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The Seed's Price (Gold Feather Gardeners series, Book 4)

By Erin Greneaux

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Chapter One
Something in the Forest
Maya burst through the back door into the kitchen. Her younger sister, Everly, was about to bite into a warm glazed donut. “Everly, quick! I have to show you something!”
“Can it wait two minutes?” Everly asked. She inhaled the scent of the fresh baked goodness in her hand with a smile. Boomerang, the sisters’ gray and white cat, rubbed around Everly’s ankles, eager for a crumb to drop on the floor.
“No, come on!” Maya snatched the donut and shoved it in her mouth. “Let’s go!” she sputtered as crumbs flew out of her stuffed cheeks. Boomerang pounced on the morsels, licking each one with an elegant swish of his long tail.
“Hey! I was going to eat that!” Everly grabbed another donut from the box on the counter and followed her sister out the door. Boomerang bounded after her.
“What is this all about, anyway?” Everly asked. She ducked through the loose fence board in their yard and stepped into the forest beyond.
At the beginning of the summer, the two sisters had discovered the Enchanted Garden in the woods behind their house. They met a beautiful garden fairy named Clara and the Gardener, who was a great golden eagle. The Gardener invited the girls to be Gold Feather Gardeners, special keepers of the garden who wear gold feather necklaces.
Maya led the way through the trees. “I found something in the forest. I’ll show you.”
Everly scooped up the cat and followed a few paces behind Maya.
“This better be more exciting than the giant snail you found yesterday.”
Maya paused and looked around. “Let’s see. Ah! Right over here!” She parted two bushy, low-hanging limbs. She jerked her head for Everly to follow.
Everly stepped into a circular clearing where a hammock stretched between two trees. In the center of the clearing, a faint trail of smoke rose from a pile of ashes.
Bunches of feathers tied together hung from a tree branch organized in neat bundles. Maya noticed there wasn’t a single gold feather among them.
“Well?” Maya smirked at her sister.
“This is much better than the snail.”
“Told you.”
Boomerang wiggled out of Everly’s arms. He sniffed at the leg of a folding table. Tools and utensils covered the surface.
“What is this place?”
“I don’t know. Do you think it has something to do with Deceptra?”
Deceptra was the shape-shifting queen of the forest, who often took the form of a crow. She was determined to destroy the Enchanted Garden. Her forest animal followers had stolen and hidden the seven Virtue Gems from the fountain in the garden.
The girls were on a mission to find and replace all the gems to keep the garden healthy and safe. They had already found two Virtue Gems, the gem of Truth and the gem of Humility, but still had five left to track down.
“This looks like a person built it, not an animal,” Maya said. “I think someone is living here.”
“Why would anyone…”
Snap! A twig cracked in the forest nearby, and both girls froze. Maya held a finger up to her lips. The crunching sound of footsteps came closer. Everly grabbed her sister’s arm and pulled her back out of the branches they had entered through. Boomerang slipped through after them. The girls held their breath and peeked through the leaves into the campsite.
A branch lifted on the opposite side of the clearing and a boy stepped into view. He looked a little older than the sisters, but not old enough to be living on his own in the woods. Maya raised her eyebrows at Everly. The boy opened a satchel and removed a few feathers, placing them on the table. He dipped a wooden cup into a bucket of water, took a long drink, and went back out the way he had come.
The girls tip-toed away as quietly as they could. They didn’t speak until they entered the gate in the stone wall of the Enchanted Garden.
“What do you think that was all about?” Maya asked.
“Why would anyone live in the woods?” Everly added.
“Hello, girls!”
The sisters couldn’t help but smile at Clara’s tinkling, fairy voice. She fluttered up, her purple dress flapping in the breeze. “It is lovely to see each of you this morning!” The girls could see Clara’s freckled cheeks blush with joy even through her deep lavender skin.
“Hi Clara!” they chimed.
“We saw a boy in the forest today,” Everly said.
“There are always lots of kids playing in the forest. They come looking for adventure, just like the two of you did.” Clara winked.
“I think he is living there. We found a campsite,” Maya said.
Clara’s eyebrows scrunched together, and she placed her tiny hand over her chest. “The forest is a dangerous place for a child all alone. I hope we meet him soon.”
Both girls nodded.
“In the meantime, the Gardener has some very exciting news!” The fairy clapped her hands together and spun a circle in the air.
“Really? Let’s go!” Maya darted after Clara as she zipped through the garden to the fountain. Everly followed close on her heels.
The girls found the Gardener facing the stone fountain, gazing down at the two Virtue Gems embedded in the edge. Next to them were five empty holes where the rest of the Virtue Gems had once been.
The great golden eagle turned to face the girls. The twinkle in his eye made Maya’s heart skip a beat. His joy was so contagious that she thought she might explode if she didn’t let out a laugh and a skip. With a hearty giggle, she threw herself into his wings for a hug.
The Gardener’s deep, rumbling laugh quivered through her whole body. The water resting in the fountain’s basin rippled in response, and buds on the plants around him burst into bloom.
“My daughters,” he said. “Today is a special day, a wonderful day to be a Gold Feather Gardener! The century seed is ready to be planted!”

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