by Ann Bryant
“But why do the vegetables have to be bought in? Why can’t the school grow its own vegetables?” I asked, feeling suddenly daring, but still dreading the answer.
“You’re joking!” said Tony. “There are three hundred and sixty girls to feed here. High-maintenance stuff is no good in a place like this.”
He was looking at me as though I was mad, but Mum and Dad often talk about high and low maintenance and productivity, so I know a bit about it and I couldn’t help coming right back at him for what he’d just said.
“The thing about growing your own vegetables and herbs is that it’s only high maintenance if you let it slip.”
He looked a bit startled for a moment, then broke into a grin. “Exactly! That’s why it’s high maintenance – because you can’t let it slip, which takes manpower, and all our manpower is taken up looking after the grounds and the buildings.”
But I couldn’t stop arguing my case, even though I felt a bit rude, because I was so sure I was right. “If there was a gardening club, we’d have loads of manpower…only it would be girl power!”
“You’d need a pretty big gardening club to provide the whole of Silver Spires with vegetables!” Tony shook his head and pursed his lips. “And I know what you girls are like… You’ve got too many other things on the go to stick with something. Especially something like gardening.”
I could feel my hackles rising but I could also feel Bryony’s elbow in my side. She was telling me I shouldn’t be arguing with Tony, and I knew she was right.
“Well, could we just have the herb patch for the gardening club, please?” I asked in a gabble.
“I think that would probably be okay.” Tony looked at his watch and I felt myself panicking a bit. Probably wasn’t good enough. I wanted definitely. Maybe if I started talking definitely and mentioned tools and things…
“Er, I’ll need a spade and a hoe and a rake – you know, not the flimsy sort…”
He looked a bit taken aback, then nodded. “I can supply you with whatever you need, don’t worry. Okay, tell you what, I’ll see you at lunchtime tomorrow at the old herb garden. Do you know where to go?”
“Yes, I…I do.”
“That’s settled then.”
“Tomorrow?” I didn’t think I could wait that long.
“Thank you very much,” said Bryony. “We’ll be there after lunch.”
“Yes, thank you, Tony,” I added as Bryony grabbed my wrist and started dragging me away.
“Grown-ups always take ages to sort stuff out,” she said, the moment we were out of earshot. “And just think – you’ve got yourself a gardening club to start, you’ve got yourself a plot of land, and all in less than forty-eight hours from when you first thought of it. So that’s pretty good, isn’t it?”
And when she put it like that, I had to agree it was pretty good.
Chapter Four
Lessons have never gone so slowly on a Monday morning as they are doing right now. I’m stuck here in ICT and Mrs. Lawson is going on and on about organization, storage and access, when all I want to do is meet Tony.
Actually, I think Mrs. Lawson might be getting a bit exasperated with me. “Emily, why are you continually looking out of the window this morning?”
Because I want to get digging and I’m scared it’s going to rain.
“Sorry.”
I tried hard to concentrate on that other window, the computer one on the screen in front of me, but five seconds later my eyes had strayed back to the real one. It was looking very overcast. I glanced up at the clock. Nearly time for the bell. Good. Then just lunch to get through before my big plan could be put into action. All my friends had said they’d come with me to the herb garden, to help me get started. I knew it wouldn’t be a proper club with just my friends in it, but I had to start somewhere, and as yesterday had gone on, it had been lovely to hear them asking me more and more questions about what tools we’d be using and which vegetables could be grown at what times of year. And they also admitted that they’d been too tired to take in what I’d been saying before breakfast, but they were genuinely interested.
The moment the bell went, Bryony and I jumped up. She likes ICT about as much as I do, which is not at all. Izzy was next out of the block, because she’s almost as bad as me at sitting still, but for a different reason. Mine is to do with wanting to be outside, but hers is because she’s done ballet to a very high level and it doesn’t feel right to her to be sitting around for long. She’d rather be stretching her muscles.
