Every kid in Cromwell knew about the giant fruit statue by the highway. Tourists stopped for photos every day beside the gigantic peach, pear, apple and nectarine standing under the blazing hot Central Otago sun. Most people thought it was just a cool landmark. But locals knew the rule, never climb the fruit after dark. Of course, 14 year old Evie ignored that rule straight away. One hot Friday night, Evie and her friends biked down to the Big Fruit carrying chips, fizzy drinks, and a speaker. The town was quiet except for birds cheeping in the trees and the distant hum of trucks crossing the bridge. Evie climbed onto the giant peach and raised her arms dramatically.“Queen of Cromwell!” she shouted. They all laughed.

Then the peach moved. Not much. Just a little. The entire statue gave a tiny rumble beneath her. “Uh…” Evie froze. A hidden door suddenly clicked open in the side of the peach, spilling orange light across the grass.Nobody spoke. Kiara stepped closer first. “There is absolutely no way we don’t go in there”. Inside was a spiral staircase leading underground beneath the fruit sculptures. The walls glowed a little, covered with old photos of Cromwell from the 1920s orchards, boats, fruit packers and miners. At the very bottom was a huge underground room filled with trees growing in perfect rows under a painted ceiling that looked exactly like the night sky.

In the middle sat an old man wearing gumboots and an orchard hat, calmly playing cards by himself. He looked up as the kids entered. “Took you long enough,” he said. Evie blinked. “What is this place?” The old man smiled. “The Heart Of The Orchards. It keeps the fruit alive.” He pointed toward the walls. Strange roots were beating beneath the stone like glowing veins.“When people stopped caring about the land,” he explained, “the orchard started dying. So every few years, the fruit chooses new guardians.” The girls exchanged confused looks.

“The fruit chooses what now?” Suddenly, above them, the giant peach let out another deep rumble.Outside, tourists kept driving past, completely unaware that beneath the famous Big Fruit of Cromwell, four young ladies had just accidentally gotten the strangest job in New Zealand.

Year 6