I Never Told You But
“Hey, Simone,” hollered Trevor. “Guess what Boss did? He found us a part-time job for that lady down the street, Ms. Rachel. She’s the one with the crazy dogs.”
Simone stuffed her last bite of Pop-Wow-Wows from her cereal bowl, placed her breakfast dishes into the dishwasher, and then rushed to the office. “Trevor, that’s great news. We can save some money. What’s our job? Rachel does farm stuff. We don’t know how to drive a tractor. I bet I’d never reach the pedals.”
Trevor laughed. “My adorable sister, there are lots of types of farming. Ms. Rachel’s business is raising indoor plants and selling them online. She’s more horticulturist than a farmer. So, no heavy lifting or acres of crops to tend. She asked Boss for helpers with small hands who could follow instructions. We’ll be planting things, even seeds. Then we put them in places for sunshine and help water them. Boss said Ms. Rachel converted a whole section of her house to grow these indoor plants. She needs help to take care of that growing inventory. I think it sounds fun.”
Simone struggled with the current pronunciation. “High-to-culturist? What is that?”
“Hort-i-cultur-ist,” Trevor said, “is a person who raises plants. Some plants are specialized or highly valued based on the customers’ demands. We’d need to help plants stay healthy until they get sold. Boss told me that growing plants for show or food is one of the most important skills a person should develop.”
Simone frowned in thought. “Where’s her store? Or does she sell them to the grocery store? I see plants there all the time.”
“I never told you, but her storefront is on a website called Etsy. I’ve got the link to show you some of her plants on the computer, https://www.etsy.com/shop/EntangledRootsByRB. Let me show you.” Trevor turned on the computer and then entered the link. Several pictures appeared.
“Wow!” Simone’s wide eyes were captivated by the images. “I like her business name, The Entangled Roots. You’re right. It looks cool. We get to work for a famous high-to-culturist who lives down the street from us. But, Trev, Ms. Rachel has other stuff besides plants. Look at that beautiful blue plant hanger. It makes the leaves look bright. It seems like these are for sale too. I wonder where she gets those.”
“You’re right, Simone. Ms. Rachel makes the holders and wall art macramé items. You might remember the large, funny-looking stand Boss made a while ago. It was for Ms. Rachel. She uses that while making her macramé designs. Some of them have beads woven in.”
“Do you think she’d let us watch and learn how to make them too? I want to make some for gifts or to know how.”
“We can ask after she likes how we do our job. Boss did say she likes to use beads and feathers in her creations. If we see any, we can give them to her. I bet she’d like that. He also said her sister, Sara, who lives in Washington, likes using feathers and sticks in her creations.”
Simone gasped. “Ms. Rachel has a high-to-culturist older sister as well?”
Trevor typed another address into the computer https://www.twigandsnip.com/. “You see, my darling sister, we know artists and horticulturists who design and create one-of-a-kind offerings. Boss and Annie know them and like their work. He said if we do a great job for Ms. Rachel, maybe we could work for Ms. Sara sometime.”
Simone made a face. “But Ms. Sara isn’t down the street. Where’s Washington?”
“Boss claimed it’s close to the Arctic Circle. I think he was joking. It was at the top of the United States near the Pacific Ocean when I looked on the map. Maybe if we do a good job of helping raise stuff for Ms. Rachel, we can grow some stuff to ship to her. We can ask Ms. Rachel.”
“When can we start, Trev?” Simone grinned. “The sooner we start learning, the sooner we can become experts.”
Trevor’s smile widened when he added, “We might get to help create videos for the website. Look at this one.”
“Interesting. This work will be fun, Trevor. We could be her film crew.”
“I can hardly wait. Let’s go work in the dirt.”
