Kaela's Garden: A Hidden Surprise (Part 1)

It was the second time today that her mother made her go out and check the garden for weeds. Most of the time she enjoyed the experience, going out and weaving her way through the thick vines and branches that stretched out for as far as she could see. It was a big garden, one of the largest in the village. Several times a year citizens from Leth Nurae would adventure down and see the various fruits and vegetables that were offered. What she enjoyed most of all was finding her way near the center of the garden, which was a good five minute walk around the various bushes and rows of plants. Her mother always told her to be careful because Kaela often wound up dirtying her dress either from a fall or simple carelessness. She noticed every couple of days another berry vine would sprout and sweet purple blumberries would ripen near sunset. It was one of the fastest growing plants in the valley, and one of the fastest to die, thus it was impossible to export them any farther than Leth Nurae without growing too ripe. Her mother let her take whatever she found in the garden; after all it was Kaela's garden to take care of.

"Kaela! Where are you? Please come inside now, it is dinner time." Kaela never missed dinner time. The garden grew many delicious things but it was mothers cooking that really brought it all together. Here stomach grumbling already, she picked the last of the blumberries and headed off back in the direction of the house. Jumping gleefully over several dirt piles, she almost tripped when noticing a curiosity off to her left. This part of the garden was where most of the tomato and carrot plants grew. She noticed one particularly large tomato a few rows back, partially hidden amongst the vines and carrot stalks. Even so the tomato was unmistakable huge. It would take both her hands to hold onto it she thought. Carefully pushing aside the other plants, she reached in as far as she could for the tomato. It was about head high and hanged next to several smaller tomatoes that were still ripening. Plucking it from the plant she turned it over, gently rubbing her hands on the smooth surface. This would be great for tomato soup she thought. To her dismay she noticed severe scarring on the bottom side of the tomato. Then she took a closer look at the interesting scar pattern. That wasn't quite right as the scar appeared to be a perfect triangle! A distinctly arrow looking scar pointed down towards the bottom of the tomato. Turning it over for a better look, she noticed the arrow shift direction! Now it was pointing to the side of the tomato. Intrigued at this unusual development, she turned it over several times, more slowly. Every direction she turned the tomato, the scarred arrow on the bottom always pointed downward towards the ground.

Her mother called her again. Excited at her new discovery she would bring this to her mother and show her what she had found! Putting the tomato in her pocket bag, she headed off again towards the house. Her mother would not be happy with the condition of her dress, as it was all scratched and torn from pushing her way into the plants to retrieve the tomato.

Greeting the cats near the front door, she headed inside towards the back where her mother was making dinner. She sat down at the table, the food sending hot steam clouds wafting throughout the room. She took a deep sniff, and then set down the tomato near the center of the table and waited.

Her mother came to the table with a large pot of mashed potatoes. As she was stirring the potatoes, she noticed the tomato her daughter had placed there. "What is this dear? You seem to have found a rather large tomato in the garden this time. It seems almost too early for one such as this to grow so big." Her mother studied it.

"I saw it on my way out of the garden when you called. It has scarring on it mother! Look on the bottom side." Curious, her mother picked it up and turned it over. She did so several times.

"I see no scarring on it dear." Her mother looked at her curiously for a moment, and then smiled. "Tell you what. Why don't we cook this tomato in a nice pot of tomato soup tomorrow? In the meantime we should sit down to eat. You were gone in the garden for several hours now and must be starving."

Kaela was furious. She was ready to protest, but decided against it for she might not receive dinner then. Her stomach was growling, being extremely hungry she grabbed some bread. While she ate dinner she continuously stared at the tomato on the far cupboard. A few bites of carrot cake after the main meal, she took the tomato again. Turning it over several times, she noticed no writing on it at all this time. No scar, nothing.

Her mother looked at her again, noticing her frustration. "Your brother will be in town tomorrow. I hear that he is bringing a friend along this time." That brightened Kaela's mood. Usually when her brother got a chance to visit her, he brought something special for her as a gift. She couldn't wait to find out what he brought this time. Hearing the news she found it hard to sleep that night.

The morning light was coming through the windows in her bedroom waking her from her restless sleep. The drapes drifted lazily in the fresh morning air as she got up to do her morning chores. It had rained heavily last night as she could smell the garden scent in the air. She looked around for her teddy bear, the one she always brought with her to breakfast. It was sitting on the chair opposite of her bed near the door. Kaela picked it up and headed for the door. Pausing, she stopped to peer out the window that overlooked the garden. She liked that garden very much. It seemed to call to her almost, to give her a sense of purpose for her.

She sat their eagerly as the wagon pulled up to the right under the big old oak tree. Dirt stirred in the air as the horses stopped. Kaela's brother got out on the left side of the carriage, running up to the tree to great his sister. Running up to him, she jumped into his arms hugging him until he cried out in alarm. Kaela always looked forward to his visit, partially because he always brought a present for her.

