The Summer We Saved the Bees by Robin Stevenson Page A

is.”
    “She didn’t want to come though,” Curtis admitted. “She thinks we’re, uh, overreacting. About the bees and everything.”
    There was a very long silence. Eva and Mary exchanged glances. Finally, Mom stood up. “I’m going out to the van,” she said. And just like that, she walked out.
    Eva looked at Curtis. “Sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have said anything.”
    He shook his head. “Jade’s just sensitive. I think she worries that you two share Violet’s views. That you think we’re over the top, with this trip and everything.”
    “I admire you for doing what you believe is right,” Eva said. “For walking your talk. It’s rare, isn’t it?”
    Curtis nodded. “Jade’s done a lot of research,” he said. “She knows what she’s talking about. There’s plenty of science behind what she believes.”
    I looked at him. “You believe it too, right?”
    “What?” He frowned. “Of course.”
    “You said plenty of science behind what she believes .”
    He looked annoyed. “What we believe. Obviously.” He leaned toward me. “I was an environmentalist long before I met your mother, Wolf. You know that.”
    “Yeah. I know.” I’d heard all about his off-the-grid solar-powered house and his permaculture garden on Lasqueti. I just hadn’t heard him say much about the bees.
    “I’m sure you wouldn’t uproot your family if you didn’t feel it was necessary,” Mary said.
    I couldn’t help noticing that neither she nor Eva had actually said that they didn’t think we were overreacting. They were being very tactful and polite about it all—but for all I knew, they thought we were nuts. I remembered how Katie had reacted when she’d seen my mom’s website, and how Duncan had asked me, “You really believe all that?” I thought about how Violet’s mom had called my mom wacky.
    A big part of me wanted to jump into the conversation and defend my mom—to tell Mary and Eva how much the bees mattered, and how no one was doing enough, and how they’d all be sorry when everything started to fall apart and disaster followed disaster like a runaway train that no one could stop.
    But I didn’t say a word. I just sat there and helped myself to more of the berry-apple crumble. Because I couldn’t help wondering if maybe my mom might not be right about everything after all.

    After dinner I borrowed Tess’s computer to check my email. I had a message from Duncan, who was probably the only person who actually knew my email address.
    Hey, dude , he wrote. How’s it going out there? School’s boring without you. I got paired up with Caitlin for this project we’re doing, which sucks big-time. Hey—I read something that made me think of you. These dudes at Harvard have made some kind of robotic bees to pollinate stuff. Google it. It’s pretty rad. Anyway, hope you are okay. —Duncan
    PS . I figured out this new way to make the health bar in my game, so now it shows the kill-to-death ratio for each player. I’ll show you when you get back. Plus you can slow down time or speed it up. What do you think of Temporal Anomaly as a name?
    PPS . I’m reading the third book in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. It’s called Life, the Universe and Everything . Did I tell you that there are FIVE books in the “trilogy”? Isn’t that 100 percent awesome? I’d tell you to read them, but I know you don’t like reading much, so I won’t bother. I’ll tell you the good bits when you get back.
    Robotic bees. Temporal Anomaly . Hitchhiker’s Guide … I realized I was grinning and nodding at the computer like Duncan was actually in there. I hit Reply and typed a quick message back.
    Hi, Duncan. We’re in Vancouver. Violet’s taken off with her boyfriend, so I don’t know how long we’ll be here. We’re staying with people Mom knows. They’re okay, but I’d rather be at home. Thanks for telling me about the robotic bees. That’s cool. And Temporal Anomaly is a cool name, but