“How we gonna get her down, Chief?” Earl asked, looking worried. His pale, sweaty forehead pleated into folds. He nervously smoothed his almost bald head, reemphasizing the red comb-over that had been his look for more years than anyone could count.
Ellie had no idea what to do. She had all kinds of manuals and reference books at the station, and she’d memorized most of them for her captain’s test. There were chapters on murder, mayhem, robberies, and kidnapping, but there wasn’t a damn paragraph devoted to getting a silent child and her snarling wolf pup out of a tree on Main Street. “Anyone see her climb up?”
“Mrs. Grimm. She said the kid was up to no good—maybe lookin’ to steal apples from the barrels out front at the market. When Doc Fischer yelled at her, the girl ran across the street and jumped into the tree.”
“Jumped?” Ellie said. “She’s twenty feet in the air, for God’s sake.”
“I didn’t believe it either, Chief, but several witnesses agreed. They say she ran like the wind, too. Mrs. Grimm crossed herself when she was tellin’ me.”
Ellie felt the start of a headache. By suppertime the whole town would have heard the story of a girl who ran like the wind and jumped into the uppermost limbs of a maple tree. No doubt by then they’d say she could shoot fire from her fingertips and fly from branch to branch.
“We need a plan,” Ellie said, more to herself than anyone else.
“The volunteer fire department got Scamper outta that Doug fir on Peninsula Road.”
“Scamper’s a cat, Earl,” Peanut said, crossing her arms.
“I think I know that, Penelope. It ain’t like we got a protocol for kids stuck in trees. With wolves,” he added for good measure.
Ellie touched the officer’s arm. “It’s a good idea, Earl, but she’s terrified. If she sees that big red ladder coming at her, she might fall.”
Peanut tapped her long, star-spangled purple fingernail against her teeth. A sure sign of deep thought. Finally, she said, “I’ll bet she’s hungry.”
“You think everyone’s hungry,” Cal said.
“I do not.”
“Do, too. How ’bout if I try talking to her, El?” Cal said. “My Sarah is about her age.”
“No. Let me talk to her,” Peanut said. “I’m a mom, after all.”
“I’m a dad.”
“Shut up, you two,” Ellie snapped. “Earl, go to the diner and order me a nice hot meal. Some milk, too. Maybe a slice of Barbara’s apple pie.”
“You’re a genius, Ellie. Mrs. Grimm thought the girl was tryin’ to steal food,” Earl said, grinning broadly. “I seen something like this on one of them cop shows. I think it was—”
“I was the one who mentioned it,” Peanut said, puffing up.
“You always mention food,” Cal said. “It’s hardly noteworthy.”
“And clear the streets,” Ellie cut in before they started up again. “I want everyone gone for a two-block radius.”
Earl’s smile faded. “They won’t wanna go.”
“We’re the law, Earl. Make them go home.”
He looked at her sideways. They both knew he didn’t have much experience with being the law. Although he’d patrolled these streets for decades, he’d spent most of that time going for coffee and handing out parking tickets. “Maybe I should call Myra. Everyone listens to her.”
“You don’t need your wife to clear the streets, Earl. If you have to, start writing tickets. You know how to do that.”
Earl slumped in a hangdog way and headed for the hair salon. When he reached the drugstore, a crowd immediately formed around him. After a moment they groaned loudly.
Peanut crossed her arms and made a clucking sound. “This is the biggest thing to hit town since Raymond Weller drove his car into Thelma’s R.V. You aren’t going to be Miss Popular for making them miss it.”
Ellie looked at her best friend. “Them?”
Peanut’s eyes rounded in disbelief. “Surely you don’t mean me, too?”
“We’ve got a terrified girl up there, Pea, and by the looks of it, something isn’t right with her. Entertaining the folks of Rain Valley—you included—is hardly my first priority. Now you and Cal go back to the station and get me some kind of net. I don’t imagine its going to be easy to catch that poor thing. Call Nick in Mystic. And Ted over on the res. See if a kid got lost in the park today. Cal, you call Mel. He’s probably out by the park entrance, trying to ticket tourists. Tell him to start canvassing the town. She’s not a local kid, but maybe she’s staying with someone.”
“I, for one, can follow orders,” Cal said, heading for the cruiser.
Peanut didn’t move.
“Go,” Ellie said again.
Peanut sighed dramatically. “I’m going.”