CHAPTER 3
The Letter and the Tree (I'm not very good at titles as you can see...)
"You goddam bag!!" Aileen cursed as she landed with an unpleasant squelch on a particularly dark puddle of mud. Her old grey dungarees were now poo brown.
"Now I do look great" she sighed, trying to clean her muddy face with the back of her hand, only spreading the dirt across her face. She sighed again and glared at the black litter bag in front of her, which had ripped in the middle, scattering its contents around.
The sun hit her face sideways, burning the left, leaving the right in cool darkness. Her hair was muddy, and loose...and messy. It had been hours ago when she had finally realised her hair was impossible to tame. She was in the apple orchard, which had about 3 apple trees, but Mrs. Inglet like to call it 'the orchard,' anyway.
As she looked around for the rake to try and put all the leaves together, she heard a hooting sound somewhere from above. Looking at the sky, she saw a handsome barn owl circling around an apple tree. Distracted by the fact there was an owl flying in daylight, it took her a good time to realise she was staring at something thick and yellow the bird held in its beak.
The owl dropped a letter. Aileen's jaw dropped open in surprise. Owl mail? She wanted to rub her eyes, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but stopped. Her hands were dirty; she didn't want to get an infection.
The letter swirled graciously in the air for a moment and then landed on top of the apple tree in front of Aileen. "Great" the girl said through gritted teeth. She wanted to take the letter, but would break her leg if she tried to climb the thing, and she was risking more that a broken member if anyone saw her hanging from the branch of one of Mrs. Inglet's precious apple trees.
An idea popped in her head. She looked at the basketful of apples she was supposed to take later to the school's kitchen. Apples...tree...letter... "I know!" She said out loud, but felt an odd embarrassment for talking to herself.
She grabbed an apple, and threw it at the tree, aiming for the letter. Missed. But there were still plenty of apples left in the basket for her to try again, and the day was long.
She hopelessly shot more apples at the envelope, and just when she thought she better hit the trunk for all the good it did, she hit it. The letter dropped and fell in the ground with an unusually loud 'tonk,' and just as Aileen dashed to get it...
" Aileen!!! WHAT-DO-YOU-THINK-YOU'RE-DOING!!" Hornell bellowed, striding towards her, waving her arms like a windmill, her face as red as a boiled tomato
"Uh-oh" Aileen muttered, forgetting completely about the letter and feeling she had just managed to get in serious trouble.
The Letter and the Tree (I'm not very good at titles as you can see...)
"You goddam bag!!" Aileen cursed as she landed with an unpleasant squelch on a particularly dark puddle of mud. Her old grey dungarees were now poo brown.
"Now I do look great" she sighed, trying to clean her muddy face with the back of her hand, only spreading the dirt across her face. She sighed again and glared at the black litter bag in front of her, which had ripped in the middle, scattering its contents around.
The sun hit her face sideways, burning the left, leaving the right in cool darkness. Her hair was muddy, and loose...and messy. It had been hours ago when she had finally realised her hair was impossible to tame. She was in the apple orchard, which had about 3 apple trees, but Mrs. Inglet like to call it 'the orchard,' anyway.
As she looked around for the rake to try and put all the leaves together, she heard a hooting sound somewhere from above. Looking at the sky, she saw a handsome barn owl circling around an apple tree. Distracted by the fact there was an owl flying in daylight, it took her a good time to realise she was staring at something thick and yellow the bird held in its beak.
The owl dropped a letter. Aileen's jaw dropped open in surprise. Owl mail? She wanted to rub her eyes, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but stopped. Her hands were dirty; she didn't want to get an infection.
The letter swirled graciously in the air for a moment and then landed on top of the apple tree in front of Aileen. "Great" the girl said through gritted teeth. She wanted to take the letter, but would break her leg if she tried to climb the thing, and she was risking more that a broken member if anyone saw her hanging from the branch of one of Mrs. Inglet's precious apple trees.
An idea popped in her head. She looked at the basketful of apples she was supposed to take later to the school's kitchen. Apples...tree...letter... "I know!" She said out loud, but felt an odd embarrassment for talking to herself.
She grabbed an apple, and threw it at the tree, aiming for the letter. Missed. But there were still plenty of apples left in the basket for her to try again, and the day was long.
She hopelessly shot more apples at the envelope, and just when she thought she better hit the trunk for all the good it did, she hit it. The letter dropped and fell in the ground with an unusually loud 'tonk,' and just as Aileen dashed to get it...
" Aileen!!! WHAT-DO-YOU-THINK-YOU'RE-DOING!!" Hornell bellowed, striding towards her, waving her arms like a windmill, her face as red as a boiled tomato
"Uh-oh" Aileen muttered, forgetting completely about the letter and feeling she had just managed to get in serious trouble.