Page 12 of The Great Maple Mistake

I truly have some amazing friends. “Thank you. And thank you, Brie.AndFinn. You guys are the best.”

With that, we all stand and collect our things. I wait until everyone leaves, give the room a quick scan, then turn off the lights. Finn’s waiting by the librarian’s desk, speaking with Andre, so I stop to say good night. “All done?”

“Yeah. Just a quick meeting tonight. Really, there’s not much else to do other than have the actual festival.”

Finn nudges me. “Good thing since we’re only a few weeks out.”

I grin. “You ready to go?”

He nods, and we say a final good night to Andre, and walk to the parking lot. His car is next to mine, so we cover the short distance together. “Night. We still running tomorrow morning?”

Finn unlocks his car and swings the door open. “Absolutely. Meet at my house, and we’ll run from there.”

I nod. “Sounds good. See you in the morning.” I slide into the driver’s seat and head for home, nervous but excited about my first ever Maplewood event, and just as eager to make the firefighter calendar come to fruition. Fingers crossed I haven’t taken on more than I can handle.

Chapter 6

Cody

August: Four weeks until the Cook-off

The chief and I walk inside the blissfully cool library. It’s early August, so even at seven in the evening, it’s still pretty hot outside. I’m not sure why I’m surprised. Maybe I expected Vermont to be cooler than Maryland.

I follow the chief across the main floor until he stops outside a meeting room. The door is open, and there are about a dozen six- to eleven-year-olds in amber-colored cloth vests. A lot of the younger kids have one or two patches sewn onto theirs, but some of the older ones have quite a few. The lone adult in the room is a male-presenting person I’ve seen around town over the past month. This must be Yoru Kaneko, the troop leader. While telling me about today’s activity, Chief mentioned that Yoru uses they/them pronouns. They spot us and gesture for us to come in. “Saplings, our firefighters have arrived! Everyone, please take a seat.” Even from here I can feel the excited energy from the kids. “Saplings, say hello to Chief Brennan and firefighter Cody Sheppard. They’re here to talk to us about fire safety.”

Their little voices singsong, “Welcome, Chief Brennan and firefighter Cody.” Some of them remember my last name, and some don’t, so the last bit of the welcome sounds like a mishmash as it tapers off a bit. I try not to laugh as my heart melts. They’re all so friggin’ cute.

I wave. “Hey, kids.” Most of them wave back. One little blond-haired kid in a blue T-shirt and khaki shorts is wearing a bright yellow toy firefighter helmet. They watch our every move with wide eyes. A slightly older kid with long brown hair parted into two ponytails, dressed in a purple T-shirt with matching purple- and white- striped shorts, stands completely still, clutching a firetruck to their chest. They have a very serious expression on their face. I nudge the chief. “Hey, Chief, I think we might have a couple of future recruits here.”

He quirks his mouth and squints at the class. “Think so? Hmm. They’d need to be strong.” Several of the kids, including the one in the fire helmet, flex their skinny little arms, and I hear the whirring of a camera shutter. Like it’s been jump-started, my heart rate ratchets up, and I get that swoopy feeling in my chest as I scan the back of the meeting room. Sure enough, Alex is in the corner, taking pictures of the children flexing. His grin is as dopey as mine, and I really like that he’s cool with showing his emotions. The chief’s voice yanks me back to the present. “They might need to grow a few inches first, though.”

“But they’ll get there, Chief.”

He drops his gear bag by the whiteboard, and I do the same. He then waves the kids forward. “Okay, kids, scoot in and sit here with me.” He drops into a cross-legged position on the carpet, and I’m impressed that someone as physically imposing as the chief is also that flexible. I step back a bit, giving him room as the munchkins practically swarm him, each trying to get closer and closer.

Yoru drifts over to me and leans their head toward mine. “If he’s not careful, he’ll end up with one or two of them in his lap.” I look at them, surprised, and they grin at me and nod. “The kids love him.” They hold out their hand to me. “Yoru Kaneko. I’m one of the elementary school teachers and the Maple Scout guide responsible for the Sapling troop. My pronouns are they/them.”

I shake their hand. “Nice to meet you, Yoru. I’m Cody Sheppard.” I point at the firefighter shield embroidered into my navy blue T-shirt. “Firefighter. And my pronouns are he/him.”

Chief turns to look at me over his shoulder. “Can you hand me the—” He mouths ‘smoke alarm.’ I walk over to his gear bag, pull out our prop, and hand it to him. He waves it in the air. “Who knows what this is?” Several hands shoot up, and Chief picks a little kid in front. They’re wearing a teal Seattle Riptide hockey jersey, black shorts, and their short brown hair is sticking up in the back. It’s either a severe case of bed head or a cowlick they can’t tame. “Do you know?”

The kid nods seriously but doesn’t say anything. Chief grins. “Can you tell us?” They nod again, but still don’t say anything. The chief is practically chewing off his lips trying not to laugh as he addresses the silent child. “Logan. Would you please tell us what this is?”

“A smoke alarm.”

Chief nods. “Exactly. A smoke alarm. And who knows what it does?”

Most of the hands shoot into the air. This time, Chief picks a little kid with strawberry blond hair, wearing a bright yellow dress. They look up at him with the biggest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. “Ellie, what does it do?”

“It makes a loud noise.”

A choking cough comes from the back of the room, and I grin at Alex, who is trying to control himself. Our eyes meet, and he shakes his head, grinning back. Chief just goes with it. “It does.And why does it make that loud noise?” I guess Chief has learned not to ask yes or no questions, and I make a mental note to do the same when it’s my turn.

The little kid with the fire truck waves a hand almost violently in the chief’s face. “Okay, you can tell us.”

The kid looks right at me. “I’m Roni. And my pronouns are he/him.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Roni.”

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