Mr. Muckle stewed. "This is ridiculous-Branitt, do what I told you. Get that kid outta my sight!"
The foreman backed away. "Not me. I don't much care for snakes."
"Really? Then you're fired." Once again the vice-president turned to confront Officer Delinko. "Make yourself useful. Shoot the damn things."
"No, sir, not around all these people. Too dangerous."
The policeman approached the boy and dropped to one knee.
"How'd you get here?" he asked.
"Hopped the fence last night. Then I hid under the backhoe," the boy said. "You walked right past me about five times."
"You're the one who painted my patrol car last week?"
"No comment."
"And ran away from the hospital?"
"Double no comment," the boy said.
"And hung your green shirt on my antenna?"
"Man, you don't understand. The owls got no chance against those machines."
"I do understand. I honestly do," Officer Delinko said. "One more question: You serious about the cottonmouths?"
"Serious as a heart attack."
"Can I have a look in the bucket?"
The boy's eyes flickered. "It's your funeral," he said.
Roy whispered to Beatrice: "We've gotta do something quick. Those snakes aren't real."
"Oh, great."
As the policeman approached the tin bucket, Beatrice shouted, "Don't do it! You might get bit-"
Officer Delinko didn't flinch. He peeked over the rim for what seemed to Roy and Beatrice like an eternity.
Jig's up, Roy thought glumly. No way he won't notice they're fake.
Yet the patrolman didn't say a word as he backed away from the bucket.
"Well?" Mr. Muckle demanded. "What do we do?"
"Kid's for real. If I were you, I'd negotiate," said Officer Delinko.
"Ha! I don't negotiate with juvenile delinquents." With a snarl, Chuck Muckle snatched the gold-painted shovel from Councilman Grandy's hands and charged toward the bucket.
"Don't!" hollered the boy in the owl hole, spitting the string.
But the man from Mother Paula's was unstoppable. With a wild swing of the shovel he knocked over the bucket, and commenced flailing and hacking at the snakes in a blind, slobbering fury. He didn't stop until they were in pieces.
Little rubber pieces.
Exhausted, Chuck Muckle leaned over and squinted at the mutilated toy snakes. His expression reflected both disbelief and humiliation.
"What in the world?" he wheezed.
During the violent attack on the cottonmouths, the crowd had oooh-ed and aaah-ed. Now the only sounds to be heard were the click-click-click of the news photographer's camera and the panting of the Mother Paula's vice-president.
"Hey, them snakes're fake!" Curly piped. "They ain't even real."
Roy leaned toward Beatrice and whispered, "Another Einstein."
Chuck Muckle pivoted in slow motion. Ominously he pointed the blade of the shovel at the boy in the owl burrow.
"You!" he bellowed, stalking forward.
Roy jumped in front of him.
"Outta my way, kid," Chuck Muckle said. "I don't have time for any more of your nonsense. Move it now!"
It was clear that the Mother Paula's bigshot had totally lost his cool, and possibly his marbles.
"What're you doing?" Roy asked, knowing he probably wouldn't get a calm, patient answer.
"I said, Get outta my way! I'm gonna dig that little twerp out of the ground myself."
Beatrice Leep darted forward and stood next to Roy, taking his right hand. An anxious murmur swept through the crowd.
"Aw, that's real cute. Just like Romeo and Juliet," Chuck Muckle taunted. He dropped his voice and said, "Game over, kiddies. On the count of three, I'm going to start using this shovel-or better yet, how about I get Baldy over here to crank up the bulldozer?"
The foreman scowled. "Thought you said I was fired."
Out of nowhere, somebody grabbed Roy's left hand-it was Garrett, his skateboard tucked under one arm. Three of his skateboarding homeys were lined up beside him.
"What're you guys doing?" Roy said.
"Skippin' school," Garrett replied merrily, "but, dude, this looks like way more fun."
Roy turned to see that Beatrice had been joined by the entire soccer team, linking arms in a silent chain. They were tall, strong girls who weren't the least bit intimidated by Chuck Muckle's blustery threats.
Chuck Muckle realized it, too. "Stop this foolishness right now!" he begged. "There's no need for an ugly mob scene."
Roy watched in wonderment as more and more kids slipped out of the crowd and began joining hands, forming a human barricade around Beatrice's self-buried stepbrother. None of the parents made a move to stop them.
The TV cameraman announced that the demonstration was being broadcast live on the noon news, while the photographer from the paper swooped in for a close-up of Mr. Muckle, looking drained, defeated, and suddenly very old. He braced himself on the ceremonial shovel as if it were a cane.
"Didn't any of you people hear me?" he rasped. "This event is over! Done! You can all go home now."
The mayor, Councilman Grandy, and the man from the chamber of commerce stealthily retreated to their limousine, while Leroy Branitt plodded off to his trailer in search of a cold beer. Officer Delinko leaned against the fence, writing up a report.
Roy was in an eerie yet tranquil daze.
Some girl started singing a famous old folk song called "This Land Is Your Land." It was Beatrice, of all people, and her voice was surprisingly lovely and soft. Before long, the other kids were singing along, too. Roy shut his eyes and felt like he was floating on the sunny slope of a cloud.
"Excuse me, hotshot. Got room for one more?"
Roy blinked open his eyes and broke into a grin.
"Yes, ma'am," he said.
Mother Paula stepped between him and Garrett to join the circle. Her voice was gravelly, but she could carry a tune just fine.
The demonstration went on for another hour. Two other TV crews showed up, along with a couple of extra Coconut Cove police cruisers, summoned by Officer Delinko.
Chuck Muckle exhorted the newly arrived lawmen to arrest the protesters for trespassing, truancy, and disturbing the peace. The suggestion was firmly rejected, a sergeant informing Mr. Muckle that handcuffing a bunch of middle-school kids wouldn't be good for the public safety department's image.
The situation remained fairly stable until the flamboyant arrival of Lonna Leep, who'd spotted her son on the TV news. She was all dressed up like she'd been invited to a party, and she wasn't the least bit shy about sticking her nose in front of the cameras. Roy overheard her tell a reporter how proud she was of her boy, risking his freedom to save the poor helpless owls.
"He's my brave little champion!" Lonna crowed obnoxiously.
With a phony squeal of affection, she charged toward the wall of humanity that encircled her son. Beatrice ordered everyone to lock arms, blocking Lonna's path.
There was one hairy moment when Lonna and her stepdaughter stood glowering at each other, eye to eye, as if they were about to tangle. Garrett broke the standoff with a phenomenal fake fart that sent Lonna reeling backward in horror.
Roy nudged Beatrice. "Look up there!"
Overhead, a small dusky-colored bird was flying in marvelous daring corkscrews. Roy and Beatrice watched in delight as it banked lower and lower, finishing with a radical dive toward the burrow at the center of the circle.
Everybody whirled to see where the bird had landed. All of a sudden the singing stopped.
There was Mullet Fingers, trying not to giggle, the daredevil owl perched calmly on the crown of his head.
"Don't worry, little guy," the boy said. "You're safe for now."