CHAPTER 29
THE SECRET GARDEN
Once they had composed themselves, Louise called the children outside.
“Come on, guys, we’re leaving now.”
“You don’t want to get a good night’s rest and leave in the morning?” asked Ben.
“No, I want to get home and shower. After that, I might lay down for a quick nap before everyone gets back.”
“Oh my,” said Casey. “A hot shower is exactly what I need too.”
“Good grief,” said Ben. “We haven’t been here that long!”
Amos laughed and tousled Ben’s hair. “Come on, I’ll walk you down to the bamboo.”
Down at the bamboo patch, Louise tried to maintain her composure while everyone said their goodbyes. Amos gave her a quick hug and a smile and then picked Casey up in one of his famous bear hugs.
“You have grown into a fine young woman, Casey Alderman. You are braver and stronger than you know. Watch after your little brother, okay? Keep him out of mischief if you can.”
Casey squeezed his neck as he sat her down. “That is impossible,” she replied with a grin.
Amos leaned over Ben and stuck out his hand for Ben to shake. Ben’s hand was swallowed up in the giant’s ham fist, but Amos shook it solemnly.
“Ben, you have done great things in Camelot, Faerie, and Crag. I know you’ll do great things in your home world one day and I wish that I could hear of them.”
“Thanks, but I doubt I’ll ever do anything spectacular back home. I’m just an average kid.”
“You are anything, but average.”
“Hey, I’ll try to come see you again before we leave, but if I can’t make it, we’ll be back up for Labor Day and I’ll see you then, for sure. That’s about three months from now.”
“I’ll be counting the days.”
“Come on, children,” Louise called. “Let’s be off.”
Ben and Casey entered the bamboo first and Louise was close behind them. Before she got too deep into the patch, she turned to have one last look at Amos, but the big man was gone. The warm spring winds stirred the green grasses where he had just been standing. He was gone and the loneliness that descended upon her was crushing. She bit her lip and fought back her tears, then proceeded to the center of the patch, where Ben and Casey were waiting for her beside the tree.
“We thought you got stuck,” said Ben.
“No, just got something in my eye, that’s all. Hurry now, through the tree.”
For the remainder of the week, Louise made sure that someone was always around so that the kids would not have the opportunity to return to the Merlin tree. When Saturday finally rolled around and it was time for them to return to Atlanta, Louise started to feel a great weight lifting from her shoulders. The kids were going home and when they came back for Labor Day, everything would be taken care of. The only danger they would find at the Alderman farm would be from eating too much barbeque. After everyone had packed, Charles and Carol loaded the car while Ben and Casey said their goodbyes.
“I guess we’ll have to wait until Labor Day,” Ben whispered to her. “When you see Amos again, tell him to make sure that Hob, Gob, and Nob know that I want that chess set they made for me, okay?”
“I will, hon. You and Casey behave this summer and we’ll have a big barbeque when you come back, okay?”
“We will. Love you, Grandma! Love you, Grandpa!”
George and Louise waved as the car slowly make its way down the driveway. When it disappeared into the trees, Louise turned to George and took him by the hand.
“Come with me, dear, I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“You’re going to think this is silly, but I have my mind made up.”
“Oh Lord, that usually means work for me. What is it, sweetheart?”
“I would like to have a pathway cut into the bamboo patch. I want the pathway lined on each side with big rocks and I want the ground between the rocks covered with crushed gravel, so that it won’t get muddy when it rains.”
“Why on earth do you want that?” George asked incredulously. Two words that came out of Louise’s mouth stuck in George’s head; big rocks. That meant big back ache.
“You didn’t let me finish,” Louise scolded.
“There’s more?”
Louise swatted him playfully on the arm. “The center of the patch is clear and open, except for one old dead tree. I’d like for you to pull that tree up with the tractor and burn it. Once it’s gone, I’d like to put a garden bench inside of the bamboo patch, or maybe a swing. It would be like a secret garden. You know, a quiet, cool place to sit in the heat of the day and relax. It would be a good place to read a book too!”
“We have a porch swing,” said George. “We have two rockers on the porch too! What’s wrong with those?”
