105. The First Green Vines

Carlos checked the cucumber bed before he checked anything else that morning.

Thin green shoots had pushed out of the dark soil.

There were not many leaves yet. Most of the shoots were only as tall as Carlos's hand, and they were still far below the wooden frames. But the bed did not look like plain dirt anymore. It looked fertile.

Tarin was crouched beside the nearest row. His dog ears were raised as he looked at one of the shoots without touching it. Sela stood beside him with a small bucket, while the Living Scarecrow watched them from the edge of the bed.

"They came up during the night," Tarin said when he saw Carlos. "Not all at once. I checked before sleeping, then they were there when I came back this morning."

Carlos looked at the tiny vines. "All twenty?"

Sela nodded. "We counted. All twenty came up."