Heads swiveled. I looked behind me and saw a man in a worn leather vest and wide brimmed hat, standing in the middle of one of the rows. He had a shaggy beard and deep lines around his eyes.
“Who’s that?” I asked Josiah.
“Harvey Johnston. He’s not exactly all there. Used to hate the squirrels but now he builds them tiny picnic tables and stuff.”
“Thank you, Harvey,” Mayor Bill said, raising his hand in a placating gesture. “We all know you and the squirrels have had your differences. But the past is in the past.”
Harvey nodded gravely and took his seat.
I leaned closer to Josiah again. “It was just two squirrels. I’m surprised the town is so serious about this.”
“Who knows with these people.”
“At this time, I’d like to open the floor for comments and ideas for what we can do to address the situation,” Mayor Bill said.
“I have an idea,” someone said.
“Go ahead, Earl.”
“We build a squirrel zoo. Then we can round them all up and keep them in an enclosure.”
“Good idea,” someone else called out. “Then we can charge admission.”
“Okay, that’s an idea,” Mayor Bill said. “We’re brainstorming, folks, so we’ll sort through the ins and outs later. How about you, Miss Hembree, I see your hand raised.”
“What if we outfit them with tiny bulletproof vests?”
“Huh, okay. I’m not sure if we think there’s much danger of the squirrels being shot.” He turned to Sheriff Cordero. “What do you think, Sheriff?”
He shook his head. “We’re not concerned about gun violence against squirrels at this time.”
“All right, good to know. Thank you, Sheriff. If you couldn’t hear that, folks, there’s not a reason to be concerned about gun violence against the squirrels. Anyone else?” He pointed. “Fiona Bailey.”
“I just want to say we can’t put them in a zoo or an enclosure. They need to be free.”
“That’s good feedback, Fiona, thank you.” He pointed to another person in the crowd. “Go ahead, Mrs. Doolittle.”
A tiny old lady in a pink house coat stood. I’d talked to her at the Mountain Man Festival. “We could ask the firefighters for their help. They’re a group of big, strong men. I’m sure they could keep the squirrels safe.”
“Thanks for that, Mrs. Doolittle. Your admiration of the fire department is well known and appreciated.”
Josiah leaned closer. “Mavis Doolittle has a thing for firefighters. She used to call in false reports just to get them to come to her house until they threatened to fine her.”
“Anyone else?” Mayor Bill asked. “Go ahead, Harvey, did you have something else to add?”
Harvey stood and took off his hat, placing it against his chest. Oddly, he looked right at me. “We form a squirrel protection squad.”
The mayor nodded slowly, as if he were digesting the idea. “I like that, Harvey. That has potential. We could get volunteers to run patrols. It wouldn’t be foolproof, but some action is better than none at all. What do you think, Sheriff?”
I couldn’t tell if Sheriff Cordero looked amused or irritated or a combination of both. “If you want to form a volunteer squirrel protection squad, you’re more than welcome. Just make sure everyone knows not to interfere with our investigation.”
“Will do, Sheriff. All right, folks, we’ll get a sign-up form going for those interested in running some patrols.”
“Can we get t-shirts?” someone asked from the back.
“We can look into that, sure.”
Mayor Bill finished up with a few more announcements—unrelated to squirrels—before thanking everyone for coming. A line formed at the front where someone had started a signup sheet for people interested in the squirrel protection squad.
“They’re really serious about this, aren’t they?” I asked.
“Only in Tilikum,” Josiah said with a shake of his head.
Paul and Marlene stood. I noticed Paul give Marlene a quick kiss on the cheek. It was very cute.
“That went well,” Marlene said.
Paul’s brow furrowed in a scowl. It reminded me a lot of Josiah. “I’m just glad they’re not laying the blame on us. Besides, they’re just a bunch of rodents. Don’t know why we have to worry about protecting them.”
Marlene put her hand on his arm. “We both know that’s not all they’re doing. Forming a group to protect the squirrels is just an excuse to get the townsfolk involved in protecting Audrey. Everyone is shook up over what happened to her. They want to do something about it.”