Chapter 3

I did not pick up. Rachel called again, but I refused to answer a second time.

After she gave up, she turned and looked down the dirt road behind her. Several more cars appeared, and groups of people climbed out one after another. A man in a polo shirt walked over to Rachel. He glanced at the gate before turning back and shouting to the others, "We're here! This is the place."

He clearly had no idea that nobody was getting inside.

Rachel tried talking to Cecil again, but he only shook his head more vigorously. His expression grew increasingly impatient. Eventually, he stopped arguing with her altogether and returned to his chair, pulling his hat down over his face.

The people outside, however, had no intention of leaving. They lingered around the gate, waiting. Some were talking on their phones, others were scrolling through messages, and a few stood together chatting in small groups.

Rachel sent another message to the group chat.

[Emily, we're all at the orchard now, but the gate is locked. Can you call the orchard and tell them to let us in?]

I did not reply.

Three minutes later, another message appeared.

[Emily, are you on your phone? We're all still waiting for you.]

I continued to ignore her.

Soon, other people in the group started speaking up.

[Is Emily even around? If you don't want us here, just say so. You shouldn't leave everyone hanging.]

[I saw her reply in another group chat. She's definitely on her phone.]

[Why is she doing this to us?]

Right on cue, Rachel stepped forward to play peacemaker.

[Emily must be busy right now. Don't worry, everyone. I'll give her a call.]

My phone started ringing again.

This time, I answered.

"Hey, Emily, where are you?" Rachel asked in an overly sweet voice.

"I'm busy."

"We're all outside your orchard right now, but the gate is locked. Can you tell the caretaker to open it for us?"

"I already told you the orchard was outsourced this year. It isn't my decision."

"We're only going in to eat some cherries. It's a small favor. Just call your contractor and ask him to let us in."

"I can't interfere with his rules."

Rachel fell silent for several seconds. When she spoke again, the sweetness in her voice was gone.

"You're taking this too far, Emily. More than 40 people drove all the way here after signing up in the group chat. Are you really going to do this to everyone?"

"I never agreed in the first place."

"But you never clearly rejected us, either!"

I closed my eyes.

When Rachel first brought this up in the group chat, I had explicitly said that I did not agree. Now she was claiming I had never rejected the idea at all.

How much clearer could I have been?

Did she expect me to tell her to get lost before she understood?

"Come on, Emily," Rachel continued. "Help us out. We're already here. Don't be so petty."

Before I could respond, she hung up.

A moment later, her voice blared through the security camera feed.

"Emily agreed to let us in! Let's go inside!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

Cecil tried to stop them, but nobody listened. Several people picked up rocks from the ground and smashed them against the lock securing the gate.

The orchard was monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so the lock existed mainly as a deterrent.

It did not last long.

The lock was soon smashed into pieces, and the gates swung open. The group rushed into the orchard.

Cecil threw his hat aside and jumped up from his chair.

"What are you doing? Stop right there!"

Nobody paid attention to him.

They ran deeper into the orchard, reaching for cherries and stuffing them into their mouths as they went.

I watched everything unfold on the tablet screen and let out an angry laugh.

Then I immediately called Sid.

"Call the police, Sid," I said. "They've already trespassed onto the orchard."