Dreams at Silver Spires by Ann Bryant

spade into the hard earth, then wriggled it further in with my foot. I heaved out a spadeful of soil, and – there! – I’d actually turned over my first bit of earth in my brand new garden. It felt brilliant and I couldn’t help carrying straight on with the next and the next. It was so amazing, but I was a bit anxious, because it looked like Antonia was right – my shoes were already dirty and I’d got marks on my tights and skirt. Never mind, I’d probably be able to rub them off easily.
    My eyes went back to the soil. Already you could see the dull grey turning black. I glanced at the sky and noticed happily that it wasn’t quite so cloudy as it had been earlier. Good. That meant that I could come back after school and have a proper go. It felt wonderful to imagine how clean and soft and rich the land was going to be by the time I’d finished, and I so wished I could carry on all afternoon. But I knew it was time I ought to get going to face geography and the boring subject of maps and their scales with Mr. Pattle. I glanced at my watch and that’s when I got a massive shock. Mr. Pattle’s lesson would be just about finishing. I must have been in a total dream doing my gardening – I couldn’t believe the time had gone so fast. I’d just have to make some excuse next time I saw him. I could say I’d been stuck in the loo feeling sick, but then I’d got better so it must have been something I’d eaten. Yes, that’s what I’d say.
    What was it after geography? French. Right. Luckily there are toilets and washbasins near the language labs, so I’d have time to get cleaned up and then I’d go straight into Madame Poulain’s lesson.
    I moved at a hundred miles an hour, putting away the tools, then racing out of the garden, trying to rub the soil off my hands.

Chapter Five

    At the end of school I quickly got changed into my tracky bums and wellies and went rushing over to my new garden. I’d asked the others if they’d come along to help, but unfortunately they’d all realized they had other stuff to do. Nicole had swimming training for the gala, Bry had to go to a meeting about an Outward Bound course that she was interested in, and the others had clubs. I didn’t mind, as they’d all promised to join me the next time. But I felt frustrated while I was jogging over, because I realized I’d only got about half an hour before it would be too dark to see.
    I set to work quickly, digging with the spade, then breaking up the soil bit by bit with the hoe and dragging out the weeds and old roots, thinking how well everything had turned out earlier on. Bryony had said that when Mr. Pattle asked where I was, she didn’t know what to say, so she’d mumbled something about a stomach ache and he’d been fine with that. Then I’d turned up, just about clean and tidy enough, in time for the beginning of French. And now here I was enjoying myself in my garden again. Even though I’d only done what seemed like a tiny patch, I’d done it really thoroughly and I was accumulating quite a pile of weeds and old plants to start a compost heap. It would be small but at least it would be a start.
    Now, where would be the best place for it? I turned to look around, and that was when I realized one of the cameramen was standing there filming me.
    â€œSorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “You’re certainly deep into the work, aren’t you?”
    I just nodded and went back to my hoeing, because I didn’t feel like talking when I was trying to plan my garden.
    â€œSo is this like a project or something?” he asked, as I bent down to pull out more weeds.
    â€œIt’s a…gardening club,” I replied, feeling a bit of a fool because I was all on my own.
    â€œOh, right. How many people in the club?”
    I tried not to blush. “It’s only just