Howl (20 page)

Again, Robin felt herself stiffen.

A large man approached. He was carrying a flashlight, so Robin couldn’t see who it was, but the man’s height reminded her of the sheriff. She gripped the paddle-shaped arms of her chair.

Her father stood and they all stared as the man came towards them. A smaller person ran out in front of the man.

Zo-Zo appeared and stopped at the edge of their circle, bouncing on her toes excitedly. Brodie appeared beside her. He looked just as excited.

Robin stared at them. What was going on? Why were they all here?

Griff touched Mr. Donnelly’s arm. “Hello, Peter. Join us for some cake.”

Zo-Zo grabbed Robin’s hand and pulled it to her chest. “Guess what? Guess!”

Brodie grinned. “We’re going to be on TV!”

Peter smiled broadly. “A company named The Energy Alliance got word of the kid’s eco-contest and wants to use it in schools across the country.”

“The Big Fat Footprint?” Robin felt giddy. Was it really true?

“They’re offering a chunk of change for the honour too,” Zo-Zo’s dad added.

Robin, Brodie, and Zo-Zo threw themselves into a huddle of a hug. Robin’s dad pulled up some extra chairs and added some logs to the fire while Griff handed out pieces of cake.

After they’d all eaten and discussed every detail of The Energy Alliance deal, Zo-Zo picked up one of the puppies and turned to Robin, then Brodie. “Hey, I think we should have a sleepover. To celebrate.”

“What a good idea,” Griff said. “You can all sleep in the loft of the barn.”

Robin looked at her dad. “Can we, Dad? Please?” She could see her father debating. “You let Ari have Conner visit.”

Her father gave her a sharp look.

“Conner?” Pete Donnelly asked. “Conner Kingshot?”

“You know him?” Griff asked.

“My dad knows everyone,” Zo-Zo said.

Mr. Donnelly pulled Zo-Zo’s braid affectionately. “Did a story on the bush party he organized last year. Around about this time, too. Had about three hundred kids and a fire that took out about twenty trees. Good thing there wasn’t a wind, or it would have been worse.”

“I heard about it,” Griff said.

“Was Conner charged?” Robin’s dad asked.

“Rick
Kingshot’s
son, charged?” Mr. Donnelly shrugged. “Not likely.”

Robin’s dad stared into the fire.

Robin pulled him from his reverie. “So, can they stay, Dad? Can they?”

“I don’t see why not,” he said. “As long as Brodie calls his mom.”

The three kids ran up to the house. Zo-Zo and Robin collected sleeping bags while Brodie called home. When they had his mom’s agreement, they took the bags out to the barn and carried them up the steps to the loft. Robin could still hear the music from the party next door, but now it didn’t bother her at all.

Brodie was visiting with Mukwa while Robin and Zo-Zo unwrapped binder twine from two hay bales and began distributing the hay to make soft under-padding for their sleeping bags.

“He sure likes that bear cub,” Zo-Zo said as she unrolled her sleeping bag.

When Brodie came up the ladder, he brought Snooze with him. “I couldn’t resist,” he said, nuzzling the puppy.

Zo-Zo turned to him. “So, how come you’re not at Brittany’s?”

Brodie shrugged. “At Brittany’s? I didn’t want to go. Besides, I didn’t think I’d be welcome anyway. Not after Rick fired me.”

Zo-Zo’s eyes looked huge through the thick lenses of her glasses. “He fired you?”

Brodie pressed his lips together and nodded. “Now he wants the bike back.”

“That’s not fair!” Robin said.

“Told you he was a creep,” Zo-Zo said.

Brodie let out a long breath. “He was nice to me for a while.”

“Yeah, as long as you were friends with Brittany,” Zo-Zo said.

Brodie shrugged. “I’m in his bad books now.
Both
their bad books.”

“Join the club,” Robin said, smiling shyly.

