10—The Sprig and the Spirit

Lucy and Hannah looked at the perky green sprig growing out of the blackened ground beside Hannah’s foot.

“It’s me, don’t you see!” said a cheery little voice. Lucy and Hannah looked at each other. 

"I'm the one on the left."

Was that little sprig talking?

“I’m now what’s called a seedling,” continued the sprig. 

“Dora Tree!” exclaimed Hannah.

Lucy's eyes grew wide with disbelief.“Adora Birch?” she asked.

“Right you both are,” confirmed the seedling. “After the fire, I blew in on the wind with thousands of my fairy seed colleagues. And here is where you will get the next installment of my very long and true story:

“You see,” the sprig continued, “there’s always a lot of work to be done after a fire. And the wind brought us here to do that work. First off, with no trees, the birds are in great need of seeds for food. Deer too. So some of us took root in the sad burned ground and grew into seedlings that will feed the deer. Others like me will grow into trees.”

“Is that because you are the important ones?” Lucy asked.

“Oh no,” replied the sprig, “every seed’s job is important in its own way.”

“What is your job?” asked Lucy who had never thought of a tree as having a job.

“Trees like me,” explained the sprig, “are called pioneers. Most people think pioneers are the first people to go to a new place. Well, we are called “pioneer species.” A species is a type of plant or animal. We are the type of plant that is the first to grow in a land after a fire has burned up a forest and turned the earth black and hopeless. It’s our job to make the burned earth healthy again.”

“How do you do that?” Lucy asked.

We have a very special talent for taking a chemical called nitrogen from the air,” the sprig explained. And as the sprig spoke, a simple illustration appeared in the air. "In our roots," the sprig went on, "there are lumps are called nodules. In these nodules, that nitrogen is changed so that it has the power to heal the Earth from its burns. As the Earth is healed, trees and plants can grow back into a forest once again.”

“How long does this take?” Lucy was asking when interrupted by Hannah who was less interested in particulars than getting on with the story. 

“Dora face in door?” she wanted to know.

“You must have patience, my little Nature Walkers,” the sprigly voice said, “because for me to answer these questions, you must go with me on an adventure of the spirit.”

Before the sisters could say yes or no, the burned out forest flew back into Great Aunt Nature Walker’s book and out of the pages rose a sprinkle of sparkles that came together into a lovely swirl of white light. 

“Are you ready for your Adventure of the Spirit,” said the light in a wavy voice that seemed to be speaking in words that were more like music. As Lucy listened for the words, Hannah swayed to the music.

Lucy

“Close your eyes,” said the wave of light. They closed their eyes. “Look

Hannah

inside your mind,” said the voice. And they looked inside their minds. Inside her mind, Lucy saw her words and thoughts floating like bubbles of different colored lights. Hannah saw colors turning in and over and around themselves.

And then each of their minds turned at once into a tree that was the Idea of a Tree floating in a rainbow of light. The Idea of a Tree was black with delicate green leaves, its neatly round branches and far-reaching roots reaching out into the light. And the Idea of a Tree said:

“I am the Mother of the Great PoetTree. I am the Seed of all Ancestor Trees. I am the Heart of every tree that has ever been. I am the Soul of all Wood Spirits—the magic in every seed that tells that seed how to grow into the tree it was destined to become. You have come to hear one of my very long and true stories. If that is correct, you may now leave your mind and open your eyes to the magic.” 

And when Lucy and Hannah opened their eyes, they were standing among tall birch trees where the forest had been before the fire. The Earth was healed. The air was sweet.

“Welcome, my little Nature Walkers,” said a windily graceful voice, and they turned to see a tall sturdy birch behind them.

But just beyond the tree, a shock—half of the forest of trees sawed off into stumps and in their midst birch-tree trunks piled high. “But then their attention was drawn back to the tree who said, “It is I—Adora Birch here with my tree where we grew up from a sprig and have lived with our forest, feeding the birds and animals and giving nourishment to the earth.”

“How old are you?” Lucy asked.

“Take a look at that tree stump beside you,” said Adora Birch and tell me what you see.”

“Circles,” said Hannah.

“The circles are called growth rings. Trees grow up each year. But they also grow out. Each circle shows how much the tree grew that year. 

The darker circles in the middle are the old

wood. The lighter circles around the old wood are the newer growth. The darker parts
of each of the growth rings, old and new, was formed in summer. The lighter part of each growth ring was formed in summer of that year. If you count the circles, you will now how old that tree was when it was cut.”

As Lucy counted the rings, Hannah studied the tree stump. “No Dora face,” she said.

“Oh but there’s a Wood Spirit in each of those trees, Adora Birch was saying when the sound of big trucks filled the air.

“The Saw People will soon be here," Adora Birch said. "Today is the day,” she added, and the leaves of her tree quivered.

Lucy and Hannah didn't understand what was happening. But they were both beginning to feel quite worried as Great Aunt Nature Walker turned the page.