The Orchard of Hope (21 page)

They made their
way over some low rolling hills and through a valley. At the top of
one of the hills, they looked down and could see an orchard in the
distance. It looked like a peaceful place, with a pleasant sounding
stream trickling along the far side of the trees. There was an old
stone building
resembling a
monastery on the other side. The building had
windows with wooden shutters that could be closed at night, but
there were no screens to keep out bugs. It was tall but rustic
looking.

Kelsey and
Maggie stared down the hill at the trees in the orchard, attempting
to see what hope looked like, but they weren
’t sure
exactly what they were
looking at. Kelsey removed a small brass spyglass from her backpack
so that she could survey the orchard better.

All the trees
had moderately sized oval-shaped leaves and clusters of white
flowers along with some large pale
green
spiral- striped
fruit
. The
fruit
w
as larger than an orange but
smaller than a melon. They appeared fuzzy, like a peach, but it was
difficult to tell for sure at that distance. Kelsey handed the
spyglass to Maggie, then she turned to speak with
Roland.

“I
’
ve never seen fruit and flowers
on a tree at once. They usually bloom and then produce
fruit,
”
Kelsey
remarked.

“Hope always
blooms,
”
Roland
explained
.

“I wonder if
they have singing fireflies here,
”
Maggie
asked as she
returned Kelsey’s instrument.

“What are
those? Is that a rock band or something?
”
Kelsey asked as she returned
the spyglass to her backpack. “The Singing
Fireflies?”

“We have those
at my school. They live in the enchanted forest,
”
Maggie said.
Kelsey remembered the forest because she’d crossed through
it on her last quest, but she didn’t remember seeing the
fireflies.

“The forest
here isn’t enchanted,
”
Roland said, and Kelsey relayed the message. As she
finished explaining this to Maggie, a dove flew down and landed
directly in front of them.

“A message?
”
Kelsey asked.

“Well,
he
’
s making it
obvious by saying
“
amessageamessageamessageamessage!
”
Maggie said.

“I
didn
’
t even
hear him speak.”

“He was talking
very fast and his accent makes it sound like he
’
s slurring,
”
Maggie explained.
“
It almost sounds like choking
instead of speech.
”

Kelsey looked at
Roland skeptically, but he nodded his assent.
“
It
’
s true,
”
he said,
“
doves can be difficult to
understand.
”

“What does he
want?
”
Kelsey
asked and then quickly added,
“
Wait! Don’
t tell me. I want to listen.
”
She did her best to concentrate
by closing her eyes and trying to focus her ears. She relaxed every
muscle in her body so that all her energy was concentrated on her
listening. After a few minutes, the sounds began to come together
in her mind and began to take form. They reminded her of familiar
words and the more she concentrated the more she felt certain of
the meaning.

“He
’
s here to be
peeled,
”
Kelsey
finally announced proudly.

“Healed,
”
Maggie said
softly. Although she felt uncomfortable about correcting
Kelsey
’
s
interpretation, she also didn
’
t want the poor dove to get
peeled.

“Healed?
”
Kelsey asked.
“
But Megan
isn
’
t here.
Who
’
s going to
heal this bird? I don
’
t even see anything wrong with it.
”

“Apparently
Megan sent this bird as a dual lesson in learning to speak bird as
well as healing,
”
Roland explained.

“She
couldn
’
t find a
bird who could speak clearly?
”
Kelsey replied with annoyance. She glanced
around at her companions and then continued.
“
Very well. Then I suppose I
should ask the bird what
’
s wrong?
”

“Do you want me
to ask for you?
”
Maggie offered.

“No, thank
you,
”
Kelsey
answered.
“
I
need to learn this.
”
She concentrated again and allowed her body to relax as she
listen to Roland coach her on the pronunciation of the
words.

“Coo - woo - coo -
cooooooooooo,
”
Kelsey
said the words with great concentration and then stared back at the
dove expectantly when she was finished.

“I
don’
t think that
’
s correct,
”
Maggie said as they watched the
bird beginning to waltz in circles.
“
Were you trying to ask the bird
if it knew how to dance?
”

“Well, at least
I know that there
’
s nothing wrong with his legs,
”
Kelsey said as the bird turned
a few elaborate circles and fluttered his wings to show
off.

“And you did
form a question,
”
Maggie said with encouragement,
“
That
’
s something.
”
Maggie then told the bird it
could stop dancing, and Kelsey tried again.

