“It was a big hurricane too, the likes of which Glimmer Creek hasn’t seen since. It was a Miracle we got back to shore alive,” Charlie finished.
“Yeah, we get it,” Cam muttered. “You were Miracled a million years ago.”
Arthur squinted up at the sky. “Expect it will rain in the next hour. Best get this movie business done quick.”
Rosie’s pulse hiccupped. Rain would ruin everything. “Henry, can you please hurry? We’ve got to get this rolling,” she yelled.
Cam pulled Rosie out of the Blue brothers’ earshot back beneath the tree. “Relax. It’s not going to rain.” She gestured to the patches of blue between the leaves. “There isn’t a cloud in the sky.”
“The Blue brothers are always right about the weather,” Rosie protested.
“Do you honestly believe that?” Cam asked, shifting on her cleats. “Maybe they just watch the weather radar every day.”
“The Channel Four weatherman uses a radar and gets the forecast wrong all the time. The Blue brothers never do. Mama said Mayor Grant only calls out the snowplows when they tell him to expect a couple inches,” Rosie said.
Cam shrugged. Why wasn’t she agreeing with Rosie? The air around them thickened as if a dense fog had seeped beneath the canopy of leaves.
“Hey, guys,” Henry whisper-yelled from above. “Did you ever think you’re both right? The Blue brothers could watch the radar and have Miracled powers. It’s like how beetles have wings same as other bugs but are also different because they only use their hind wings to fly since their forewings form elytra.” Henry closed his eyes. “Oh wow, I’m a little light-headed.”
Cam and Rosie looked at Henry, then at each other, and grinned. It was impossible not to smile when Henry used his weird bug logic to convince you of something.
Cam nodded up at the sky. “Rain or not, the movie is going to be great. I don’t know anyone else who could think up this cool of an opening scene except for you.”
Rosie’s cheeks warmed at Cam’s praise. “Let’s get the set ready.”
Rosie and Cam jogged back to the camcorder. Eight of the nine Nelson children were also gathered nearby and pointed at the tree, bouncing around like grasshoppers. Mr. Willis, who ran the Glimmer Creek Museum of Extraordinary Artifacts, and Mr. Waverman, the postman, had stopped walking and stared up at Henry. The Blue brothers readjusted their canes to get more comfortable.
“Can you please move out of the way,” Cam said in a loud voice to the crowd.
“That’s the problem with an open set,” Rosie whispered. “Ignore them.”
Henry inched his way out on the limb and grasped the rope, which he had looped and knotted around the tree. His skin had taken on a distinct greenish cast.
“Ready?” Rosie called to Henry.
“You’re sure this will hold me?” Henry said.
“Ropes don’t always hold,” Arthur said unhelpfully.
“Rope on the Blue Dolphin was triple knotted, but it still blew off,” Bill cautioned.
“Miracle we ever survived,” Charlie said.
“Oh brother,” Cam exclaimed a bit too loudly.
“Quiet on the set,” Rosie bellowed.
The murmuring of the makeshift audience ceased. Rosie leaned down and switched on the microphone and audio recorder. This was it, her big opening scene. Finger hovering over the record button, Rosie called out her favorite word, “Action!”
Henry pushed off from the limb, the rope gripped in his fists. For a second he dangled above them, not moving. His hands started to slide as the limb buckled. With a giant crack, the limb split off from the trunk.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Henry screamed as he plummeted and crashed into the dirt with a terrific bang!
Rosie rushed over to Henry, her heart pounding. The fallen limb had cracked the seat of a nearby bench but luckily missed Henry entirely. He was already sitting up. Rosie would have breathed a sigh of relief if she hadn’t caught sight of a determined figure in a lemon-colored dress and a matching turban coming up the left-hand side of the park. She was moving slowly, but she was moving right toward them. It was Henry’s mama, Miss Betty.
“Henry George Thompson, what exactly is going on here?” Miss Betty screeched from halfway across the park.
Henry buried his head in his knees.
Miss Betty on a tear was bad enough, but it was about to get worse. Barreling straight at them from the right-hand side of the park was Sheriff Parker, his expression grim. Rosie considered the enormous tree limb and the damage to the bench and the filming without a permit (again). Her breath constricted as if someone had tied a bowline knot around her lungs.
“Oh no.” Cam groaned. “My parents are going to kill me.”
Rosie had to do something. She jerked her chin at Cam and Henry. “Run! You can still escape. I’ll handle this. Mama has plenty of practice in dealing with Sheriff Parker.”
Miss Betty was yards away but laser focused in on Henry. “Do I need to remind you that growth-plate fractures can cause crooked bones for the rest of your life?”
Henry shook his head at Rosie. “It’s too late for me.”
“Anyway, we’re not going to leave you here alone,” Cam said, tugging Henry to his feet. They took their places on either side of Rosie.
Sheriff Parker glared in Rosie’s direction. “Rosie? Care to explain?”
Rosie plastered on a smile. “Would you believe this branch just fell out of the sky and we happened to get caught beneath it?”
“No, I would not believe that. I’m getting tired of this movie business.” Sheriff Parker looked from the nearby tripod to the frayed rope to Rosie. “I think it’s time we had yet another talk about the appropriate use of town resources.”
“Don’t blame Cam and Henry. This was my fault.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Sheriff Parker said.
Miss Betty swooped in. She was clucking over Henry’s torn pants and lecturing about a “perilous situation.”
The littlest Nelson boy was crying, and the Blue brothers began examining the bench and shaking their heads in sorrow. Deputy Cordell, whom Rosie guessed had been immediately radioed by the sheriff after he saw them in the park, showed up and offered to take official statements on account of the destruction of town property. Sheriff Parker rubbed one hand along the top of his head, looking as if he wanted to scream.
Rosie gazed out at the endless sky, which was beginning to darken at the edges with ashy clouds. Arthur Blue was right. A storm was blowing in, and it looked like a big one.
CHAPTER TWO
But, Mama,” Rosie said. “There’s no way I could have known the tree limb was going to crack.”
“That’s exactly right. There’s no way you could have known that limb was sturdy enough to hold Henry, which is why you should never have attempted that stunt. You’re lucky Henry didn’t break a bone or need stitches or sprain his wrist or bruise his tailbone or develop a concussion or something worse,” Mama expelled in one long stream of words.
Henry was fine except for a few bruises. Rosie, however, was not at all fine. Sheriff Parker hadn’t listened to a single one of her explanations. When she’d finally informed him it was all part of the artistic process, he’d told her she best stop talking and marched her down to Mama’s office in the town hall.