The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins Read Free Book Online Page A

on Saturdays too. She also didn't want to work near her boy cousins. I thought she would only be good for about 3 percent, but I figured it was best to stay with the age system, so she got 8.
    By the end of that night, I had given away a large chunk of future apple money. It may have been more than 100 percent, but I was too afraid to add it up. I had the same bad feelings I had had after talking with Amy. I knew I could make it right, though, even if I had to give everyone a part of the orchard once Mrs. Nelson handed it over. They might all quit after the first day, anyway. Except for Sam. I had a feeling that those trees would be seeing a lot of him in the future whether they liked it or not.

Chapter 5
Frostbite and Hard Falls
    When we got home from school the next day, I quickly went into my house to look for my mom's clippers. She used them when she gardened, and I thought they might be helpful for the pruning that lay ahead. I finally found them in my dad's toolbox and ran out of the house. I did, however, slow down long enough to grab the apple book and give my two sisters dirty looks on the way out for not being willing to help on school days. They were sitting at the kitchen table doing their homework and pretending not to notice me.
    I went over to my cousins' house and knocked on the door. "We're coming," Amy said dully, opening the door with Sam and Michael right behind her. She had changed her clothes to several layers of the shabbiest things she owned, with the top layer being a New Mexico Lobos sweatshirt her dad had gotten at a flea market.
    "So what exactly are we doing?" she asked as we all started walking toward the orchard.
    "I need you to come with me first. Sam and Michael, you take this book and these clippers and go wait for us by the trees closest to the road."
    I led Amy toward Mrs. Nelson's house while Sam and Michael worked their way through the orchard. As I knocked on Mrs. Nelson's door, Amy whispered, "What are we doing here?"
    Before I could answer, Mrs. Nelson opened the door. "Hi, Jackson! How are you?" she greeted me happily. "How are those trees?"
    "Hi, Mrs. Nelson. This is my cousin Amy, and we're just coming over to talk about that."
    Mrs. Nelson gave Amy a little nod.
    "We're going to get started with some pruning. Do you remember your husband doing that?"
    "Well, maybe," she said very thoughtfully.
    "Did he have any special tools he used for it?"
    "If he did, they would be in the shed behind the house."
    "Do you think we could have a look and maybe use some of the things in there?"
    "I don't see why not. They're just sitting in there."
    The three of us walked behind Mrs. Nelson's house and opened the doors to a little building. The inside was dark and it took a few seconds for our eyes to adjust. Dust and spider webs were everywhere. There were shelves against the wall piled high with unfamiliar items, like canvas bags, metal pipes, and tangles of hoses.
    "Is there anything in here that could be used for cutting branches?" I asked, almost speaking to myself.
    "How about this?" Mrs. Nelson asked after pulling a tool off one of the shelves. It had two long wooden handles with curved metal blades at the point. I recognized them from the apple book.
    "I think those are just what we're looking for," I said as I took them from Mrs. Nelson. I moved the wooden handles back and forth and watched the metal blades move like scissors.
    "Here's another one just like it," Amy said from the corner. We searched for another ten minutes without finding more pruning tools, but we did pull two long ladders off the shelves. I thanked Mrs. Nelson, and then Amy and I started dragging the ladders and tools toward the orchard. Each ladder was heavier than I realized at
first, and I was a little surprised that Amy was able to drag hers all by herself. She didn't say a word about Mrs. Nelson.

    We found Sam and Michael and dropped our ladders at the very corner of the orchard. Sam had climbed to the top of a