Zo-Zo threw some hay into the air. “None of that matters now. We’re going to be on national TV!” She grinned. “I still can’t believe they’re paying us!”

“Hey!” Brodie said, flicking off the hay that was landing on his head. Zo-Zo tossed some hay right at him, and he lunged at her. Zo-Zo laughed and rolled away, but Brodie was unable to stop his momentum and fell into Robin.

Robin fell back, and their faces were so close she could smell his skin. He smiled at her, and Robin felt herself blush. They both pulled away at the same time.

“Okay, you two — don’t make me feel like a third wheel!” Zo-Zo wiggled down into her bag. “What should we do with the money? Use it to buy food for the animals?”

Robin sighed. “If the animals are still here. Dad found out the sheriff is getting a whole bunch of ‘reinforcements’ from other towns.”

“Good thing we’ve got our own ‘reinforcements,’” Zo-Zo said.

Brodie’s eyebrows shot up. “What does
that
mean?”

“The kids on my blog,” Zo-Zo said. “There’s over thirty! And they’ve all promised to fight if the sheriff shows up —”

“Sounds like all-out war!” Brodie said. He looked at Robin with concern.

In the dim light, Zo-Zo’s eyes were big. “I can’t wait to see the look on the sheriff’s face when he sees us all.”

Brodie moved his eyes back to Zo-Zo. “What are you going to do? Chain everyone in again?”

“This time, we’re going to fight back, that’s what we’re going to do.” Zo-Zo said, her face resolute and intense.

Shivers ricocheted down Robin back. She wiggled further down into her bag.

“Fight all you want, but it won’t do you any good,” Brodie said. “Not if Mr. Kingshot wins the election. He can be ruthless.”

“So can we,” Zo-Zo said. “Just watch.”

Brodie grimaced. “You’re scaring me, Zo-Zo.”

“What choice do we have?” Zo-Zo retorted. “Are you going to let him kill Mukwa? Your favourite bear?”

Brodie looked deeply disturbed. “Mr. Kingshot told me once that the only good bear was a dead bear! He was only half-joking, but —”

“Sounds like Conner,” Robin said. “He calls Mukwa his ‘bear rug.’”

“Like father like son.” Zo-Zo scrunched up her face. “Your sister’s going out with Conner, right?”

Robin nodded. “Usually, she’s got boys wrapped around her little finger, but not this time.”

“Is your dad letting her go to that bush party?” Zo-Zo asked.

Brodie’s eyebrows shot up. “Your dad would
let
her? Those things are drunken brawls.”

Robin sighed. “She’s going to sneak out.”

“Whoa,” Brodie said.

“Do you think I should tell my dad?” Robin asked.

Zo-Zo bit her lip. “No. You can’t. Kids’ code.”

Brodie shrugged but didn’t argue. “It’s this weekend. Conner and his dad were talking about it in the office before I got fired. Mr. Kingshot’s getting him some beer.”

“For a dad, he sure doesn’t act like one,” Zo-Zo said. She pulled the corner of her mouth into her cheek. “What I don’t get is why he’s so against this place? I mean, what’s a few hurt animals to a guy like him?”

“He wants the property,” Brodie said. “For a hog farm. I saw the plans he’s drawn up at his office. There’s a lot of money in hogs.”

Zo-Zo laughed. “Hogs! He’s such a hog himself.”

“I sure hope Ed Goodings gets elected,” Robin said.

Zo-Zo shook her head. “Fat chance of that! Kingshot
will
get elected, and when he does, he’s going to come here with an army of cops. We’ve got to be prepared. I’ve been collecting stones and making slingshots and —”

Brodie interrupted. “Stones? Slingshots? Those things can hurt people.”

Robin put her hands over her ears. “Enough.” She was getting really frightened.

Brodie and Zo-Zo settled into their sleeping bags, and Robin bunched up her sweater to use it as a pillow. She turned off her headlamp and the others did too.

