by Mali Baker
‘Excuuuuuuuse meeeee,’ said another weed, in a really annoying twangy voice. ‘You have just stomped on my brother, you clumpy lump.’
‘Sorry, little weed,’ Kit stepped in, obviously hoping to resolve the situation before it got out of hand but she was interrupted immediately.
‘LITTLE? I’LL GIVE YOU LITTLE!’ There was uproar among the weeds again. They were shouting and squealing; it seemed Kit had only riled them more. The noise was too much for River and she covered her ears with her hands. The weeds scrunched themselves into little fists and were punching the air, springing from the flowerbed like elastic bands. Kit jumped backwards to avoid getting poked in the eye. River jumped out of the flowerbed and on to the grass. Eddie’s trunk had turned red with anger. He looked as though he might uproot himself and dive trunk-first into the flowerbed at any moment. Instead, he made a feeble attempt to throw a bunch of leaves at the weeds, only to completely miss them and hit River in the face. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t drown out the noise of the weeds.
‘Quiet,’ she said. ‘QUIIIIEEEEET.’
Surprising herself with how commanding she sounded, she paused, mainly because she didn’t know what to do now she had everyone’s attention. One thing was for sure: the noise had to stop. The garden was silenced. The weeds looked a little taken aback and were sulking, sinking back into the soil. Eddie, if he could, would have been bouncing up and down like a kangaroo; instead he gave River a wink and a nod of approval.
‘That’s my sister,’ Kit boasted.
River looked at the weeds. Although she didn’t like the idea of physically having to pull them out, she knew that they had to go. If they didn’t, this garden would stay asleep forever, and what a shame that would be, especially for poor old Eddie. She turned to him, putting her hands on her hips.
‘Every single weed?’ she asked.
‘That’s right, my girl, every single one.’
‘But where will they go?’
Eddie pointed to a patch of garden that had been boxed off with a fence around it. ‘Just,’ he said sternly, eyeing the weeds, ‘until they can learn to behave.’
Eddie looked on at River proudly as she dug straight into the flowerbed, pulling one weed out after another, ignoring their moans and groans. She ploughed through every flowerbed until all the weeds in the garden were banished to the fenced-off patch. For the first time on their journey, Kit stood back and let her sister do all the work, while she and the friendly white butterfly embraced the bright rays of sunshine now filtering through Eddie’s swaying branches.
CHAPTER 8
Planting Seeds
River was exhausted by the time the weeds had gone. She perched herself on the grass at the foot of Eddie, and leant against his solid trunk. She felt how strong he was and it soothed her aching body.
‘That was haaardd work,’ she said. The white butterfly landed gracefully on River’s shoulder and sat patiently with her while she took a well-earned rest. River looked around, admiring her work. The garden looked a lot tidier now. She had a feeling the butterfly was impressed with her. They couldn’t have been in the garden that long, but it felt as though they had known Eddie a lifetime. She glanced up at his face and noticed how happy he looked. There was a twinkle in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before, and they were the brightest blue you could imagine.
‘Are they ever going to wake up?’ she asked, pointing at the sunflowers from the first bed. Even though the weeds had gone, there was still no movement from the sunflowers.
‘Oh, yes, but it may take a while for them to get their colour back,’ Eddie said. The smell of fresh blooming flowers filled the air around them, but none of them seemed to be awake yet.
‘When will they wake up?’ Kit asked, pointing at a rose bush that was growing up the side of Violet’s window. ‘I’d really like to meet them.’ Kit was a big fan of roses.
‘When we’re all done. We haven’t finished yet,’ Eddie said. ‘There’s still much work to do.’
‘What?’ River blurted. ‘Are you kidding me?’ The white butterfly jumped off of her shoulder and flew over to Kit.
‘I’m afraid not,’ Eddie said.
‘But I’m so tired! Why can’t they just wake up now?’ River knew she sounded whiney but she didn’t care. She had worked the hardest she had ever worked, and wasn’t prepared to have to do more.
