Ada had an aesthetic objection to the proposed fence. (aesthetic: artistic, concerned with appearance) From her bedroom it would put every apple tree behind bars. Ben, her usually obstinate neighbor, had a practical objection to the lack of one. (obstinate: stubborn, unyielding; practical: workable, useful in practice) Someone had taken his whole crop before he could savor a single apple. (savor: enjoy slowly, appreciate)
At the threshold of the shed, they found a map with two doors marked FRONT. (threshold: doorway, point of entry) Ada thought that a whimsical mistake. (whimsical: playful, fanciful) Ben took the map as his benchmark and measured again. (benchmark: standard of comparison, reference point) Both marks were right. One door was for people coming down from the hill. The other was for children coming up from school.
School was out, but a zealot for straight lines had already marked a zigzag on the grass to avoid a sapling. (zealot: fanatic, extremist; zigzag: series of sharp turns, angular back-and-forth course) That compromise gave Ada an idea. A kernel of agreement lay in Ben's first complaint. (kernel: core, central element) He wanted enough fruit for a pie. She wanted to see a tree.
They called a meeting under the branches. The quorum for the orchard committee was four. (quorum: in this context required attendance, minimum voting contingent) Three adults came and declared an impasse. (impasse: stalemate, dead end) A girl in a green apron said she kept the accounts and had been elected in March. Ben checked. He offered her a stool and a frank account of the missing crop. (frank: candid, plainspoken)
She gave the figure for last year's yield. (yield: harvest, amount produced) It was too small to fill the empty boxes people remembered. At the zenith of the harvest, half the trees had been bare. (zenith: peak, highest point) The girl had marked a haphazard scatter of empty boxes on the plan. (haphazard: irregular, unsystematic) The ground above them was xeric. (xeric: very dry, lacking moisture) The girl showed where an old channel used to divert the spring. (divert: redirect, turn aside) Someone had blocked it to make a level path between the front doors. (level: flat, horizontal)
The remedy required a spade and one malleable strip of metal. (remedy: solution, corrective measure; malleable: easily shaped, workable) They bent the strip into a lip and watched a trickle creep toward the thirsty rows. (trickle: thin stream, small flow) The girl had the gumption to charge the work to both entrances. (gumption: resourcefulness, initiative) A nonpartisan judge, Ben's old dog, immediately lay down in the new mud. (nonpartisan: unaffiliated, independent of either faction)
It took until autumn to vindicate her arithmetic. (vindicate: justify, show to have been right) Each neighbor received a bag of apples and the school kitchen had enough for pies. Ben bought a utilitarian gate for the shed so the boxes could dry inside. (utilitarian: functional, designed for use) Nobody needed a fence. In the ledger the girl made a cogent case for one more expense. (cogent: convincing, logically clear) Guests needed a knife to share an apple. Her economical solution was to enlist Ada, who had two. (economical: thrifty, avoiding waste; enlist: recruit, secure the help of) Ada brought both. Ben cut the last apple into four. 'There's justice for you,' he said, handing the biggest piece to the girl with the ledger. (justice: fairness, equitable treatment)