The others followed close behind and we all rushed over to the dining hall. The ICT block is a bit of a way from the main building, though, so by the time we got to the dining hall there was quite a queue and loads of people had started eating. In fact, some girls were already handing in their pudding plates. They must have got choir or sports practices to go to.
When we were at the counter I found myself taking a big interest in what the dinner ladies were doing with the leftover fruit peelings as they cleared the plates. I’d never paid attention to that before, but if we were to get back to proper gardening then we’d need really good compost, and nothing could be better than leftover peelings all mulched down.
I felt real prickles of disappointment when I saw one of the ladies tipping an apple core into a big rubbish bag that someone else had just scraped chicken bones into, and I couldn’t help huffing a bit even though I knew I wasn’t being fair on the dinner lady. You should never put meat into compost, but there was no reason why the food waste shouldn’t be kept together at the moment. Once the gardening club got started, though, we could recycle it all properly. I couldn’t wait.
“What’s the matter?” asked Bryony, when we were sitting round a table together.
It always amazes me the way Bryony doesn’t miss a thing. She’d even noticed that I was a bit irritated at the counter.
“Just seeing that dinner lady tipping an apple core in with old chicken leftovers,” I said. “I know it’s different here, but at home we always keep fruit and veg peelings for compost, and since I met Emily I can’t stop thinking about how it used to be like that here too.”
“Woo, listen to Little Miss Green!” came a familiar voice from just behind me.
I hadn’t even realized Juliet was on the table next to us or I would have spoken a bit more quietly.
“Ignore her,” mouthed Bryony.
But I couldn’t help turning round and saying something, because she’d annoyed me so much. “It won’t be long till the school starts recycling peelings and stuff for compost, actually.”
“Oh really?” Her voice was so mocking I could feel myself starting to blush. “Emily’s clearly been promoted to head of recycling at Silver Spires!” she added, which made a few of her friends snigger. Then she dropped her voice. “I bet she doesn’t even know what recycling means.”
“Ignore her,” repeated Bryony, quietly but firmly.
But she was too late. The words were already fighting to get out of my mouth, Juliet made me so mad. Of course I knew what recycling meant. “It’s the cycle that happens over and over… That’s what a cycle is. I mean, we make it happen because we recycle…like reusing stuff or…” The more I couldn’t find the right words because of Juliet and her friends staring at me with their smirky expressions, the more I felt my hackles rising. And the sort of mocking but pitying look on Juliet’s face was winding me right up. This was so unfair. I had to show her I wasn’t completely stupid. “I might not be in charge of recycling, but I’m in charge of the new gardening club,” I blurted out.
Then I wished I could shovel the words straight back in again, as Juliet started laughing loudly and, of course, all her friends followed suit.
I could feel myself blushing right to the roots of my hair. If only I’d taken Bryony’s advice and just ignored Juliet. I carried on eating as though I wasn’t bothered, but what she said next annoyed me even more.
“Some people are full of big ideas, but they’ve no idea what ha
rd work it is to make them happen.”
I was chewing away furiously so I could swallow my mouthful and get straight back at her. Only good old Bryony got in first.
She turned round and looked directly at Juliet, but didn’t raise her voice or sound at all rattled. “Emily lives on a farm actually, Jet, and she’s been gardening for years. So I should imagine she’s got more understanding of hard work in her little finger than you’ve got in your whole body.”
I thought that was a totally brilliant put-down, and so did my friends, because I noticed their eyes were all shining. Jet, however, was not impressed. She tossed her silky black hair and got up to go, her lips in a tight thin line. Immediately, her little crowd of fans got up too and off they marched. They hadn’t even had their puddings. As soon as we six were on our own, every one of us burst into nervous giggles.
“Thanks for sticking up for me, Bry!” I said, hugging her.
She shrugged. “I was just telling the truth.”
There was no sign of Tony when I went through the gate to my precious plot of land. But then I was a bit early, because I’d only had two mouthfuls of cheesecake for pudding, as I couldn’t wait another second – I’d just had to get going. Bryony and the others had said they’d join me in a few minutes, and I was dying to show them the garden.
