Chapter 1 - The Midnight Raid
The morning dew still clung to the grass as I stood staring at the wreckage of our orchard. The apple and pear trees, which had stood proud and heavy with fruit just yesterday evening, now looked like skeletons against the pale dawn sky. Broken twigs littered the damp earth, and the empty space where golden Honeycrisps and lush Bartlett pears had hung felt like a physical hollow in my chest.
Daniel’s wooden ladder lay discarded near the property line, its rungs smudged with dried mud.
Ben stood beside me, his small hand clutching the frayed brim of his father’s old baseball cap. He didn't cry. He just looked up at me with eyes far too old and solemn for a seven-year-old.
"Did she take them all, Mom?" he whispered, his voice cracking slightly. "Even the ones Daddy told me were ready for my birthday?"
"She took them, sweetheart," I murmured, my throat tightening as I knelt down to brush a stray twig off his shoulder. I forced a steady, reassuring smile, though inside, my soul felt like it was fracturing into a million sharp pieces. "Go inside and help your sister with her shoes. Mommy needs to take care of something."
I didn't yell. I didn't storm across the lawn and pound on Monica’s back door to scream obscenities, though every maternal instinct in my body screamed for blood. Screaming at a thief only gives them the satisfaction of knowing they’ve broken you. And Monica didn't deserve the satisfaction of my tears.
Instead, I walked over to our backyard storage shed, sliding open the heavy wooden door. The scent of cedar shavings, damp earth, and Daniel’s old work gloves washed over me. I reached past the lawnmower and the bags of fertilizer, pulling out a large, heavy-duty crate filled with industrial-grade supplies I hadn't touched in over two years—ever since I left my job as a municipal horticulturist to raise the kids.
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If Monica wanted to harvest our orchard overnight like a common thief, she was going to get a crash course in agricultural science she would never forget.
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