ONLY TWO
I grinned as I tickled the baby merhorse under the chin. I thought nothing could be cuter than merhorses … but baby merhorses? Yep, pretty much the most adorable thing ever.
Sassafras was peeking at the little one in the water from his perch on a fallen log (as much as he loved merhorses, there was no way he wanted to get wet!) and his ears started twitching. Then his head snapped toward home.
I strained to hear my mom calling my name.
“Sorry, merhorses! It was so much fun playing with you, but I’ve got to go. We’ll visit again soon!”
Pip hopped on my head and I lifted Sassafras into my arms and hauled them both to the other side of the stream.
“I can’t wait to show Mom the flowers. Do you think they’ve bloomed? It’s been longer than I thought if Mom is already home from work. Let’s hurry!”
We ran the whole way, and as soon as we made it into the yard I could tell that something was wrong. My mom was not smiling like usual. Instead she looked really sad.
“Mom!” I puffed, slightly out of breath from running. “What’s … wrong?”
Mom opened her mouth, then closed it. She opened it once more, then sighed. “There’s just not an easy way to tell you. I’m sorry, but there are only two plants left.”
Pip and I both gasped.
“But … how?” I looked over to the tree where we’d left the plants, but they weren’t there. “Wait! Where are they?”
Mom put her arm around me and we started walking together to the barn. “When I got home, I went over to see if I could figure out why you had moved them outside, and I noticed that seven of the plants had turned to ashes. The only two that were left were shaded by the tree’s shadow. I rushed them back into the barn. I think they can’t handle full sun, honey.”
A tear rolled down my face. “We should never have left them. We shouldn’t have gone to the stream! We only have two left?”
Mom wiped my tear away. “They’re fine for now. There are even some flower buds, which is exciting! We just have to keep trying our best.”
“But what if the bog you’re thinking of isn’t the right place? What if I do something else wrong and the last two plants turn to ashes? I don’t want the plants to die!” I didn’t want to say my biggest worry out loud, but I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
With a big sob I blurted, “What if I’m the one who makes this plant go extinct?!”
“Oh, sweetheart! Magical plants are rare, but I would be really surprised if this was the last of its kind ever. Let’s focus on our plan and hope that bog is the right one. And even though we lost plants today, now we know something new, right?”
I nodded sadly. “Yeah, we know not to plant them in the sun. We’ll need to find a place that’s shaded.”
“You still look like you need some cheering up. How about a picnic dinner with Dad? I picked up some of your favorite things to eat at the store—we can set up a feast!”
I sniffed. “Thanks, Mom. Can Pip join us?”
Pip huffed. “I highly doubt you’d have anything I’d find delicious on the menu. Human food is so gross! And besides, I’d better get my rest. We have a big hike tomorrow.”
I clapped my hands together. “You’re coming on the hike with us?”
“Wouldn’t miss it!” said Pip. He gave us all good-night hugs and headed off into the forest, calling out, “See you tomorrow!” as he hopped away.