After a few minutes of continuous walking, Natalie glanced at Jean and sighed.
"We are nearing the middle edge of the forest. It is just a few meters away."
With a strange expression, Jean stared at Natalie and snorted.
"How did you know that we are nearing the center?"
Natalie let out a wicked smile and pointed at the forest, prompting Jean to shift his gaze towards it.
"Look there, haven't you noticed some changes?"
Suddenly, Jean slowed down and rubbed his face out of confusion. He then stopped, after which Natalie stopped, too. He carefully studied the trees in these parts of the forest for a few moments.
This is when he noticed something different.
The trees in these parts of the forest were darker, taller and had slightly grandiose trunks. Seeing this, Jean's eyes shined with a glint of curiosity.
'I had suspected of such some moments ago.'
Jean had hinted the possibility of some parts of the forest containing some tall trees a while ago. Seeing much taller trees within the forest confirmed his suspicion.
He was elated by his findings, but suddenly frowned.
'Something isn't clear here… If it was dad who planted these trees how comes some of the trees look much older. They somehow look to have existed before the house itself was build. If that is true, then it is clear that the trees were planted before the house was build. And that only implies one thing. Grandpa was still alive.'
The trees in these parts of the forest were indeed older than the house.
With a startled expression, Jean looked up to face Natalie.
"Were these tree part of the trees that dad planted?"
A subtle frown surfaced Natalie's face. Seeing this, Jean shifted his gaze towards the forest. A second later, Natalie's voice echoed.
"When I told you that it was your dad that planted the trees, I only referred to the trees on the outer region of the parts that we started our tour from. Which extends to these parts."
Pausing for a moment…
She then added,
"The taller trees that you are seeing now, were planted by a different person…"
A little confused, Jean blinked for a couple of times, his mouth agape.
"And who could be that?"
Jean asked curiously.
"Your grandfather…. It was your grandfather"
Natalie said with a starter.
With a confused look, Jean stared at Natalie for a moment.
"Now it makes sense…. I like the environment though. I think it is a perfect place to relax."
In response, Natalie nodded silently with a light smile.
...….
A few minutes later….
Jean and Natalie stood at the edge of the forest. They were done strolling across its width on the furthest edge of the forest. There ayes were glued in the direction of the other end of the forest where the narrow gate was located.
Jean had requested Natalie to have a short moment of respite before commencing with their forest tour.
This was done on purpose by Jean. He wanted to have a moment to ask Natalie some of his burning questions about what he has been able to observe in their tour so far.
Clearing his throat and placing a hand on a nearby tree, Jean looked up to face Natalie.
"I have a bunch of questions that I would like to ask you, mom."
Shifting her gaze towards Jean, Natalie blinked severally.
"…Go ahead I am all ears."
Looking away and lingering for a moment, Jean's expression turned distant.
"This forest was both planted by grandpa and dad…. If I may ask. What was its main purpose?"
Natalie shuddered but immediately regained her composure. She then shifted her gaze towards the forest.
"My son, the reason is very simple… The forest was planted for the purpose of refining the surrounding air. You know this is a city and the emission levels of toxic gases is very high. So, this was for the purpose of cleaning the surrounding air. Don't tell me you haven't noticed the difference between the air around this forest, and that of the streets that we passed through on our way here."
Jean could feel the difference between the air around the forest and that of the compound. But he wasn't able to compare the difference between that of the streets within the city. Maybe because he was too busy to notice such. His senses were more focused on observing rather than smelling. The astounding city environment begged for his attention the moment he arrived in the city, to the point that he didn't notice the feel of the surrounding air. So, this statement from Natalie about the difference in the air of the streets they traversed and that of the forest, sounded vague to him.
With squinted eyes, Jean nodded gently, but suddenly frowned. He then stared at Natalie with a serious expression. This action from Jean prompted Natalie to question him.
"…What is it?"
The frown on Jean's face deepened, turning into a scowl.
On seeing this, Natalie's expression turned serious.
"It is not that I am…"
At that moment, Jean interrupted.
"Sorry to interrupt, mom…. But I would like to ask you something before you continue. There is something that is confusing me here"
Jean said nonchalantly and grinned.
At that moment, Natalie furrowed her brow and gestured at Jean to go on.
"…This city doesn't look old to me. And if that is the case, then that means there could have been some possibilities that grandpa planted the forest before the city was that large. And if that is the case, that means the level of emission of toxic gases wouldn't have been that large during the time, isn't it?"
Jean said in a neutral tone.
Almost immediately, Natalie's eyes widened, her mouth agape. She was stunned for a moment.
"This is not the kind of reasoning I would expect from a boy your age."
"Why...? Is there anything wrong with my reasoning, mom?"
Jean questioned with a starter.
Natalie grinned then drew closer to Jean and patted him on the shoulder. Jean shuddered but forced himself to remain still.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with your reasoning. I think there was something that I missed in my previous explanation."
Jean straightened up and focused on Natalie.
With a smirk, Natalie folded her hands and gaze at the sky for a few moments. She then lowered her gaze and looked at Jean with a friendly smile.
Noticing this, Jean struggled to maintain eye contact with her.
'This isn't common of her. Since the moment we stepped our feet in this our new home, she has been jovial in some multiple occasions which is not her usual character. Is it because of her new job… or wait …Maybe it is this luxurious house?'
"You have to remember that I told you that your grandpa used to reside in the ancient room on the right wing of the house that I showed you on our first phase of our house tour."
She then paused for a moment and gazed on the perimeter wall on her side.
Jean on the other side, nodded silently. But after realizing that Natalie wasn't looking in his direction, he quickly opened his mouth to answer…
Almost simultaneously, Natalie shifted her gaze towards him and added,
"So, whenever your grandpa needed shelter during the summer, he used to relax in the shadows of his only house, now the ancient room on the left wing. This turned out to be so unreliable for him. This was because he had to shift to different edges of the house whenever the son shifted its position in the sky. That is when he thought of coming up with a plan of creating a more reliable shade. That's when he decided to plant the tallest part of the forest that you had a glimpse of in the middle part."
This explanation from Natalie was so detailed. It was difficult for Jean not to agree to it. And in response, he nodded and grinned as he scratched the back of his head.
"I still need some clarification on this, mom."
Natalie leaned forward and asked,
"What?"
"If grandpa planted the forest for shade, does that imply that it was dad who planted the other part of the forest for the purpose of refining the toxic air in the surroundings?"
"You can't stop amazing me with your wit?"
Natalie said with a faint smile.
On hearing this, Jean couldn't help but blush.
After a few moments, she added,
"Yeah, all you said is true. What amazed me is not what you said, but how you were able to deduce that."
"If you are in agreement with me on this, then would it be right for me to say that the purpose of the forest changed over time. From being used for shade in the summer, to being an environmental cushion?"
Jean inquired confidently.
Natalie was stunned for a moment and later nodded silently. She then shifted her gaze towards the furthest end of the forest, where they were heading to.
With a smirk, she turned to Jean and scowled,
"If you have any other questions, I would suggest you ask some other time, but for now we have to finish our forest tour. Time is running out."
With that, she started moving forward. They were currently walking along the length of the forest's right edge. The compound perimeter wall was some meters away from where they were.
Jean still had more questions to ask, but he was forced to spare them for another time.
With a tired smile, Jean moved in Natalie's direction.
'There must be something that she is hiding from me about this forest'
Jean thought to himself.
From the way Natalie was avoiding more questions from him, Jean was dead sure that she was hiding something from him.
But what could that be?
--(::--