Lying in the darkness, Robin felt agitated. Her mind kept producing images of Zo-Zo throwing stones as dozens of policemen charged towards her, billy clubs raised. To calm herself, she took some long deep breaths. Beneath her she could hear the sounds of the animals below. They were muted sounds at this time of night, but still, she could hear rustling, snuffling, scratching, some soft mewing, quacking, and grunting. The sounds comforted her. She yawned and felt herself slipping down into the arms of sleep.

She awoke abruptly, feeling breathless. She’d been having her drowning dream again. Pushing herself up, she threw off the sleeping bag until she stopped feeling so sweaty. When she could breathe normally again, she made her way to the ladder that went down to the main part of the barn. She had to pee.

She had her headlight with her, but with the moon shining through the slats in the barn, she could see easily. The wooden rungs of the ladder were smooth against the bare skin of her feet as she made her way down them. Outside the barn, the ground was moist from the dew. She looked up. The night sky was sprinkled with the glitter of a million stars. Stunned by the huge magnificence of it, she stood still for several minutes and just stared. Then she walked a few feet from the barn and squatted in a patch of grass. As she peed, there was a sound. A strange, guttural sound. On high alert, she forced herself to be absolutely still. And listened acutely.

Then she heard it again. A half grunt, half growl, but big and breathy somehow like a sound that would come from a big-chested animal. A long-nailed paw of fear clawed through her. She squinted into the darkness. She couldn’t see it, but she could smell it now, the strong animal musk.

Then it stood up on its hind legs.

Robin’s eyes followed it to its full height. Her breath caught in her throat.

The mother bear!

Maybe it was because Robin was used to Mukwa, who was still so small. Or, maybe it was because of the way the moon was casting shadows, but the mother looked absolutely colossal.

Robin gulped. Slowly, very slowly, she stood, easing her pajama bottoms up as she did. The bear was watching her. Getting ready to pounce! In one, or maybe two quick strides, the bear would be on her, ripping her skin with its claws and breaking her bones with its powerful teeth. Should she run? Should she lie down and pretend to be dead? She couldn’t remember what she was supposed to do. Her brain was mushy. Her legs felt like they were going to collapse.

There was another sound, a different sound. It took Robin a moment to figure out what it was. Keeping her eyes on the bear, she was aware at the periphery of her vision that through the wide open barn door, someone was bounding down the ladder.

The bear heard the sound too. It huffed, moving from one foot to another as it prepared to charge. Robin could feel its agitation.

Suddenly the footsteps stopped.

“Whoa!”

Brodie spoke only the one word, but it was soaked with fascinated fear.

Would the bear come for her or Brodie first? She was closer, but Brodie was nearer to Mukwa. In either case, the mother bear was close enough to kill either of them with a swipe of her meaty arm. Robin tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry. She opened her mouth but no words came out. What would she say anyway?

Mukwa stirred in the barn and made urgent grunts. Then Robin remembered. What she remembered allowed her to speak.

“Your baby, you want your baby —”

Getting these words out took huge effort. She took a small breath. “I’ll get him, I’ll —”

Robin inched towards the barn and Mukwa’s enclosure, hoping the mother bear would somehow realize she wasn’t going to hurt her baby, but let him loose. It took forever to get there. Once she was inside, her fingers fumbled with the latch on Mukwa’s cage. She couldn’t get it to open. She felt a sudden motion and shut her eyes, waiting for the devastation of the mother bear’s claws. But it wasn’t the mother bear. It was Brodie, helping her with the latch. There was a clicking sound. The cage door swung open.

Mukwa bolted past her and out the barn door. His waiting mother went down on all fours in exuberant greeting. She sniffed then turned quickly and led her baby away from the barn.

Robin watched them disappear into the safety of the dark woods. She threw her arm across her chest and let out a big sigh of relief.

Brodie leaned towards her. “You all right?”

Robin fell against him, and for a brief moment, they held each other up. She could hear her heart pounding. And feel Brodie’s too, as if in answer.