When Evie and Father got back home, it was too dark to go outside. Evie thought about sneaking out to the orchard right then, but the idea of being out there in the pitch black by herself sent chills down her spine.
Instead she lay in bed awake most of the night, tingling with the possibility that Mom was waiting for her in a beautiful garden, just like she’d said. She remembered the way she used to imagine her own garden—full of waterfalls and rainbows and animals of every sort.
“No vegetables?” Mom asked, curling beside Evie on her bed.
“Not a single one,” Evie answered.
Mom laughed. “I’d have vegetables in my garden. Plus, there would be an orchard just like the one Father works in, and a little house just like our house, and a little girl just like—”
“Hey, that’s not a garden!”
“Oh, but it is,” Mom said. “The world would be my garden, Evie, my love. The whole entire world.”
Evie drifted off to sleep imagining her mother’s arms circling around her. When she woke, she could almost feel the warmth of her mom’s form snuggled next to her. She reached out to the space where her mother would have been, only it was empty.
For a long time Evie lay still, waiting for the ache to subside. Then she spotted the box on her nightstand and ran her finger over its smooth surface.
“Will you take me to my mom?” she whispered.
From the corner of her eye she saw that her clock read ten A.M. She must have been dreaming all morning. Slowly Evie got out of bed and pulled on her clothes and shoes, then she washed her face and ran downstairs to the kitchen. She looked out the window but didn’t see Alex in the graveyard, so she stepped out the front door to find him.
She didn’t have to go far. Alex was sitting on the porch, his hair rumpled and his arms crossed.
“Finally,” he said. “I’ve been waiting all morning.”
“I was just going to look for you,” Evie said.
“That’s because I called you with my ghost powers.” Alex stood up. “Did you plant the seed yet?”
“No, but you’ll never guess what I found out about it.”
“You found out you could plant it somewhere other than the orchard?” Alex asked, but Evie only sighed.
“Stop being such a fraidycat. I talked to Maggie and it turns out the seed Rodney gave me came from the Garden of Eden!”
Alex narrowed his eyes. “Are you making this up?”
“It’s true,” Evie said, crossing her heart and spitting on the ground. “There were three of them, and Maggie’s sister planted the first one just before she disappeared. Rodney believed it took her away to someplace magical, and he must have been right.” She paused, leaning in. “Think about it, Alex. My mom said everyone has a beautiful garden waiting just for them, only we can’t find them until after we die. But maybe . . .”
“Who would want to find a pile of old vegetables after they die?”
Evie threw up her hands in exasperation. “It wouldn’t be a pile of old vegetables. Use your imagination! Everyone’s garden would be just the way they’d want it to be. There could be streams or mountains or white clouds . . .”
“Sounds like heaven,” Alex said, but then he frowned. “I thought your mother’s stories didn’t come true.”
“This one is different,” Evie said. “The seed isn’t something Mom made up. Maggie’s father found it on a real expedition, and it’ll be such an adventure when I plant it . . .”
Alex chipped at the paint flaking off the porch banister.
“I like adventures,” he said. “I always have. I’m the bravest person I know . . .” He stopped. “At least, most of the time.”
Evie hopped off the porch, heading toward the trees, and Alex followed. She counted the rows as she went, then divided by two to mark the center.
“X marks the spot,” she said, tying her new red scarf around a low branch. Then she stepped into the orchard. “It’s only one more step,” she said, turning back to Alex. “What difference could one more step make?”
Alex studied the trees ahead of him.
“Can I see the seed one more time?” he asked.
Evie took the box out of her pocket and slid off the lid. A gust of wind swirled around them, and Alex jumped.
“Don’t you want to know if it’s magic?” Evie whispered.
Finally Alex closed his eyes and held his breath. Then he took one giant step into the orchard. When he was across, he opened first one eye, then the other, and looked around wildly, but nothing happened.
“See?” Evie said. “That wasn’t so bad.”
He let out his breath in a loud whoosh.
“I knew it wouldn’t be,” he said, but his eyes darted anxiously.
Evie stuck out her hand. “No turning back until we’ve planted the seed on old Rodney’s grave,” she said. “Deal?”
Alex hesitated, but at last he placed his ice-cold hand on hers.
“No turning back,” he said. “Not even if we find a ghost.”