The Secret Garden of Ravenwood

Chapter 3: First Clues

Avery and Leo continued their way through the garden, taking in all of the long-dead plants and dying trees that made up the outer perimeter, making the inner part feel gloomy and suffocated. There were weeds spread across the dirt and pathways, invading the space. The grassy part of the garden was overrun by overgrown grass, making it look cramped and unmanageable. Avery winced as she took it all in, it made her heart hurt to see a magnificent garden turned to ruin.

Avery continued to make her way around the garden, following the paths toward the different flower beds and plant areas. The dirt was long uninhabited, what was left was piles of ashes and crushed leaves. Weeds did not touch this area, it was just a barren wasteland.

Leo found an old rusty rake laying against one of the rotting benches. Most of the benches in the garden were made of stone, which were cracked and yellowed with age. Some of the benches though were wooden, appearing to be hand carved. One bench in particular looked like it had something carved into it, but the rotting wood made it impossible to read. The benches were beautiful, something that must have taken the person who carved them months to make.

Leo made his way over to the rotting bench and grabbed the rake. He held it in his hands and tested the stability. When he deemed it safe, he slowly raked through the dead leaves that covered most of the ground.

Avery followed suit, finding a pair of gardening gloves thrown on the ground near the fountain. Together they worked in silence, Leo raking the leaves and dumping them in one corner of the garden while Avery pulled weeds, adding them to Leo's leaf pile. Every time they cleared a small section, it felt like a mini victory. What felt like hours of manual labor was really only about three, but they were able to clear most of the leaves and weeds from the main part of the garden that held the long abandoned flower and plant beds.

Leo leaned against one of the trees, wiping sweat away from his forehead as he tried to catch his breath. It was summer, the sun beaming down on them as it rose above the trees. His hands were sore and blistered from the rake, but he refused to complain. He was doing this for Avery, he was not going to let her feel bad.

Avery continued her way around the garden, smiling now as it looked cleaner and less abandoned. The overall feel of the garden was still off, but there was one tiny section now that was cared for, and that was all that mattered to her. She could keep cleaning it up, keep making it feel like home until the garden was up and running again. As she made her way down one of the cracked paths, something caught her eye. She quickly walked towards the back of the garden near the tree lining, curiosity getting the best of her.

Leo glanced at her curiously, following after her, "I wouldn't be too eager to go running after something you see, it could be a snake."

Avery slowed down a bit, turning to look at Leo, "Are there snakes in Pennsylvania?"

"Loads, huge and scary snakes. You better let me take the lead, that way I can protect you."

"From the snakes...?" She held back a laugh when she saw that Leo was serious.

Leo nodded, making his way over to what caught Avery's eye. It was a pile of dirt and rocks that seemed out of place compared to everything else. Leo slowly made his way over to it, eyeing it cautiously as he started to bend down. The rustling of feathers and the cawing of a crow as it took off from the garden made Leo screech and jump back. Avery burst out laughing, "My hero."

Leo scowled and crossed his arms, shaken still but he said nothing. Avery was curious about the rocks and the dirt pile, slipping on her gloves before she started to dig through the rocks and dirt. After only a few minutes of digging, she was able to fully uncover a stone slab buried under a thin layer of dirt and rocks.