The Night Garden Read Online Free PDF Page A

she opened her heart.
    Mei was waiting on her for an answer. Olivia said, “My family ended up with a lot of open space in the old barn when my fatherhad the new one built, so when my mother was still alive, she figured she should put it to good use.”
    “Your mom’s dead?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s okay. I don’t really remember her that much. She died when I was four.”
    “How did she die?”
    “She used to forage for wild foods. Berries, leaves, that sort of thing. One of my last memories of her was walking through Chickadee Woods while she pointed out the young pokeweed shoots—which you’d only want to eat if you knew just when to pick them. Otherwise, they turn toxic to humans.”
    “She died from pokeweed?”
    “No. It was a mushroom. We don’t know what kind, exactly. I remember she had a bellyache and then a few hours later said she was better. We thought she just had a bug. But the thing about some kinds of mushrooms is that they kill you when you’re not looking. By the time we realized what had happened, she was too far gone.”
    “God,” Mei said. “I don’t get it. Why didn’t she get help right away?”
    “That’s just the way of the farmers of Green Valley; they don’t complain about things.” Olivia put a hand on the large henbane blossom that led into the maze. “Anyway, that’s why the gardens are so important to me. And why I keep the barn open. I lost my mother early on. But I like to think we’re close to each other because of how much we both love the maze.”
    Mei uncrossed her arms and peered into the opening of the maze. Olivia knew she was thinking the things that all the new Penny Loafers thought, having the internal debate they all had. Should she stay with the lonely, crazy woman who was offering her a sanctuary but who had seriously bizarre rules and apparentlya phobia of human touch? Or should she hit the road and burn rubber out of the parking lot and thank her lucky stars she got away?
    “I have to get back to work,” Olivia said. “If you stay or don’t stay, it’s not up to me. But take a stroll in the maze before you go. Here’s the entrance. But there are any number of exits you can take.”
    “Isn’t a maze supposed to have only one finish line?”
    “Not this maze. The good thing about problems is that it seems like there’s only one way to get into them, but there’s usually lots of ways out.”
    Mei sighed, and a kind of distance crept into her eyes. Olivia saw suddenly how young she was, and how tired. She wished she could reach out a hand to squeeze it, or even offer a pat on the back. But a gesture like that would hurt more than help.
    “I’ll leave you to it,” Olivia said. “When you’re done, stop by the farm stand. Whether you stay with us or go on your way, I’ll have the other boarders make up a bag of our best produce for you. And hey—you don’t even have to steal it.”
    “Thanks,” Mei said.
    “It’s no problem. I’m not doing anything my mother wouldn’t have done for you if she were still here,” Olivia said. “The garden maze should help.”
    Of course, the Pennywort maze was not the kinder and gentler way of getting at the heart of a tough decision: It could be cruel and blunt, as it did not temper its advice with platitudes or gentle coaxing as a kind listener might. Instead it flung people from their comfort zones like a plane’s ejector seat, it severed relationships as with an executioner’s sword, it bound lovers to affairs that would be best swept under the carpet, and it mangled people’s peace of mind. Some visitors were thrilled by the discovery of an inner truth. But others were angry when the clarity that they’d hoped to find turned out not to be an easyclarity, but instead the kind of clarity that makes a person forsake loved ones, or give up valuables, or throw away their future, or go after a dream without the safety net of common sense or a viable Plan B.
    “Go on,” Olivia