Trouble in the Trees (6 page)
Mr. Vandermeer laughed. No one else did though, so I knew my answer hadn't been totally stupid. “Almost a thousand,” he exclaimed, spreading his arms wide so that everyone would understand what a big deal this was, “even though the activists were protesting peacefully.”
Mr. Vandermeer showed more pictures. There were tons of people carrying signs that said things like
Ban Old-Growth Logging
,
Save the Ancient Forests
and
Clear-Cutting Kills
.
“In the end, the protestors were successful. Premier Michael Harcourt's decision to allow logging in Clayoquot Sound was overturned. To this day, the Clayoquot Sound protest is considered a major victory for the environmental movement.” The bell rang just as Mr. Vandermeer finished with his slide show. He was still talking, but no one heard the end of the story.
That's when the idea hit me.
I caught up with Sarah as every student in the class tried to jam through the door at the same time. “I think I've got it!”
“Got what?” Sarah asked.
“I'm going to organize a protest.”
“Clayoquot Sound has already been saved.” Sarah ran her tongue over her braces and reached into her bag for a granola bar. “Weren't you listening?”
“No, not Clayoquot Sound. Cedar Grove, silly,” I said.
Sarah stared at me as she ripped open her snack.
“I'll get all the kids of Cedar Grove together to protest the tree-climbing bylaw!” I didn't wait for Sarah's response. I just waved my hand in her direction as I sprinted toward home. I couldn't wait to get my protest started.
“I now call this meeting to order. Thank you for coming,” I said, doing my best impression of Ms. Matheson, Neighborhood Council President. I looked around. There were at least twelve kids sitting on the grassy hill behind Cedar Grove. No one was paying much attention to me though. They were all too busy munching on gummy worms. News about the meeting had spread fast thanks to my promise to provide candy.
Even Tyler was there, probably just to make sure no one listened to what I had to say. Of course that didn't stop him from chowing down on all the goodies Dad had picked up for me at Costco.
“As I'm sure you know,” I continued, “tree climbing is now illegal in Cedar Grove.”
I waited for a response. Everyone just looked at me. Then Sarah shouted, “Boo! Hiss!”
I'd brought Sarah along for support, even though she doesn't live in Cedar Grove. I was pretty sure Tyler liked her. And I suspected she might even like him back. Maybe not
like
like. But she didn't think he was as disgusting as I did.
Anyway, I was superglad Sarah was there. I hadn't thought I would need her help so soon. A couple of the older kids joined in on the booing and hissing. The younger ones started squirming around, their sweet tooths temporarily satisfied. Sammy chewed on a blade of grass.
“Exactly,” I said over the noise. “It isn't fair, and I think we should do something about it.”
“I thought you already tried, Bree,” Tyler said.
“I met with the Neighborhood Council,” I said slowly, “to let them know I didn't like the bylaw. But one voice is not enough. We have to speak out against this rule together.”
“I think we should follow the rules.” This came from Ashley. Surprise, surprise. Then she added, “Tree climbing is obviously dangerous.”
“Besides,” Tyler sneered, “you're the only one who cares about tree climbing, Bree.”
I scanned the crowd for Peter. My stomach sank as I realized he wasn't there. And neither were any of the other kids who really liked to climb trees.
I took a deep breath and went on, ignoring Tyler's comment. “Tree climbing is no more dangerous than basketball,” I said, looking directly at Tyler because basketball was his sport. “What if they ban that next?”
“They would never ban basketball,” Tyler replied.
“They might if someone got hurt,” I said. “And what about street hockey? Kids get hurt playing street hockey all the time. And Mrs. Leary is always screaming that someone's going to break her window.”
A look of fear crept into Michael's eyes. It was enough to make me hopeful that my strategy just might work. I needed to make everyone realize that the next bylaw could take away their favorite thing.
“The Neighborhood Council would never ban street hockey,” Tyler said. The squirming had stopped. Everyone was listening now.
“The Neighborhood Council just keeps passing more bylaws,” I said. “They've taken away the jungle gym, the weight room, the storage locker, the parking garage, and now they've taken our trees. We have to stop them before it gets any more out of control.”
“Nothing's out of control,” said Ashley. “The council is just trying to make sure we are safe.”
“What's next?” I went on. “Skipping?”
“Why would anyone ban skipping?” Salina, one of the Cedar Grove Girly-Girls, asked.
“It's loud. It's dangerous. Someone could trip over the rope and break something.”
“You're blowing this out of proportion,” Ashley said. “They would never go that far.”
“How do you know how far they will go?” I looked her straight in the eye and pulled out my ace. “When I was at the council meeting they were talking about banning dogs.”
Ashley gasped. A couple of the other kids looked at me in alarm.
“We have to let them know that they can't ban everything. We have to take a stand. Starting now. Starting with the tree-climbing bylaw.”
“How?” Ethan asked.
