Chapter 11 - The Coming Fall

Rachel put all the immortal branches together and counted them.

“17! I still need 4 of them. So many. I don’t wanna do my stupid tasks at all.”

“Need we help you?” asked Jane.

However Rachel was running away towards the courtyard.

“Alas,” said Jane to Leo, “what on earth does the courtyard do?”

“I dunno,” murmured Leo. “Her math is terrible. If she needs twenty immortal branches to finish her tasks, she only has to get 3 more ones.”

Rachel came back with some more branches. She sighed in tiredness. Jane asked her about the courtyard immediately.

“We plant the logos’ plants in the courtyard,” said Rachel impatiently. “Don’t be too stupid. Those are the magical oak trees, the maple trees, the green grass and the pine trees. The immortal branches are from the oak trees there. Don’t you know anything, fools?”

Jane asked, “Do you want our help?”

“No!” said Rachel coldly. “I just want you two to stay here and keep an eye on my branches! You’re both too young. If you come, Jane, Leo’s alone. If you’re coming, Jane’s alone. Stop helping me.”

“Then why do you need us?” cried Jane.

Rachel did not reply her.

Jane suddenly remembered something. I should ask her about the thing in this morning, she thought.

“Who was the girl who opened the room door?”

“Stella. Stella’s a bottle carrier and she’s won the Young Season Changer Prize three times in a row! Totally, she has won it nine times. She’s a model bottle carrier. She also does a lot of things about controlling the season changing magic.”

“Magic?” exclaimed Jane.

“Yes.”

Jane was surprised, but Rachel soon said, “Fall is coming.”

“What do you mean?” asked Leo.

“Fall is coming. Leaves’re gonna turn red or yellow. How beautiful it will be!”

Fall, fall—everything was going to fall in fall. Leaves would fall. And it wasn’t just about the leaves. Jane’s mood was falling. She wanted to go back home. She wasn’t sure that Rachel was right saying “beautiful”.

“Why do you think like that?” mumbled Jane.

“Because I’ll never feel it!” said Rachel irritably. “After summer, we won’t worry about fall because we’re from the Summer Corner. The bottle carriers should go home, but why haven’t I got a home?”

She looked extremely sad.

Jane suddenly felt sympathetic.

On the large balcony which was filled with the golden light of the sunset, Jane, Leo and Rachel were sitting on some chairs and talking after a hearty dinner.

“You didn’t go and talk with the other bottle carriers these days,” said Leo.

“You’re being overly meticulous,” said Rachel seriously. “Meticulous means you’re paying attention to something carefully,” she added, staring at a cloud absently.

“So why didn’t you go talking with your friends?”

“I did! You’re my friends.”

Jane felt warm suddenly. This was her first time feeling friendship from Rachel. She felt that her own broad smile went across her face. She was amazed that Rachel saw her as a friend and amazed that Rachel’s friendship was like sunshine melting ice—the ice which had blocked between them. Leo wasn’t smiling, but his eyes were looking warm. Rachel raised her eyebrows at them. She was actually spending most of her time on us, not the other girls, thought Jane.

And then they heard some footsteps.

Yates was coming. And it was Jane’s first chance to have a good look at him. He was pretty tall, but a bit shorter than Rachel. His black hair was a little bushy, covering his ears. He had eyes with a really strange color—vivid yellowish green. His long face was fair-skinned. He was wearing a green jacket and carrying a small box of cookies. He handed one for each of them.

“Oh, hi,” said Jane.

“Hello guys. I was looking for you. You know, fall’s coming.”

Fall’s coming—why did Yates mention about that? Jane was not looking forward to let fall come at all.