by Dayle Gaetz
Sheila knew this was true. Ben never missed his target. “But you set my dad up! How could you do that?”
“I’m so sorry! It’s like I lost my mind, couldn’t think straight. But I never would have let him go to prison, please believe me. I figured he’d get off easy. No one around here would believe Chris Walton could be involved in anything like that. He’s too honest.”
“We thought it was Ryan,” Sheila admitted. “He’s been acting so weird.”
They all turned to Ryan.
“I knew something was wrong,” Ryan explained.
“Dad hasn’t been himself since I got here this summer. He’s been nervous and jittery, and he kept talking about how he would be out of a job after all these years. So when I heard about the shooting and remembered Dad had been out that night and a rifle was missing, I got suspicious.”
“But what about the white feather and the black cowboy hat? Katie saw them in your room!” As soon as the words escaped her mouth, Sheila knew she was in trouble.
But Ryan grinned. “I thought that’s what you two were up to,” he said. “When I found the hat and feather in Dad’s room, I knew my suspicions were correct, so I hid them in my room, hoping that would slow him down. I knew he really didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I figured he would come to his senses and confess.”
“But he went out there tonight.”
“Yes. He phoned from town and I told him what you girls told me, that your dad was home and Wendell was watching the development. I had planned on following him and confronting him. I hoped he would turn himself in. But I guess I fell asleep, or he never returned to the cottage, so I didn’t realize he parked by the barn and took off in Chris’s truck. I finally knew something was up when I found the hat and feather missing. Don’t know when he took them, but there you go. He’s been pretty sneaky lately.”
Ben winced.
“So I hopped in my Jeep to follow. That’s when Adele came running out of the house saying you kids were missing. It didn’t take much to figure out where you went, especially after she told me Chris was still in police custody.”
“And we thought we were being so smart!” Rusty said.
“We are!” Katie insisted. “We proved Sheila’s dad is innocent, and we have enough evidence to keep the Couttses out of the way for a long time.”
23
The last morning.
Sheila’s eyes weren’t even open yet, but the words zipped through her head, clear and unavoidable. The last morning.
Dad was home, Ben had agreed to testify against the Couttses, and Katie had proudly shared her evidence and notes with the RCMP.
The other good news was that both the Triple W and Cottonwood Creek ranches would be preserved as part of a wildlife corridor that included rangeland along the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta. At least in this little corner of the world, grizzly habitat and trumpeter swan wetlands would be safe.
All good.
Except that she had to leave. Today. Gram and GJ would come pick them up, and Sheila would ride out of her father’s life again. Maybe for two years, maybe longer. Who knew?
He had Huntley and Adele so close by, why would he bother flying all the way to Victoria just to see her? Sheila groaned. Hadn’t meant to, but it slipped out anyway. She held her breath and hoped Katie hadn’t heard. But Katie was snoring softly, sound asleep. Good. Sheila rolled out of bed, dressed and tiptoed from the room.
Softly she padded down the stairs and was putting on her shoes when the hall floor creaked. “Sheila, I was hoping you’d get up early so we could go for a ride together!”
She smiled up at her dad. “I’d like that.”
Together they galloped across the grasslands, up and over rolling hillocks. Sheila tried to shake her worries free, but for once they stayed with her as she rode.
Later they reined their horses in and walked them side by side. “You okay, Sheila?”
She shrugged. “Fine.”
“I hope you realize how grateful I am for all you did.”
“It wasn’t just me. It was all of us—Huntley too.
And Katie figured it out. She’s good at stuff like that.”
“Did she figure out why Ben left that rifle under the truck seat?”
“She says Ryan must have come in the back door soon after Ben walked in the front on the night in question, so Ben didn’t have a chance to put the rifle away. That’s what got her confused. She thought Ryan was trying to sneak in to put the rifle back.
“Anyway, Katie figures Ben hid it somewhere in a hurry, maybe under the couch, then pretended to have been sleeping there. He had a busy schedule all the next day, and you were sleeping in the office, so the first chance he got to return it was early the following morning, when you were in the shower.
Remember? Everyone else was asleep, except me, and I thought I heard someone in the living room.
He must have got scared and run outside with the gun after I went into the kitchen. When you came downstairs, you caught a glimpse of someone wearing blue out near your truck. It wasn’t me.”
“That’s right! He must have hidden it there and never got the chance to put it away with so much going on. I still can’t believe Ben would do such a thing.”
After a moment of silence he added, “It’s a good thing you kids were here. But, Sheila, it really scares me to think what might have happened out there.
Promise me you won’t do anything like that again?”
“Dad…” What could she say? How could she make a promise like that when she had a friend like Katie? Luckily her dad changed the subject.
“Your mother will go crazy when I tell her.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t tell her.”
“I need to, Sheila. It wouldn’t be right to keep secrets from your mother. She’d never forgive me if something were to happen to you. I’m going to phone her this morning.”
Sheila felt ill. Mom would be furious and probably insist that Sheila come right home. Hadn’t Sheila promised not to get involved in anything dangerous while she was away?
