by K L Going
Then she thought of Father.
What if she never came back and he always searched for her, just like Rodney had searched for his sister? Or what if Father was happier without her because then he could work outside every day uninterrupted?
Suddenly it wasn’t comfortably cool anymore; it was hot. Too hot.
Evie clenched her fists tight.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” she said, tears forming in her eyes.
Alex just smiled from his perch in the tree.
“But I can,” he said.
Then he lifted the apple to his lips and took a bite.
Chapter Eighteen
Into the Magic
The world grew suddenly strange and woozy.
One moment Alex was right in front of her, and the next moment he was gone. Evie tried to think clearly, but her head was spinning. All she could see was the tree swirling by in streaks of brown bark, green leaves, white petals, and red apples. The one thing that stayed in focus was a single brilliant apple hanging off a tree branch just beyond her arm’s reach. Evie walked toward it.
“Alex?” she called, but there was no answer.
He’d gone ahead without her.
Evie took a deep breath. Behind her the wind rippled through Father’s orchard, as if it were calling her back, but ahead of her the apple swayed back and forth.
She had to know.
Evie reached out and plucked the apple from the branch and instantly the tree fell back, a distant blur at the end of a swirling tunnel of petals. Evie held the fruit tight to her lips, and took a step forward into the mirage. She bit into the tart skin, the sweet juice trickling down her throat. Then before she could take a breath, she was tumbling from a height so far up she knew she would fall for a very long time.
At last, it stopped.
The relief was so great she felt as if she had fallen into a very peaceful sleep. Every muscle relaxed and her eyes, which had been squeezed shut, were now gently closed. She couldn’t say how long it was before she breathed again. Was she waking up from a long sleep? Had it been minutes or hours?
When she opened her eyes, Evie gasped. She was still in the orchard, but all around her the apple trees were in bloom. Not just her tree, but all of them. She was lying on a bed of moss surrounded by hundreds of flowers and a sweeping blue sky above. The grass was lush and green and plants grew everywhere, weaving in and out of the rows of trees.
Where was she?
Evie stood up. The warmth caressed her skin and she breathed deeply of the perfumed air. She turned in a circle, taking everything in.
“Mom?” she called, searching for the spot where her mom would dash out with hugs and kisses. But it was Alex who jumped from a cluster of sunflowers.
“Now aren’t you glad I ate that apple?” he crowed, hands on his hips. He took off the heavy black coat he’d worn every day since she’d met him and threw it on the ground. Evie peeled off her coat, too, and dropped it in a heap next to his.
“Have you seen my mom?” she asked, but Alex shook his head.
“Not yet,” he said as he spotted an apple in the tall grass. He chased after it, kicking it around the tree, then straight through the two tallest sunflowers.
“Goal!”
He raised both hands high, and his eyes sparkled in the sun.
“It’s perfect here!” Alex said, reaching down to pluck another apple. He tossed it to Evie and she grabbed it without thinking.
“Do you think this is your garden?” Alex asked. “Or maybe it’s heaven . . .”
“I don’t know,” Evie said. “I imagined my garden would be different—with waterfalls and castles and animals.” And Mom, she thought, looking around one more time. “This still looks like Father’s orchard, only Father could never plant this many flowers, even if he worked his whole life.”
They were standing in a sea of them.
“Who says heaven doesn’t look like earth, only better?” Alex asked. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s explore!”
They set off through the apple trees, darting in and out of the center row. Evie watched for signs of her mom’s presence—maybe a note left as a clue to a treasure hunt, or a sandal her mother had lost as she ran ahead of them. But there was nothing.
Gradually her pace slowed, and Alex got so far ahead he had to run back to find her.
“I wonder if the trees go on forever,” he said, breathless, and for a second Evie felt lost. A wave of hot fear swept over her, but she shook it away.
“We could climb the tallest tree and find out.”
“I’ll do it,” Alex said, wedging his foot into the crook of a tree that looked slightly taller than the rest. He pushed himself up, then moved from branch to branch, stopping only once to pluck a fat red apple.
“Alex, you don’t know what will happen if you—”
He bit into it before she could stop him, and Evie held her breath, only this time nothing happened.
“Didn’t work,” Alex said. “Guess it only works with the apples from the tree we grew.”
Either that or we’re trapped, Evie thought, but again she pushed the fear away. Alex had to be right. Theirs was the only magical tree, so of course those were the only apples that were magic. . . .
Evie’s thoughts were interrupted by Alex’s yell.
“Land ho,” he hollered from the top of the tree. “I see your father’s truck, Evie, and the cemetery and there’s your house. They’re not far . . .”
“The world would be my garden, Evie, my love. The whole entire world.”
Was that where Mom was waiting?
Evie took off running, pumping her legs as fast as she could. The tall grass brushed against her as she trampled a path of brightly colored flowers, but Evie didn’t care. She didn’t even care that Alex was calling for her to wait up. She ran until she burst out of the orchard onto her own front lawn.
