by Mali Baker
‘Earth to River, earth to River,’ Kit repeated in her best starship commander voice. ‘Come on, I haven’t got all day,’ she said, shimmying her hand in front of River’s face.
River stretched out her right arm and their two hands met. River and Kit were close as sisters, despite the difference in their personalities, but never before had River felt how she felt when their two palms met now. An electrifying rush of energy forced its way out of both of their hands, melding their bodies together as one, a connection only the two of them could feel. It pulsed through them both, letting River know that, with Kit by her side, there was nothing within this room that could scare her. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with. River had always known that being a twin was special, but today, for the first time, she noticed a reflection of herself in Kit’s eyes that was more than a mirror image of two girls who look very similar. Now she could see that they shared something – a secret. But what was it?
Feeling more excited than scared now, River returned Kit’s smile, and with her sister’s help she pulled herself to her feet. The two girls found themselves standing next to each other, hand tightly in hand, facing the giant window that was inviting them to walk through. River glanced over her shoulder. She sensed that, regardless of whether she wanted to or not, there would be no going back.
‘Are you ready?’ Kit said.
‘Ready for what?’ River replied.
‘A startastic adventure.’
River giggled. Neither of them had used that word since they were really little, when they used to play for hours and hours travelling around their very own startastic galaxy.
In that instant, a beautiful white butterfly flew in through the open window and landed on River’s forearm. The hairs on her arm stood up like soldiers and she shivered as a warm tingle spread through her body. ‘OK, let’s go,’ she said to Kit and the butterfly.
‘Hang on a minute.’ Kit ran over to the desk. She picked up some pieces of paper and folded them into a perfect square, popping them into her pocket along with the butterfly pen. ‘Somehow – I don’t know how – I’m sure I’ll be needing these.’ She walked back over to River and grabbed her hand once again. And then, with the white butterfly gently fluttering between them, they strode side by side towards the window that led them out into the unknown.
CHAPTER 6
Eddie
The drop from the window was no more than a foot high.
‘Watch your step,’ Kit said, going through first. The white butterfly followed behind her. River reached the tip of her foot over the windowsill to check the distance. Her hands clung tightly to the frame, even though she was able to touch the floor with ease. She perched herself on the edge and jumped, landing with both feet on the crunchy grass.
‘Easy,’ she said, smugly brushing her hands together.
Despite the breeze the girls had just felt, the air outside was muggy. ‘Wow, it’s hot out here!’ River complained as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. As quickly as she wiped them away, more would form. It felt much harder to breathe in the heat, and it smelled stale, like stinky socks that had been in the laundry bin too long.
‘How peculiar,’ Kit said, as she looked around the garden. ‘I wonder why Nana didn’t show us this place before.’ She turned to look at River, who was wiping her brow with the sleeve of her T-shirt.
‘Because it’s just a dried-up old garden, that’s why. Who would want to come and be out here?’
Every leaf in the garden rustled, as though they had understood what she’d said. River quickly stood up straight, suddenly unsure of her surroundings.
‘I BEG YOUR PARDON,’ bellowed a deep male voice.
‘Grandpa…?’ Kit said, doubtfully. The voice was very distorted, like someone shouting under water.
River went to run over to Kit but tripped over her own foot, face planting, straight as a plank of wood, into the crunchy grass. ‘Ouch!’
‘Paha,’ the voice cackled. ‘Serves you right, that does.’
River felt a gentle flutter by her ear. The white butterfly had flown to her side. River, once again, was dazed and confused. Staying as close to the ground as she could, she wiggled her nose to check it was still intact then crawled along the grass using only her arms until she was at Kit’s feet. Kit stayed where she was, curious where the voice was coming from.
‘Pssst,’ River said, attempting to stay undercover, although it was far too late for that. ‘I’m down here.’
‘I can see you, River,’ Kit said through gritted teeth. ‘Get up. You are embarrassing us.’ Kit giggled apologetically. ‘Sorry about my sister; she didn’t mean to be so rude.’ She squinted scoldingly down at River.
