Page 95 - RotalTutor

Over in one small corner of the gardens, Alexander had had the servants mix a lot of manure. There he planted a few of his precious pumpkin seeds. He didn’t let anyone touch his seeds, and at two gold coins for a small bag, Louise couldn’t blame him. The pumpkins did very well and put out long vines like a grape plant. Alexander wondered if he should tie them up like they did grapes, but thinking about the big orange pumpkin Gareg had shown them, he thought it might break the vines. Soon they spread all over, even into his potato plants. He said he had to remember to give the pumpkins more room the next year. Louise could still remember the day Alexander grabbed her hand and pulled her out to see the little green balls on the plant. It was almost impossible for her to imagine they could ever get as big as the orange one Gareg had shown them. But big they did get. Alexander was so proud of them. He always checked them first thing when they would get home from one of their trips. Alexander’s got even bigger than the one Gareg showed them. Alexander said he could hardly wait to see how big it would get with a full season. As the cool fall was arriving and the pumpkins turned orange, Alexander announced he could stand it no longer and had to try to eat one. It was almost all he could do to haul it to the kitchen. He cut it open and scooped out the seeds as Gareg had said. He carefully set them to dry for the next year. He then cut a piece of the pumpkin and boiled it. When he thought it 93