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The Tree's Armor (Gold Feather Gardeners series, Book 3)

By Erin Greneaux

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Chapter One
The Community Garden
“Everly, guess what?” Maya smacked a lime green flyer on the table in front of her younger sister. “Mrs. Hayes down the street is starting a community garden for all the neighborhood kids.”
“That sounds fun,” Everly said through a mouthful of cereal, “except we already have a garden to take care of. You know, the enchanted one.”
At the beginning of the summer, the two sisters had slipped through a loose fence board in their backyard and discovered an enchanted garden in the woods beyond. There they met Clara, the garden fairy, and the Gardener, a great golden eagle. The Gardener had given each of them a beautiful necklace with a gold feather pendant, making them official Gold Feather Gardeners. They were responsible for helping to grow the plants in the Enchanted Garden.
Maya rolled her eyes. “I know, I know.”
“What about Deceptra?” Everly asked, pointing her spoon at her sister.
Deceptra was an evil creature who ruled the woods and frequently changed forms. She and her animal followers had removed the seven Virtue Gems from the fountain in the middle of the garden and hidden them. Maya and Everly had been working hard all summer to find each of the gems and return them to their places around the fountain.
“Shouldn’t we focus our attention on finding the Virtue Gems?”
“Probably, but this would be fun, and we could do it with other kids in the neighborhood. Besides, we could show off all the awesome gardening skills that we have learned,” Maya said.
Everly set her bowl on the floor. The girls’ gray and white cat, Boomerang, sniffed at it before lapping up the leftover milk. Everly gave her sister a sideways glance. “Wait, did you say Mrs. Hayes was doing the garden? Is this about Hannah?”
“I’m sure Hannah will be there, but that’s not why I want to do it.” Maya crossed her arms.
“I think we already have our hands full finding the missing gems. I don’t need you trying to show off and prove that you are better than Hannah at something. You have got to let that art contest go.” Boomerang finished off the milk and Everly carried her bowl to the sink with Maya trailing after her.
“Her mom was one of the judges. It was completely unfair. Besides, this is not about showing off. What is the point of having all our gardening knowledge if we can’t share it with others? This community garden needs some members with our experience,” Maya added.
“I guess so. We can go check it out, but if you get competitive, I’m leaving.”
“Deal!”
  
The sisters joined the small group of kids gathered around Mrs. Hayes. The short woman shaded her eyes with one arm in the morning sun. Beside her were three small gardens edged with wooden boards and filled with dirt. The girls recognized the kids in the group. Some they knew well, and others they had seen riding bikes or walking dogs around the neighborhood. At the front of the group stood Mrs. Hayes’ daughter, Hannah. She wore a big floppy gardening hat with a huge pink flower on it. Pink flowers dotted her gardening gloves, and she held a little pink shovel.
Everly elbowed her sister. Maya shrugged, as if the slightly older girl didn’t bother her a bit.
Mrs. Hayes cleared her throat. “Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Mrs. Hayes, and we are so excited to start this community garden. We will learn how to grow all kinds of plants. Everything in the gardens will be grown by kids, for kids. We are donating the vegetables to the local food pantry that provides meals for hungry families. The flowers we grow will go to the children’s hospital to cheer up kids who are sick.”
“That’s a really cool idea,” Everly whispered.
Maya nodded. “See?”
“I’ll be here to help, but this is your project. You probably know my daughter, Hannah. She will be in charge of leading the group.”
Maya let out a snort. Everly raised her eyebrows.
“I’m fine,” Maya assured her.
Hannah beamed as she princess-waved her gloved hand to the group. “We will have one garden for fruit, one for vegetables, and one for flowers. Each person will choose which garden they want to work on and help pick the plants that we grow. The purpose is to grow as much as possible to give away. But to make things fun, we will have a little contest for each of the three gardens. There will be the Best Bloom Award for the prettiest flower, the Sweet Treat Award for the sweetest fruit, and the Big Green Award for the largest vegetable.”
Everly turned to Maya as the kids dispersed into groups. “We need to leave.Now.”
“What?” Maya gave her best attempt at looking shocked. “This is a project to help the community.”
“It’s also a contest.”
“I’m only here to help.”
Everly sighed and headed to the fruit garden while Maya turned to the vegetable garden. “I may happen to win the contest while I’m helping. There isn’t anything I can do about that,” Maya added under her breath.
Hannah came over to the vegetable group with a pen and paper. “Today we are just deciding which plants to buy, and we will plant them tomorrow. Does anyone have a vegetable they would like to grow?”
“I like peas,” said a little boy excitedly.
“Good choice,” Hannah replied, writing it down.
“Actually, it’s a little too warm to start peas. Green beans would be a better choice,” Maya said.
Hannah crossed her arms and glared at Maya. “If he wants to grow peas, then he can try peas. Any other suggestions?”
“I would like to grow cucumbers,” said another girl.
“Great!” Hannah replied.
“You’ll need some trellises if you grow cucumbers. They grow on vines that need to climb on a support,” Maya said.
“I’ll add that to the list,” Hannah muttered. “Any other thoughts?”
The rest of the kids shook their heads.
“Okay, I’ll get these and some others to try, and we’ll meet back tomorrow morning to plant them. See you all then!” The kids in the group turned to leave. Hannah marched over to Maya. “Since when did you become such a gardening expert?”
“What can I say? I am an excellent gardener,” Maya said. “And what qualifies you to be the head gardener on this project?”
“Well, the community garden was my idea in the first place,” Hannah said defensively.
“It’s a good thing that I’ll be here to help you make it work,” Maya shrugged.
“I think the vegetable garden group is a little too big. I’m going to move you over to the flower garden,” Hannah replied evenly, making a note on her clipboard.
“That’s fine,” Maya sniffed. “I know just as much about flowers.”
Everly appeared at Maya’s side. “Come on, Maya. We need to get back.”
“Have a lovely day.” Hannah smiled from under her enormous hat.

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