‘Who do you think you are, coming out here and saying…’ A wash of emotion filled the voice and it sounded as if it was hard for him to speak. ‘Saying,’ he gulped, ‘that we are just an old …ied …uuurrr …arden.’ He was clearly holding back tears.
‘Who does he mean by we?’ River asked under her breath, tugging at Kit’s trousers. She was slightly alarmed that there might be more than one angry person in the garden.
‘Get off!’ Kit said, kicking her leg free from River’s hand.
‘I’m not even touching you,’ the voice wailed into a fit of tears.
‘No, not you,’ Kit shouted into the air. ‘I was talking to my sister. Sorry – and please stop crying.’
The garden had gone from being swelteringly hot to raining huge droplets in a matter of seconds; they were falling fast and steady, soaking the girls completely. The white butterfly speedily found shelter underneath a leaf that had fallen on to the grass. River stood up, pulling her T-shirt over her head to keep her hair from getting soaked. Kit nudged her with a harsh elbow. ‘Say something,’ she whispered.
River rolled her eyes; she didn’t like being bossed about. But they were getting wet. ‘Sorry, I… I didn’t mean it,’ she said reluctantly. ‘I just, well… I didn’t think there was anyone out here.’
‘Oh, I see,’ the voice said, sniffing rather loudly before continuing. ‘So, just because you thought no one was listening, you thought it was OK to say MEAN THINGS.’ His voice filled the garden like the roar of a lion.
River’s legs turned to jelly and she wobbled round to stand behind Kit, using her as a shield, firmly digging her fingers into her sister’s waist.
‘Ouch!’ Kit shrieked, clearly feeling a little uneasy herself now and shivering from the chill of her wet clothes. The rain was getting worse and worse. ‘Sorry for disturbing you,’ she said in the politest voice she could muster through the nerves. She stepped backwards, crushing River’s foot in the process, and they both clumsily shuffled back a little. ‘We’ll go home now.’ Kit spun around and shoved River towards the window.
The earth rumbled, the grass shook and the ground beneath them splintered, forming tiny little cracks all over the garden. Both girls fell flat on their bottoms, while the butterfly shot up into the air from under its leaf. Mouths open wide, they sat petrified, watching the one and only tree in the garden grow and grow and grow until it touched the sky and its roots spread the entire size of the garden.
‘Please don’t go,’ the tree said through a barky mouth, and he wiped his eyes with a leaf and the rain finally slowed.
Neither girl could bring themselves to speak or move. They just stared up at the talking tree.
‘I didn’t mean to scare you.’ He spoke a little more softly this time. ‘We have been waiting a really, really long time for you to find us. Fifty-six years, to be exact.’
The tree bent its long trunk down towards the girls and reached a branch out to their faces, snapping their jaws shut. ‘It’s rude to stare, girls,’ he said strictly. ‘Don’t forget your manners.’
‘Wh-who-oo arrre yoo-uu?’ Kit stuttered. River was as white as a ghost.
‘Oh, I do apologise,’ he sa
id, a few leaves falling from his branches as he chuckled to himself. ‘I should have introduced myself sooner.’ He ruffled his leaves like a bird ruffling its feathers. ‘I’m Eddie.’
Kit stood up first, wringing out the bottom of her T-shirt.
‘Let me just get this straight,’ she said. ‘You are a tree.’
‘Good observation.’ Eddie winked.
‘And you,’ Kit continued, pointing to his trunk, ‘can talk?’
‘That is correct, my dear. The words you hear are coming from my mouth.’ He rearranged his branches so a bunch of leaves circled his face, highlighting that he was, indeed, a talking tree. The trunk of the tree now wore Eddie’s jolly face. Everything was there: two eyes, two ears, a rather large nose and a very big mouth. ‘I hate to rush you, Kit,’ he said, ‘but we need to get a move on.’
‘How do you know my name?’
‘No time for silly questions, child. Pick your sister up and let’s get to it.’
