Alberta Alibi by Dayle Gaetz Page A

even know who I am anymore!” Adele paused. “Dad couldn’t leave her alone and he couldn’t afford to hire a companion for her while he was out working on the ranch, so he was forced to sell that piece of land to raise some money.”
    â€œBut I thought your dad died!” Sheila said. She was trying very hard not to feel sorry for Adele, but she couldn’t help thinking how terrible it would be if her own mom didn’t recognize her.
    Adele nodded, and her eyes went all teary. “Dad was stressed out, worried about Mom, worried about the ranch—you may know that Alberta ranchers have suffered a lot of setbacks in the last few years, what with climate change and that case of mad cow disease.”
    Sheila nodded. Katie scribbled in her notebook.
    â€œDad saw all their dreams fall apart. Even worse, his life partner of almost fifty years couldn’t remember who he was, much less the plans they had made together. Before she got so ill they were working with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to preserve the land. If only he had called me!” Adele stood up, walked to the counter and grabbed a tissue. “But he didn’t, and then he had a sudden heart attack and…” Her voice trailed off as tears spilled down her cheeks.
    Sheila tried to hang onto her anger at this woman who wanted to steal her father away, but it wasn’t easy. “It’s not your fault,” she said.
    Without looking up from her writing, Katie said, “But I still don’t understand why you have a motive for setting fire to the development. I mean, they just have that little chunk of property where you can’t even see them from your house. And they might not be very nice people, but if they paid for the land, it isn’t their fault your dad was stressed out. They actually helped him by giving him money.”
    â€œKatie!” Sheila said. “Can’t you stop asking questions for one minute? Mr. Arnesen was a really nice man and I liked him. I liked Mrs. Arnesen too.”
    Katie looked up, surprised. Then she saw Adele blowing her nose, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh!” she said. “I’m sorry!”
    Adele swallowed and tried to smile. “Don’t worry about it. You’re right, really. Revenge isn’t a good motive and I’m not that type of person. No, my problem is with Glenmar trying to take over the rest of my parents’ land to build a golf course and housing and even a shopping mall! That couldn’t be further from what my parents wanted—an environmental preserve for animals like the grizzly sow who uses both our ranches as part of her range.”
    â€œHave you seen her? Does she have cubs this year?”
    Sheila asked, excited to hear news of the mother bear she had seen several times in the distance, once with two tiny brown cubs.
    Adele shook her head sadly. “No one has seen her this year.”
    Just then three bedraggled figures appeared at the door, their wet clothes clinging to their bodies.
    â€œMom! I didn’t know you were coming home today!”
    Mother and son hugged, briefly, before Adele pulled away. “You’re soaking wet!” she laughed. “Get away from me!”
    Sheila’s dad gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “I didn’t expect you back so soon!”
    Adele sighed and winked at Sheila. “Here’s a man who showed up late for class almost every day back in high school. Has he ever learned to keep track of time?”
    Sheila shook her head. “Not as long as I’ve known him!”

14
    A fter lunch, Huntley gathered up his things and tossed them in the back of his mom’s car. He saddled his horse, put a bridle on his mother’s horse and prepared to ride across the fields with both horses while his mom drove her car around.
    Sheila stood beside her dad. She was happy they were going. Maybe now she could have her father to herself, if she