The Animal Defense Fund supporters started following Betsy’s orders. They moved back, spreading out as they walked.
At this point, Jeannie spoke up. “You leave, too, Betsy. You’ve got more important things to do than sit in jail. We need you to stop this same thing from happening again in two weeks at Willow Creek. I’m the one who blew the whistle on them and started this. So I should be the one to get arrested.”
With that, Jeannie plopped down right where she stood. She had sounded brave enough, but she was terribly frightened. What would happen to her? Would she really get arrested? How had she ever gotten herself into this mess?
Betsy started to speak, glanced at the nearby photographer who was moving in quickly with his camera, and seemed to think better of it. She grinned at Jeannie, and said, “Go for it!”
Was this really happening? At least one part of Jeannie’s mind had been certain Betsy would never let her do this. As Betsy walked off with the others, Jeannie saw Geoff and Chester exchange looks. Then they sat down, cross-legged, on either side of Jeannie. They linked arms, looked nervously at one another, and waited.
A uniformed policeman, looking enormously tall from where Jeannie sat hunched down on the dirt, loomed over her and the two boys. He stood staring at them while from the outside perimeter of the field, Jeannie heard a steady chanting from the Animal Defense picketers. “Re-lo-ca-tion. Re-lo-ca-tion.”
“All right, kids. Move along,” the police officer said.
“No, sir,” Jeannie responded politely. “I can’t let those men poison the prairie dogs. That’s wrong. We’re staying put.”
“You’ll either move,” the officer said firmly, as his three fellow officers stepped up and joined him, “or we’ll have to arrest you. Just let these men do their job.”
Looking first at Geoff and then at Chester, Jeannie said, “If you guys want to leave, it’s okay. But I’m staying.”
Chester licked his lips, and his eyes behind his glasses looked especially large, but he simply stared straight ahead and said nothing. Geoff shook his head.
Two officers approached from the back, lifted Chester under the armpits, and raised him upright. It couldn’t have been hard, because he was a skinny kid. He made no effort to stand, but left his legs limp. The officers easily dragged him to the patrol car and put him in the back seat. Officer Brannon and his partner did the same thing with Geoff, leaving Jeannie sitting all alone in the field.
Jeannie wondered why they took the boys first. Did they think she would chicken out? Well, she wouldn’t. For a moment, Jeannie felt a twinge of panic. She was about to be arrested! She’d have a criminal record! She suddenly became conscious of Ryan Watson, pointing his finger at her and snickering while elbowing his brother, Bobby.
Then in the distance, Jeannie saw a prairie dog pop up. He cocked his head, taking in the scene. For an instant, Jeannie caught his bright, curious eyes, and her resolve returned. It was worth getting arrested for these defenseless animals.
Mark Hathaway came walking up to her. “Miss,” he said. “Why don’t you just stand up and leave? This is no way for a young lady to act. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“I think you’re wrong, Mr. Hathaway,” Jeannie said calmly and saw the look of surprise on his face when she called him by name. “I’m acting this way to try to save these helpless prairie dogs. I’m proud to do it. In my opinion, it’s Keelor Construction that should be ashamed today.”
Mr. Hathaway got red in the face and abruptly turned away. Officer Brannon and his partner came back and hoisted Jeannie to her feet. Jeannie tried to carry her sign with her, but one of the officers pulled it from her hands. He tossed it onto the dirt. One on each side, they briskly walked her to the patrol car so fast Jeannie almost had to run to keep up. Once they had folded her inside the back seat, Jeannie watched as Ryan Watson picked up her sign and tore it in two before dropping it again and stepping on the pieces.
The police car bounced slowly across the dirt field and bumped over the curb back onto the pavement. Jeannie turned to look out the rear window in time to see workmen beginning to hook up long hoses to ominous looking canisters. She turned away and shuddered. Watching the actual poisoning couldn’t have been much worse than the scene she was imagining inside her head.
Chapter Seven
At the police station, the arresting officers turned Jeannie and the boys over to a booking officer. They whispered something to a detective who laughed. Then they left. Apparently they thought this whole thing was a big joke.
