Читать книгу Tree Fever - Karen Hood-Caddy - Страница 9

Chapter 2

Surely in God’s name, they’re not –” My voice died in my throat, along with my hope. Numbly, I watched as one of the men walked around the circumference of the tree calculating its width.

“They are!”

Madge’s words sounded far away as if I’d already begun running across the park. I saw my hand raise involuntarily in some feeble attempt to stop her words from coming towards me.

In front of me the air lightened as if I were standing on the edge of an abyss. My legs itched with an impulse to run away before something dangerous happened. Because something dangerous was close to happening. Very close.

I watched the man lift the chain saw, heard the engine explode into a hard, biting sound and felt Madge grab my arm. A sick dizziness came over me. My legs quivered, caught between running towards the men and running away. Then a great gust of energy thumped against my back and swept me forward.

As terrifying as it was to feel myself careening through space towards these men, a great relieving emancipation swept over me. I was no longer holding myself back, no longer enduring the outrage of complacency. In a frenzy of exhilaration, I flung myself over the yellow tape barrier, my body demanding to be reckoned with.

The man holding the saw jabbed at a switch and the machine stopped. The two men stared at me as they might a rabid dog.

“What’s going on here?” I tried to make my voice sound authoritative, but calm.

There were two men. One was round-bellied and compacted and looked as if he’d been stuffed into clothes that were far too small for him. The other man was thin with a face as closed off as a boarded-up house.

“We’ve been hired by the owner of this property to take down these trees …” said the thick-bodied man. He rolled his eyes. They looked as hard as bowling balls. “So the construction – ”

“Construction? What construction?” someone called. I looked up and saw that a crowd was gathering around us.

“I thought this park belonged to the town,” I said, ignoring the panic that was fluttering in my belly.

“All I know is we’re to take these down. There’s six condos going in here.”

“How come we never heard about it?” another voice shouted from the crowd.

The heavy man’s face became red and dark like a bruise. He looked down at his saw. “We’re not here to talk about it. We’re here to do it.”

I stared at him disbelievingly. Refusing to look at me, he leaned over and yanked the cord of the machine. The saw burst into a hard, metallic whine. In a frighteningly abrupt movement, he swung the buzzing saw against the tree.

I flung my body against the trunk, inches from the bite of the saw.

“Curt, stop!” the thin man shouted.

Stubbornly, Curt gnashed the saw into the tree, cutting the wood just inches from my body. Wood chips spit into my face.

I saw people’s mouths open to scream. Feeling faint, I closed my eyes.

Get out of here, Jessie. Now!

The sound of the saw was so horrible I wanted to cover my ears, but I was too terrified to move. I pushed my back into the tree, feeling its strength and stillness against my spine. Beneath me my feet burrowed into the ground like roots. When I opened my eyes, I saw Madge, as if in slow motion, bounding forward and grabbing Curt’s shoulders. Thrown off balance, he dropped the saw. The engine spluttered and quiet shot through the air.

“Bitches!” Curt spat.

Charlie growled at him and moved his body against mine.

Eying the dog, the other man said, “What we’re doing is legal.”

“It might be legal, but it isn’t right,” a strong male voice said in a low but commanding tone.

I followed the voice to a man in the crowd. Harley. It was Harley who had spoken. Wearing a wide-brimmed leather hat, he was standing beside a bicycle. Despite the seriousness of the moment, I grinned at him. A wry smile crossed his mouth.

“Legal is enough.” Turning to me, Curt added, “Now, are you going to be a nice lady and move, or am I going to call the cops and tell them how crazy you are?”

Wordless as a tree, I stood. Beside me, Madge widened her stance and crossed her arms.

Curt scowled. “I’m going to get the cops.” He strode from the park.

People rushed towards us, all talking at once. Some patted me on the back, others twittered with disapproval.

“You just about got yourself sliced.” Harley looked at me with wide, appraising eyes.

“Thanks to Madge,” I said. Feeling weak, I put my arm around Madge’s shoulder to prop myself up.

“Teach’em to mess with the likes of us,” Madge boasted, laughing nervously.

Harley’s eyes roamed solemnly through the boughs above him. “Too bad. Some of these must be over a hundred years old. Real elders.”

I looked at him hard. “It’s not over yet.”

He raised an eyebrow. “The way I figure it, the cops will be here in five minutes and the trees will be down in ten.”

“And you’ll be in jail in fifteen,” Madge said to me, pouncing in right after him. “For obstructing or some other thing they’ll dream up.” She moved from one foot to the other. “Look, I don’t know about you, but I don’t fancy the idea of going to jail. I think we should get out of here while the getting’s good. We’ve made our point.” She shrugged. “You know what they say, ‘You can’t fight City Hall’.”

I stared at Madge, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes. How could she say this? I looked over at Harley, expecting him to be dealing with his own inner turmoil as well, but his eyes reached out to me. He nodded as if responding to some question he saw in my face.

As we talked, a police car pulled up over by the road. “I wish I had something to tie myself in with,” I said. “Something strong like a leash or –”

“Will this do?” Harley handed me his bike chain.

“Yes!” Quickly, I wrapped the heavy chain around the girth of the tree and locked myself in. Beside us, Madge groaned. When I looked up, Curt was trudging towards me, a police officer in tow.

“That’s the one,” Curt pointed at me.

Jessie!

“Officer Tamlin.” The officer and I looked at each other warmly.

Leaning towards me, he whispered, “Left you a message. Did you get it?”

