Red Ribbons by Vanessa K. Eccles

Author:Vanessa K. Eccles [Eccles, Vanessa K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vanessa Eccles

13

Garden Secrets

She stood alone in the foyer for a few minutes while Ms. Helen wrangled up the others. She felt relief knowing that it was Drake on the other side of the closet and not her foster parents. What she still didn't understand was why Drake hadn't wanted her to open the closet in her dream. He gave her the same warning. She wished Drake had stayed with her so she could’ve asked him, but he'd disappeared upstairs somewhere, and now there wasn't time.

"Enjoy the weather, children. Come back inside when the lights come on," Ms. Helen told them.

They all spilled out into the garden. The crisp fall weather felt nice. Mather was quickly gathering up a crew.

"We're going exploring. Wanna j-j-join?" Zeke asked her.

"Exploring for what?"

"Secrets." Abigail giggled.

"Gather round. It's bright and sunny, but don't let the nice weather fool you. Around and beneath this dirt lies a lot of secrets," Mather began. "Today, as explorers, we'll search the garden far and wide. Bring whatever you find to this bench."

"Yeah right," Zeke said just loud enough for Claribel could hear. "He'll take it for his own."

The kids then scattered east and west, south and north, until the entire garden had hungry eyes on it.

"Come," Claribel told Zeke and pulled him through the iron gate and into the bed of black-eyed Susans.

“W-w-what are these?" he asked, flicking a flower.

"Don't do that," she told him too late. The flower's black eye opened and stared at Zeke.

"Ahh!" he screamed.

"It's okay. They won't hurt you, I don't think. They just watch. But be gentle, will ya?"

As they walked along, they tried to keep their eyes on the ground, looking for anything interesting. The flowers watched them every step of the way.

After a few minutes, Zeke said, "This is weird. Can we go somewhere else?"

Claribel took his hand and pulled him deeper into the garden where she last saw her foster parents' closet doors. They weren't there now. Only a thick cement wall covered in running roses.

"Look." Claribel bent down and picked up the key with the emerald.

"I thought that disappeared," Zeke said.

"Me, too." She wiped the dirt from it and put it in her pocket. "Curiouser."

"Every time he comes, things get a little w-w-weird."

"What do you mean?" Claribel turned to Zeke.

"It's just... before he comes, the house grows sad, and when he gets here, Ms. Helen is all happy, but after he leaves, she slowly gets sad again."

"How often does he come?"

"He's only come f-f-four times since I've been here."

"How long have you been here?" Claribel asked.

He looked up as if trying to help his mind compute the time, then shrugged.

"What about the baby?"

"We hardly ever see the baby. It's strange. It never seems to grow older, but sometimes it looks younger," he whispered like this was some secret.

"Weird."

"Yeah. But on the bright side, he always brings us g-g-gifts." Zeke pulled out the brass binoculars from his pocket.

"Can I see?"

He handed them to Claribel, who put them to her eyes and turned around so that the lenses were facing the house.

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