"Kaela, you know I can't take much of that anymore. I may be your brother but I'm not that young anymore." He smiled at her, setting her back down. She turned around and headed back for the house. The house cat came up to greet her, purring and rubbing against her leg. She looked back at her brother. He was nearly twelve years older than her.

Her mother went outside to meet Kaela's brother. They chatted about several things before she lost interest in the conversation. She went into the kitchen in search of her basket. Mother was always moving it around on her. Looking in the cabinets, the tabletops and various nooks and crannies, she finally found it hidden behind the plant in the corner of the dinning room. Sometimes she thought mother did that just to tease her, or keep her out of the garden everyday.

It was a beautiful day today too. She liked it when the clouds were fluffy and so low she felt she could reach up and grab one right out of the sky. Sometimes she could see dragons, griffons, or the occasional Kobold smiling in the clouds. She once had a nice Kobold friend from Leth Nurae, unfortunately they couldn't be together when his family moved away because of the increasing presence of troll's in the mountains. Her basket firmly under her left arm she approached the garden. Usually she would head directly to the center and work her way around back. Most of the time she had fun simply picking out the strawberries and various other fruits. Her mother though sent her out most of the time to pick weeds. It was Kaela's garden after all and her mother insisted that she take care of it. The first row she came too had several pea and vegetable plants. There were lots of weeds in the garden this morning. She sighed to herself; there was much work to do. But first she would go to the center of the garden and find some more fruit for herself! She didn't dare eat on an empty stomach.

The center of the garden was marked by a grouping of several strawberry and blackberry plants. It was easy to identify because of the height of the bushes. If it was later in the season she could hide amongst them, which was one of her favorite hiding places when she hid from her mother. Somehow her mother caught her every time. She would have to find a new hiding place soon.

After eating a good share of berries, she worked her way through the bushes, back towards the end of the garden. The garden along with most of the property had a gradual slope down to the creek. As she worked her way back the ground gradually became soggier as the back of the garden went almost all the way down to the creek's edge. She remembered the tomato that had the scar on it from yesterday. Finding the tomato plants, she searched again for one that might have something on it. Try as she might, she could not find one that wasn't out of the ordinary. In fact, most of them looked rather ripe but small. After she checked with her mother, she would come back to pick them for this afternoons dinner. There were also several green ones that would be perfect for Fried Green Tomatoes. A little farther down she reached the cantaloupe plants. These were also ready to be picked. Turning one over in her hand to inspect, she nearly dropped it on her foot at what she found. Another marking! This time it was even bigger. There was another distinctly looking scar arrow at the bottom of the cantaloupe, once again pointing towards the ground. She moved it around experimentally in her hands, the arrow following the ground precisely. Excited at this additional discovering, she turned around suddenly to rush back home to show the cantaloupe to her brother. She fell back as she ran right into something, the cantaloupe falling out of her hands and rolling towards the creek. Not bothering to discover what she ran into, she ran towards the cantaloupe to recover it before it fell into the muddy water. It was already too late though; the cantaloupe had made a spectacular plunk as it dropped to the bottom of the creek. She sighed, then sat down heavily and started to cry at her clumsiness.

"What's the matter Kaela?" She turned around to see her brother standing there over her. She realized now he was the one she bumped into.

She looked back towards the creek. "A cantaloupe fell into the lake when I dropped it. I was going to show you it, but. I can't see it now in the water." She tried to peer close towards the water to see the cantaloupe to no avail.

"It's alright, there are plenty more where that came from." Her brother smiled holding his hand out to her. She grabbed it eagerly. "Why don't we head back to the house, I hear breakfast is ready and I'm starving!" She ran back to the house with him, her thoughts also on food.

They ate, and then headed back out to the garden again to play. Spending most of the afternoon in there, their mother finally called for them to come in for bedtime. Everyday before leaving the garden she would say a personal goodbye to it. She was a little disappointed though that they didn't find any more vegetables with markings on them. Several Squash were literally squashed by some predator last night, but those obviously didn't count.

After three days it was time for her brother to leave. This was always her saddest yet happiest part. She knew she would see him again and get another present, but at the same time always hated waiting for him to come back again. Sometimes she thought she could almost feel the gardens sadness as well. When it was time for him to finally go, he walked back to his carriage and pulled a large box out. Bringing it over to her she eagerly accepted and began to tear it open to see what was inside. Tearing through several layers she peeled off the sticky paper that sealed it and peered inside. A small pair of shoes meant for the garden sat at the bottom. She eagerly took them, put them on and smiled to her brother then hugged him. They would be perfect for the garden! No more walking around barefoot through the dirt.

She watched him leave down the drive. Sometimes she thought he kept giving her presents just so she didn't feel so bad when he left. It was nice to have some company besides mother around. She kept watching till she got tired and then fell asleep in her bed. The next day and the day after that she continued to go out to the garden. Fall approached and it was getting colder out, the last of the garden plants beginning to die away. Everyday she went out there, somewhere in the garden, one vegetable would have that mark on it. She would always bring it to her mother to show her, except that the mark would disappear before her mother could see it. Someone was playing a cruel trick on her and she didn't like it.