From where I was standing I thought I could tell which part of the plot Tony meant by the herb garden. It wasn’t as overrun with weeds as the rest of the land and there were still quite a few plants in there, even though they were overgrown and dried up. That was a shame, because it’s so easy to grow herbs. Mum grows them at home. We’ve got a little raised bed in the corner of the garden at the back of our farmhouse, with coriander, chives, mint and basil. Then we’ve got a window box with parsley and marigolds. Mum says the marigolds keep the bugs away.
I looked at the dull grey patch of land in front of me, and thought how brilliant it would be if it was full of bright herbs. Next I turned to survey the whole of the rest of the plot and imagined it with proper raised beds and a big compost heap in the corner. After that I got a bit carried away, picturing loads of students picking courgettes and runner beans and taking them into the kitchen.
“Hello there!” came a voice behind me, making me jump when I was right in the middle of my brilliant daydream. “You are keen, aren’t you?”
It was Tony, and I nodded enthusiastically as he came to stand beside me, drumming his fingers on his arm and frowning at the straggly herbs.
“What a mess. I hope you don’t mind hard work, because this ground needs a lot of preparing before anything can go in it. You do realize that, don’t you?”
I was getting fed up with everyone going on about what hard work gardening is, and part of me felt like giving Tony a duh look and saying, Of course I realize! But I knew it was important to keep him on my side. Once I’d proved to him that I was good at gardening and I meant business, I would ask him if I could have the whole plot. But right now, I just needed lots of help so we could get this patch thoroughly dug and cleared of weeds and hoed and raked and ready for planting as soon as possible. That’d impress Tony.
“Yes, I know.” I gave him my best smile and spoke in my politest voice. “Did you bring a spade? I want to get the ground prepared so I can plant some early potatoes in March.”
Tony looked a bit startled, as though I’d asked him to bring a JCB to carve the land up. “You certainly know your mind, don’t you? Are your parents gardeners?”
“No, they’re farmers, but we grow all our own vegetables too.”
“Ah!” He nodded and looked suddenly very focused as he paced out an area of ground about five metres long and four metres wide, all around the old straggly herbs. He dug his heel in as he walked, to make a definite mark so we could see exactly where the boundary was. “There. I take my orders from the powers that be and that’s how much land I’ve been told to give you for your gardening club. All right? Which means you could have a few potatoes, but not a lot else.” He suddenly raised his eyebrows at me. “So you’re used to working on the land?”
I didn’t like the sound of “the powers that be”. He couldn’t have been talking about Mrs. Pridham, because Mrs. P had been the one to tell me to ask Tony. Tony must have had to ask someone else. I’d no idea who that could be. All I knew was that I badly wanted more land.
“It’s only me and my friends at the moment, but once I’ve started a proper gardening club with lots of others, do you think we could have…some more?” I pointed in a vague kind of way at the rest of the land.
“No chance!”
It felt as though he’d just stamped on my toe.
“It’s not up to me, mind,” he went on in a softer tone as he walked round the boundary that he’d marked out, making it even clearer. Then he grinned. “The powers that be reckon that this is enough for a gardening club, so I’m afraid that’s your lot, okay?”
I wished I could tell him that no, it was not okay. I desperately wanted the whole garden, which was about ten times bigger. But I reminded myself that I had to be careful.
“Who…who exactly are the…powers that be?”
Tony laughed. “Domestic bursar.” Then he started to walk back to the gate and I saw that he’d parked his pickup truck on the other side. “I’ve brought three spades, and a couple of hoes and rakes in the truck. Come and help me get them.” I followed him, and on the way he turned round to point to a little outhouse at the far side of the kitchens. “See that door there? It’s not locked and there’s nothing in the outhouse. You can leave the tools in there when you’ve finished.” He sighed and scratched his head as though he didn’t know how on earth this gardening thing was going to happen. “You did say you’d got friends to help you, didn’t you? Because this is going to be a long, slow job.”
