van obeyed, dropping Julian’s wrist instantly. Danny slithered off Ivan’s back to the ground. Julian clung to the tree-house railing, breathing hard, filled with a hot energy. The voice had been low and aristocratic, like some grande dame from an old black-and-white movie. Julian craned his neck to see who had spoken, but his view was blocked by Ivan’s enormous chest.
Sibley cleared his throat. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but trust me, this is not the time or the place—”
“It’s a good thing I came when I did and not some camera crew. Can you imagine how that scene would have played on the evening news?”
“What are you doing here?”
“The board is not pleased, Sibley. Witherspoon is apoplectic. The controversy is driving away clients.”
“What controversy?” Sibley’s face was an angry red. “A bunch of tree huggers? It’ll all die down in a matter of days.”
“Sibley, you’ve lost your perspective,” the voice continued, with an air of hypnotic authority. “IPX against four children in a tree house? You must realize this has become a public-relations fiasco. And the protests are only going to get bigger.”
“Then they’ll be quashed,” Sibley said in an ugly tone.
Ivan shifted slightly, and Julian could make out below him a formidable–looking woman with gleaming white hair, dressed in a red jacket and skirt. She was looking up at Sibley with unflinching eyes. Behind them both stood Bob, his arms crossed, his face stern.
“I appreciate your intentions,” Sibley continued in a more ingratiating tone. “But you’re not on the board anymore. I’m taking care of this. The protestors have been removed. The children are coming down.”
“Sibley, you simply do not appreciate the magnitude of the problem. You can’t just go on ignoring the board’s directives. They want this incident ended—the article was the last straw. The only question remaining is what to do with the property? And to resolve that,” she lifted her head and Julian felt her search out his face and study it with unwarranted intensity, “we need to bring these children down from the tree house and give them a seat at the table.”
There had been no question of obeying the Lady, as the children dubbed her. Ivan, chastened, dropped quietly down on his rope. Bob gave Sibley a dark glance, then watched over the children as they descended one by one on the pulley seat. He instructed them to return to the house, then turned and followed Sibley and the Lady down the trail toward Greeley Road.
It was only when they had crossed the river that the children realized they had abandoned their protest. But somehow, Julian thought, they had all understood, without discussing it, that they had no real choice. They didn’t feel defeated. To the contrary, they were elated, too excited to talk clearly, unsure of what would happen next.
Before they even entered the house, they could hear Bob’s voice, low and angry. When they reached the kitchen, he stopped talking abruptly. The Lady was seated at the table, next to a sleek laptop and a pad of legal paper. Sibley shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“You see, they’re here now,” the Lady said without smiling. “Children, please have a seat.” Julian sat down as far away from Sibley as possible, with Danny and Robin on either side of him.
“Hello, Julian,” the Lady said. Julian wondered again why she had singled him out from the others. “Do you have any idea who I am?”
To simply say no seemed rude. And the more Julian looked at her, the more he felt as though he had seen her before. Maybe she was in the news. Somebody famous, like a senator or an ambassador. He glanced at Robin, but she seemed just as perplexed as he was.
“I’m sorry,” he finally mumbled.
“Let’s just say, for now, that I know who you are. I’ve been watching you, and I have a number of questions I would like you to answer for me.” She didn’t wait for him to respond, but continued briskly. “To begin with, could you tell me how is it that you came to be interested in Big Tree Grove?”
Julian blanched. “Um,” he said after a moment. “It’s next door to Robin’s house.”
“Of course.” She gave a nod in Robin’s direction. “And you and Miss Elder were pen pals, if I remember correctly. And that precipitated your sudden departure from Sibley’s home.” Her gray eyes gave him no hint of what was coming. “Is that correct?”
Julian nodded.
“And how do you explain the amazing coincidence that your pen pal, Miss Elder, just happens to live next door to the IPX timber holdings?”
The moment Julian had dreaded had finally arrived. Perhaps they had been tricked after all. Perhaps the whole conversation with Sibley had merely been a ruse to get them down from the tree house.
“I can’t really explain it,” Julian said at last.
“Then perhaps I can shed some light on the matter.” She pressed a button on her laptop and an image appeared on the opposite wall. “Ah, the wonders of modern technology,” she said in a pleased voice. “Tell me, do you recognize this e-mail?”
There, on the wall, appeared his name, “JULIAN,” and beneath it, the terrible phrases that still haunted him—“lacks even the most basic social graces,” “mother’s lifestyle,” “Julian does resemble his father,” “the sullenness, etc.,” “intensive math.” Julian felt his heart start to beat faster. Sibley was studying the projection with narrowed eyes.
Julian searched the face of the white-haired Lady for some clue as to how to answer. She was looking at him with an intensity that he took at first for anger, but then decided was simply curiosity.
“Yes,” he finally stammered.
