Cherry
Emily was thrilled to be visiting the countryside with her best friend, Sophie. Even better, Sophie had told her about their neighbour, Auntie Maggie, who paid well for help around her farm.
“Shes got a cherry orchardhuge! Auntie Maggie cant climb the trees herself, so she pays for the harvest,” Sophie explained eagerly. “But shes odd. Talks to herself, always muttering. The locals are a bit scared of her.”
“Maybe we shouldnt go?” Emily asked nervously.
“Oh, shes just a bit out of touch,” Sophie continued. “Ive never really spoken to her. I just offer to help, climb a tree with a crate, do my job, take the money, and leave. Whats there to fear? She doesnt even have a dog.”
*****
The girls arrived early in the morning. Sophies gran welcomed them warmly.
“Well, girls, what are your plans today?”
“First, were off to Auntie Maggies. Her cherries are nearly dragging on the groundthey need picking,” Sophie said. “And well earn some cash!”
“Honestly, why bother with that madwoman?” Gran sighed, waving a hand dismissively.
Emily and Sophie approached Auntie Maggies cottage. The cherry branches sagged under the weight of glossy, deep-red fruit.
“Auntie Maggie! Hello! Its Sophie, dyou remember? Need any help?” Sophie called out, spotting the woman behind the house.
Auntie Maggie kept muttering under her breath:
“Shouldve kept quiet… Whats the use… Im not listening to you anyway…” She shuffled to the gate. “Hello, girls. Glad youre here! See how heavy these cherries are? They need picking.”
She handed them plastic crates and led them to the orchard.
For an hour, the girls worked, chatting and laughing. Emily kept glancing at Auntie Maggie, busy in the vegetable patch. The woman would sometimes clamp her dirty hands over her ears and shake her head.
“Quiet, you fool!” the girls heard. “Youre nothing! Always were, always will be!”
Emily strained to listen, leaning further out from the leavesuntil her foot slipped. She tumbled from the tree, landing hard, scraping her arm.
“Auntie Maggie!” Sophie shouted. “Have you got a first aid kit? Emily fellshes hurt!”
While the flustered woman ran for antiseptic and bandages, a dazed Emily sat beneath the cherry tree. A bright red droplet fell from her elbow onto the soil.
“Oof, thats a nasty scrape,” Sophie fretted. “Well clean it properlydont want infection.”
Auntie Maggie helped patch her up, and the girls left, promising to return tomorrow. As they reached the gate, Emily heard an unfamiliar voice:
“I wont leave you. Ill stay right here. Always. Always!”
She spun around. Who had spoken? Not Sophie. And only Auntie Maggie stood nearby. Maybe shed imagined it.
“Well, suit yourself,” the woman grumbled, as if shed heard it too.
The next day, the girls returned to work. But now, Emily kept hearing that same voicespeaking to Auntie Maggie, who answered back.
“Youll be punished. Everyone will know!”
“Wholl know? Whod believe you, you daft thing?” the woman retorted to the air.
“Sophie, dyou hear that? That voiceits talking to Auntie Maggie,” Emily whispered.
“What voice? Shes just rambling,” Sophie said, twirling a finger by her temple before resuming picking.
“You hear me?” Now the voice spoke to Emily. “Talk to me.”
“Whos there?” Emily peered through the leaves.
“Emily, stop scaring me,” Sophie snapped.
“You hear me! You hear me!” the voice insisted.
Emily, her crate full, climbed down, trembling.
“Look closely!” The whisper was right in her ear.
Panicked, Emily scanned the orchard, tears blurring her visionuntil she saw her. A translucent girl, appearing from nowhere. Her sad, wide eyes brimmed with tears; her face and hands were smeared with dirt.
“You see me,” the girl said softly, smiling.
Emily clamped a hand over her mouth. Red cherry juice stained her cheeks.
“She sees! She sees!” The girls face twisted with rage. “She sees! And hears!”
Auntie Maggie came running, staring at Emily in horror.
“Shell knownow everyone will!” the voice shrieked, circling the woman.
“Shut up! And you twoget out!” Auntie Maggie barked. “Dont come back!”
She chased them off.
“Come again!” the ghostly girl begged beneath the tree. “Ill tell you everything.”
Bewildered, the friends stood at the gate. Auntie Maggie ranted and waved her arms. Sophie thought she was raving at an empty treebut Emily saw the girl there, weeping into her hands.
“Sophie, Ive got to tell you something. Youll think Ive gone mad…”
Emily confessed everything. Sophie gaped.
“You mustve hit your head yesterday. Lets go homeyou need rest.”
Emily spent the day in bed, certain only she could help that poor girl. No one else heard hernot even Auntie Maggie, whod clearly ignored her for years. What had happened? And why had the woman thrown them out when she realised Emily could hear the voice?
*****
When the house fell silent, Emily crept out. Her feet carried her back to Auntie Maggies.
“Emily! Whatre you doing?” Sophie had woken and followed.
“Dont stop me. I have to know. If you dont believe me, go back. Or just stay quiet!”
They reached the cottage in silence.
“Hey, Im here,” Emily called softly. “What did you want to say?”
Moonlight bathed the orchard. The cherries glowed like tiny stars.
Emily squintedunder the tree where shed fallen stood the girl.
They slipped through the creaky gate.
“You came. Youll learn the truth.” The ghost touched Emilys foreheadand suddenly, Emily *was* her.
In the vision, the girlalive, laughingpicked cherries. Auntie Maggie pottered in the garden.
“Alice, last crate, then were done. Im out of boxes, and its getting dark,” Auntie Maggie called.
Alice climbed down, sticky with cherry juice, thrilled with her work. The money would helpshed run from the childrens home, surviving on odd jobs. Meeting Auntie Maggie at the train station had been lucky. The woman promised good pay for harvesting, even help selling the fruit. Alice hoped to stay the summer.
But Auntie Maggie handed her a crumpled fiver.
“Thats it? Ive worked all daylook how much Ive picked!”
“Sell first, then youll get more,” the woman said flatly. “Come back at weeks end.”
“You said I could work herepick, sell, earn properly!”
“Changed my mind. Clear off!” Auntie Maggie glared. “Or Ill call the police!”
Alice, hardened by life, grabbed a stick and lunged.
Terrified, Auntie Maggie swung her spadea wild, accidental blow. Alice collapsed beneath the cherry tree. The dusk and leaves hid the crime.
Shaking, Auntie Maggie acted fast. By morning, only freshly turned earth hinted at tragedy.
Emily snapped back to reality. Auntie Maggie had killed Aliceunintentionally, but still. And Alice had lingered ever since.
A light flicked on inside. Emily yanked Sophies arm, and they fled.
*****
“Ill say Ive got information about a missing person,” Emily panted the next morning, dialling the police. “That I was digging and… found something. It doesnt matter. Theyll find her.”
*****
Police combed Auntie Maggies farm for days. Curious neighbours and gossips loitered, straining to overhear.
Alice had been listed as missing for over a decade.
Her ghost had tormented Auntie Maggie, demanding justice. Now, at last, Alice could rest.
Some secrets arent buried deeptheyre waiting beneath the cherry trees.