‘Ah, no, this is the best bit,’ Eddie squeaked, clapping his leaves together. ‘Now we must plant new seeds.’ He was clearly excited by the prospect. ‘This garden needs a sprrring clean,’ he said rolling his ‘r’s. ‘Get it… a spring clean.’ He nudged Kit, who looked as if she was enjoying his joke. ‘We can plant some new seeds and help the old ones wake up at the same time. How startastic,’ he said in a funny accent. His grin filled the full width of his trunk, teeth and all. River and Kit looked at each other in utter amazement.
‘How do you know our word?’ River asked.
‘What do you mean, your word? And anyway… Must. Plant. Seeds,’ he said.
River hadn’t done all this gardening to give up now, but boy, oh, boy, was she tired! But then she thought about the poor colourless flowers and forced herself off the ground. ‘OK, so where are these seeds, then?’
Eddie straightened up his trunk and raised his eyebrows. ‘I don’t have them!’ he said, sounding confused.
‘What do you mean?’ River, frustrated, threw her arms towards Eddie, waving her empty hands at him. ‘How can there be seeds to plant if you don’t have any and I don’t have any?’ She stood challenging Eddie with her arms folded, staring him straight in the eye. He bent his trunk right down so their noses were only a few inches apart.
‘You have them,’ he said exaggerating every word.
Confused, River looked over at Kit, who was clumsily dancing around the garden, following the white butterfly’s every move.
‘It’s all in here,’ he said, drawing a circle around her with his branches. ‘Just use your imagination,’ he continued. ‘If you could plant your very own flower, what would it look like?’
River mulled over the question. What would she plant? She’d never had to think about it before. ‘I don’t know much about flowers,’ she said. ‘I don’t know much about gardening at all, come to think of it.’
‘For this type of planting, you needn’t worry yourself over that, River. This flower can be anything you want it to be.’
‘Anything?’ she said. This was starting to sound like fun. ‘So I can just think what I want to plant, and a seed will appear like magic out of thin air?’ River asked, not completely sure she understood the rules.
‘Well, not exactly,’ Eddie replied.
‘So how does it work?’ River said impatiently, eager to get started.
‘Well, basically, you think of what it is you want to grow and then, yes, a seed is planted,’ Eddie said.
‘OK…’ River, still a little confused but willing to try, closed her eyes tightly, hoping to magically create a new flower right before her eyes.
‘But – ’ Eddie said, interrupting her thoughts. She popped her eyes open, listening to his every word. ‘You have to believe that what you plant will grow.’ He studied River, hoping what he was saying would register with her. He needed to know that she understood what he meant, for the life of the garden depended on it.
River lowered her face to look at the ground, as she often did when she was taking in new information. She shuffled her weight from foot to foot, and the tips of her trainers brushed through the grass. Eventually she raised her eyes to meet Eddie.
‘So I don’t physically plant a seed?’ she said.
‘Nope.’
‘I think it, and then I… well, I hope it will grow?’
‘No, no, nooooo,’ Eddie said in a much lower tone than he had used before. River really didn’t understand what she had said wrong. ‘Yo
u have to KNOW it will grow.’
He seemed to know that she still needed one last nudge. ‘You know,’ he said slyly, ‘your Great-Auntie Violet did a great job the last time she came to visit us.’
‘You knew Great-Auntie Violet?’ River’s eyes were as bright as the sun.
Eddie didn’t respond to her question. He knew he should say no more. He had to let River decide for herself if she wanted to plant the seed or not.
River felt giddy with excitement. If Violet could do it, so could she. Without further fussing, she closed her eyes, took in a really deep breath and began imagining.