River was literally planted in the ground. She sat as still as a garden gnome as she watched the tree have a conversation with Kit. Kit did as she was told and went over to help River up. River pushed and Kit pulled, and between them they plucked her from the earth.
River couldn’t take her eyes off Eddie. Once on her feet, she walked straight past Kit and over to him. She placed her hands firmly on his cheeks and his bark crumbled slightly. He felt softer than he looked and he was warm – warm like a cup of hot chocolate on a winter’s day.
‘Do be careful, child,’ he said, ‘My bark isn’t what it used to be. Besides, your hand is up my nostril.’
‘Yuk,’ she spluttered. Eddie looked offended for a split second, then wiggled his roots and focused back on the matter at hand. River wished she hadn’t said that out loud. She took her hands away and brushed them against her leggings, hoping to discreetly clean them off. The last thing she wanted was tree snot all over her hands.
Eddie exhaled heavily; he suddenly looked very old and incredibly sleepy. He could barely keep his eyes open. He yawned, reaching his branches high in the sky, nearly knocking Kit to the floor with one of them.
‘Who are you?’ River asked. ‘Never in my life have I met a tree that can talk,’ she said.
‘Are you questioning my credibility? Just because you haven’t yet met a tree that can talk, it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. And who’s to say trees haven’t been talking? Maybe you,’ he said poking one of his skinnier branches into River’s chest, ‘haven’t had your ears open wide enough to hear them.’
River rubbed her chest where his branch had poked, and screwed up her face. It had hurt a little, both the poke and the dig. Surely if trees had been talking to her she would have heard them? She fiddled with her ears, pulling them as open as she could.
‘And if I must answer your question…’ he paused to look at both girls in turn ‘…I am the family tree.’ He bowed proudly, causing a few more leaves to fall, tangling themselves in the girls’ hair.
River looked at Kit and burst out laughing. Family tree! What on earth was she hearing? She didn’t know what had come over her but all of a sudden she found the whole scenario very funny. ‘I must be dreaming,’ she chuckled. And then Kit couldn’t help it: River’s laughter was contagious and she started giggling too.
‘Pinch me,’ Kit said, sticking out her arm. River happily obliged.
‘Ouch!’ Kit pinched River back on the top of her arm.
‘Owwwuch!’ River shouted through her laughter. And then they were chasing each other around the garden, trying to wake each other up from their supposed dream.
The sound of laughter in the garden after so many years was a delight to Eddie’s ears. Despite the fact that time was fast escaping him and there was much work to be done, he couldn’t help but take a few minutes to enjoy the sound of happiness around him. After all, what would life be without laughter?
CHAPTER 7
Weed Attack
The girls had dried off by the time they’d finished running around. Eddie had fallen asleep, with the white butterfly resting on one of his branches.
‘Hey, Eddie, wake up,’ River shouted.
‘I hope he wakes up before we have to go,’ Kit said. ‘I like having a talking tree as a friend.’
‘EDDDDIEEEE!’ River shouted at the top of her lungs.
‘I’m sl…ee…pee, so tired.’ His lips trilled as he spoke.
‘Maybe we should leave him,’ River whispered, looking back at the house. ‘I don’t want to upset him again.’
Kit ignored her and began to climb Eddie.
‘Kit, what are you doing?’ River gasped. ‘Come back.’ But Kit bounded up the tree like a monkey.
‘Ohh… Ahh… Ouch,’ Eddie grunted, as Kit climbed one branch after another. His eyes were still shut but a big goofy grin spread across his trunk. ‘Oh, no, you don’t,’ he said. He wrapped a branch around Kit and brought her back down to the grass, then opened his eyes to look at River. ‘Feisty one, your sister.’
Kit thought it was the best thing ever. She couldn’t believe she had just been carried down from a tree by its very own branch! ‘That was soooo cool. Way better than any Disneyland ride, eh?’ she said, turning to River, but River had no words.
