She Only Speaks to Butterflies by Sandy Appleyard Page A

daughter, Lisa, who also joined the children. Karen noticed Martha and Sherry and joined them. “Better keep yer eye on that Kevin. You remember what I told ya about him,” Karen said to Sherry.
    “He looks fine to me,” Martha said. “He just picked up a crayon that Denise dropped.”
    “Keep your voices down, Jenny’s not far,” Sarah hissed.
    Alan walked to the front of the room. Firemen were peppered throughout the crowd of townspeople.
    Alan placed his hands in front, linking his fingers. “Thanks to everyone for comin’.” He cleared his throat. “I know y’all are worried about the fires that have been goin’ on lately, and that’s what we’re here to meet about, as you can guess.”
    “We don’t have any way forensically at this time to determine who set them and why, but what we can tell you is that they’re bein’ deliberately set usin’ accelerants.”
    Ned lifted his hand into the air. “Can ya tell us what kind of accelerants? Maybe we can figure out where they got a hold of such a thing.”
    “Unfortunately they’re just usin’ gasoline and in the case of the one at the school, a can of butane.”
    Ned shook his head in disbelief. “Jesus,” he murmured.
    “So I think our best course of action in this case is to band together and form some kind of neighborhood watch,” Alan continued.
    “What about a curfew? Would that work?” someone suggested.
    “It would if the fires were bein’ set at night,” Alan answered. “But these guys aren’t too bright, and hopefully since they’re doin’ it in broad daylight, someone’ll catch ‘em.”
    “So what do you suggest we do?” someone else blurted.
    “Well, we all need to keep our eyes and ears open for any suspicious behavior, and report anything ya see that seems unusual, no matter how trivial.” Alan shifted his weight. “Now, I’ve spoken with Sheriff Douglas and he’s on board with this. The Sheriff’s department will not turn away any callers reportin’ any signs of unusual behavior.”
    Sherry was listening to Alan’s speech with one eye on Denise. She was mesmerized by how kids communicated with each other. Sometimes they didn’t even have to speak, it was like they had ESP. Denise hadn’t looked up once for her mother to speak for her.
    Suddenly, a familiar face entered the room. Lee Givens appeared in the lunchroom, offering the kids a snack of apple juice and chocolate chip cookies. When he placed the tray on the table, Denise’s eyes didn’t leave him. Sherry’s heart began beating a little faster. Does she sense trouble? Does she need me? Her first impulse was to excuse herself and go check to make sure everything was okay, but then she saw the ghost of a smile appear on her daughter’s face as Lee offered her some juice.
    He bent down to her level to introduce himself. His hand extended to hers and she smiled, shaking his hand. Sherry’s hand went to her mouth as she tried to stifle a grin. Lee began talking to her and the other children, but he remained kneeling next to Denise. Sherry noticed his ease with the children and suddenly realized that he must have kids, how else could he be so natural with them?
    It looked like Lee was explaining to the kids the rules to follow during a fire, as he was miming ‘stop’, and then he fell on the floor for ‘drop’, and then afterward he rolled around on the floor for ‘roll’. The children laughed at him, including Denise. Sherry couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear.
    “So we’ve got a few extra eyes keepin’ watch on the streets. Sheriff Douglas has some rookies out patrollin’ until we get this straightened out,” Alan closed. “But in the meantime, everyone please keep myself and the Sheriff’s department informed if anything unusual is goin’ on anywhere. We’re all in this together and we don’t want to be pointin’ any fingers at anyone without good reason.”
    “Well said, Alan,” Ned clapped. There was a brief applause.
    Sherry