“Besides, I want to ask her something. If it’s all right with you, of course.”
“What?”
“I was hoping you might consider staying here, with me, for the rest of the summer.”
“Really? You really want me to?”
“Of course. We haven’t had much time to visit yet.”
“No. Yes! Dad, I’d love to stay! I can’t believe it!
What about Huntley?”
“Huntley? He’s a great kid, but he’s not you.
You’re my daughter, Sheila, and I love you.” Her dad grinned and tapped Pita’s flanks. “Last one back has to wash all the breakfast dishes!” he called over his shoulder.
“Hey! No fair!” Sheila shouted. She tapped Silver and took off after her father.
No place to live
Some strange beings move into your neighborhood.
They destroy your home so you and your family have nowhere to live. They tear down all the grocery stores so you can’t find any food. What will you do?
Where will you go?
Such a scary incident is not likely to happen to you, but it does happen to wildlife all over the world when human development encroaches on wilderness areas. Luckily, many people are working to save both plants and animals by conserving important habitat.
Preserving
wildlife habitat
Canada is a huge country with a small population. This is good news for wildlife because we still have more wild spaces than many other countries do. Rugged coastlines, dense rain forests, high mountain ranges, deep river valleys and rolling grasslands support an amazing variety of wildlife. However, the human population keeps growing, especially in the south. More than 90 percent of Canada’s population lives in only 10 percent of our country, closest to the US border.
More people means more houses, more buildings, more roads and more parking lots, so it’s not surprising tha
t 70 percent of Canada’s wildlife species at risk also occupies this region along our southern border.
Wetlands are filled in, forests are cut down, grasslands are converted to agricultural use. As a result, many of Canada’s plant and animal species are in danger of losing their habitat. When human development encroaches on wilderness areas, species can become threatened because they don’t have enough space to live, find food and reproduce.
An organization that is working hard to save important habitat lands is the Nature Conservancy of Canada. NCC is a national organization that is “dedicated to preserving ecologically significant areas” in every part of the country. When an important type of habitat is threatened, NCC moves in to help. Of course, no one can save every piece of wilderness land, so NCC concentrates on the most ecologically significant areas. To decide which areas are most important, NCC relies on conservation science.
When an ecologically diverse area has been identified by scientists, NCC works with local people and environmental groups to help preserve this important habitat. One way it does this is by helping property owners to remain on their land and preserve it as a conservation easement.
A conservation easement means that the owner agrees to certain restrictions on the land, such as never subdividing it and not allowing the trees to be cut down or new construction to be built. In some cases, ranchers can also sell their land to NCC and then lease back a portion of it. Conservation easements allow ranching families to remain on their land and continue to work it. At the same time they help preserve the area for native plants and animals.
One of NCC’s biggest successes is the Waterton Lake Front Project in southwestern Alberta. Land adjacent to Waterton Lakes National Park has been preserved for indigenous species that include grizzly bears and trumpeter swans. NCC worked with the W. Garfield Weston Foundation to create a large conservation easement and, at the same time, help landowners preserve their land.
Nature Conservancy Canada also works closely with a larger organization, the Nature Conservancy.
The Nature Conservancy has projects all over the United States, North America and the world. Like NCC, one way the Nature Conservancy works to preserve habitat is by conservation easements.
Learn more about Nature Conservancy Canada and find out what projects are happening near your home by checking out its website at www.natureconservancy.ca.
You can find information on the Nature Conservancy and its projects around North America and the world at www.nature.org.
More about
grizzlies
Grizzly bears are large animals that require a huge range for each individual. Depending upon the amount of food available, a female grizzly may have a range of up to 1000 square kilometers. A grizzly’s range is easily disturbed by development. On the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, human pressures and habitat loss threaten the bears’ existence. But grizzlies still survive in Banff National Park and areas surrounding the park in Alberta.
A ranch like the one in Alberta Alibi could be part of a grizzly’s range. The Eastern Slope Grizzly Bear Project (ESGBP) is studying grizzlies on the eastern slopes of the Rockies so people can learn the best way to manage and conserve these magnificent animals.
For more information on the ESGBP and on grizzly bears, go to the website at www.canadianrockies.net/Grizzly.
Trumpeter
swans
Trumpeters are the largest species of swan. They were once abundant in North America, but their numbers dwindled when they were shot for their feathers and their meat. They are now a protected species.
Trumpeter swans winter in wet areas of British Columbia, Washington and northern Oregon. Most migrate in spring to nest in places such as Alaska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Alberta and the Yukon. Safe wetlands, such as “Swan Pond” in Alberta Alibi, help trumpeter swans find sufficient food and reproduce. The good news is that conservation projects to help preserve trumpeter swan habitat are increasing their numbers from near extinction.
For more information on trumpeter swans, go to www.trumpeterswansociety.org/.
Dayle Campbell Gaetz is the author of two other thrilling mysteries featuring her trio of determined detectives: Mystery From History, an OLA Silver Birch nominee, and Barkerville Gold. Dayle lives in Campbell River, British Columbia.
