“That’s right,” Fatias insisted, turning to include the people around him. “Our wolf troubles all started with that Doctor Monk. He wanted to take a wolf out of the forest and you wouldn’t let him. If he’d taken that wolf away, there’d be one less to worry about, maybe even the one that’s doing all the killing.”

Garrett couldn’t help but glance at Tora. She smiled at him, but he could tell there was no joy behind it. She was worried. They were all worried. “That wolf is not the same one that’s causing the problem here,” he said.

Fatias crossed his arms. “How do you know that?”

How did he know that? He couldn’t very well tell the truth, and it wasn’t in his nature to lie. So all he said was “I just know, that’s all.”

A small laugh coursed through the crowd.

“I say it’s the logging companies!” Gavin Filmore said. He was an older man who’d moved to Redstone from Toronto. He’d come west to enjoy the forests and was against cutting down trees.

Michael Bines, the president of one of the smaller logging firms based in Redstone, stood up. “How is it the logging companies’ fault? We employ more than half the people in this town, and the other half lives off the money that’s earned by the first half.”

“If you weren’t cutting down so many trees,” Gavin said, “the wolves wouldn’t have to come so close to town for food.”

A few people agreed with him, but they were shouted down by the loggers in the room.

“We cut only what we’re allowed,” Michael Bines said. “Pine beetles are killing off the rest…or maybe you want to blame us for that too.”

The pine beetle was devastating British Columbia’s forests, turning whole stands of lush green trees into dry red deadwood. The beetles were a natural enough phenomenon, but years of warmer winters had allowed the insects to spread, unchecked by nature. They were wiping out the forestry industry and people were looking for someone to blame.

“Maybe it is your fault,” Gavin Filmore said.

Michael Bines and the rest of the loggers got up out of their chairs, looking to settle the matter with their fists.

Mayor Magill banged his gavel against the podium, taking charge of the meeting once more. “Settle down, people!” he shouted. “Settle down! This situation is nobody’s fault. Man and nature are coming up against each other. It happens all the time, especially in a place like Redstone that’s smack dab in the middle of one of the greatest forests on Earth. It’s natural is all.”

“Nothing natural about what I seen, Mayor Magoo!” someone catcalled from the back.

“These are mean, sick wolves,” someone else said. “Monster wolves!”

That got the crowd going again.