The Orchard of Hope Read Online Free PDF Page A

if Roland knew how she
felt and wanted to ask him if he could smell feelings, but she
didn’t want to ask the question in front of Maggie. After all,
Maggie might think the question was even stranger than talking to
an invisible image of death.
    As she walked, Kelsey reached out
to touch a few low branches that extended over the path. The bark
was rough, but felt good against her palms. With each step she
took, she could also smell the rich earth as her feet stirred the
soil beneath her. It felt good to be out in the forest, and it
kindled her sense of adventure.
    Maggie was keeping up without any
difficulty. She hadn’t been slow or complained about anything – at
least not yet. Kelsey took a deep breath and finally turned to
Maggie. She had to begin a conversation about something, so she
decided to ask a question and see if she could get Maggie to do
most of the talking.
    “Do you like studying at the
Academy of Miracles?” Kelsey asked politely. Kelsey knew it was a
generic question, but at least it was an effort.
    “Yes.”
    “Do you know how to make miracles
yet?”
    “No.”
    “Are they teaching you anything of
value?”
    “Yes.”
    “So they have classes in sword
fighting and combat?”
    “No.”
    Kelsey took in another deep breath
and inhaled the damp air that smelled like the trees. She didn’t
know what kind of trees they were, but she knew they were hardwood
because they had leaves that dropped in the fall and sprouted anew
again in the spring. During her time at the castle, she had watched
the trees change with the seasons. Sometimes they had done training
exercises at the edge of the forest, and because she was very thin,
Kelsey could easily hide behind the thick tree trunks. Sometimes
she would even climb up into the overhead limbs to surprise her
opponents.
    The group moved deeper into the
forest and it was getting darker as the foliage became more dense.
Maggie tripped a few times over tree roots that were difficult to
see in the darkness, and everyone could feel the air becoming
thicker with moisture. They moved quietly for several minutes
before Roland broke the silence.
    “She knows you don’t like her.
You’ll have to do more than simply ask questions,” he
said.
    Kelsey struggled to think of a
topic to discuss with Maggie. She wanted to like her, but it seemed
as if they had nothing in common. They were just too different. All
the subjects that Kelsey thought were interesting, such as battle
strategies or knife sharpening techniques, would be boring to
Maggie. As Kelsey continued to think about possible topics of
conversation, a gentle rain started to fall. At first she could
only hear the drops hitting the leaves overhead, but after a few
minutes, they broke through the canopy of leaves, and she started
to feel the rain dripping onto her head. Without thinking, she
reached back behind her neck and pulled up the hood of her cloak to
cover her head.
    “I love the rain,” Maggie said
with a sigh. She was walking with her face turned upwards,
squinting into the gentle droplets as they fell. She opened her
mouth and caught a few on her tongue before turning to look at
Kelsey again. All Kelsey could think about was how Maggie could get
sick from not keeping herself warm and dry. If that happened, it
could really slow down their journey.
    “Try to keep up,” snapped Kelsey,
as she continued to march forward with strong, deliberate
steps.
    “I’m keeping up.”
    That was the end of the
conversation for a while because the rain was now starting to come
down so heavily that the noise of the drops on the leaves became
too loud for anything else to be heard. It sounded like a rushing
river pouring vertically over them.
    “Is this normal?” Kelsey shouted
above the noise.
    “Yes,” Roland answered, but he
seemed unaffected by the water. He was walking in front and didn’t
look backwards when he spoke. The two girls followed single file
down the narrow path behind him.
    “How should I