Little Faith by Nickolas Butler

Author:Nickolas Butler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-11-25T16:00:00+00:00

Fall

(20)

LATE ONE MONDAY AFTERNOON IN MID-SEPTEMBER, LYLE AND Peg drove the River Road to La Crosse, where they picked up Isaac after school and then drove back to Redford and the Sourdough Orchard, which was closed on Mondays, but otherwise in full swing, with apples decorating the branches of the trees, the apple house full of wooden crates of fruit. Any other day of the week tourists would have been jamming the humble parking lot and tumbling out to spend their money on apple butter, caramel apples, freshly fried apple fritters, hot apple cider, or bags of freshly picked apples. These days, after months of hard work in the orchard, brought clear delight to Otis and Mabel, one of whom worked the old cash register while the other guided customers around to the apple slingshot, the apple trebuchet, or the playground of sun-faded plastic toys that was hauled out of storage just for the all-important month of September. But today, while everyone caught their breath after a busy weekend, the orchard was quiet.

They found Mabel yelling directions to Otis, who stood in the refrigerated apple house stacking crates on a red Radio Flyer wagon.

“He’s going to spill those apples,” Mabel said to Peg. “I tell him things, and he just ignores me, like I’m not even here. But you watch, he’ll spill those beautiful apples everywhere and we won’t be able to sell them.”

As Lyle worked his way into the apple house, through rows of crates stacked four high, he heard the crashing sound of the wagon tipping over and pitching many dozens of apples onto the floor.

“You old coot,” Mabel yelled. “I told you so. You’d lose your damn head if it wasn’t attached to your shoulders.”

“Can I help you?” Lyle offered, taking in the damage.

“I’d be obliged,” Otis said. “The woman has a sixth sense for calamity.” Mabel threw her hands in the air and escorted Peg and Isaac into the Haskells’ home.

“Why don’t we get a few paper bags,” Otis said. “Anything we pick up, you take home with you. They’re probably all bruised by now.”

The two men spent twenty minutes cleaning the apple house, Lyle helping Otis make space in the building for more apples. Then they joined the women and Isaac, who were all seated in the kitchen drinking lowballs of golden apple cider.

“I was thinking of taking Isaac up into the orchard,” Lyle said.

“You two go ahead,” Peg offered, “I’ll stay down here.”

* * *

LYLE AND ISAAC PROMISED THEY’D RETURN FOR SNACKS AND conversation, and Lyle drove up to the gated orchard, Isaac climbing down out of the truck and opening the gate so that the old truck could make its way in. Then he shut the gate and ran back to his grandfather. Holding hands, they walked through the orchard, past all the new plantings of Honeycrisp, past the Galas and Zestars, into the very oldest section of the orchard, to where the wild apple trees grew, the trees Otis found over fifty

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.