“Listen George, I really want this. Either you do it for me, or give me the keys to the tractor and I’ll do it myself.”
It was playing dirty, but Louise knew that she had him now. George would never let her drive his tractor; that was his pride and joy. It was a symbol of his manliness and the thought of letting a woman, even though it be his wife, actually operate his tractor was more than he could bear.
“When do you want it done?”
“There’s no time like the present.”
George mumbled something as he fished around in his overalls for his keys. “I’ll have to cut the path into the bamboo with my chainsaw. We’ll drag the canes out into the field and start a burn pile. Once I get the path cut, I’ll use the root rake on my tractor to get the roots and stumps out of the ground. Then I’ll cut the ground with a plow and rake it smooth. Pulling the tree out will be the last thing to do.”
“How long will it take you?”
“It won’t all get done today, I can tell you that!”
“Well, go get your chainsaw and I’ll help you by pulling the canes out as you cut them down.”
Once the road into the bamboo was cut, Louise kept after George until he had the tree down. Each time he worked on the project, she helped him with it too. Not so much because she wanted to get finished faster, but more so because she wanted to be sure that George did not go near the tree until he had a chain around it with the end fastened to his tractor. When the fateful day arrived, the tree came up out of the ground without a struggle. As a matter of fact, the tractor pulled it over with no resistance at all, for the tree had no roots; it was simply sitting on top of the ground. Louise wondered if they stood it up somewhere else if it would still work. She was almost tempted to try it, but the memory of Bellator striking Casey hardened her resolve and she let George drag the tree to the burn pile. He used the front end loader on his tractor to set the dead tree on top of the canes they had cut to clear the road.
“When can we burn it?” Louise asked.
“The tree would probably burn now, but if we wait a couple of weeks to let that cane dry out it will all burn up nicely. I need to clear a fence line on the backside of the farm and I can add that to the pile too. Maybe we can roast some weenies?”
Two weeks went by quickly and the burn pile grew as George cleared the fence lines. When he was finished with the fence, the brush he had accumulated was dry enough to burn. He waited for a quiet, windless day and he plowed a circle around the pile to prevent the fire from spreading after he lit it. Louise joined him to watch the fire burn. By evening time there was nothing left of the brush pile, but a heaping mound of ashes and embers. The Merlin tree was gone.
Now that the tree was gone, Louise was not rushed to finish her secret garden, but she needed to finish it and she needed to show George her appreciation for doing this for her. The garden actually turned out nicer than she expected. George had lined the pathway into the bamboo with large quartz fieldstones from the pastures. He even used the stones to create a large circle in the center of the bamboo patch where the Merlin tree once stood. He then
hauled in three truckloads of pea gravel to cover the ground between the stones and bought not one, but two park benches to place inside the circle. The secret garden was finished.
Spring turned into summer and summer progressed from warm June to hot July and then to an even hotter August. Louise had lost interest in the garden and the bamboo was determined to reclaim the ground that George had cleared for the road. Nothing seemed to deter the stuff. George would kick over the tender green stalks that poked through the gravel and in a week they would be back, taller than ever. Finally, he gave up on it altogether and by the end of August you could not even tell that a road into the bamboo patch ever existed.
By the time Labor Day weekend arrived, Louise had completely forgotten about the garden and was eagerly looking forward to seeing her grandchildren. It was Saturday morning and they were expected here at any moment. When she finally heard the car horn blowing, she and George ran outside to greet them.
“Great day,” George exclaimed, when they piled out of the car. “Come here, Ben, and stand by me.” George gave him a quick hug and then made him turn around and stand up straight. “I swear he’s grown four inches this summer! What have you guys been feeding him? Gorilla milk?”
Ben blushed, but it was true. This summer he had a growth spurt that put him at the same height as his sister. He could outrun her now too!
“And look at you, Casey,” George exclaimed. “I didn’t think you could possibly get any prettier, but dog-gone-it you have! I bet Charles had to put up a fence to keep the boys away.”
“Hey, Grandpa,” said Casey, throwing her arms around George’s neck and squeezing. “I’ve missed you guys.”
“We’ve missed you too,” said Louise. “George, will you help Charles and Carol unload the car? I’ve got to show Ben and Casey my new baby goats.”