She stopped, and her breath caught. The yard was full of tulips and daffodils, and the willow tree that tapped on her window was so wide and full that its branches covered the ground. The cherry tree was heavy with ripe red cherries, and her house was a brilliant white, as if it had just gotten a new coat of paint. The sides were completely covered with tiny white flowers, and the shutters, once a battered gray, were bright blue with morning glories.
Evie’s laughter bubbled over. She took a step forward, then before she knew it she was running again, fast as she could, up to the house.
She burst inside.
“Mom!”
Evie dashed from the living room to the kitchen, but both were empty.
“Mom?” she called again, confused. “Where are you?”
Then she paused.
Of course Mom wouldn’t be waiting in the kitchen. Her mother had been a horrible cook! And she certainly wouldn’t be sitting in the cold, drafty living room, where there weren’t even any bookshelves. Mom would be waiting in Evie’s room, taking out the paints and setting up the easel. She’d be snitching one of Gram’s famous peanut butter cups.
Evie raced up the stairs, taking them two by two.
“Mom! I’m here. I came to find you, just like I said!”
She flung her bedroom door open, the smile nearly splitting her cheeks, but in an instant, tears sprang to her eyes.
There was no one inside.
Evie went out again and searched the entire upstairs, but the house was empty. Finally she stepped back into her bedroom and opened the closet door. She peered under the bed and behind the dresser.
How was it possible that her mother wasn’t here? Evie had planted the seed and eaten the apple!
She heard Alex calling below, but she didn’t answer. Instead she latched the door tight and curled up on her bed.
What good was a magical world if Mom wasn’t waiting for her?
For a long time Evie didn’t move, tears making salty paths down her face. Then she got up and pried open her bedroom window. She leaned on the windowsill, resting her head on her arms, listeni
ng to Alex’s footsteps on the porch below. A cascade of morning glories covered the shutters, and she pulled a string of them inside, stroking their petals absently.
Maybe she’d come to the wrong garden.
She closed her tired eyes, remembering her mother’s tiny flower patch back in Michigan. She could still see the morning glories exactly where Mom had planted them—only they’d been the white kind rather than the blue. She could almost see Mom with the watering can, and Evie wished with all her heart that the seed had brought her to that garden, back before anything bad had happened.
“I wish I could make everything different,” she whispered.
She opened her eyes, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand, then she sniffed hard. She was about to turn when she looked at the string of flowers. The center one was white now, with tiny blue darts, just like the flowers she’d remembered.
“How did that happen?” Evie asked aloud, but she didn’t have time to figure it out because Alex’s footsteps were clomping up the stairs.
“Are you in there, Evie?” he asked. “If you’re playing hide-and-seek, you’re not a very good hider, because I could see you run inside the house from the tree. I didn’t even need my ghost powers.”
Evie unlatched the door, hoping Alex wouldn’t notice her flushed cheeks and red eyes.
“What’s the matter?” he said, his forehead scrunching up.
Evie shrugged. “Nothing. I thought maybe my mom would be here, that’s all.”
“She will be,” he said lightly, throwing himself onto her bed. “She’s probably just waiting around the corner or something. Maybe there are lots of people out there . . . in town . . . or . . .”
Evie shook her head.
“I don’t know, Alex,” she said. “What if she’s still dead?”
“She’s not,” Alex said roughly, sitting up. “You never believe me, but we’re going to find them.”
Them? Evie wondered. Who else were they looking for? But before she could ask, Alex spotted the flower.
“Hey, look at that weird flower. There’re so many blue ones and one white one right in the middle.”
“I know,” Evie said. “I changed it.”
Alex’s eyes bulged.
“You did what? When were you going to tell me?”
Evie shrugged. “I didn’t think it was that important.”
“Not important? We might have superpowers and you don’t even care?” Alex bounced off the bed. “How did you do it?”
“I . . . well, I was remembering Mom’s garden back home because she used to grow morning glories, only Mom always grew the white ones, so I was wishing these flowers were different, and when I looked down . . .”
Alex had already grabbed the string of flowers and was scrunching his eyes shut, crushing the stem between his fingers. When nothing happened he looked up.
“It didn’t work,” he said, scowling.
“Of course it didn’t. I’m surprised you didn’t kill the poor things!”
Alex scrunched his eyes shut one more time, but again nothing happened.
“You try it,” he said, thrusting the flowers at Evie. “See if it works a second time.”
Evie sighed and stroked the soft petals of the flower on the end. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what it had felt like to change the first one. She’d been thinking of Mom, wishing things were different, and she’d wished it so hard that . . .
This time she could feel the flower change beneath her fingertips, as if a small trickle of life were running through her and she could shape it the way that she wanted.
“Whoa,” Alex murmured. He closed his eyes like Evie had. “I’m going to try wishing for something else—like chocolate or an airplane or, no, wait . . . I’ll wish for a million dollars.”
Evie laughed, but there was only one thing she wished for. Mom.
They concentrated hard, making their separate wishes, but then Alex shrugged.
“Nothing?” he asked. Evie shook her head.
