Read Online Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve - Free Book Online Page B

realize suddenly that Spark must have known too. It’s like our farm is in revolt, starting some kind of war with all of us.
    “Let’s go inside,” Mom says.
    I catch eyes with Beatrice.
    “In a second,” I tell Mom. “I have to do something first.”

SAME DAY, MONDAY, AUGUST 25
     
    An Explanation
     
    Harry won’t tell me anything.
    “Come on, Harry. I saw the roots,” I say accusingly. “That was bad, really bad. Your friends could have killed a lot of people.”
    Harry stares back at me defiantly, then he bunches up all of his stalks in that unreadable, familiar bouquet.
    “Stop it!” I yell. But it doesn’t help. I look around the field and all of the chocolate rhubarb plants are bunching themselves up.
    “You could have killed people, Harry.You could have killed Basford! Do you understand?”
    I hear a footstep behind me. “I’d like to hear the answer to that too.”
    Aunt Edith. Great.
    “Hi.” I turn around.
    “Quite a day for you, Polly.” Aunt Edith beams.
    I don’t say anything. I don’t feel happy. I feel like a person betrayed by her best friend.
    “So.” She looks around the field. “You were talking to a plant.” This is a statement, not a question. “Does it talk back?”
    I shrug.
    Aunt Edith nods. “I had a plant once. I called him Teddy.”
    This doesn’t sound like Aunt Edith at all.
    “Teddy? Teddy who?”
    “Roosevelt, of course,” she snaps. “American history, Polly. You must learn it.”
    This sounds exactly like Aunt Edith. The one who doesn’t talk to plants.
    “He’s still alive actually. He’s the Giant Rhubarb plant by the bench outside the Dark House.”
    When Grandmom was alive, she liked to sit outside the Dark House and look at the lake. She said it was the original site for the farm and made her feel connected to her past ancestors. If you ever have a question for me, Polly, and I’m not around, just come and sit down right on this bench. Which I’d love to do, but I can’t. As much as she tried, and as much as I loved her, Grandmom could never convince me that the Dark House wasn’t the scariest place in the world.
    “Do you still talk to him?” I ask.
    “No. When you get older, the plants stop talking.” She scans the field. “Which one is yours?”
    I point to Harry. “This one. I call him Harry.”
    “Hello, Harry,” she says.
    Harry doesn’t move. I’m not surprised. But I know he’s listening to every word.
    “I heard you accuse him of murder,” Aunt Edith says. “You’re giving these plants a lot of credit.”
    “It was their roots clogging the ride up!”
    Aunt Edith looks at me sympathetically—like I’m a person who still believes that the dinosaurs are roaming around the earth. “I’m worried about you, Polly. You’re doing the exact opposite of what I asked you to do in Enid’s library.”
    “What was that?” I wish she would go. I just want to talk to Harry.
    “You’re not treating this farm for what it is. A distraction. You showed your mettle today.You put your hand in a motor, Polly, and you saved hundreds of lives!”
    She doesn’t understand. I thought she did, but she doesn’t. “The plants know more than you think,” I insist.
    “Not true. Simply not true,” Aunt Edith insists. “They’re plants. They’re not creatures of free will, like humans.”
    I don’t say anything because at that instant, I feel really fragile, like I could break into a bunch of little pieces.
    “Oh, Polly,” she says. “You look terrified.” Aunt Edith walks over to me and puts her hand under my chin. She brings my eyes up to hers.
    “ I just want you to know how smart you are, how quick-thinking. I want you to see yourself doing big things, great things. World-changing things.”
    I can’t help it. I start crying. Aunt Edith keeps trying to make me someone I’m not. “I won’t do world-changing things. I can’t believe you don’t know this already. See? I’m crying. You hate criers. I’m the biggest