The Magic of Melwick Orchard

The Magic of Melwick Orchard — page 3 — CHAPTER 1 Mom forgot to pick me up from school Again So I walked the two miles home which usually felt more like ten But that first afternoon in April it felt like one hundred miles Endless and annoying The least funny April Fools prank ever Probably because it wasn’t a prank at all And also because my shoes stunk I don’t mean they smelled bad They just stunk Crummy broken down too small No one heard me when I said I’d grown out of this pair weeks ago By the end of that walk my big toes stuck out and a blister was erupting on my right heel like a miniature volcano I’m just glad the other kids from school weren’t nearby to see Between my shoes and my patched jeans I looked a real mess Almost worse than Mom and she barely got out of her bathrobe or brushed her hair anymore At least she still had hair though Junie’s hair was all gone 1

The Magic of Melwick Orchard — page 4 — And it was a crying shame because she looked awful cute in pigtails I shuffled up our driveway my cranky toes lead ing the way kicking at pebbles and thinking about pigtails My feet veered left away from the house I crossed the backyard past the old shed that doubled as Dad’s workshop I paused to peer in the window The glass was cracked from a ball I’d accidentally thrown too hard during a game of catch last Septem ber I’d expected Dad to say something like Isabel We just moved here and you’re already smashing the place to smithereens To my surprise he wasn’t mad He sucked in his breath inspected the damage Instead of scolding me he let out a long whistle I knew you had the Fitzwilken arm he said beaming with pride which made my heart expand to at least three times its normal size We called that pitch the window breaker from then on Even though I hadn’t practiced it with him in a while I still considered it my secret softball weapon I lifted a finger and very carefully touched the glass If someone came along and tapped it in just the right place the whole thing might shatter to pieces Lately I felt the same Dad promised he’d fix the cracked pane months ago but other things came up Now looking in I could 2

The Magic of Melwick Orchard — page 5 — see a curtain of cobwebs draping the window frame Dust coated the tools No one had been inside for a long time except for an army of spiders apparently and probably a few mice A half-finished dollhouse sat on a table in the far corner I wondered if we’d ever finish building it for Junie but those thoughts made me feel too scratchy so I continued on my way I climbed the grassy hill that sloped up behind the shed With one swift leap I cleared the gate at the top and kept on going straight into our orchard I zigzagged between the rows of ancient apple trees until I arrived in an open meadow as big as a softball diamond Traces of an old barn foundation were vis ible near the center of the clearing Junie and I used to walk along the exposed foundation stones testing our balance with our arms stretched to the side pretend ing we were crossing the parapets of our own personal castle while the scraggly looking apple trees marched beside us like loyal sentries The trees right along the edge of the clearing were bigger than the others in the orchard probably because they were less crowded and could soak up more rain catch more sunlight When our parents first told us about our new home in Bridgebury they tried to soften the blow of yet another dreaded move by prom ising my sister and me that we’d have the same as those 3

The Magic of Melwick Orchard — page 6 — trees room to grow fresh air to breathe sunshine to bask in There would be fields of grass to run through mud puddles to stomp in trees to swing beneath We’d only ever lived in tiny city apartments so it was hard to imagine having a real backyard let alone acres of land to explore It all sounded so perfect at first I walked over to our swing the one Junie used to love The one Dad built from barn wood and braided ropes before he got too busy The one Mom helped us hang from the strongest safest branch she could find before she got too sad I used to lift Junie up tell her to hold on tight then give her a push Let her fly She’d hoot and holler and scream for me to stop which I knew was actually sister code for go higher Junie-to the-moonie high That was last fall which wasn’t really so long ago if you looked at a calendar But to me those five months three days twenty-two hours and nine minutes felt like a million years Like a different life The wind shifted The orchard seemed to sigh I had this strange sensation that the trees were listen ing to me which was just plain silly because I wasn’t actually saying anything out loud And also trees don’t have ears Just then my own ears pricked Something high pitched trilled through the branches My heart leapt 4

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