With You In Wild Orchards

Contents Prologueonetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineteneleventwelvethirteenfourteenfifteensixteenseventeeneighteennineteentwentytwenty-onetwenty-twotwenty-threeEpilogueBooks by Rania BattanyAuthor noteAcknowledgementsConnect With Me With YouInWild OrchardsRania Battany First published in 2023Copyright © 2023 Rania BattanyAll rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. The author asserts her moral rights.This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.Rania Battany:Website: https://raniabattany.comE-book ISBN: 978-06450854-7-1Print ISBN: 978-0-6450854-8-8Cover Design by Kris Dallas PrologueSunlight kissed the valley like beams from heaven, painting the vivid-green scenery in golden rays. The river glistened. The flowing water, peaceful and constant, offered the soundtrack to the early-autumn evening. By the bank, the ancient willow stood as mighty as it always had, its branches weeping to the ground. Juliette climbed out of her car and inhaled a fortifying breath.Edens Valley—this very spot—filled her soul as much as it crushed it.Juliette turned to her sister. As always, lines creased Annie’s forehead. ‘You coming with us to the river?’ Juliette asked her.Annie’s sculptured eyebrow arched. ‘In my Valentino Garavani heels? In this grass?’Of course not.What had Juliette expected?Luna came bounding from behind, throwing her Enid Blyton book to the ground before singing and cartwheeling down the hill. Juliette smiled. Nothing like a seven-year-old to remind her of the magic life still had to offer.Leaving Annie to pout by the car, Juliette followed Luna down the hill. She watched as Luna stopped at the water’s edge, just beside the willow tree, and turned to study the landscape before peering back at her. ‘Where are we?’ Luna asked. ‘Are we still in Edens Valley?’‘We sure are.’ Juliette gestured to the mighty tree. ‘Right here by this willow, this is my favourite spot in the world.’Luna’s eyes, a mixture of caramel and chocolate, sparkled with delight, then her nose crinkled with confusion. ‘In the whole world? Because you’ve been to a lot of places.’Juliette smiled. ‘Yep. In the whole world.’‘Why? It doesn’t seem like a very special spot.’Juliette glanced away for the briefest moment. How did she answer this?‘It just is,’ she replied, knowing it wasn’t an answer at all but hoping it would be enough.Luna fell quiet and seemed to contemplate. Finally, she looked at Juliette, a pout tugging her lips. She looked so much like Annie when she did that. ‘I thought I’d seen all of Edens Valley? I mean, I have holidayed here with you my entire life. Why didn’t you bring me here before?’Staring into Luna’s sweet face, her wide, innocent eyes peering up at her, Juliette’s heart squeezed. ‘I guess I wasn’t ready to bring you here until now.’‘Why not?’‘Well—’ She took a single deep breath and considered her response, then added: ‘Because sometimes a woman needs a place that is just hers. Somewhere secret, where she can stay with her thoughts and be alone.’Where she can nurse her shattered heart.Confusion clouded Luna’s expression. ‘Aunty Juliette, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’Juliette couldn’t help but giggle. ‘That was too much for a seven-year-old, you’re right.’‘So, have I seen all of Edens Valley now?’ Luna asked, her tone as hopeful as her gaze.For a moment, Juliette considered telling her. But that place, tucked on the edge of town, far off any main road, she couldn’t reveal. Not yet. Perhaps … not ever.But Juliette would never openly lie. Not to this child who she loved with every beat of her battered heart. ‘Maybe,’ Juliette started, ‘when you’re older, you can come back and explore Edens Valley on your own. Find out its true magic all by yourself. Maybe you’ll discover something you’ve never seen here before?’Luna’s grin widened. ‘I think by the time I’m older, I’d know the whole town by heart!’Behind them, Annie called out, interrupting their conversation. ‘Luna! Time to eat.’Luna’s tiny shoulders drooped, and she sighed. ‘Time to eat again. I don’t want to eat. I’m not hungry.’ She peered up at Juliette with puppy-dog eyes. ‘Can’t you ask her to give me a little longer?’If it were a question about something else, Juliette may have relented. But not for this.Never for this.‘Sorry, darling girl. When it’s time to eat, it’s time to eat.’With obvious reluctance, Luna trudged back towards the car. Juliette stepped in line beside her. Above them, magpies sang in the nearby gum trees.‘Aunt Juliette …’ Luna stared at the ground, chewing her lip. When she said nothing else, Juliette prompted her.‘What is it, Lulu?’It took a moment, then Luna continued. ‘I don’t like how Mum always tells me when I have to eat, how much I have to eat, what I can eat. I preferred my life before. Before all the doctors and specialists and dieticians.’Juliette’s stomach sank. ‘I think she preferred your life before all those things too.’‘And …’ Luna kicked at the blades of grass as she walked. ‘I preferred my life before Dad left. He never calls us. He never calls me.’The words seeped into the cracks between Juliette’s broken parts and stung like acid in an open wound. She tilted her face to the heavens and closed her eyes, praying for strength.In her silence, Luna continued, her voice barely a whisper. ‘Sometimes I wish I had a different mum.’Juliette stumbled back a step, as though she’d collided with a physical barrier. Kneeling, she took Luna’s shoulders between her hands and stared into her eyes. ‘Listen to me, Lulu. Annie is many things—stubborn and controlling to name a couple—but there is no one, and I mean no one, in this world who could be a better mother for you. All these things you hate, one day you’ll realise why she does these things for you. One day you’ll realise just how lucky you are to have a mother like Annie.’Luna’s little