Flashes of colour floated around inside her eyes. She could see the bright yellow of the sunflowers and the pretty pink of the roses. Within a few seconds a purple swirl began to form the shape of a flower in her mind. She visualised vibrant purple heart-shaped petals sprouting in all different sizes. Its lime-green stem grew bigger and bigger until it was much taller than she was. Even though she knew she wasn’t actually moving, she felt as though she was walking around it, on a virtual tour, exploring every inch of her new sacred flower. Little leaves appeared on its stem, like steps on a ladder, and she began to climb them until she found herself in the bud of the flower. From up here, she could see a huge gate, just behind Eddie. On the other side of it, hundreds of tall trees began popping up from the ground. Their multicoloured leaves rained on the path beneath it. The sky began to change colour around her, forming a sparkly white mist, and stars were shooting across and above her in all different colours. The mist seeped into her, filling her up like water in a vase. Her body lit up and she felt incredible, as though she was floating amongst the clouds, not a care in the world.
‘Aa…aa…aa…tchoo,’ Eddie sneezed.
‘Bless you,’ said Kit.
‘Thank you, dear. Sorry, River, did I disturb you?’ Eddie apologised as River opened her eyes. She was completely bewildered. Looking around, she was very surprised to see that nothing had changed. What she had seen had felt so real.
‘Did you enjoy your planting?’ Eddie asked, still rubbing his nose.
‘Yes, I did… but nothing has changed.’ River felt a little disappointed.
‘Patience, my dear, patience.’
‘I was sitting in the bud of a flower…’ But before she could finish, Eddie spread his branches and the bright white light that River was now familiar with started to seep into the garden. Like a magnet it was drawn to River and began circling her body from top to toe. It was just as bright as before, but this time she didn’t need to close her eyes. Kit stood watching, dumbfounded. Eddie clapped his branches; leaves were flying left, right and centre but now they simply bounced off of the white shield, surrounding River and falling on to the grass. Within seconds the light shot towards Kit and encased her in the same way. All three of them bounced about, enjoying the light.
‘You look like a golden egg,’ River bellowed at Kit.
‘So do you, egghead,’ Kit chuckled back at her.
‘Right, girls,’ Eddie said, ‘we’re all done here.’ He looked over at the weeds and smiled. He was finally free of their torment.
‘Oh, but we don’t want to go home yet,’ River said.
Eddie knew the girls were a very long journey away from going home yet. This was only the beginning.
‘Well, there is somewhere else you could go,’ he said, keeping them both in suspense. His tone was mischievous.
‘Where?’ Kit asked.
Eddie reached every one of his branches up towards the sky, until he looked like nothing but a big trunk with a bushy head full of leaves. Beyond Eddie, just as River had seen in her imagination, was a ginormous gate, and in big bold letters, written across the top, were the words THE MAGICAL PATH.
CHAPTER 9
The Magical Path
‘Eddie, this is really, really weird,’ River said, shaking her head, completely baffled.
‘How come we didn’t see this gate before?’ Kit asked.
‘Oh, boy,’ River said.
‘What? What is it, River?’ Kit asked.
River stared up at the rusty gate. It was slightly daunting this close up, and at least five times her height. The kind you might see at the front of an old haunted mansion.
‘I think…’ She paused, not quite sure how to explain it. ‘I think I just imagined this place into our reality.’
‘No way,’ Kit said.
‘Yes way: I’ve definitely seen this gate before.’ River paced back and forth in front of it like a discombobulated chicken.
‘Well, of course you have,’ Eddie said. ‘You planted it.’
‘I didn’t imagine it to look this scary.’
‘Yes, I probably should have told you to be careful what you thought about. Our minds are miraculous things, you know, quite fascinating – ’
‘Eddie,’ River interrupted, ‘you are not helping.’
Eddie tightened his lips, but River didn’t care. Despite having had lots of fun in the sleeping garden, she was now rather spooked. To be perfectly honest, she was totally freaking out! ‘How could I have seen this in my imagination and now be standing in front of it, in real life?’
‘I know, right? It’s totally startastic, man.’ Kit was excited.
‘No, Kit, it’s not startastic – it’s weird.’
River wished more than ever to see the familiar faces of her grandparents. A part of her wasn’t even sure this was really happening. How could it be? Perhaps she had drifted off to sleep by accident. After all, she had barely slept the night before, what with the thunderstorm and the light shining through the keyhole.
