muddy field.
As farmers Headcorn and Tangle gave up trying to drive and turned their tractors off, they both climbed out of their cabs and walked through the mud to rescue Yugi and Lucy.
But how were they to decide who the winner was? Both of them had done so badly, it was impossible to judge.
But then, still high up in her treehouse, Vaila got on her walkie-talkie and called her friends who had all been standing by the side of the field watching. And just five minutes later, everyone had made their way around to Bluebell Wood. And the Major, the judges and the two farmers had climbed up into the treehouse to look at the field from on high.
Everyone was amazed. Instead of their ploughing just being a muddy mess like they expected, following Yugi and Lucy had formed wonderful patterns all over the field. Patterns that they couldn’t have possibly managed with their ploughs if they’d been trying to do it. The whole field looked like a complicated blanket of swirls and spirals and circles.
“I declare the ploughing contest - a tie!” said Mayor Dubbin, and the two farmers went to object because they wanted to win but then looked at each other, smiled, and then shook hands. If there was one thing that the two farmers could finally agree on it was that the field looked wonderful.
“But where did Pebbles and Crater get to,” demanded the Mayor. "Sergeant Handle should lock them up for the night for causing all this bother."
Vaila pointed to the middle of the field where Pebbles and Crater were slipping around and falling over each other helplessly in the thick mud.
“Allow me,” said Vaila, and took a packet of candiesweeties from her pocket.
“Pebbles! Crater!” she called. “Look what I’ve got!”
Pebbles and Crater looked across to the treehouse in Bluebell Wood, saw the sweeties, and greedily ran towards them - slipping on the mud so quickly that they both fell face first into the stickiest, smelliest, boggiest part of the field yet.
