The Orchard of Hope by Amy Neftzger Read Free Book Online

something
positive.
    The first happy
thought that came to him was his friends, so he focused on them. He
always felt better when he was around them, whether they were
solving a problem together or just relaxing on an afternoon off.
His friends had been there for him through some difficult times and
had been his family when he didn ’ t know he had one. He could see
Jovan ’ s face
clearly, as if he were right in front of Nicholas, explaining the
Latin root of a word or some other academic
pursuit.
    As he recalled Maggie’s face, he
could also feel the warmth of her personality. She had a gift for
matching emotion for emotion with others, and this often brought
other people close to her. She made friends quickly, but she could
also make enemies just as fast because of her occasionally volatile
nature. Nicholas recalled how her short dark hair bobbed when she
spoke with excitement and how she loved to set things on fire, just
like the lizard just now.
    As he thought
about the lizard, he looked down at his shin because it occurred to
him that it didn ’ t hurt anymore. The pain was gone. Only the scent of burning
flesh was lingering in the air, but it wasn’t as strong as it had
been only a few moments ago. Nicholas lifted his palm and studied
his leg to see that there wasn ’ t a burn. In fact, it appeared
as if he had never been burnt at all.
    “Is this a
trick? ” Nicholas asked. He looked over at Megan, who was sitting
against the tree trunk. Then he glanced toward the forest, where
the fire lizard had gone. He turned back to study his leg with his
mouth slightly a gape. It didn’t make
sense to him. He hadn ’ t done anything but remember his friends. He hadn’t even
thought about being well.
    “No trick, ” Megan replied as she stood up
and walked over. “ I suspected you were a natural, and you are. Not many
people can heal themselves on the first try. Lots of people never
learn to heal themselves at all. This is quite extraordinary,
really. ” Nicholas tried to stand up again, but Megan pushed down on
the top of his head as she moved in closer. He landed on his
bottom.
    “It
is? ” Nicholas
furrowed his brow as he stared back at Megan.
“Extraordinary?”
    “Really. ” She nodded and then paused to gently sniff his leg where
the wound had been. “ This is solid work, Nicholas. You should be
proud. ”
    “I
should? ” Nicholas turned his head to one side. “ How did you —” He looked from the leopard to
his leg and then back at Megan again. “ You really
didn ’ t do
anything to heal me? I did it myself? ”
    “Yes. ”
    “But how could
you know that I would be able to do this? I didn ’ t even know that I
could. ”
    “I can smell
it, just like I can smell how well you healed this wound.
There ’ s not
even a hint of a scorching. ”
    “The burn
wasn ’ t that
big, ” Nicholas
insisted, although a few minutes before it had seemed too big and
much more painful than necessary for a simple lesson . However, now that he was thinking about his part
in removing it, he remembered it as being much
smaller.
    “I know. But
it ’ s not the
size of the wound. It ’ s the fact that you did it on your own without any
coaching, and you did it on the first try. ” Megan sat back and stretched
out one of her legs as she smiled with contentment. “This is
excellent news.”
    “Does this make
me a healer? ” Nicholas asked. “ Like you? ”
    “No, ” she replied as she shook her massive
head . “ You ’ re a healer, but not like
me. ”
    “How am I
different? And why? ”
    “We ’ ll figure that out
together, ” Megan said with assurance. “ I think you have a gift that
includes healing, but healing isn ’ t the main focus.
It ’ s more or
less a by-product. ”
    “You can tell
this about me just by how I smell? ” Nicholas understood that
chemistry was powerful, but he had a difficult time believing there
was so much information in fragrance.
    “Never
underestimate the power of