Chapter Four

Apples and Pumpkins

Today when Dad drives us to school, he doesn’t just drop Ben and me off—he parks the car and gets out. He is a parent chaperone on our field trip. Because my dad works in his art studio at home, he can make his own schedule. My mom works all day at the newspaper. She even has to go in at night sometimes.

We drive to the farm in a big yellow school bus. Dad rides in the front with Ms. Garcia and some other parents. The drive takes such a long time! I am happy when we get out and I can stretch my legs. A lady dressed in overalls and boots greets us. She has a big smile on her face.

“Welcome, Northland students,” she says. “I’m Ms. Carolyn, and this is my family’s farm. We are going to have fun this morning!” Ms. Carolyn leads us on a walk to the orchard, where Ms. Garcia breaks us up into teams of four or five. Each team gets to fill a basket with apples.

“There are only a few rules,” Ms. Carolyn says. “First, I want to show you how to pick an apple.” She uses one hand to hold the branch and the other hand to slowly twist the apple until it comes off.

“Don’t pull,” Ms. Carolyn says, “or the branch will shake and apples will fall and bruise. Also, don’t eat the apples until you have a chance to wash them at home. Oh, and one more thing—no climbing on the trees.” I don’t know why, but my dad looks straight at me just then and raises his eyebrows at me.

We then walk a little farther to the part of the farm where the apples are ready to be picked. All of a sudden, Bella grabs my hand.

“Look!” she says. She points to what looks like a person up high on a wooden pole.

“It’s a scarecrow!” I say, smiling. “It scares away birds, I think.”

“Ms. Carolyn!” Bella raises her hand. “Why would anyone want to scare away birds? Birds are nice.”