Hetty and Harriet were the two youngest hens in the farmyard. Hetty was not only young, but silly, and didn't really mind that everyone else pecked her. Harriet, though, felt strongly that being pecked by all the other hens except Hetty wasn't right. Somewhere, she was convinced, there must be a perfect place for her, and as a special concession she would take Hetty with her when she went to look for it.
It was after a night of storm that the chance came. Hetty would rather have stayed to enjoy worms and grubs and caterpillars with the others, but Harriet insisted that they must take the Pathway to a New Life that had become unexpectedly available.
The first spot Harriet found looked lovely, but the two hens were attacked by foxes, and only just escaped. The next place was fox-proof-but there were other problems!
As Harriet continues her search for the perfect place, the two hens find all kinds of snags and hazards to be negotiated. It's not until Hetty has asserted herself, and a moment of such danger comes that there seems no escape, that the two hens can at last look forward to a happy ending.
This extremely funny story is told with all Graham Oakley's accustomed verve and ingenuity.
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