Everywhere Cody went, Joe went, too. Cody was an elderly man who lived in a small wooden house on an old dirt road. He was short and plump with thinning gray hair and piercing blue eyes. Joe was a big, black crow. Cody had found him as a baby, injured, after a monstrous summer storm. He'd taken him in, healed him, fed him, and bonded with him completely.
Every now and then, Cody would take Joe into town. He'd turn on the radio to a country station and Joe would dance around on the seat of the truck. Sometimes, Cody would stop at the Down Home Saloon for a cold beer. Joe would sit on Cody's shoulder and watch his reflection in the mirror behind the bar.
One day, Ernie and Johnny, a couple of local patrons, looked up from their card game at a nearby table and saw Joe looking at himself in the mirror. “What you gone do when Joe figures out he's a crow and not a person?” asked Johnny.
“Yeah – one day he's liable to take off into the sky and act like a bird instead of a human,” Ernie added.
“Well, I don't know,” admitted Cody. “I ain't never thought of it 'till you brought it up.” It wasn't long before he had occasion to find out.
One afternoon they were out in the garden. Joe was sitting on the fence watching Cody pick green beans, when a flock of crows flew over. “Caw!” said Joe.
“Don't even think about it,” warned Cody.
“Caw!” said Joe one more time before he flapped away after them.
Cody moped around and moped around. He wouldn't even turn on the radio in his truck because it reminded him of his little feathered friend. Folks at the Down Home Saloon bought him beers and tried to cheer him up. “Them things are nasty. They got bugs.” said Ernie consolingly.
“Takes one to know one,” replied Cody.
“He wasn't nothing but a dumb bird, noways,” added Johnny.
The next day, Cody got a big surprise. He heard a familiar sound out on the porch and went to investigate.
There, on the porch railing, sat twelve crows. “Joe?” asked Cody.
“Caw! Caw!” answered the birds.
Later on, Ernie and Johnny rode up, intending to ask Cody to go fishing with them, so he'd feel better. They were astonished to see a flock of crows gobbling corn, turnip greens, and biscuits from a platter on Cody's porch.
“Which one of those crows is Joe?” hollered Ernie.
“Hard to tell,” mused Cody as he set down a pan of cold water next to the food.
“Joe ain't so dumb after all!” laughed Johnny, “He's done come home and brought the whole gang with him!”
