The Orchard of Hope (15 page)

“Clearly,
they
’
re not.
What they
’
re
doing to preserve beauty is actually taking it
away,
”
Kelsey
said.
“
Those
statues looked terrible. They didn
’
t even look like statues
anymore. Those were works of art at one time, but now
they
’
re
ruined.
”

“From the
people
’
s
perspective, they
’
re keeping the statues beautiful by removing the
imperfections that come from time, age and
weather.
”

Kelsey looked around. She studied
the buildings, all of which had been scrubbed clean, sanded and
painted with a fresh coat of white paint. Everything was
white.

“But
imperfections don’
t make something
ugly,
”
Kelsey
said.

“What they
think they
’
re
doing is restoring these things to their original state by removing
the evidence of the events that have given the things
character,
”
Roland said.
“
But nothing ever stays the same, and
there
’
s no way
to go back.
”

“What is he
saying?
”
Maggie
asked.
“
I wish
I could hear him. You don
’
t know what it
’
s like not to hear someone
who
’
s talking
right in front of you.
”

“I do,
actually,
”
Kelsey replied as she looked into Maggie
’
s pale blue eyes.
“
When I first met the
king I couldn
’
t
hear anything he said, and I thought he was a
mute.
”
Kelsey
quickly relayed the story of how she had met the
king.

“Then you do
understand,
”
Maggie said as she adjusted the weight of her
backpack.
“
I
feel so left out of the conversation.
”

Kelsey thought back to how she felt
excluded on her first journey when Megan the snow leopard could
speak with the king. She realized that she was now being selfish by
keeping all the conversations with Roland to herself, and she
decided that she needed to find a way to help Maggie hear Roland or
at least take part in the conversations. She began explaining what
Roland had told her about the city, but before she could finish
they stumbled upon a large crowd blocking the road.

“What the …
What
’
s going
on?
”
Kelsey
asked as she stood up on her toes to look over the heads of the
people in the crowd. They were pushing and shoving one another,
trying to move toward a large torch. People were trying to get as
close as possible, and several of them were nearly burned as they
brushed too closely to the flame. Kelsey took a step back and
looked around to see if there was some way to get past this group
of people behaving erratically.

“It
’
s one of the city
lights,
”
Roland
explained. Kelsey immediately repeated his words to Maggie.
“
Everyone wants to get
close to them because the light from the torch makes the person
appear more beautiful.
”
Kelsey repeated his response word for word, and
then she looked around. She spotted a large flower pot and jumped
on top of it to get a better look.

It was true. Kelsey saw that as
people approached the torch, their features became brighter and
they appeared more attractive in the light of the flame. Rough
skin, scars and imperfections disappeared. People appeared more
stylish and confident. However, as soon as the person was pushed or
stepped away from the light, he or she looked even less attractive
than before being in the light. At first she thought she was seeing
things or that it was a fluke when it happened with the first
person. But then she saw it happen to person after
person.

“They
’
re actually losing beauty,
”
Kelsey announced to Roland and
Maggie after she had jumped down from the flower
pot.

“That is an
unfortunate side effect,
”
Roland said, nodding in agreement. Kelsey echoed
his words again.
“
Are you going to keep doing that?
”
He asked her.

“I just wanted
Maggie to feel included since she can
’
t hear you,
”
Kelsey
explained.

“You don
’
t need to do
that,
”
Maggie
said.

“No, you
don
’
t,
”
Roland agreed. Kelsey looked helplessly from one
to the other.

“I
’
m
sorry,
”
she said
awkwardly.
“
I
’
m not very good with people and
I was just trying to find a way that we could all talk with one
another.
”

“Well,
it
’
s
weird,
”
Maggie
said as she scrunched up her nose and leaned up against the rough
brick of the building next to her.

“It
’
s annoying,
”
said Roland.
“
There are better
solutions.
”

“Don
’
t
worry,
”
Maggie said
with assurance as she moved away from the building again.
“
Maybe it
’
s not important that I hear
everything right now. You can hear him and you can both hear me, so
I think this will all work out. I don
’
t know how, but I think it will
be fine.
”

“I agree. It
will be fine,
”
Roland said.

“Well, what
about these people?
”
Kelsey asked.
“
They
’
re
blocking the road and there
’
s no way we can get through –
not to mention that they
’
re behaving
foolishly.
”

“We can
’
t solve the problem of their
foolishness,
”
said Roland.
“
This is part of the culture of the city. People have been
fighting to stand next to the city lights for decades and they
won
’
t change
now.
”

“It
’
s like those torches are feeding
off the beauty around them while maintaining the impression that
they
’
re giving
beauty,
”
Kelsey
mused aloud.

“They
are,
”
Roland
replied solemnly.
“
But this is not an issue that we need to solve right now.
It
’
s a problem
for another day.
”

“How do we get
around them, then? Is there another road?
”
Kelsey turned around to look in
several directions. There were a few alleys and side streets, but
they were all dead ends.

“No,
”
Roland replied.
“
And we have a task to finish in
this city before we move on.
”
Kelsey shook her head, and Maggie understood
that this was the only way through.

“Perhaps we
could move the flame,
”
Kelsey suggested.
“
Is there a way to force the
flame to relocate out of our way?
”

“No, once a
flame takes root and people know where to find it, the flame will
not give up the space,
”
Roland explained. Kelsey again shook her
head.

“I could make
another flame,
”
Maggie suggested.
“
If we went back to the
explosives store and bought the right supplies, I could make an
even bigger flame and maybe that will draw the crowd away from this
one.
”

“It will take
more than a bigger flame to convince these people to leave the one
they
’
ve already
found,
”
said
Roland.

“What else do
we need?
”
Kelsey enquired.

“We need them
to want the flame. It has to be more desirable than the one
they
’
re
currently drawn toward.
”

“How do we make
it more attractive, then?
”
Kelsey asked.

“I can set
things on fire and make them explode,
”
Maggie replied
defensively,
“
but I don
’
t know how to make people want one burning thing over
another.
”

“Then we ask
for assistance,
”
said Roland decisively.

“From
whom?
”
Kelsey
asked.

“Nicholas,
”
Roland answered.

“But he
’
s not here,
”
said Kelsey.

“Who
’
s
not here?
”
Maggie asked
. When Kelsey told
her, all she replied was,
“
I miss him.
”

Chapter

10

Getting More Real

Nicholas had advanced to the point
where he could scry for brief periods to see things in far away
locations. It took a lot of energy, but he could observe things for
up to half an hour before his body felt tired enough to collapse.
He’d never been an athlete, but after scrying for half an hour in a
distant location, his whole body ached, and he felt nauseated. He
imagined that this was how athletes must feel after a long
competition.

He still wasn’t sure how to discern
reality or how to use scrying in order to accomplish the task, but
he did know that he was getting better at it.

“Eventually, you’ll be scrying
into the Academy of Miracles to attend classes,” Moss said. “That’s
not to say that you won’t be going back there, but for now you have
a lot to learn here with me, also.”

Nicholas nodded.
He missed his friends. Jovan was one of the smartest people he had
met, and he had been Nichola
s'
best friend ever since he arrived at the
Academy. They had been through a lot together. Although Jovan was
still a student, he was helping to manage the academy, and
therefore, he was unable to visit Nicholas often. Nicholas was
looking forward to attending lessons with his friend, even if he
couldn’t be there in person.

“You’re doing very well with the
scrying,” Moss said. “It’s time to take it to the next
level.”

“How do we do that?” Nicholas
asked.

“By having you interact through
scrying, and not just observing.”