Fortune's Magic Farm by Suzanne Selfors (i read book .TXT) 📗

get her blessing, it would be easier to convince you to go to the farm with me.”

Again, Isabelle tried to scoot past, but this time he reached out and grabbed her around the waist. They tumbled into the tall grass. The marmot whistled as Isabelle struggled to break Sage’s grip, but he easily pinned her to the ground. The marmot climbed onto his back and bit his ear. “Ouch,” Sage cried, releasing one hand to push the marmot off. But still Isabelle couldn’t break free.

“Listen to me,” he begged. “You’ve got to listen. Then I’ll let you go.”

“I don’t want to listen,” Isabelle hissed. The marmot scurried around in circles, searching for a rock.

“You don’t have a choice! Just sit there and listen to me and then you can run off to wherever it is you’re running off to.”

“Fine!”

They glared at one another, their faces so close that Isabelle could see the moon in his brown eyes. He released her and she scooted away, hugging her knees. Sage put out his hand, deflecting a perfectly aimed rock. The marmot whistled, then wedged herself between Isabelle’s feet.

Sage’s expression darkened. “Like I said, I knew that you wouldn’t leave Runny Cove without your grandmother’s permission, so while you were at the factory, I knocked on Mama Lu’s door.” He relaxed a bit, his breathing slowing. “Mama Lu opened the door and said, ‘Who are ya and what do ya want? I ain’t lettin’ ya in unless yer the new cheese delivery man or yer the undertaker come to take away that old lazy bag of bones upstairs.’”

Isabelle shivered, for he had mimicked the landlady’s voice surprisingly well.

“I didn’t have any cheese so I told her that I was the undertaker. ‘Well it’s about time she died,’ Mama Lu said. ‘She was a useless, good-fer-nothing invalid, that’s what she was. It’ll be good to get rid of her.’”

That sounded exactly like something Mama Lu would say. Isabelle clung to every word.

“Mama Lu told me I’d have to go up to the fourth floor to collect the body. I hadn’t realized how sick your grandmother was until I saw her. She couldn’t even open her eyes. Walnut had packed a Curative Cherry so I could give it to you, Isabelle, but I gave it to your grandmother instead. She seemed so close to dying. It worked immediately. She got right out of bed and gave me a hug. Then she walked around the bedroom and said, ‘Isabelle was right. This moss carpet makes my feet feel wonderful.’”

Isabelle gasped. “You’re lying,” she whispered. “You only know about the moss carpet because you sent Rolo to look in my window. Why are you doing this?”

Sage continued. “I told your grandmother that I knew your real family. That I had been sent to collect you. I told her that you would live on a farm where you could grow all sorts of plants. She was thrilled. ‘Will you give her a magical cherry?’ she asked. I promised that I would. ‘Could she go to school?’ I answered yes. ‘Would she have to work in a factory?’ I told her never. ‘How did you get up here?’ she asked and I explained that I had pretended to be the undertaker.

“Your grandmother sat quietly for a while, then made a decision. ‘Isabelle must go with you. There’s nothing for her in this place. She’s an intelligent girl. She deserves a better life. But she’ll never leave, not as long as I’m alive. She must think that I am dead and that the undertaker came and got me.’

“I didn’t argue with her. I knew it would be easier for you to leave if you believed that your grandmother had died. It wasn’t the right thing to do, I realize that now, but I was thinking about the farm, Isabelle. You must believe me. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Isabelle said nothing. She thought only of Grandma Maxine, standing in moss, feeling better after eating a Curative Cherry. Could it be true?

“Your grandmother and I decided that I would continue to play the part of the undertaker. I carried her downstairs, past Mama Lu, who clapped her hands as if she were watching a parade. Then I carried your grandmother around to the back of the house and through Boris and Bert’s basement door. ‘I’ll hide here,’ she told me. ‘Take Isabelle away from Runny Cove with my blessing. One day you can tell her how proud I am of her and that I hope she’s found the life she deserves. Tell her that I hope she finds her own apple tree.’”

Isabelle knew, with that last statement, that Sage was not lying. She hurled herself at him. “I hate you,” she screamed, hitting his chest with her fists. “You should have told me that she was alive. I hate you, hate you, HATE YOU!”

He didn’t defend himself, but sat rigid as she hit him one last time. Then she staggered to her feet. “Don’t follow me. I don’t want to see you or this place ever again.”

This time she didn’t want to look back. This time the farm could burn, for all she cared. She couldn’t trust any of them. They were no better than Mr. Supreme, willing to do whatever it took to get what they wanted. Willing to tell her anything to save their precious farm. Willing, even, to break her heart.

Isabelle reached the orchard and stumbled down its path, Rocky following along. The fruit trees rustled as she passed, their leaves whispering, Tender, tender. She ignored them, running as fast as she could until she came to the Curative Cherry.

She stopped running. Cherry-covered branches hung high above her head. Nesbitt didn’t need those cherries, not as long as he planned on letting the farm die. But she knew people who desperately needed them, people who spent every day of their lives weakened by coughs and congestion. Why should she keep her solemn promise? She owed the Fortunes nothing.