OUT ON A LIMB Read Free Page A

then pushed back his hair. “No, I’d appreciate a ride. It’s just been—well, a bad day, and now this. I’ll get my backpack and wait here for you.” We watched him walk over to his condo and enter it.
    Luanne and I resumed walking. A few people were heading in the same direction, but an equal number were coming the opposite way, now more interested in getting home than in staring at an elderly woman on a platform in a tree. The rednecks were milling around at the edge of the pavement, mumbling among themselves and, I hoped, tiring of the situation. The Farberville Green Party postured near the tree, clearly prepared to bash anyone who might dare to approach. The security officer had managed to evaporate for the time being. Where he’d found refuge was hard to determine, but I doubted his presence would do anything to help.
    “Miss Parchester?” I called as we arrived at the nowinfamous tree. “It’s Claire Malloy.”
    Her pink face, ringed with fluffy white hair, appeared at the edge of the platform. “How delightful of you to drop by, Claire. I’d offer you a cup of tea, but I cannot allow anyone to join me up here. You would, I think, enjoy the view, especially now. I can see the towers of Old Main as they are silhouetted in the rosy hues of the sunset. I wish I’d thought to bring my watercolors and a pad.”
    “I need to come up there,” I said flatly.
    Finnigan Baybergen moved in as though I’d brandished a chain saw. “Miss Parchester has chosen to hold a solitary vigil. No one will be allowed to join her.”
    Luanne poked him so hard he nearly fell backward. “Listen here, buddy, if you don’t back off, I’ll back you off the bluff. Miss Parchester is not a poster child for your movement. She is more than capable of deciding for herself if she does or does not wish to entertain guests on this thing you’ve built.”
    “We had a meeting last night,” he said as he rubbed his shoulder.
    “I don’t care if your meeting was in Yalta.”
    “Actually, it was at the Unitarian Center.”
    Luanne advanced again on him. “And you drew straws to determine who would risk his or her life to sit in a tree? What about you, Assistant Professor Baybergen? Afraid of heights?”
    I ignored both of them. “Why can’t I join you, Miss Parchester?”
    “I really don’t see why not,” she said, looking a bit confused. “It’s not as if you’re going to drag me down, is it?”
    “No, I promise I won’t do that. I’d just like to make sure you’re safe up there. Why don’t you drop the ladder and allow me to join you for a few minutes?”
    A dubious contraption of rope and wooden crosspieces tumbled off the platform. I reminded myself that Miss Parchester, who was at least thirty years older than I, had used it to scramble up.
    I may have been breathing heavily when I reached the platform, but I was reasonably calm. Miss Parchester helped me crawl away from the edge, then hauled up the ladder, squeezed my hand, and said, “This is so very kind of you, Claire. I must admit this is a bit stressful. Finnigan has done everything he can to assure my comfort and safety, but…”
    “Are you sure this is what you want to do, Miss Parchester? Perhaps Finnigan or one of the other Green Party brigade ought to be here. Why did you agree to do this?”
    “How about a nice cup of tea? I have this darling little propane stove. It won’t take a minute to heat a kettle of water.”
    “Why you?” I persisted.
    “Because I believe in the cause, my dear. We must pass along a proud heritage to the next generation, and the generations to come. How would you feel if you knew your grandchildren would spend their lives surrounded by asphalt? The Earth is precious, and we must fight to preserve it—trees, fields, birds, rivers free of pollutants that cause diseases, expanses of clover and black-eyed Susans, deer and foxes coexisting with domesticated animals. How can we sit at home and allow this to be destroyed by