Read Online The Night Garden by Lisa van Allen - Free Book Online Page A

her bedroom in the farmhouse, she revisited the strangeness of his chest, so firm and flat compared to hers. They were not the same. Not at all.
    Two years ago, she’d made the Mushroom Garden in the maze for him. They’d always talked about creating a garden of all mushrooms, but fungi had never been Olivia’s specialty. Mushrooms lived in a different scientific kingdom than green and leafy plants, and she had a more difficult time connecting with them. She also suspected that she was not immune to their poisons due to a lack of exposure—though she had not tested the theory. In spite of her arm’s-length relationship with fungi, Olivia told herself two years ago that she would make the Mushroom Garden for Sam not because she was still thinking of him, but because she had completely let him go. She did not expect to ever see him again.
    But then, there he was. Today. In her maze.
    She picked a pretty baneberry and popped it into her mouth, not worrying about how its toxins could stop a person’s heart. Her mind was spinning—and for once not even the garden could make it slow down. There was no point in asking questions: Would Sam come see her again? And—what would she do if he did? For his sake, could she act more indifferent toward him than she felt?
    She heard a noise near the door of her poison garden and she turned her head. But she didn’t panic. Maybe some animal was in the maze with her. A squirrel? A goat?
    The knob began to turn.
    Definitely not a goat.
    She lunged without thinking; the door was opening slowly, but Olivia managed to slam it closed. She held tight to the handle so it couldn’t turn. A woman on the other side exclaimed, “Oh!”
    Olivia held the handle. “Who’s there?”
    “Olivia?”
    “Who are you?”
    “It’s me. Mei.”
    Olivia felt the moment Mei stepped away from the door because the handle went loose in her fingers. Her heart was beating madly, her breath was fast. “What are you looking for, Mei?”
    There was a beat of silence. “Oh. Oh my gosh. I’m sorry. Is this the garden I’m not supposed to go in?”
    “Yes,” Olivia said tightly. A line of sweat had broken out on her brow.
    “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.”
    “It’s okay,” Olivia said, but she didn’t take her hand off the knob. She supposed it wasn’t impossible that Mei would absentmindedly open the door of her walled garden, in spite of all the warning signs. She wouldn’t be the first woman to wander the maze without really paying attention.
    When Mei spoke, her voice was soft. “Actually … I’m kind of glad you’re here. I’m glad I found you.”
    “What do you need?”
    Even from behind a stone wall and solid wood door, Olivia could hear Mei sigh. “It’s just that … Well—I’ve been walking the maze, like you said. Walking and walking and walking. But nothing’s happening. I’m wondering what I’m doing wrong.”
    “You mean, you’ve been walking in the maze all day? You haven’t stopped since you got here?”
    “Isn’t that what you told me to do?”
    “Oh Mei. I’m sorry. Just—just hold on.” Olivia turned the handle. Normally she might not risk opening the door to the poison garden with another person around. But Mei sounded so forlorn. Olivia eased the garden door open only enough to let herself through, so that not an inch of her plants could be accidentally seen. Mei was sitting on a bench made of fallen and twisted branches. Olivia sat beside her. “I’m sorry the maze didn’t give you an answer today. Sometimes it just isn’t possible to rush these things.”
    Mei said nothing for a while. “Did you get your answer?”
    “My answer?”
    “Isn’t that what you were doing in there?”
    Olivia glanced at the walls behind them. “Oh. No. I was just … relaxing.”
    “Is that your private garden?”
    Olivia nodded.
    “Why can’t anyone go in?”
    “Sometimes a person just needs her own space. To get away.”
    Mei frowned. “I can understand