We’d reached his truck by then and I could see the tools, which gave me a little burst of excitement. “Yes, my friends are on their way.”
And at that very moment they all appeared and offered to help me carry everything over to the garden.
“Good timing!” said Tony. Then he tossed some gloves out of the front of the truck. “There you go! Only three pairs, mind. You’ll have to go shopping for more if you’re serious.”
I’d already planned to ask Mrs. Pridham about that, but it annoyed me that Tony had added those last three words. Of course I was serious. He got in his truck then and started to pull away, still calling out to us. “Have fun! And don’t worry if you change your mind. It’s going to be hard work.” His chuckle got mixed up with the sound of the truck’s engine, before he shouted out one last thing: “Good job the matrons keep a nice supply of plasters, because I can tell you, you’re going to get a few blisters!”
Then he was gone, and I was left fuming.
“What a cheek!” I hissed. “I never get blisters!” I marched back to the herb garden and leaned on my spade, eyeing the land. Then I suddenly realized the others were totally silent as they stood beside me, and when I looked at their faces I saw that their eyes were big and anxious. Apart from Bryony’s.
“It’s going to be great, Ems,” she said, giving me a thumbs up.
“Don’t take any notice of how it looks now,” I told the others. “You won’t believe how much you’ll love it when it’s all planted up. Honestly, it’ll be all green and lovely!” They were still looking worried, though, so I kept chatting away. “I’ll be meeting up with Stan tomorrow and he’s going to show me some photos of how it used to be, remember!”
There was a silence, then Nicole shook her head slowly. “I wouldn’t know where to start,” she said quietly.
“I’ll tell you what to do,” I assured her brightly. “Look!” I bent down and tugged gently at a big weed, then pulled a bit harder, and felt a great thrill as it came out.
“But we can’t start now!” said Antonia, looking shocked. “We’d get our uniforms and shoes completely messed up.”
“And there are only three pairs of gloves,”
said Izzy. She spoke hesitantly. “The soil gets right under your nails, Ems.”
Why was I the only one feeling excited? Even Bryony was frowning. And Sasha was looking at her watch.
“Actually, Ems, afternoon school’s about to begin.”
I felt a real stab of frustration when she said that. I’d no idea so much time had gone by since lunch, and I was desperate to make a start. “I’ll be along in a sec,” I said.
Sasha’s eyes were wide. “You don’t want to be late for Mr. Pattle, Ems. He is the strictest teacher at Silver Spires, remember. Can’t you just wait till after school, when we’re changed? Then we’ll have loads of time.”
“It’s okay. You go. I’ll just put the tools away. I’ll catch you up.”
So the others went off, calling out to me to hurry up. But the moment they’d gone, I went over to the corner of the herb garden and thrust the spade into the hard earth, then wriggled it further in with my foot. I heaved out a spadeful of soil, and – there! – I’d actually turned over my first bit of earth in my brand new garden. It felt brilliant and I couldn’t help carrying straight on with the next and the next. It was so amazing, but I was a bit anxious, because it looked like Antonia was right – my shoes were already dirty and I’d got marks on my tights and skirt. Never mind, I’d probably be able to rub them off easily.
My eyes went back to the soil. Already you could see the dull grey turning black. I glanced at the sky and noticed happily that it wasn’t quite so cloudy as it had been earlier. Good. That meant that I could come back after school and have a proper go. It felt wonderful to imagine how clean and soft and rich the land was going to be by the time I’d finished, and I so wished I could carry on all afternoon. But I knew it was time I ought to get going to face geography and the boring subject of maps and their scales with Mr. Pattle. I glanced at my watch and that’s when I got a massive shock. Mr. Pattle’s lesson would be just about finishing. I must have been in a total dream doing my gardening – I couldn’t believe the time had gone so fast. I’d just have to make some excuse next time I saw him. I could say I’d been stuck in the loo feeling sick, but then I’d got better so it must have been something I’d eaten. Yes, that’s what I’d say.