Chapter Six

The entire town was at the meeting that night. Every seat in the campground amphitheater was filled. Warden McKay had a quick look at Cricket’s photos but was too busy to talk with her. Cricket helped Jeremy unpack his equipment at the front of the room. When everything was ready, she perched on a stack of firewood at the side.

Warden McKay began the meeting by introducing Jeremy and reminding everyone how to be safe in cougar territory.

“But I’ve worked in the park for eighteen years and only seen a cougar once,” he said. “It was in the backcountry, up near Lineham Lakes. The cougar was acting like a cougar. It wasn’t destroying garbage bins or stealing house cats.”

“But there have been cougars in town before,” Mrs. Steeves said from the front row.

Jeremy stepped forward. “I’ve been tracking the cougars in the park for a little while now,” he said. He turned on the projector, and a map of the Waterton townsite filled the screen. “In the past two years one cougar has traveled through the town a few times on his way to Montana. The satellite data—these bright-green dots—show him sneaking through in the very early morning, about four o’clock, when it’s still dark.”

“But what about this week? Do you have any more recent data?” Mr. Garrin asked from the back of the room. His tall black cowboy hat stood out in the crowd of winter hats.

“I do. This week he came through and farther into town than usual,” Jeremy said. “That was the day before yesterday. But he’s been nowhere near Mrs. Steeves’s cabin or the back of the café. Or the stables.”

Mr. Garrin snorted. “Maybe it’s a cat you don’t have a collar on,” he said.

Cricket saw several people nodding. They looked worried.

“That would be unusual. Cougars are solitary and very territorial.” Jeremy changed the screen to a night-vision picture. The photo was in shades of gray, with two bright spots deep in the bush. It took Cricket a moment to recognize it as the bush in the schoolyard.

“There it is! In the bushes!” People leaned forward trying to see.

Jeremy shook his head. “There’s something there, but we didn’t get a clear picture of it. I don’t think it’s a cougar.”

“What else could it be?” someone asked.

“It’s a cougar. I know it,” someone else said loudly.

Cricket wanted to jump up and tell them about the giant dog tracks, but everyone looked very upset. No one was going to listen to her right now.

Warden McKay held up his hand, and slowly the townsfolk grew quiet. “We’re going to use Jeremy’s dogs and track the cougar. Once we catch him, we’ll move him into a new territory far from town.”

Oh no! Cricket jumped off the stack of firewood. Her dad had told her relocation didn’t work the same way for cougars as it did for bears. Moving Elvis could put him right in the middle of another cougar’s territory and cause a deadly fight.

Many people were nodding now. They were happy that something was being done.

They’re all convinced it’s a cougar, Cricket thought. Elvis is doomed.