Without further ado, here is the most anticipated chapter of them all.
Enjoy!
"This hearing will come to order!"
Jess's insides turned to stone. Greg Jacklyn's words echoed through his mind more loudly than the shot of the gavel cracking onto the podium did, and he suddenly became aware of the court trembling with life all around him. The onlookers behind him whispered, the Miranda's Outfitting! owner, Mr. Buckley, and Kelsey Thomas herself murmured softly, and paper shuffled all around the courtroom. The room was so large that the hundred people seated inside of it seemed to make no difference to its mass, and all of the noises were as intensified as his nerves.
Heart hammering, Jess turned his head a fraction of an inch to look at Leslie, who sat beside him. She wordlessly placed her hand over his, keeping her blazing eyes on Mr. Jacklyn.
"Now," the Council President said, "the committee will read their report of the issue at hand. Those in support of the proposal shall have their opportunity to speak. The Commissioners will then hear those opposed to the proposal."
Mr. Jacklyn sat in the center of a half-circle at the front of the room, and the committee sat grouped around him. At his word, a woman at the end of the curved table rose and read aloud the report that Jess did not need to hear. He, Leslie, and the Miranda's Outfitting representatives sat facing the committee while the onlookers were behind them, but though he could not see his family and the Burkes unless he turned around, Jess felt better knowing that they were there.
The woman reading the report sat down, and Jess swallowed nervously, clenching Leslie's hand more tightly without realizing it.
"The committee now invites Kelsey Thomas of Miranda's Outfitting! to speak," a bald man to the right of Mr. Jacklyn roared enthusiastically. His voice was still echoing through the room as Ms. Thomas, a pencil-thin woman with bright red lipstick and brown hair piled up on her head, marched to the stand in front of the council. She faced the onlookers and attempted to turn her permeant frown into a smile.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she said and Jess felt a flare of annoyance rush through him at the sound of her sickly-sweet voice, "I would like to start out by stressing the importance of the company I represent."
Leslie whispered something to herself beside him, and Jess briefly turned to look at her in concern. As Ms. Thomas droned on and as he took notes about what she was saying, Jess could not help but recall what Leslie had gone through over the few weeks leading up to the hearing.
" . . . and to think that our claim has been challenged by the fact that there are some people upset about losing a few acers of land . . . !"
Ms. Thomas was angry, and Jess closed his eyes briefly in silent agony. Leslie was angry, too.
After her first therapy session in the second week of January, Leslie had flatly told her parents that she refused to return. Unfortunately for her, Judy and Bill remained firm on their decision. Every other day of that whole week, when four o'clock rolled around, the Aarons household could usually hear voices being raised and doors being slammed from across the dirt road. One afternoon Judy came rushing over to the Aarons' home, apologetic and frantic.
"I'm so sorry to drag you into this, Jess," she had said, looking harassed, "but we think that you could talk some sense into her. She won't open her bedroom door."
And Jess had walked to the Burke house with her and Leslie had let him in, and she had listened to him talk to her in a low, gentle voice, eventually breaking down in tears when he asked her quietly to go to her session. After that, she'd gone to her therapy meetings sullenly, but without a fight.
Jess finished up a note on his paper as Ms. Thomas talked on, and he stole a look over his shoulder. His family was sitting with Bill and Judy, looking anxious. Joyce Ann was at her friend's house for the day, but the rest of his sisters were sitting on their benches silently -- May Belle looked worried, but Ellie and Brenda wore no expressions on their faces.
"I now invite the owner of Miranda's Outfitting!, Mr. Buckley, to the stand, to elaborate more on behalf of those who are not opposed to progress," Ms. Thomas finally finished, and there was scattered applause as she took her seat. Mr. Buckley slowly got out of his chair, as though he were wishing he were someplace else.
"The committee now welcomes Mr. Jared Buckley!" screamed the bald man, and Leslie winced as the sound of his voice pierced through the room. Under the shelter of the table they sat at, Jess felt her grip his hand more strongly than before.
There had been times, over the last two weeks, when he had hugged her or unthinkingly touched her arm or shoulder and Leslie had flinched, then, too.