“Of course, you do,” she said, sounding pleased. “And this one?”
At the top, it said “SIBLEY CARTER IS A MORON AND A WORLD-CLASS JERK!!!”
Sibley’s face flushed to a bright pink. Robin squirmed in her chair and glanced nervously at her father. “You recognize it as well?”
“Yes.” Julian’s stomach was starting to churn. He was afraid he was going to throw up.
“But you erased the e-mails so your uncle wouldn’t know you’d seen them.”
“Well, yes.” Julian didn’t dare look in Sibley’s direction.
“And yet here they are! You’re surprised, I see, but I’ve learned that a computer never forgets.” She carefully pressed a few buttons, and the images disappeared.
“You see, I’m a great fan of mysteries, and when I saw your face in the paper, I knew this was my chance. Coincidence is the stuff of fiction, not real life. Something more than coincidence brought you to Robin Elder’s house, and I came all the way here to find out what. And, now, I believe I have succeeded. It was Sibley’s letter, followed by Miss Elder’s e-mail, which actually triggered your departure from Sibley’s home. Am I correct?”
“I guess so,” Julian said. “Well, they were already sending me away.”
“Indeed. And prior to erasing the letter from Miss Elder, you relayed it to your good friend, Mr. Danny Lopez.”
Julian nodded mutely. Danny, for once, had nothing clever to say.
“You were able to manage all this while Sibley was away at a meeting, when you were alone, ill, in his office. For hours, so I understand. Is that true?”
“Well, the first e-mail had my name on it,” Julian ventured as a sort of apology.
“And the other was quite irresistible, I’m sure.” She stared in an amused way at Sibley. “You subsequently made contact with Miss Elder. And ran away to her house.”
Julian nodded.
“You were, however, apprehended by Daphne and returned to San Francisco and, ultimately, to your maternal grandmother. And then, a press release was issued.”
Julian nodded warily.
“A heartwarming press release. All about how IPX would do the right thing and save Big Tree Grove.” She pressed another key and the press release appeared on the wall.
Seeing it, Julian couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride. He glanced at Danny, who was watching the woman warily. Bob scanned the text against the wall.
“Unfortunately,” the Lady continued, “the Chronicle didn’t print the press release in full, or even in part. Sibley had to provide me with a copy. But still, the grandeur of your vision! And the attention to detail!” For the first time, she looked truly happy. “At first, I thought you must have had help. But the more closely I investigated, the more I was certain that you acted alone. With the assistance, of course, of your partner in crime, Mr. Lopez.”
Partner in crime? Danny looked worried.
“And then of course, there was the password! Tell me, how did you manage to puzzle that out?”
“Just a lucky guess.” Julian wasn’t about to admit going through Sibley’s drawers.
“‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again,’” the Lady said archly. “I used to tell your uncle that long ago. I suppose it sunk in. But, in any case, the faux press release did not succeed. There was no change in IPX policy. No noble gesture from Sibley. Just pabulum spit out by a corporate spokeswoman.”
Julian wasn’t sure what pabulum was, but he nodded.
“And then,” she said, eyes shining, “you began your protest. And you got quite a bit of press coverage, thanks, no doubt, to Mrs. Li. But really, did you ever actually believe,” she asked in her cool tone, “that you would succeed? That you could save Big Tree Grove?”
Julian didn’t know what to say. They had thought, walking back to the house in such high spirits, that they had succeeded. He had the sensation that the Lady was hiding something, holding something back. And, yet, the Lady’s curiosity was disarming. Her fascination with the subject seemed to mirror his own.
“I’m not really sure,” he said slowly. “Big Tree Grove is still there and I guess it’s not completely over until it’s cut down. Robin’s mom always says, ‘A way will open.’”
“And do you believe this?”
Did he? He chose his words carefully. “Maybe not on its own. But maybe, if you keep trying to really think about how to make something happen, it could happen. Not always. But if you’re lucky.”
“And do you think a way will open to save Big Tree Grove?”
“No.” And Julian suddenly realized the childishness of all their efforts. He knew in his heart that Big Tree was doomed, that soon it would exist only in his memory.
“Why not?”
“Because the Elders and the scientists did everything they could to save Big Tree and Robin and Ariel and Danny and I did too and none of it worked. And the THP is approved and it’s all legal and there’s nothing to stop them from logging it.”
“But, as you wisely pointed out, it’s not logged yet. A way could still open.”
“Not unless you’re the way,” Julian said ruefully.
She seemed delighted with his answer and looked about the table as if the others would share her delight.
Just then, the door slammed open, and Molly and Jo-Jo ran in with their mother, and behind them, laughing and calling out their names, was Preston, his face shining and his legs strangely bare-looking in shorts and summer sandals.
“Gram!” he said. “I milked a goat! Julian! Daddy—how did you get here?”