‘Girls, I’m glad you’re having so much fun, but we have an awful problem,’ Eddie said, very seriously. Kit’s face darkened with concern. ‘Since you started playing in the other garden,’ he spat, with a hint of jealousy, ‘no one waters us, or gets rid of the weeds. And there certainly haven’t been any new seeds planted in many years.’
The girls took a look around the garden. They could see exactly what he was talking about. There was no colour in any of the flowers. Everything was the same shade of green. All the flower petals were shrivelled up, with their heads hanging towards the ground. In fact, everything was very droopy.
‘Every plant and flower in this garden has been asleep for near enough fifty-six years. I’m the only one who can still wake up from time to time, except for those ugly weeds. I’m awfully lonely.’
Kit walked over to Eddie and started to stroke his trunk. She could see tears welling up in his eyes. ‘It’s OK, Eddie, I’m sure we can help. Can’t we, River?’ Kit reassured him.
River was eyeing the football-sized tears that were about to fall from Eddie’s eyes, which were now piercingly looking at River for an answer.
‘Oh, um, yeah. Sure,’ she said hastily, nodding her head, not very sure at all.
Eddie was so relieved that the tears fell anyway. River had to duck and dive out of the way to avoid getting wet again. ‘Oh, thank you,’ he said, overjoyed. ‘I knew you would help.’
‘So, what do you need us to do?’ River asked, as she swerved to miss a few more giant tears.
‘We need to wake everything up,’ he said, waving his branches erratically over every part of the garden. The white butterfly was launched into the air in the process.
‘OK. And how do we do that?’ River said, as the final tear hit the floor, splashing into a bunch of little puddles.
‘Gardening, of course,’ he said, pointing to a miserable looking flowerbed in the corner opposite him. ‘You can start by pulling out all of those weeds.’
There were three very big sunflowers tangled in amongst a bunch of mischievous-looking weeds. The weeds were very much awake and chattering away. The sunflowers looked very sorry for themselves.
‘Grrrrr…grrrrr, you’d better not come over here – we bite, you know,’ threatened one of the weeds, revealing a nasty set of teeth and snarling like an angry dog.
‘Sssss…you’re too…sssss…chicken to…sssss…come near ussss,’ another hissed, slithering like a snake through the soil.
‘Um, Kit, can I have a word?’ River said, dragging her sister to one side. ‘We are not going near that flowerbed. I don’t want to end up like those sunf
lowers. They are – ’ she lowered her voice as much as she could ‘ – well, you know, D.E. – ’
‘Ahem,’ Eddie interrupted, his tall trunk leaning over them. He had heard every word River said.
‘River, we have to help,’ urged Kit. ‘We don’t want Eddie ending up like that, do we?’
‘That’s the spirit, child,’ he used his branches to gently guide them over to the flowerbed. ‘Now, go get ’em.’
River grabbed on to Eddie’s branch as he straightened up. ‘Aaarrgghhh,’ she screamed, as his branch swung, hurling her back and forth through the air. The weeds were cackling loudly, like witches.
‘What a big baby,’ one shouted.
‘You are so stupid,’ said another.
‘Look at how frightened she is. She’s way too scared to come down here,’ another cried, stretching and pointing its tip up at River.
River held on as long as she could but eventually Eddie managed to shake her off. She went flying through the sky, landing with a thud in the flowerbed. A chorus of disgruntled moans came from beneath her: it seemed she had squished a few of the fiery weeds.
‘Ouch, gerroff,’ one shouted, poking her in the leg.
‘Oi, fatty bum bum, move it, will you,’ said another. ‘I can’t breathe, help.’
‘Aaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!’ River screamed. It erupted like a volcano from her mouth, shocking everyone and everything into silence, if only for a split second. Steam was coming out of her ears, she was so angry. How dared they be so rude and how dared Eddie fling her to the floor like that? It was a miracle she wasn’t badly hurt.
‘You,’ she said, shouting at the weeds, ‘are horrid. And you…’ She looked at Eddie as she rose to her feet, but he was humming away, blissfully ignoring her. She exhaled loudly and stomped her foot.
