The Orchard of Hope (6 page)

“Are those friends of yours?”
Kelsey asked Roland. She eyed the followers with skepticism. Most
of them posed with their scythes and maintained a stoic appearance,
while a few whispered to one another.

“Hardly,” he replied.

“Well, do you know them?” she
asked.

“Not personally. But I know
they’re trouble.”

Chapter

Four

The First Lesson

“So
I
’
m going to
learn about healing?
’
Nicholas asked Megan. They were standing outside, and
Nicholas squinted as the wind picked up and blew into his eyes. His
blond curly hair fluttered in the wind, and it felt as if someone
was tickling his scalp with cold fingers. When the air was still
again, he opened his eyes as he waited for a
response.

“A little,
”
the leopard replied as she
briefly glanced back into Nichola
s'
hazel eyes. She trotted around
to the other side of the tree under which they were standing. The
leaves were changing from green to various shades of yellow and
orange. The colors looked as if they had been left over a slow fire
to simmer and caramelize with nicely browned edges. Nicholas took a
deep breath of the autumn air. He loved this time of year because
it reminded him of the orphanage where he had met his two best
friends, Maggie and Jovan.

“That
’
s
why you
’
re
here, then,” Nicholas said with a smile
.
“
You
’
re
going to train me in how to be a healer?
”
Nicholas opened his eyes wide
as he asked the question.

“Well, there
will be some of that. However, the primary reason
I
’
m here is
that you
’
re
probably going to need a healer.
”
Megan sat down with a loud thud. Nicholas lost
his balance, more from the noise than the actual shaking of the
ground.

“What? How
would you know that?
”
Nicholas asked.
“
Can you tell the future? Have
you seen that I
’
m going to get hurt?
”

“I
haven
’
t seen
your future, but I have seen others who
’
ve trained with Moss. He’s
brilliant, but he can sometimes be a little
stupid.
”
Megan
licked the back of her paw a few times after she finished speaking.
She studied a few areas of her forearm before leaning into it and
licking more of her fur.

“Brilliant
and
stupid?
”
Nicholas leaned against the rough bark of the
tree trunk.

“Yeah,
”
Megan replied.
“
I think brilliance is circular,
and sometimes people get so brilliant that they cycle back around
into stupidity. People like Moss do some crazy
things.”

“Like what?”
Nichola
s'
mind
raced to dream up all the crazy things a teacher might do, but
teaching seemed like such a safe job. There was information, and
there were students, but neither of these things appeared dangerous
to Nicholas.

“They get
distracted, and their behavior becomes odd. For example, Moss gets
so caught up in his thoughts that he sometimes forgets to put on
clothes.
”

“He walks
around in his nightgown?
”

“No, his
underwear,
”
Megan said.
“
It happens. It could be worse. We
’
re just lucky that he wears
anything at all.
”
She hunched up her shoulders into a casual shrug as she was
speaking. Nicholas stared at her for a few moments before
continuing.

“So when do I
meet him?
”

“Soon
enough,
”
Megan
replied.
“
First
things first. I
’
m going to teach you how to heal a simple
burn.
”

“Has someone
been burned?
”
Nicholas looked around, but there was no one else in the
area. They were alone.

“You.
”

“But
…
I
’
m not
burned.
”
He
turned his head to one side and listened to a few birds chirping as
he waited for Megan to respond. She stood completely still for
several moments, then she jumped up from her sitting
position.

“Easily
fixed,
”
Megan
replied as she tossed a miniature fire lizard onto the ground in
front of Nicholas.

“Were you
carrying that thing this whole time
?
”
he asked as he quickly jumped
backward
.
He had seen pictures of fire
lizards before, but he’d never seen a live one up close, and he was
wondering if everything he’d read about them was true. For example,
he’d read that a single fire lizard could burn down an entire tree
in less than 10 minutes.

“I make it a
point to always be prepared,
”
Megan answered offhandedly.
“
Now, don
’
t be afraid.
”
As she said the last sentence she slapped her massive paw
down on the fire lizard
’
s
tail
, and the animal shot forth a burst of angry
flames as it opened its mouth to scream
.