Nothing made Jess's heart ache more than seeing her eyes widen, first with fear, then with utter apology and despair as she kissed him and told him that she was all right, everything was all right. There were days when neither of them could let go of one another out of passion they did not understand . . . and then there were times when Leslie was nervous and uncollected, and those were the days that increased Jess's longing to make her feel safe, and to bring the man who had done her wrong to justice.
After this, there's one more trial she has to go through, he thought to himself as Mr. Buckley talked, and his heart filled with utter dread.
"We ask the council to consider the benefits that we have stated," Mr. Buckley was now saying. "In conclusion, we ask that the committee and the people of Lark Creek recognize that another clothing store would promote the town's economy and a larger growth of housing developments up in the area in question. We humbly thank our city's young adults for their concern of the environment," and here he nodded in Jess and Leslie's direction, "and now we ask them, as well as the citizens of Lark Creek, to understand that the benefits of another retail store are far greater than the benefits of saving a few acres of land."
The onlookers burst into hearty applause, and Jess and Leslie looked at each other in despair. Several people had turned out in the court to support them, including, to their surprise, their gym teacher Coach and Mr. Strellgate himself, but perhaps they were no match for cooperate officials.
"Thank you, Mr. Buckley!" the bald man hollered into the applause and Mr. Jacklyn shot him a look.
"Now," he said as the courtroom quieted. "We will hear the opposing side to the issue at hand, presented by Mr. Jesse Aarons and Ms. Leslie Burke."
"The committee reminds you," yelled the bald man, "that you will have three minutes to summarize and support the side you will be--"
"Pardon me," Leslie answered sweetly, her strong, fearless tone easily cutting through the shouts of the bald man and immediately silencing the chatter of the onlookers, "but according to the town legislature of Lark Creek, we should have six."
There was a moment of stunned silence in the courtroom, during which the bald man blinked in confusion and the committee gazed at her, clearly impressed. Ms. Thomas glared at her through her dark eye makeup. Jess, heart burning with ardor, squeezed her hand. Mr. Jacklyn gave Leslie a small smile.
"Ms. Burke is quite right," he announced. "You may approach the stand when you are ready."
Jess turned to look at her as he stood to speak first, and she gazed at him with determination and encouragement in her eyes. It warmed Jess through, and he found himself walking to the stand, hardly aware that everyone was looking at him. He had never been good with crowds, but if Leslie was convinced that he could speak to them, then he was, too.
"Lark Creek," he began into the microphone that awaited him, a little loudly. He leaned back. "Sorry," he said and there were a few chuckles in the courtroom. "Lark Creek," he began again, hardly recognizing the scholarly tone he spoke in, "I'd like to start by thanking Miranda's Outfitting! for offering their views on the issue at hand, and for granting our state with the economic benefits they rightly claim they have provided us with."
Applause rang through the courtroom, but out of the corner of his eye Jess saw Leslie shift impatiently. She was in one of her moods, and though they had planned everything they were going to say in advance, Jess could see that now she thought he was wasting their valuable time with diplomatic regards. He knew that he only had three minutes to say his part, and he nodded at her to show he understood.
"However," he said and anxiety started to sink in as the applause died. He glanced down at the index cards he and Leslie had slaved over a few nights before. "However, I am here to stress the importance of something that cannot speak for itself: our environment.
"It has been rightly said that the benefits of another retail store in Lark Creek will be greater than the ones we will have if we were to leave that land alone," Jess said, ignoring the whispers that had started to occur in the audience and between members of the jury, "but please note that the consequences will be greater, too. It has been mentioned that housing developments . . . well, Lark Creek wants to build more houses and that the building of this store will be the beginning of that. Well, what about that farm land?" Jess suddenly saw Mr. Strellgate nodding slowly, and, heartened, he went on, "What about all of those acres that help to produce our food? If we develop those fields will we find more to replace them? And let's look at the forest itself. The land in question is far beyond the outskirts of the main city of Lark Creek, and to suggest that people would drive to the middle of nowhere to buy clothes is, and forgive me for saying this, kind of ridiculous."
Jack was grinning at him, eyes full of pride and laughter and Jess shifted his index cards easily, no longer nervous.