The officer behind the desk at the station took Jeannie’s name, address, and phone number as well as that of Geoff and Chester, and then led the three of them to an empty room, where he seated them at a gray table.
“You’ll need to wait here,” he said, not unkindly. “You’re lucky. The construction company doesn’t want to file formal charges, so you won’t have anything on your record, and you’ll be released to your parents with a warning. As soon as we contact them, I’m sure someone will be down to get you right away.” The officer left, closing the door behind him.
“Thanks for sticking with me,” Jeannie said to the boys as soon as they were alone. “It got pretty scary there.”
“No kidding,” Chester admitted. His small chest puffed out a little as he spoke.
“I think we did the right thing,” Geoff said, “but did it do any good? What do you think is going on out there right now?”
“They’re poisoning the prairie dogs,” Jeannie said. Her voice was matter-of-fact, but her eyes felt wet. “We didn’t save even one of them.”
For a moment, the three sat, silent and glum.
“What’s our next move?” asked Geoff.
“Yeah. We’ve got two weeks max to save the others. What’s the plan?” Chester asked.
Jeannie managed a crooked smile and felt a little better. She knew she had two allies who weren’t ready to give up, either.
“I don’t know,” Jeannie said. “Those exterminators will be showing up again at Willow Creek, and we found out today that a dozen people carrying signs won’t stop them.”
“There was a reporter taking pictures,” Chester said. “If he prints a story in the paper, maybe more people will come out. That might help.”
“I don’t think so,” Jeannie said. “Even if we double our numbers, that won’t stop the construction company. There’s got to be some other way. I’ll talk to Betsy, the woman from the Animal Defense Fund. Maybe she’ll have some ideas.” They fell silent again.
Chester’s father was the first to arrive. He didn’t say a word to Jeannie or Geoff but led his son out the door. He was obviously upset, talking loud and fast, and not letting Chester get a word in. Jeannie felt guilty. If it hadn’t been for her, Chester would never have been arrested.
A few minutes later, Jeannie’s father came. She jumped up and hugged him tight. For a moment, neither spoke. “Let’s go home, honey,” he finally said to Jeannie.
“Why don’t we wait a minute until someone comes for Geoff,” Jeannie suggested. “I don’t want to leave him alone.”
“That’s okay,” Geoff said. “My mom will be here soon.”
But Jeannie and her dad waited until Mrs. Yegian appeared, out of breath, and looking flustered. All four of them left the station together.
Jeannie had to admit that her mom and dad were pretty reasonable about her arrest, all things considered. First she sat down with them at the kitchen table at home and explained exactly what had happened.
When she finished, her mother gave her a hug and said, “Good for you.” Then she put on the kettle to make a pot of tea and started to fix sandwiches. “You must be hungry. It’s been quite a morning.”
“I’m proud of you, Jeannie. You stood up for what you believe in,” her father said.
“Actually, I sat down,” Jeannie tried to joke.
&n
bsp; But her parents were not in a joking mood. Neither of them scolded her nor made her promise not to behave like this again. But in spite of their supportive words, they both looked distressed and worried.
It was her father who finally asked, “What about Willow Creek, Jeannie? Are you going to be doing this again?”
“No,” Jeannie said, and she heard her mother give a little sigh of relief. Jeannie looked across the room to the corkboard and stared at the picture of Whistler that was tacked there. “I won’t protest that way again, but I’m not giving up,” she added quickly. “There’s got to be a better way. I have some hard thinking to do.”
After lunch, Jeannie called up Betsy Keasley and got her answering machine. “Hi, Betsy. It’s Jeannie. I wanted you to know that all three jailbirds are out. We’re wondering what we can do about Willow Creek. Call me.”
__________
That afternoon, Jeannie tried to put her arrest and the prairie dogs out of her mind as she looked forward to Mary Jo’s birthday dinner party. She felt wrung out from the whole ordeal. She took a long, hot shower and washed her hair. Dressed in her robe, she surveyed the contents of her closet. Jeannie finally decided on blue velour pants and a white top made out of some sort of shiny material. She laid them on the bed.