I nodded and smiled. Being a therapist in a small town was very interesting sometimes.

Satisfied, he stood back. “Geez, Jessie, they told me it was some lunatic.” He surveyed the crowd, nodding at some of the people he knew. Adjusting to the official circumstances, he cleared his throat and said more formally, “Now, look, Mrs James, I know you and some folks here have different ideas about these trees being cut down, but they are on private property. And that means the owner has the right to do whatever he wants with them, whether we like it or not.” He took off his cap and scratched his head. “I’m going to have to ask you to move.”

My face flushed. People in the crowd stared, waiting to see what I was going to do. Some moved back a little as if expecting me to rush away. But my body stayed where it was.

The crowd, which was even bigger now, became agitated.

“It’s criminal to kill these trees,” someone shouted.

“It’s not right. We want a hearing.”

“A public inquiry.”

“Nobody’s got the right to kill trees.”

One gravelly voice called out over the others. “It’s an election year, Jack. Don’t forget that. The mayor won’t like it if you blow this election for him.” My eyes jumped from Tamlin’s grimacing face to the person who had spoken. Elfreda’s chuckles skipped through the crowd.

Madge elbowed me. In a strong voice, she said, “The mayor won’t want bad publicity just before an election.”

I followed along, right on cue, and said loudly, “I think we should get in touch with the press. They might be very interested in this story.”

Madge arched her finely pencilled eyebrows. “Yes. Absolutely.”

“For Chrissakes,” Curt groaned. “Let’s get the buggers down before these crackpots blow this into World War Three.”

Officer Tamlin gripped his night stick. “Hold on, everybody. Just hold on. I’m going to talk to the mayor.” Pulling himself tall, he walked out of the park towards the government offices.

“Christ!” Curt turned away.

“I’m going to call my lawyer,” Madge said. “Find out your rights.”

“My rights? Don’t you mean our rights?”

Madge waved away my concern. “Whatever …”

“My phone’s closest,” I told her. “And while you’re there, could you call Dr. Andrews and cancel?” Since I had a tricky dental procedure planned for that afternoon, I hadn’t booked any clients. “And, you’d better take Charlie back.”

Madge nodded. “Some people will do anything to get out of going to the dentist.” She pecked my cheek lightly and gave a sidelong glance towards Harley. “I know you’re in good hands.” Grinning, she made her way through the crowd.

Embarrassed that Harley might have heard her, I leaned back against the tree and closed my eyes.

As I waited, people gathered around me to talk and give their advice about what should be done. I saw someone push through the crowd.

“Mother! What are you doing?”

Robyn’s thin, bird-like body stood rigidly beside me. Dressed in black jeans and tee-shirt, she shoved her thin hands into her pockets. Her delicate skin looked very white. I sighed. Why did she have to show up now?

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

She looked at me sullenly. “Making a fool of yourself?”

I made myself breathe. Time to call on my therapeutic skills.

“I’m embarrassing you, am I?” Seeing Robyn’s eyes widen, I took the challenging tone out of my voice and tried to explain. “They’re trying to cut these trees down, Robyn. I’ve known these trees since I was little. I –”

“Can’t you write a letter or something?” She stared at the chain around my waist. “Do something less ridiculous?”

My spirits deflated, but something in me rallied. “Maybe it’s time for someone to look ridiculous. Maybe if more people were willing to look ridiculous, the world would be a better place. With more trees!”

“Mother, you’re ranting. People will think you’re c–” She stopped herself.

Crazy.

“People will think you’re courageous,” Harley cut in. “They’ll see you as a woman with enough guts to do what’s right.” His voice was soft, but firm.

Robyn narrowed her eyes. Realizing that people were listening, she turned abruptly, so abruptly that her hair spun out behind her almost hitting me in the face. Stiffly, she strode away.

Overwhelmed, I slumped against the tree. When I opened my eyes a moment later, I saw Tamlin at the edge of the park, heading resolutely towards me.

“The pace doesn’t let up, does it?” Harley said, an amused smile lifting the corner of his wide mouth.

I straightened my body to armour myself for what was to come.

“At least he didn’t bring reinforcements,” Harley said, standing close. “I had twenty after me once.”

“Clear the area,” Tamlin called, making big sweeping motions with his hands towards the crowd. “I want everyone out of here. And I mean everyone.” As people in the crowd grumbled, he put his hands on his hips, revealing his billy club. “The mayor’s decided to look into the matter, so you can all go home and relax.” He began herding people away.

Reluctantly, the crowd dispersed. Some waved as they left. Elfreda stood unwaveringly in the midst of the milling crowd. Smiling crookedly, she shot her arm out and lifted her thumb in victory. Tamlin hurried over to escort her off the grounds.

Harley scowled. “Sure the mayor will look into it. Right after the trees are down. These guys must think we’re slow learners.” He passed me a piece of paper. “It’s the combination to the lock. Just in case.”

“And you, Mrs. James,” Tamlin said, striding towards me. “Leave this to the mayor. Let him take care of it. That’s what he’s elected to do.” When I didn’t respond, he added, “I’ll give you some time to think it over.” Then, quietly, he added, “Don’t make me arrest you, because if I have to, I will. It’s my job.” He turned to Harley. “You better move on there, mister.”

Harley gave a small, almost imperceptible nod to Tamlin, who moved off to attend to the last few stragglers. Raising one long, curved thigh, he moved astride his bicycle. For a moment, he surveyed me. “You’re some woman,” he said and rode off.