Back to the Bean Farm:
Rereading the Freddy Books

Freddy the Cowboy

by Kevin W. Parker



WARNING: These articles are written with the assumption that the reader has already read the story in question. Don´t read this article if you want any surprises to be preserved for you.

I go to Freddy the Cowboy next for two reasons: first, it´s our able editor´s favorite, and, second, I have fond memories of it as well. In any case, it´s good enough to be the only book in the series to have its own sequel (i.e., Freddy Rides Again ).

What strikes me about this one is, again, the tightness of the plot, even more so than the well-organized Ignormus . Ignormus had elements, such as the introduction of Minx, that serve as nothing more than comic relief. In Cowboy , even the elements that at first seem incidental to the plot become incorporated. The first and most notable is that of the Horrible Ten, a creation of Jinx´s imagination that comes to life (with some help from Freddy and Rabbit No. 23) and becomes a key part of frightening the main villain, Flint, away from the Bean farm. It´s such a nice idea that it becomes part of the canon: one of the elements that Brooks uses even in later books. Another is the brief shooting match between Freddy and Mr. Bean. It seems at first like just a bit of comic relief, but its aftermath--the hole in Freddy´s cowboy hat--later leads the animals to believe that Freddy has been shot by Flint. Too, we have the introduction of Howard the mouse, befriended by Jinx (an odd couple if ever there was one), who eventually saves Freddy´s life with one of the "bravest deeds ever done by any mouse in the history of the world." (It´s interesting to note that this brave deed comes some pages after what amounts to an authorial soliliquy in defense of the courage of mice.)

Much to my surprise, among the scenes I find myself enjoying the most are the battle scenes, in which Flint gets what is coming to him. (I think this is something I enjoyed from Ignormus as well, with the assault on the Grimby house.) There seems to be a great satisfaction in seeing our protagonists use cleverness to defeat their enemies, from the Swiss Family Robinson to the Ewoks in the third Star Wars movie to this. The first is their defense of the barn, which is actually quite brief. The second, and more impressive, is the air assault on Flint, Jasper, and their horses, in defense of the First Animal Bank, with Whibley carrying the pistols and firing them (and wouldn´t it be interesting to see Wiese try to draw that ?), plus the eerie swooping assault by the bats´ family reunion.

Another strong point of Cowboy is that we once again have a worthy villain: more conventional than Ignormus , but worthy nonetheless. Flint is a cruel and greedy man, whom we can truly believe is prepared to shoot Freddy on sight.

Above all this, though, is the climactic moment in the book, which has to be one of the best scenes in the entire series. As you might recall, Freddy has taken refuge in the jail for the time being, but, feeling unfairly confined, he goes out scouting, riding his horse, Cy. Flint and Jasper spot him and give chase. This leads to a very memorable chase through town (after all, what would a cowboy story be without a chase?), ending up with Freddy trapped in the Busy Bee Department Store. He fills his water pistol with perfume, dresses himself up as a salesgirl, and beckons Flint to his counter. The rest, as they say, is history:

Freddy pulled out the water pistol and leaned forward. "May I put just a dab on your pocket handkerchief, sir? I´m sure you´ll find it refreshing." And he squirted the entire contents of the pistol into the mans face.
I dont know about you, but this scene, and Wiese´s marvelous illustration of a rouged Freddy, has me laughing louder than any other scene in the Freddy series. I almost hurt myself sometimes. And, again, the perfume pistol concept is one that makes it into Brooks armory of gimmicks. Flint is the first of the villains to be humiliated by this assault. He leaves town, trailing the legend of the Perfumed Cowboy wherever he goes. And the animals celebrate, as they rightly should.