By a quarter of six, when her mother came to Jeannie’s room to see if she wanted a ride, she was ready. “You look very pretty,” her mother said. She took a deep breath. “You smell nice, too.” Then with a mischievous twinkle in her eye she added, “No one will ever guess you’re a jailbird.”
Jeannie laughed and suddenly realized it was the first time she’d laughed all day. Life had become way too serious.
“If you need a ride home, call,” her mother said as she dropped Jeannie off in front of Mary Jo’s house.
Mary Jo answered the door, with Karen standing right behind her. The first thing Jeannie noticed was that Mary Jo wasn’t wearing glasses. She also had a new hairstyle. Instead of her usual long, dark braid, her hair was parted at the side and pulled back with a fancy barrette. The change was striking.
“Hey!” Jeannie said, looking intently at her friend’s face. “Have you got your contacts in, Mary Jo? I can’t see them. You look great!”
Mary Jo beamed. “Yeah. I love ‘em!”
“Happy birthday,” Jeannie said, and handed her a package. Jeannie noticed that Karen had changed, too. Her long dark hair had been cut short, making her big brown eyes look even bigger. She wore a soft pink blouse.
“Hi, Jeannie,” Karen said. “Come on in.”
“What happened to the prairie dogs?” Mary Jo asked immediately.
“I’ll tell you later,” Jeannie promised. She felt grateful that her friend wanted to know all about the protest, and she was bursting to tell her everything. But she was uncomfortable talking about being carted off to jail in front of Mary Jo’s parents.
The three girls went into the living room where Mr. Matthews sat in front of the TV set. He quickly switched it off. “Glad you could come tonight and help us celebrate,” he said.
Mrs. Matthews served dinner almost immediately, and, as they ate, the conversation was mostly carried by Karen, who told stories about college life, making it sound like a sitcom.
Jeannie kept sneaking peeks at Mary Jo, who looked really different without her glasses. Finally, Mary Jo caught her staring. “What?” she asked.
Jeannie laughed. “Sorry. I’m just getting used to the new you.”
For dessert, Mrs. Matthews carried in a homemade chocolate cake with thirteen candles on it. After the cake, Mary Jo opened her presents.
Jeannie felt a surge of satisfaction when Mary Jo hugged her new book and said, “Thanks! I really wanted this!”
“All right,” Karen said after all the gifts had been opened. “Into the living room, birthday girl. Mom, I’ll do the cleanup.” Mrs. Matthews protested, but not too hard.
“I’ll help,” Jeannie added. She needed time to talk with Karen about Mary Jo’s auditioning for the Extravaganza.
As Karen and Jeannie scraped and rinsed plates, Jeannie quickly told Karen about the Extravaganza. “If you tell her what a good idea it is, she’ll audition,” Jeannie concluded. “And if she auditions, I know she’ll be in the show. She’s got a great voice.”
“You’re right about that,” Karen said. “I’ll give it my best shot.”
When everything was cleaned up and the dishwasher was running, Karen and Jeannie joined the others.
“Let’s go up to my room,” Mary Jo suggested to her sister and Jeannie, “so mom and dad can watch their favorite TV show.”
Once upstairs, Jeannie and Mary Jo plopped on the bed while Karen sat on the blue shag carpet and looked up at them. She cut right to the chase.
“Jeannie’s been telling me about the Extravaganza,” Karen said. “I can still remember what a big deal that was when I in middle school. You’ve got to audition for it, Mary Jo.”
“You remember the Extravaganza?” asked Mary Jo. “You mean they held it way back then?”
“Right,” Karen said, with a hint of sarcasm. “Way back then, in the olden days. Five whole years ago!”
“Were you in it?” Mary Jo asked.
“Yes, I was,” Karen said. “I played the piano in a classical trio. You were just a little squirt and couldn’t stay up that late, so you stayed home with a babysitter. But you’ve definitely got to audition. It’s a family tradition.”
“No way,” Mary Jo said. “They’d never pick me. Besides, it’s too late. Yesterday was the last day to sign up, and I wasn’t even at school.” Jeannie took heart at the fact that Mary Jo sounded a little bit wistful.