“It’s okay,” Alex said. “I bet we just have to practice, that’s all. Come on,” he added, “let’s try and make a huge chocolate cake in the kitchen.”
Alex bounded down the stairs, and Evie followed slowly behind him, but before she left her room, she turned and took one last look at the perfect white morning glories.
Chapter Nineteen
The House of Alex Cordez
Try as she might, Evie couldn’t make a chocolate cake. In fact, she couldn’t make anything Alex asked her for. The only thing she managed to change was the spider plant in the living room that had been dying since their long trip from Michigan. She placed her hand on the thin green leaves and wished for them to grow.
“Live,” she whispered, and one by one the wilted leaves perked up again.
“I did it,” Evie said, grinning.
Alex frowned from across the room. “Quit showing off,” he said as the leaves doubled in size, stretching down to reach the floor.
“I’m not showing off,” Evie said. “Why don’t you quit wishing for stupid stuff you can’t have and try changing something living instead? I think it only works on live things.”
Alex sighed and stepped over a snaking tendril as he walked across the living room. “Hey,” he said, “you better tell it to stop or it’s gonna fill up the whole room.”
Evie looked at the plant. It was getting rather large. In fact, it had already filled the entire corner.
“Stop growing,” she said, but the plant didn’t respond, its thin branches reaching out over the carpet.
Alex climbed on top of the coffee table.
“Do something!” he told her, but Evie shook her head.
“I’m trying!”
She felt the familiar sense of life flowing through her as the plant grew despite every command she gave. Then she felt a chill despite the warmth, and this time it was Father’s voice she heard in her head.
“There’s a time for birth and a time for death. Life moves in cycles, Evie. That’s the way things are meant to be.”
The leaves of the spider plant covered the floor like an ocean. “Push it back,” Alex said as the tendrils rose around him like waves. They surrounded Evie, coming all the way up to her neck until she felt as if she might drown.
Reluctantly she reached out and imagined the plant withering away, and this time instead of the warmth of life, she felt a thin cold sensation running through her veins. Instantly she stopped, but it had been enough. The tendrils retreated back to where they belonged.
Evie shivered. What had she done?
But Alex hopped off the coffee table, grinning. “That was cool,” he said, studying the shrunken plant. “Let’s go to my house next.”
Evie paused. “Alex, have you thought about the tree?” she asked. “Who knows how long it will last. Maybe we should think about going home soon.”
“Are you crazy?” Alex asked. “There’s no way we’re going home before I’ve used our superpowers. Besides, we’ve hardly even explored. No turning back, remember?”
Evie opened her mouth to argue. She thought about describing the icy feeling that had run through her fingertips, but Alex was already stepping into the hallway and opening the front door.
“Last one off the porch is a rotten egg!”
He took off at a sprint and Evie shook herself, forcing her feet forward. By the time she jumped off the porch, Alex was already in the graveyard, dodging headstones like obstacles on an obstacle course. Evie strained to catch up, every one of her muscles stretching and groaning, and her hair flowing out behind her.
Even with her long legs, Evie couldn’t reach him. Alex ran faster than anyone she’d ever met, glancing over his shoulder occasionally to see how close she was. It was as if he were running toward something Evie couldn’t see, and she thought that no matter how fast she ran, she would never be able to catch him.
It was only when they reached the trees behind the graveyard that he stopped so abruptly they bo
th nearly fell over. Evie held her side, breathing hard, but Alex dug through the brush until he found the spot he was looking for.
“It’s my secret shortcut,” he said, concentrating hard. Evie sighed, thinking they might be there all day, but then the bushes parted, clearing a path ahead of them.
“Did you see that?” Alex asked, making a fist. “I knew I could do it!”
He ducked into the brambles and Evie followed, feeling the brush snap back into place at her heels. The branches reminded her of the spider plant and her heart began to pound, but as quickly as they’d gone in they were through, emerging on the other side onto a large, sculpted lawn.
“Wow,” Evie gasped. “You lived here?”
The house in front of her was huge. It was gleaming white, covered in the same tiny flowers as her house. There were gigantic pillars and a fountain stood in the middle of a circular driveway. Water shot upward and crested down again, glinting in the sunlight.
“Yup,” Alex said. He walked across the lawn and up the steps to the front door. “My dad bought this place years ago so he could escape his job in the city. It’s the biggest house in five counties, but it’s not usually so . . .” He frowned.
“Bright,” Evie finished, thinking how different her own house had looked. Alex stopped, studying everything as if he were seeing it for the first time.
“That fountain hasn’t been on in a year,” he said. “Not since I got sick. I used to love watching the water droplets make patterns as they fell. Back then there wasn’t anything sad or . . .”
For a moment a dark gloom draped over him, the way the heavy black coat used to drape over his shoulders, but then it was gone and he turned the door handle and peered inside. He laughed, dispelling the last of the darkness, then burst through the front door, dashing up the huge spiral staircase before Evie had a chance to follow.
“Wait up,” she hollered after him, but Alex had already disappeared.
Evie sighed and stepped through the doorway.
“Hello?” she called, but of course there was no answer.
