Tora felt all the strength drain out of her body. Brad Horton was a pro. He’d won awards in all sorts of provincial drama competitions and he’d acted in several television shows shot in and around Redstone and Vancouver. He was the best actor in the school, and he was going to make Maria’s performance that much better.

“Don’t worry,” said Michael. “She might be auditioning with Brad, but she’ll still be Maria Abruzzo. Nothing’s going to change that sad little fact.”

A hint of a smile crept onto Tora’s face. Then she looked at Michael and laughed. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Come on,” she said, taking him by the hand.

“Where are we going?”

“To the library. We’ve got to practice.”

* * *

The pack had just stepped off the school bus and were on their way to the house when Ranger Brock pulled up in his 4 × 4.

“Willie Greene’s holding a press conference in half an hour,” he said through the open window. “I thought you guys might want to be there to hear what he has to say.”

“We sure would,” said Noble.

Harlan pumped a fist into the air. “Anything to put off math homework for a while.”

“I’m with you on that,” agreed Argus.

Tora said nothing. She was too busy reading lines from a book of plays to comment, but she followed her brothers into the ranger’s vehicle.

“Are they expecting a lot of media there?” Harlan asked from the backseat as they got under way.

The ranger shrugged. “Willie said he’d been e-mailing newspapers and radio stations all day long. Not a lot of them got back to him, but he’s thinking most reporters will just show up for the press conference.”

“That doesn’t sound very promising,” said Argus.

Noble nodded. “We’re a long way from anywhere with a decent-sized newspaper or radio station.”

“That’s true, but in this day and age, it only takes one reporter to get the word out,” said Ranger Brock. “Besides, Donna Hughson is starting a website for the protest and she needs Willie’s press conference to provide some content for it.”

That made sense. In the era of the World Wide Web it was possible for a single digital camera to record the audio and video of an event, and once that footage was uploaded onto a website, any news outlet in the world would have access to it in order to use it in any way they wished.

“A website, huh?” said Harlan. “I guess she’s not as old fashioned as she looks.”