“We can get it, Dad,” said Charles, “but if you could fix me and Carol a tall glass of tea while we unload, that would be great.”
“Two glasses of ice cold tea, coming right up,” said George, heading for the porch.
While their parents unloaded the suitcases from the trunk, Ben and Casey followed their grandma up to the goat house. Inside the cool barn, nestled in a fresh bed of shavings, were two little white goats and one brown one. Ben and Casey ran into the stall to pet them.
“Grandma, they are so precious!” Casey cried with delight.
“Hey, how are Tink and Arnold doing?” asked Ben.
“Oh, they are doing fine,” said Louise, “but that’s not why I called you up here. I needed to tell you something.”
“Is everything okay in Camelot? It’s not Amos, is it?” Ben could tell that something was troubling his grandma and the only thing she would want to discuss in private with him and Casey would have something to do with Camelot.
“No, dear, nothing is wrong with Amos that I know of, but this is about Camelot.”
“Well, how is he doing?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since the last time you were here.”
“Oh no!” Casey cried. “Has he disappeared? What do you think has happened to him?”
“Have you talked to Hob, Gob, or Nob?” Ben asked. “If anyone would know where he is, it would be them.”
“We have to go look for him Grandma,” said Casey, gently setting down the baby goat and brushing the shavings from her jeans. “We’ll tell everyone that we are going for a walk with you and we’ll go into the bamboo from the back side. No one will ever know about it.”
“No, kids, you don’t understand. I haven’t seen Amos because I haven’t been back to Camelot.”
“I don’t understand,” said Ben. “Why haven’t you been back to visit? He’s probably worried to death that something has happened to you.”
A tear slid down Louise’s cheek. She tried to wipe it away, but Casey saw it and ran to her.
“Grandma, what’s wrong?”
“Amos knew that we were not coming back. I told him.”
“But why? You are such good friends, why would you say that to him?”
“Because you almost died the last time we were there, Casey. Each and every time we have gone to Camelot, our visit has been fraught with danger and the last time I very nearly lost you. I couldn’t take that chance again. I wouldn’t take that chance again.”
“But Grandma, they are our friends,” Ben protested. “We can’t just abandon them. Let’s do this. Let’s at least go visit Amos. We won’t go anywhere else. As a matter of fact, if anything comes up that even remotely resembles anything of an adventure, we’ll leave for home at once, I promise.”
“Ben, we can’t go back.”
“Sure we can. We’ll do like Casey said and go into the bamboo from the back side. As a matter of fact, Mom and Dad are probably inside drinking their tea and talking to Grandpa. We could leave right now and they would never know.”
“Ben, you still don’t understand. We can’t go back, because the Merlin tree is gone.”
Ben and Casey stood there in the cool dim stall, staring at their grandma. Outside, a goat bleated and broke the silence that hung heavy in the barn. Ben couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
“What? What do you mean, gone?” He ran to the barn door and threw it open. Down at the foot of the hill he could see the green bushy tops of the bamboo patch peeking over the roof of his grandparent’s house. He turned back to his grandma. “The bamboo is still there. What happened to the tree? Did someone steal it? Did Grandpa find it?”
Louise shook her head and then burst into an uncontrollable fit of weeping. Ben and Casey put their arms around her and tried to comfort her. Finally, she choked back the tears and tried to speak.
“I had George pull the tree up and burn it. I’m so sorry children, but I couldn’t take a chance at either of you getting hurt again. I’m so very sorry.” Again she started weeping. Sobs racked her poor body and Ben and Casey, though shocked by this unexpected news, completely understood why she destroyed the tree. They understood because, even though they were still children, they had grown up over the past year and they now possessed a wisdom far beyond their years. They had discovered that there were multiple universes out there and each universe had multiple worlds within them. They had even visited a few of those worlds. Ben and Casey didn’t know how many were out there, but they knew this; there was one power that existed in ALL of them. There was nothing magical about this power, yet it was the most magical power that existed anywhere. It was a power that was unstoppable. It was a force of nature that could not be denied, a force that would not be denied. It was the most powerful force in the universe. In any universe...
It was love.