O'Malloy's School for the Horticulturally Advanced

Chapter 1 - Mimosa

Mimosa Pudica Hayes crossed her legs and leaned back in her seat, sitting close to her father. Her carriage bounced up and down on a rough gravel road, one that was hardly ever traveled. There was a forest creeping up to meet them as her horses, Rebel and Gypsy, trotted down the path. 

"What's the name of the school again?" Mimosa tilted her head to try to keep the rising sun out of her eyes.

"O'Malloys' School for the Horticulturally Advanced," her father replied as he loosened up on the reins.

"Tell me a story about it." she replied, resting her head in her hands.

"Ah, but there are so many!" her father chuckled. "Ask me a question about it. I guarantee you there's a story for it."

Mimosa thought for a bit. "Who is O'Malloy?" she finally asked.

"Good question." her father said with a twinkle in his eyes. "This story takes place about 500 years ago, about a mile from this very place, deep in a forest that hadn't yet been planted." His eyes gazed fondly upon the forest that lay ahead of them, and he told the story with such spirit that she knew it must be true.

"There were two brothers named Kian and Devin O'Malloy. Kian was the eldest by a year, but he and Devin were inseparable. Kian loved all plants and learned everything he could about them. Devin learned everything Kian learned, but his plants never seemed to grow as big or lush as Kian's. When he was an adult, Kian decided to open a school to pass on his love for plants. As always, Devin came along. They called it 'O'Malloys' School for the Horticulturally Advanced'. At first, the school was only for boys."

"That's stupid!" Mimosa blurted out. "At my school, the boys just make spitballs and silly faces."

"Yes, but this was a different time. Girls weren't allowed to go to school then." She made a face at this, but managed to hold her tongue.

"They started by building a house for the students to stay in, then began to make the gardens. As students came, Kien and Devin taught them everything they knew about horticulture. All the students helped grow the gardens, but Kien began to plant a forest around the school. No one, not even Devin, was allowed to help him with that. A few decades after the school started-"

"Decades? How old were they now?" she cut in.

"Good question. I would say about 40. Where was I?" Her father's voice trailed off for a few moments. 

"A few decades after the school started, when Kien and Devin were about 40," (he shot a teasing glance at her) "Devin disappeared."

"Really? Where would he have gone?" Mimosa waited for her father to laugh and say, "Well, I almost got you that time!"

A smile playing on his lips, her father said, "No one knows. Some say he died, others say he got married. But the most exciting theory is..." he paused for dramatic effect, "He got lost in the woods until he died, and the trees reclaimed him." Her father's eyes were wide and wild. 

 "In that forest?" Mimosa asked, her eyes bugging out. The mass of trees, bigger than any she'd seen before, took on a whole new tone.

"Charles, is this the right time?" her mother said from in the carriage. Her tone was disapproving, but she laughed as she said it.

"It's just a story!" Mimosa protested. "Besides, you know I like scary stories." 

The carriage slowed to a halt right at the edge of the forest. 

"This is where we let you out," her father said, stepping out of the carriage and helping her out like she was a lady. Her mother stepped out of the carriage to give her a hug.