“Ouch!
”
Nicholas shouted abruptly. He scrunched up his
brow and stared back at Megan as he held his shin where the lizard
had scorched him. His leg was in pain, and he could feel the hot
melted flesh underneath his palm. His eyes watered from both the
smell of the burn as well as the pain. Then, to his surprise, the
lizard turned around and spoke to Megan as if they’d just had
lunch
.

“Am I done
here?
”
the
lizard asked.
“
Can I go?
I
’
ve got a marshmallow
roast I
’
m
expected to start in half an hour, and I
’
m hoping they
’
re going to have
marshmallows.
”

“You
’
re done
,
”
Megan replied with a nod of her head.
“
Nice job.
”
She handed him a tiny bag of jelly beans, and the lizard
rapidly took the bag, flipping it over his
shoulder.

“Please,
”
the lizard replied as he looked down his nose at
Megan.
“
I
’
m a
professional.
”
He scurried off toward the forest and was gone before
Nicholas could ask any questions of him. Nicholas looked around as
he felt the excruciating pain in his leg. It felt as if it was
still on fire.

“You planned
that!
”
Nicholas
shouted as he held his hand tightly over his stinging
shin.

“And?
”
Megan asked casually. Nicholas held his breath
in anger. “So?
”

“You planned to
hurt me!
”
he
blurted out.

“I
didn
’
t plan to
hurt you. I only planned to damage you a little because
it
’
s important
for the lesson. If I had wanted to hurt you, there would be much
more damage. And probably blood, too. But as you can see, there’s
no blood at all
.
”
Nicholas winced from the pain.

“You are an odd
healer,
”
he
said. “Kelsey warned me about you.”

“And you are an
odd boy,
”
Megan
retorted.

“No, I
’
m
not.
”
Nicholas pressed
his palm firmly against his leg, but the pain continued despite the
pressure.

“
Let
’
s
get to work,
”
Megan said with enthusiasm.
“
Good job on putting your hand
over the wound. Physical contact is important. However,
you
’
ll need to
channel your anger elsewhere because it doesn
’
t help at all with healing, and
it
’
s especially
detrimental to healing yourself. Instead, think about something
positive.
”

Nicholas felt
the uncomfortable stinging on his shin as he continued to press his
palm against the burn. His first instinct was to lash out at Megan
in retaliation, but the leopard was much larger, and it
wouldn
’
t be
wise to pick a fight. He was still in
shock
over the way Megan had casually and unexpectedly inflicted
the wound upon him, but he did his best to push those thoughts
aside. He did as Megan instructed and thought about something
positive.

The first happy
thought that came to him was his friends, so he focused on them. He
always felt better when he was around them, whether they were
solving a problem together or just relaxing on an afternoon off.
His friends had been there for him through some difficult times and
had been his family when he didn
’
t know he had one. He could see
Jovan
’
s face
clearly, as if he were right in front of Nicholas, explaining the
Latin root of a word or some other academic
pursuit.

As he recalled Maggie’s face, he
could also feel the warmth of her personality. She had a gift for
matching emotion for emotion with others, and this often brought
other people close to her. She made friends quickly, but she could
also make enemies just as fast because of her occasionally volatile
nature. Nicholas recalled how her short dark hair bobbed when she
spoke with excitement and how she loved to set things on fire, just
like the lizard just now.

As he thought
about the lizard, he looked down at his shin because it occurred to
him that it didn
’
t hurt anymore.
The pain was gone. Only the scent of burning
flesh was lingering in the air, but it wasn’t as strong as it had
been only a few moments ago. Nicholas lifted his palm and studied
his leg to see that there wasn
’
t a burn. In fact, it appeared
as if he had never been burnt at all.

“Is this a
trick?
”
Nicholas asked. He looked over at Megan, who was sitting
against the tree trunk. Then he glanced toward the forest, where
the fire lizard had gone. He turned back to study his leg with his
mouth slightly a
gape.
It didn’t make
sense to him. He hadn
’
t done anything but remember his friends. He hadn’t even
thought about being well.

“No trick,
”
Megan replied as she stood up
and walked over.
“
I suspected you were a natural, and you are. Not many
people can heal themselves on the first try. Lots of people never
learn to heal themselves at all. This is quite extraordinary,
really.
”
Nicholas tried to stand up again, but Megan pushed down on
the top of his head as she moved in closer. He landed on his
bottom.