"Our environment offers more to us than we could ever imagine. The forest we speak of, the land not far from Mr. Tom Strellgate's grounds, has provided my friend and I with a sense of comfort that cannot be easily described. We grew up on that land. We've watched it grow, too. We . . . " Jess realized he was talking too quickly now, and he took a deep breath. "We do not understand how Lark Creek could support the destruction of a so many acres of land in order to make way for a clothing store that could benefit the economy much more -- if it were somewhere else."
Ms. Thomas was glaring at him, now. His family and the Burkes were smiling and nodding, and though Jess could pick out several agreeing faces in the crowd of onlookers, he realized that most of them were frowning.
"In order to give you all insight on the land in question," he said nervously, finished at last, "I now invite Ms. Leslie Burke to the stand."
Leslie rose gracefully to her feet, and, as was usual when people saw her for the first time, Jess saw many people in the room do a double take. Her face was calm and she walked with authority to the stand while Jess began to walk back to his seat, and though she gave him a look of upmost affection as they passed one another, her eyes were positively on fire. She threw her head back and faced the now-silent courtroom as she stood at the podium.
Jess took his seat.
Leslie hesitated.
Come on, Jess willed her as she stood silently at the podium, gazing at her index cards, come on, Les, you can do this, you've practiced this a hundred times --
"You know," Leslie spoke into the silence, suddenly looking up from the note cards, "I had a nice speech ready for you guys. Yeah, I . . . I had planned to discuss the benefits our town will have should we decide to abandon the construction but . . . but now I don't think that's important anymore."
Jess felt panic spreading through him as she tossed the note cards to the ground. They had been outlining their speeches and responses for weeks, and every word out of Leslie's mouth was not anything they had planned to say. What was she doing?
"We are not here to talk about Lark Creek's economy," Leslie said harshly to a dead silent crowd, "and quite frankly, I find it irrelevant to the cause. We are not here to discuss the benefits of completely destroying a forest and tossing in a retail store among the dead trees and the ripped up plants. This hearing is for deciding whether or not that forest deserves to remain intact, whether or not we will submit to lawbreakers with materialistic ideals."
She had struck gold. Grown adults in the audience were looking at her with respect now, and several members of the committee were starting to look interested.
"You say that we are upset about losing a few acres of land," Leslie went on, turning to glare at Kelsey Thomas who sat giving her death looks in her chair, "well, you're wrong." She faced the onlookers again. "We are upset that this town cares so little about the trees that give us oxygen and more about clothes that we can buy from someplace else."
Jess, through his absolute disbelief, shot an uneasy look at Brenda. Anyone in the audience had the right to say their opinions after their speeches were over.
"We," Leslie kept talking, "are upset that the clothing company Miranda's Outfitting! illegally," she nearly shouted the word, "planned to overtake land that, at first, was not rightfully theirs, and that this town was willing to go along with it for the sake of having yet another clothing store.
"You say that we young adults should understand the benefits of having another retail store in Lark Creek," Leslie shot at Mr. Buckley. "Well, I can't possibly be a young adult, sir. I must be a child, because I do not understand why grownups have to kill an innocent forest because they're too lazy to find another area to build in. I must be a child because I do not understand why grownups have to take away the one place my friend and I have cherished for six years, the place we have always relied on to be our safe place amongst all the agony our lives have been."
She stopped, and there was not one sound in the huge courtroom they sat in. Jess could hardly breathe.
"I believe," Leslie started again, emotion trembling through the steels of her voice, "that Lark Creek can do better than this. If you want clothes, fine. Have them. Build a huge Miranda's Outfitting! store in the middle of the city. Better yet, build it next to the high school, where you'll be sure to get more customers. But don't you dare touch that forest, because the consequences of its destruction will be more severe than the benefits. I would hate to see the morals the land represents go up in smoke."
She turned on her heel and marched back to her seat without another word, and applause positively shattered the roof of the courtroom. Utter awe spread through Jess as Leslie, trembling, took her place beside him and the applause continued. Mr. Greg Jacklyn was clapping, too, as he rose to his feet.