‘Yes, that’s it,’ she said, trying to calm herself down. ‘Any second now, I’ll be waking up to the sound of Nana calling us for lunch.’ She pleaded with her mind, scrunching her eyes tight shut, willing her imagination to take her home just as it had brought her to the gate.
But it didn’t.
River’s stomach growled and she grabbed it with both hands.
‘I’m hungry,’ she moaned.
‘Here,’ Kit said, throwing her a round green berry.
‘What’s this?’
‘Looks like a grape,’ Kit said, shoving a bunch in her mouth. ‘I picked it from the garden.’
Eddie closed his eyes, knowing exactly where this was heading. River threw it in her mouth. The saliva overflowed from under her tongue as the sour berry’s juices tormented her tastebuds. She swallowed it as quickly as she could. ‘That wasn’t a grape. Yuk. It was a gooseberry.’
‘Haha, got ya,’ Kit gloated.
‘Gross!’ River screwed up her face, trying to get rid of the lingering taste in her mouth. Kit really knew how to wind her up sometimes. Come to think of it, Kit had been very accepting of all the strange happenings of today. In fact, ever since they’d entered the room, Kit had been too cool in River’s opinion, considering she was such a goody two-shoes. The pen, the garden, Eddie, the gate – and now she was playing tricks on her. River was beginning to get suspicious. She marched right up to Kit, and flicked her on the back of the ear.
‘Ouch,’ Kit whined, covering her ear with both hands. ‘What was that for?’
‘Now, girls,’ Eddie warned.
‘I just wanted to see if you were awake,’ River said accusingly, as though Kit had been standing there pretending to be asleep. ‘This is all some kind of joke that you and Grandpa have planned, isn’t it? I’ve figured it out, Kit, so you can stop pretending.’ She stepped as close to Kit as she could without bumping noses, forcing her back up against Eddie’s trunk. ‘I want to know what’s going on, right now.’ River turned red in the face. ‘RIGHT NOW, or I’m telling – ’
But, before River could finish her sentence the large rusty gate creaked open, just enough for her to see what was inside.
River couldn’t believe it.
She scrunche
d her hands into fists and rubbed her eyes, the same way she did when she woke up in the mornings. The long, winding path behind the gate was exactly like the path she had seen in her imagination, when she had been sitting in the bud of her flower. She quickly took hold of one side of the gate, her fingers barely wrapping around the pillar, it was so big. She looked back at Eddie, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to get through the gate.
‘Oh, you’ll see me again.’ He smiled encouragingly. ‘I’ll be right here when you need me.’
River smiled back at him, and then tugged the gate as hard as she could. It was a bit stiff but she managed to open it just enough to squeeze through. The path was made up of wooden planks. She stepped on to the first plank. It wobbled and she stumbled slightly, but it didn’t put her off; she found her balance and continued on to the next. She felt a tug pulling her further on to the path, as though she had a rope tied around her waist and someone was gently coaxing her inside from the other end. She didn’t stop stepping from plank to plank, despite how unstable they were.
Tall, bright green trees arched over the path. They met each other perfectly in the middle, letting through just the right amount of sunlight to spotlight each plank of wood. River had never seen anything like it before – maybe in the movies or in a picture, but not in real life. Kit followed, keeping up, only ever one or two planks behind River. She watched River enjoying the wonder that stood before them. The path looked magical and serene. Birds chirped and butterflies made patterns in the sky above them. They couldn’t have painted a more perfect picture.
River picked up the pace as a surge of determination flowed through her body. She wanted to reach the end of the path as quickly as possible, and first. Before long they were both running, jumping from plank to plank, racing one another, but River managed to stay ahead. The girls spread their arms out to the side, like wings, embracing the space around them. They enjoyed the breeze flowing through the gaps between their fingers. The wind was cold on their faces, cooling them as their bodies heated up from the exertion.