“We need to organize a protest,” I said.
“A protest?” Tyler looked surprised.
“
Pro-test. Pro-test. Pro-test
,” Sarah chanted.
“This Saturday”âI raised my voiceâ“we'll march through Cedar Grove.” Some of the kids nodded, so I decided to say something inspirational. Something I'd read on one of the protest signs in Mr. Vandermeer's lesson on Clayoquot Sound. “Together we can make a difference!” I yelled.
“The Neighborhood Council won't care. They'll just think we're playing some silly game.” Tyler again.
“
Pro-test. Pro-test. Pro-test
,” Sarah was still chanting.
“We'll sing songs. We'll make signs. We'll make sure that everyone knows how we feel!” I hoped my enthusiasm was catching on.
“Sounds like fun,” Salina said. “I like marching and singing.”
“Good! You'll be in charge of songs.” I really hoped she wasn't going to suggest skipping rhymes.
“But I don't know any protest songs.”
“They don't need to be protest songs; we just need to make noise”âI waved my hand toward Sarahâ “like Sarah is doing now.”
“
Pro-test. Pro-test. Pro-test
,” Sarah continued, louder than ever.
“I'll help. We're good at making noise,” Ashley said, gesturing toward the other Cedar Grove Girly-Girls.
“And I'm good with signs,” said Michael, ignoring Tyler's glare. “I always help my Mom with her protest stuff. I think the signs we made for
Mother's Against
the Metric System
are still in the garage.”
“Awesome! Michael, you get a group together to make signs.” If Michael was on board, this protest might actually happen! But I still needed Tyler. Everyone listened to him.
“This is stupid.” Tyler scowled.
Sarah increased the volume again. “
Pro-test. Pro-test. Pro-test
⦔
“I think we should have snacks,” Ashley suggested.
“Okay. You do snacks,” I said, even though I didn't think it was necessary.
“How about drums?” Salina asked.
“Drums?”
“Yeah, you know, to help make noise.”
“Oh, sure, drums would be great.” I hadn't thought of that.
“I'll bring some of Sammy's toy instruments.”
“Good idea,” I said. “If anyone has anything that can be used to make noise bring it along.”
Sarah changed the chant. “
No more rules! No
more rules!
” Some of the other kids joined in. The momentum was definitely building.
But then Tyler spoke up again. “It's never going to work,” he said, dashing my hope that this was going to be easy. Some heads nodded in agreement. If Tyler wasn't going to join the protest, I was in trouble. “Why would the council listen?”
Sarah stopped chanting. “They can't listen if you don't say anything.”
As Tyler turned toward Sarah, the scowl on his face suddenly disappeared.
“You have to make them listen,” Sarah continued.
“She's right. We have to do something! Before they ban hockey,” Michael said.
“Or pets!” Ashley added.
“But how do we make them listen?” Tyler asked. The challenge was gone from his voice. He was almost smiling.
“You protest,” Sarah said. “Loudly.”
“It's not enough. We have to do more,” Tyler said.
“Like what?” asked Michael.
I thought. Hard. But as much as I wanted to have an answer, I couldn't come up with one on the spot. I thought about the Clayoquot Sound protestors blocking the tree-destroying machines. Physically stopping them from clear-cutting the old-growth trees. Tyler was right; we needed some kind of leverage.
There was a long pause. Everyone looked at each other anxiously.
It was Tyler who broke the silence. He surprised us all, but mostly me, by answering his own question. “None of us will take a bath until they change the bylaw.”
There was silence again while everyone thought this over.
“Can we shower?” Ashley finally asked.
“No. We get dirtier and dirtier until they are forced to listen.”
“I'm not sure I like that idea⦔ Ashley frowned.
“Yippee! No bath!” Sammy shouted as he threw a big handful of grass in the air.
“But my Mom will just make me bathe.” Ethan looked worried.
“She can't
make
you do anything,” Tyler said firmly.
“Yeah. You can't force someone to take a bath,” Michael said, doing his best to get back on Tyler's good side.
Ethan looked doubtful, and I kind of had to agree with himâhis mom probably could make him take a bath.
“
No trees, no bath! No trees, no bath!
” Sarah chanted. Michael joined in. Sammy and his sister joined in. Soon everyone was chanting, even Ashley. My strategy had worked!
I smiled at Tyler and started chanting too. Tyler didn't smile back. He was still looking at Sarah as his voice joined the others. “
No trees, no bath! No trees,
no bath!
”
We had ourselves a protest.
“
No trees, no bath! No trees, no bath! No trees, no
bath!
” There were over twenty of us chanting and marching in unison. Almost every kid in Cedar Grove had come out to protest the tree-climbing bylawâ and some of them, like Peter, hadn't even been at the meeting. A few of them even brought friends. Sarah was at the front helping the Cedar Grove Girly-Girls lead the chant. Not that we needed any help.