The Year Money Grew on Trees - Aaron Hawkins [18]
We swarmed the first tree. I made my first few cuts nervously. Every few minutes Amy and I would call to each other, "How does that look?" or, "Does this look right?" We climbed up and down the ladders consulting the book's illustrations.
Sam and Michael never questioned their own work. From the middle of the tree and over our heads, large branches were continually dropping under Sam's saw. I was beginning to worry if there would be anything left to the tree if he kept it up. The bottom branches were also suffering, although the clippers really limited the size of branches Michael could destroy.
After what seemed like an hour, Amy and I had worked our way around the outside of the tree moving our ladders four or five times. I was just about to say, "Okay, let's all get down and have a look," when there was a crashing of branches to my left followed by a thud.
Sam had fallen out of the tree and lay face-down on the cold dirt. The rest of us stared at him, stunned. He got to his feet slowly, panting, and said, "Well, the middle's all done."
We stood back and examined the tree while looking at the book for comparison.
"It looks terrible!" Michael blurted out. "And it's freezing."
"Who asked you?" said Amy turning on him angrily. "Look, it's supposed to look bad when it's just bare branches. And you two boys have to stop cutting off so much. It's almost like the whole middle and bottom are gone."
I agreed with her but was glad that she was the one saying it.
"Now, let's try again on the next one and be more careful," she demanded.
As she spoke, I noticed that I could see her breath because it was so cold. I also realized that my ears were freezing. I looked down at my hands, and they were bright red. I really wanted to stick them in my pockets but instead grabbed my ladder and moved it to the next tree. Out of the four of us, Amy was the only one wearing a hat and gloves. We kept working for probably another half hour. Although we seemed to be getting faster, it was also becoming much colder and darker. No one said anything, except for Michael, who complained under his breath about frostbite and losing his fingers and toes.
Amy finally said, "Why don't we go in, because I can't see anything."
I wanted to throw down the pruning scissors and run for the house, but I said, as calmly as I could, "Amy's right. Good work, guys! Let's just leave the ladders here and take the tools with us."
We walked quietly home, the boys blowing on their hands. I said goodbye as we reached my house. I left my pair of pruning scissors outside by the front door and then went in and headed straight for the heater. It took half an hour before I felt like none of my body parts were going to fall off.
"You cold out there?" Mom asked as we sat around the table.
"Not really. The work keeps you warm," I replied as cheerily as I could, looking at both of my sisters.
After dinner I went to my room and drew a map of the orchard on a piece of paper with all three hundred trees. I put an X through the tree in the farthest corner we had finished. Given how long it had taken us to prune one tree, we were going to have to get a lot faster to finish by spring. I wasn't exactly sure when that was
from an apple tree's perspective, but I figured we better be done by the end of March. It was already the middle of February.
***
The next day after school, I put on a knit hat, an extra coat, and the warmest gloves I could find. I grabbed my pruning tool from beside the front door and headed toward my cousins' house. Before I could knock, Amy came out leading Sam and Michael, who were dressed in as many layers as I was.
We picked up where we left off, and I noticed the apple book had been left on the ground overnight. I cringed, imagining what the librarian would say if she knew. There was a steady sound of click, click and the buzzing of Sam's saw against the tree. I kept saying encouraging