"Thank you, very much, for your wonderful arguments," he said, beaming at the two of them as the applause finally died down. "Now, for the convenience of the townsfolk of Lark Creek, we will now take this time to allow further comments to be made regarding the issue at hand. The committee thanks both presenters once again, and asks them to please exit the courtroom at this time."
The courtroom began to talk rapidly amongst themselves as Jess and Leslie rose and silently filed out toward the door to the right of them; they didn't have to go through the crowd onlookers but they did have to cross the section where Ms. Thomas and Mr. Buckley were gathering their materials and heading toward the door, as well. Leslie charged through the courtroom like a woman possessed, and Jess had to trot to keep up with her.
"That," he said the moment they walked into the small hallway that led to the main entrance of the courthouse, "was unbelievable."
"I'll say," Leslie said furiously, her eyes flashing. "The nerve of those people, to stand up there and -- "
"No," said Jess as the Miranda's Outfitting! representatives, talking loudly, walked quickly in front of them and headed out to the lobby, "your speech. Leslie . . . you winged all of that?"
"Well, the speech I'd written earlier was going to get us nowhere," she grumbled. "I thought I'd have to say something else."
They had walked so quickly that they were in the lobby, now. Ms. Thomas and Mr. Buckley were opening the front glass doors, not even glancing behind them, and hurrying outside. No one else was in the lobby with them, other than a receptionist working at her computer a hundred feet away. No committee, no onlookers, no courtroom. It was all behind them now.
"You were amazing," Jess said fervently. He could hardly speak. All of his anxiety had melted into utter pride for his queen. "God, Leslie, you really were. You won us the case, I know you did. You were unbelievable."
Leslie stopped pacing about and she stood facing him, suddenly looking as them as though just realizing he was there. She flew at him without a warning, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him with such passion Jess had to take a few steps back in order not to fall over. "Les," he laughed between kisses, "Les, someone could come out any minute."
She stopped and leaned back slightly, but kept her arms around him. "Oh, Jess, you spoke wonderfully, too," she whispered. Their voices echoed in the lobby that looked so much like the one they had entered to see Greg Jacklyn so long ago. "You were perfect."
Jess grinned, then his smile faded as another thought struck him.
"What?" Leslie asked softly.
"I wish we could know what they were saying in there," he murmured as a phone rang in the distance. "Part of the final decision is based on what the townspeople have to say."
"Jess, screw them," Leslie said and Jess blinked in surprise. "We gave it our all and if they don't have the decency to agree with us then we can go find another place to live."
Jess laughed at her. "We will, will we?"
"Well, we will when we're older," Leslie amended. "I want a small house. Not like the huge one I'm living in. And it has to be in the middle of nowhere where no retail company could ever touch the land around it."
"Well, then," said Jess, putting his arms around her waist, "I will find you a small house."
"And PT has to be able to find his way around," Leslie murmured. "He's always getting lost in my house now. And we have to have a big oak tree right next in the backyard. I'd put a swing on one of the branches."
Jess chuckled as he kissed her forehead. "We'll have all of that."
Leslie smiled with happiness, then her grin faded as she added quietly, "But . . . but that doesn't help Terabithia."
They were silent. In the distance they heard the muffled voices inside the courtroom. Beside them, a large clock ticked into the stillness.
"Leslie," Jess said hesitantly, "I love Terabithia. But I . . . I love you more. You created Terabithia for us when we needed it. And now . . . well, now as long as I have you, I don't need anything else."
Leslie's eyes shone and she hugged him to her, resting her cheek on Jess's neck, the top of her head right under his chin. Jess closed his eyes and held her tightly.
"I feel the same way," she whispered. "Oh, God, I love Terabithia, too, and I don't think I could bear to lose it." She was blinking back tears, but she was smiling. "But . . . Jess . . . if I have you with me, then . . . then I think I could try."
OOO
They were sitting outside in the chilly January whether when the crowd of people exited the courthouse half and hour later. Standing up and walking through the clusters of people, they looked for their families and talked with Mr. Strellgate and several others who stopped them to shake their hands and tell them they had supported their cause.
