The Soulkeepers

Chapter 14: The Other Garden

Chapter 14
The Other Garden

Jacob never expected his punishment to be so, well, punishing. After their first meeting resulted in tea and a nap, he was disappointed that Dr. Silva was no longer concerned if he looked tired. Nor did she ask him to talk. She simply expected him to work.

The first two Saturdays, he worked in the greenhouse. He repotted saplings, watered row after row of plants, and moved pots around for no apparent reason but Dr. Silva’s whim. When he was done, his back ached and his fingers were permanently stained. The working conditions were humid and cramped.

That was child’s play compared to this.

The pile of compost in front of him was three feet high and smelled like mushrooms. Jacob watched bits of brown crud blow off the top and swirl in the air around him. Although the sun was shining, the wind cut through his gray hoodie and chilled him to the bone. Six o’clock on a Saturday morning and his workday had officially begun.

“Add another two inches of this to each of the raised beds and rake it in,” Dr. Silva said, handing him a shovel.

Jacob responded by hoisting the wheelbarrow and heading toward the half acre of sixteen-foot-long cedar rectangles. He wasn’t afraid of the work and the faster he started, the sooner he’d finish.

“When you’re done, I have something else in the greenhouse for you to do,” she said, leaning casually against a garden bench. Gideon rested atop the back of the bench, flicking his fluffy red tail as Dr. Silva’s long nails compulsively raked the cat’s neck and shoulders.

Jacob began shoveling. As cool as it was, it didn’t take him long to work up a sweat and by the time he headed back to the pile to refill the wheelbarrow, he was tempted to take off his sweatshirt. He paused when he noticed that Dr. Silva was still watching him.

“Am I your entertainment, too?” he asked. Since their first meeting, when he’d had tea with her, she didn’t have the same effect on him as before. She was still as beautiful, but his skin didn’t tingle when he saw her and her eyes didn’t cut quite so deep. But it was awkward having someone watch him shovel. If she wasn’t going to help, the least she could do was not stare.

“Well, looks like you’ve got everything under control here,” she said, an edge to her voice as if his comment had caught her off-guard. She dusted her hands off against the sides of her cargo pants. “I have some things to do in the orchard. I’ll check back with you later about the work in the greenhouse.”

Jacob was relieved when she finally left. She wandered off into the maple trees, the big red cat following close behind.

The first hour wasn’t bad. He glanced at his watch only twice and was making good progress. The second hour became increasingly tedious. His hands began to blister. He caught himself checking the time every ten minutes and stopping often to count the remaining beds in the field.

Refilling the wheelbarrow proved more difficult than he anticipated. If he loaded it up as much as he could, it became so heavy that the handles cut into his hands. But if he filled it only halfway, he would tire himself out making multiple trips. He tried a combination of both approaches, leaving his whole body sore and covered in compost dust.

At least he had something good to think about while he worked. Malini. Amazingly, she was his girlfriend now. He thought often of their first kiss and those that followed. The memory never got old.

By the time he hoisted the last shovel into the last bed, the sun was high. He felt dirty, tired, and, more than anything, thirsty. He was supposed to be done in an hour. Jacob wasn’t sure if Dr. Silva would even want him to start the next project, but he decided to track her down to find out.