Somewhat timidly, Jeannie said, “It’s not too late, Mary Jo. Because I signed you up.”
“You what!” said Mary Jo. She whirled around and faced Jeannie.
“Friday afternoon during lunch hour, I signed your name to the list. So you’d better pick a song.”
Mary Jo’s mouth hung slightly open as she stood staring at Jeannie. “Wait just a minute,” she said. “You signed my name? How dare you do that! I told you I was not auditioning and that was final.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jeannie said, feeling trapped inside. “But—”
“No ‘buts’ about it. I can’t believe that my best friend would do such a thing.”
This was the final straw for Jeannie. She almost burst into tears. First, she’d failed the prairie dogs and been hauled off to jail. Now her best friend was furious with her.
“Uh,” Karen interrupted, “is this a private fight, or can I say something?”
“What!” Mary Jo snapped, her eyes still blazing.
“Jeannie shouldn’t have signed your name, but she did it because she is your best friend. She knows what a great voice you have and how shy you are. She was just trying to give you a chance to shine. Now you’ve got that chance. Take it!
“But that’s . . . that’s . . . that’s forgery!”
“I guess it is,” Jeannie admitted. “But you weren’t there to sign it yourself, and I wanted you to have a chance to audition. You’re so good you just have to be in the show.”
For a moment, Mary Jo said nothing.
“Hey,” Jeannie said. “I’m sorry, Honest, I am. But won’t you audition? Please?”
Mary Jo looked from Jeannie to Karen.
“I’ll help you pick out a song and I’ll practice with you tomorrow,” Karen promised.
“And I’ll play for you at the Extravaganza and practice whenever you want,” Jeannie added.
“Oh, all right,” Mary Jo finally said. “They’ll never pick me anyway.”
Karen and Jeannie both flung their arms around her.
Jeannie felt joy surge through her. At least one impossible thing had been accomplished today. Mary Jo was going to sing. Could a second miracle happen? C
ould the prairie dogs be saved?
“But you’re lucky,” Mary Jo said to Jeannie. “What you did was forgery. And that’s against the law. People go to jail for that.”
“You’re right, it was forgery,” Jeannie said, “and I guess you’d be within your rights to have me arrested. But you see, I’ve already been dragged off to jail once today.”
“What!” Mary Jo nearly shrieked.
“It’s a long story,” Jeannie said, and then she told her eager listeners about her morning prairie dog poisoning protest.
“Wow!” Karen said when Jeannie was finished.
“Will you picket again at Willow Creek?” Mary Jo asked. Jeannie couldn’t tell from her tone of voice whether Mary Jo was fearful or hopeful that she’d have a chance to take part.
“No,” Jeannie said. “Our protest didn’t work.”
“So what will you do?” Karen asked. Jeannie shrugged, and the unanswered question hung in the air.
Chapter Eight
When Jeannie walked into the kitchen on Sunday morning, her mother handed her the front page of the newspaper revealing a large picture above the fold.
There she was in living color, sitting alone in the middle of the dirt field, holding her “Save the Prairie Dogs” sign, while Mark Hathaway, hands on hips, lectured her. In the background, two officers dragged Geoff to the waiting police car. Beneath the picture, it said, “Prairie Dog Protest. Story on page 1C.”
Jeannie felt half-embarrassed and half-proud as she looked at her picture. Then all of yesterday’s fears came rushing back along with feelings of rage and helplessness.
“The story about the poisoning gets pretty ugly, honey,” her mother said sympathetically. “I guess you have to read it—but I wish you didn’t.”
Jeannie made herself turn to page 1C where there were three additional pictures: Chester and Geoff peering out the windows of the police car; Betsy Keasley standing nose to nose with an angry-looking Mr. Watson, flanked by Bobby and Ryan; and men in coveralls standing near trucks of the pest control company with a wide-angle view of the field in the background. In that picture, bundles of fur were scattered about, bundles too small and too far away to be clearly identified. Jeannie knew what they were: dead and dying prairie dogs.
Stand Up and Whistle Page 6