"Is that Coach?" Jess asked at one point, pointing through the crowd, and Leslie gasped as their third period gym teacher came into view.
"It is!"
They called his name until he turned and saw them, and they hurried toward each other happily.
"So I was right, this turned out to be a show after all!" Coach said heartily as he wrung their hands. "My God, how are you? How are you guys? You were brilliant, both of you. I've missed you two. You were my best students."
"We're so glad you came today," said Jess, and he meant it.
"And we missed you, too," Leslie said earnestly. "Your class was the only one we looked forward to in that school."
Coach roared with laughter. "Bless your heart, Burke. I'm actually rather glad you guys are out of that hell house. I mean, there were some rumors floating around about you a--" He paused, smile vanishing, and he looked a bit uncomfortable. "What I mean is, I'm just happy that you've been removed from any . . . any situation that could have occurred . . . "
"It's true," Leslie said quietly, "and it's being dealt with. And Jess and I aren't coming back to the high school because of it."
Coach nodded solemnly. "I'm so sorry to hear it," he said, unlike his cheery self. "You're a good girl, Burke, not like the other young women that run around in that place. Is there going to be a trial?"
"On Valentine's Day," Leslie said. "A little over three weeks from now."
"Well, Burke, I wish you all the luck in the world," Coach said. "No need for it, though. You've got a good friend to support you."
Leslie smiled at Jess. "I sure do," she agreed, and Jess's heart lifted with happiness.
Coach shook their hands again, and wished them nothing but the best. And after Leslie and Jess had thanked him for his support, he chuckled and said, "You're good kids, both of you. And I know you're going to be just fine. But listen," he said and his voice grew lower. "The arguments were pretty good on both sides. It's going to be close. You were the best, of course, but there are some people who don't think so. A whole lot of people argued for your side, though."
Jess and Leslie looked at one another anxiously, but they thanked Coach again and smiled until he had gone.
"Well," Leslie said in a small voice as they watched him go, "we have support, then."
Before Jess could answer her, they heard a shout amongst the great crowd around them.
"Jess! Leslie! Over here!"
Their families were struggling to get through the waves of people walking up and down the stairs leading to the great glass doors, waving in their direction. Jess and Leslie hurried to the bottom of the steps of the courthouse entry while their families all trotted up to greet them; May Belle reached the two of them first and she happily tackled Jess in a bear hug.
"Well!" Jack said triumphantly as Nancy pried May Belle off of Jess and Judy hugged Leslie tightly, "well done, I'd say. Very well done, the both of you."
"Honey, did you really come up with that speech right there on the platform?" Judy asked her daughter in astonishment, and Leslie shrugged.
"You were wonderful," said Nancy enthusiastically, beaming.
"Absolutely," said Bill. He was looking at his daughter with utter pride in his eyes. "And I've never been so proud to call you my child, Leslie."
"And now all you have to do is wait," Jack said as Leslie flung herself into her father's arms. "The worst is over."
"Yes," Leslie agreed, smiling slightly. "I guess it is."
"We just saw our old coach -- he said the arguments were good on both sides after we left," Jess said, looking around at the adults.
"Well, they were," Nancy said gently. "But we think you stand a fair chance."
"We know you do," Bill added.
"You were really good, after all," May Belle said, brown eyes sincere, and Jess flicked her forehead with a finger thankfully. Leslie gave her a big hug.
"And more people than you think agree with you," Jack said as they all started to walk down the stone steps toward the parking lot. "There were many people who were not willing to build over the forest and ruin the environment for the sake of a store we don't need."
"And we all pitched in our own thoughts," Judy said with a wink, and Jess and Leslie smiled.
"Thank you," Leslie said gratefully and Jess nodded.
"Yeah, it means a lot," he added. His mother hugged him again.
"Well, let's go find Brenda and Ellie . . . we can all wait by the cars until the committee is done discussing this," Bill suggested, and Jess, looking around, realized for the first time that neither of his elder sisters were with then.
"Where are they, anyway?" he asked aloud.
"They went to meet up with their friends," Nancy said gently, glancing over at Jack, who added, "They both brought several people to the hearing. I think they wanted to thank them for coming."