“Coo - woo - coo -
coooooooo,
”
she said,
trying to follow the meter and pitch of Roland
’
s speech as she imitated the
sounds. She didn
’
t quite understand what she was saying. She could barely
understand the birds when they spoke, but forming words in their
language was a hundred times more difficult. The bird squawked at
Kelsey a few times and then strutted around indignantly.
“
What?
”
Kelsey asked,
“
What did I just say?
”

“You asked the
bird if it had a brain,
”
Maggie answered. She tried to calm the bird, but
it wasn
’
t until
Roland spoke with authority to the bird that it understood that
Kelsey was a student and required patience rather than judgment for
making a mistake.

“She
’s not
calling you stupid. She wanted to know if you had an injury of some
kind,
”
Roland
said in the bird
’
s dialect. The bird cooed and squawked rapidly for a few
minutes and then suddenly stopped. It glanced from Kelsey to Maggie
and back to Roland.

“Apparently his
tongue is swollen,
”
Roland explained. The bird had been speaking so rapidly
that not even Maggie could follow what it was
saying.

“Its tongue is swollen?
I
s this some kind of joke?
”
Kelsey asked. When Maggie heard
this, she began to laugh.
“
Megan sent a bird with a swollen
tongue for me to attempt to understand and then heal it? Does
anyone else think this sounds a little rough for a first
lesson?
”

“To be
fair,
”
Roland
interjected,
“
swelling is one of the easiest things to heal, and the
tongue is one of the smallest parts of a bird
’
s body. You can
’
t judge Megan
’
s intentions by one
action.
”

“Well,
there
’
s that
action where she stole a piece of my soul,
”
Kelsey pointed out
offhandedly.

“You signed it
away. It was never stolen,
”
Roland replied firmly.
“
So let
’
s not dwell on the things
we
’
ve lost and
focus on the task at hand.
”

“OK, so I’ll
just forget that my soul is gone and focus on the task at hand.
Easy enough.” Kelsey’s sarcasm was exaggerated as she spoke. She
had stayed awake at night several times, wondering why she
didn
’
t feel as
if her soul was missing a piece, but she knew it was gone, and it
made her angry whenever she thought about it
.

“Good,” Roland said with approval,
ignoring Kelsey’s tone.

“What do I
do?
”
Kelsey
asked.

“First
eliminate all the frustration and hostility you’re
feeling
. It’s counterproductive to healing and
will only get in the way,” he said. “Don’t rush. It won’t help. Be
sure to clear your mind. Once you’ve gotten your head into a calm
state, gently pick up the bird.” After a few minutes of deep
breathing Kelsey reached forward and carefully scooped up the
bird.

“Don
’
t
talk,
”
Roland
instructed her.
“
Continue to keep your mind clear and have only positive
things dwelling there. Think about the bird being whole again.
Imagine the enlarged tongue decreasing in size as you gently touch
the bird. You can stroke it, but be very gentle.
”

Kelsey followed his instructions.
She wanted to be able to do this, and she was worried that her
desire to achieve would get in the way. So instead of thinking
about how much she desired to accomplish the task, she thought
about the bird and about it being successful and able to speak
clearly again. She was so focused on the bird’s health that it
startled her when the bird spoke and she understood it.

“Thank you,
G
iraffe-
G
irl,
”
the dove
said.

“Giraffe-
G
irl?
”
Kelsey asked with confusion as she bent over and set the
bird down on the ground. She wondered if she had misinterpreted the
bird’s statement.

“You talk like
a giraffe,
”
the
bird said as he strutted around, bobbing his head as he walked back
and forth.

“I t
hought
so
,
”
Maggie
said with conviction.

“Look,
”
Kelsey replied,
“
I don’
t even know what a giraffe sounds like.
”

“Sure you
do,
”
said the
bird.
“
It
sounds like you. Thanks for helping me out. Would you like me to
fly up to the top of a tall tree and get you some leaves for
payment? That
’
s
what your kind eats, right?
”

“That
won
’
t be
necessary,
”
said Kelsey as politely as she could manage. The dove
quickly said goodbye and flew off. The sun had nearly
set
by this time, and Kelsey could feel the
temperature dropping.

“Well
done,
”
Roland
said once the bird had gone.
“
That went extremely well, and I
think Megan will be pleased. You do seem to have some natural
healing talent within you
.
”

“Me? I
don’
t think so. It must have been a
fluke,
”
Kelsey
insisted.
“
I
’
m a killer.
”

“He looked like
he was healed, and he sounded better, too,
”
Maggie said with
enthusiasm.
“
That was really cool!
”