Chapter 37: The Tree

"You have reached Caspian. I'm unable to answer the phone at the moment, leave a message after the beep."

I ended the call, no point leaving a message, I had already left four and called about ten times. Would it kill him to answer the phone and put me out of my misery? Guess I was going to the forest myself. I wasn't sure when pears were in season, but I hoped it was now. How was I supposed to identify a pear tree that's void of any fruit? I would have googled how pear trees look in June, but I was almost out of data.

This was not the first time I stepped into this forest, but this was the first time I felt haunted. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that a death had occurred here not too long ago. Fallen twigs cackled beneath my feet. The trees reeked of age. Their arms were reaching towards me like they were able to suck the life out of me with one little touch, similar to what the rosebush did to Aurora. Clouds of mist covered my view. And as if matters could get any worse a butterfly whizzed past me, so quickly I wondered if I had imagined it. I stepped further into the foreboding forest, keeping my eyes wide open; but alas, I couldn't see any fruit bearing trees.

I kept walking although I knew it was of no use. I hadn't come into the forest with high hopes, so it made no sense why I felt so disappointed. And then all the many disappointments hit me. Disappointment with Caspian for not having my back. Disappointment with Lewis for not knowing where the tree was. And overall disappointment with myself for not being a better detective.

I sank down to the floor and rested my back against a tree trunk. I rested my head between my knees and cursed the universe for what it had put me through. I was only sixteen; how was I supposed to find my brother's murderer? How was I supposed to get Lewis out of jail? How was I supposed to help Caspian escape his debt to Victoria? And above all how was I supposed to live knowing the person I had looked up to my whole life had killed Principal Hugh, and God knows who else?

Just then something hit me on the head; I was too depressed to see what it was or acknowledge the pain that shot through my scalp. I heard a crash as whatever it was met the ground and, as if I was magnetic, it rolled back towards me and collided with my stationary feet.

"What do you want?" I screamed at the tree, wanting to take my anger out on something. My scream sent a flock of birds into the sky. They mimicked my scream as they flew, except they made it sound melodious.

I looked down at my feet and observed the object that lay by the toe of my shoe. A squashed, green pear. I was sitting under a pear tree this whole time. Talk about coincidences. I tilted my head back and realised why I hadn't noticed the pears, their colours camouflaged well with the leaves of the tree.

"I found it!" I yelled in triumph.

I scurried to my knees and started digging at the soil surrounding the tree trunk. The soil was loose and came away easily, suggesting this particular patch had been dug before. I dug and dug until my hands met the roots of the tree. Where was the bag? Was this the wrong pear tree? How many pear trees were in this forest? I got up, tears welling up in my eyes. And that's when I saw it. A little speck of silver dotted the soil. I reached down to pick it up, to find that it was a zip. The kind of zip that fell off a knapsack. This was the place where the bag was once buried, but now it was long gone. Either someone had stolen it, or Asher had retrieved it before he died. Either way, it was gone now; and I had no way of tracking it down. 

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