"Brenda really convinced a lot of people, I think," May Belle said, looking anxiously up at Jess. "She spoke for a long time."
"Brenda did?" Leslie said sharply.
"She spoke?" asked Jess, temper flaring. The four adults looked at each other uneasily.
"Well, the thing is, Jess, everyone had the right to say their opinions in front of the council," said Bill quietly.
"I should have known she'd do something like that," Jess said, almost to himself. Furious exasperation was spreading through him. "I can't believe she'd torment us . . . after everything we've been through . . . "
"Why is it that after everything we do there is someone who tries to bring us down?" Leslie asked in despair and Jess chimed in hotly, "She knows what that forest means to us. And she argued for its destruction on purpose?"
"Why would she do this to us?" cried Leslie.
"Jess, Leslie," Jack said, his tone serious, "don't you want to know whose side she was on?"
Jess opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Leslie looked dumbstruck. No one spoke. Everyone had paused; the adults and May Belle were looking at the two of them expectantly.
"She was on Ms. Thomas's side," Jess said after an awkward silence. "Arguing for the store to be built."
"Wasn't she?" Leslie asked, eyes holding utter incomprehension.
The adults looked at one another again, and they were smiling slightly this time. May Belle shook her head silently at Jess.
No one had moved from their spot at the foot of the stairs, but through the crowd of people rushing by and standing in groups in front of the courthouse, Jess saw Brenda and Ellie shoving their way through clusters to get to them. When they reached the group, pink faced from the cold, neither of them directly looked at Jess or Leslie.
"Is it okay if we go to the car now?" Brenda asked Jack and Nancy. "We don't have to go, I mean . . . I just . . . I want to sit down."
"Of course, honey, we were headed there now," Nancy said, and Jack handed her the keys. Judy put her arm around May Belle and they followed Nancy as she led Brenda and Ellie down the last cluster of steps that led to the parking lot. Jess and Leslie stared after them in utter disbelief. Jack and Bill waited patiently for them to start walking, and when they did not, Jack said, "We'll be at the cars, you two."
"Stay warm, sweetheart, go inside if you plan to wait for Greg to come out," Bill told a speechless Leslie, then both fathers turned and followed the group down the remainder of the stairs.
Jess and Leslie gazed at one another in utter incredulity. For some amount of time they stood in silence, unable to comprehend the knowledge they had just gained, then --
"Jess! Leslie!"
They turned. Greg Jacklyn was walking down the stairs, and the two of them began to walk toward the him. As they got closer, Jess saw a piece of paper in his hands. The three of them met up near the entry of the courthouse.
"Hello, sir," Leslie said cheerfully. "Have they reached a decision already?"
Mr. Jacklyn hesitated as he looked at them. His eyes held nothing but sympathy.
Jess's heart plummeted.
"Your argument was good," Mr. Jacklyn said, "and you had a lot of support. Your elder sister in particular was able to convince many people on your behalf. But . . . " he trailed off, and he gave them a small smile as he held the letter in his hands out to them. "I've very sorry."
Leslie's face was blank, and she was dead silent as she silently took the letter from him. Jess felt numb. Somehow, some way, he nodded and held out his hand to shake Greg Jacklyn's and offer him his thanks, and then the Council President was gone, and he and Leslie stood alone.
The crowds of people were still talking, unaware that the decision had been made, but Jess could hardly hear them. The world was going strangely hollow as Jess looked over Leslie's shoulder to read the letter. It was warm, apparently fresh from a printer, but it grew colder from Leslie's tears that were splashing onto it.
The two of them stood reading the letter that they did not need to see for a long time. Then, automatically, Jess offered his open arms to Leslie and she melted into them.
They did not have to fight any longer. The battle was over.
They'd lost.
I have to be honest, the reason it took such a long time to update was because I was not at all interested in the Terabithia trial . . . I wanted to get to Leslie's and it was hard to write when I wasn't inspired (and swamped with school and work). I'm so sorry for the late update -- I'm still trying as hard as I can to get this story done. Again, I never abandon a story -- this WILL get done!
I'd love to hear what you guys have to say about this particular chapter, so thank you in advance for your reviews!