Page 52 of Her Wild Coast Refuge

I type in a search and wait for the links to load. Our computers are slow, and the connection isn’t lightning fast. I drum my fingers on the desk.

Bealer-Volbrecht International:is a leading international mining company with headquarters in Covington, Virginia, USA. BVI specializes in copper, gold and molybdenum. BVI is the world’s largest publicly traded molybdenum producer. BEALER-VOLBRECHT portfolio of assets includes the Mürren minerals district in Indonesia, one of the world’s largest copper and molybdenum deposits; and significant mining operations in the Americas and the Cerro Verde operation in South America. The safety and health of all employees is our highest priority.

Currently,Bealer-Volbrecht Internationalhas 25,600 employees.

Bealer-Volbrecht Internationalaverage annual earnings equals 22,780million USD.

I blink.Thisis who I’m fighting?

An international resource company pulling in 22,780million—that’s almost 3 billion dollars. Per year.

With a slow sigh, I shut down the computer and let the darkness envelop me.

So much for inviting the executives of a billion-dollar company for a sit-down chat so I can explain why a mine is a bad idea. These guys know exactly what they’re doing. They haven’t become the world’s largest publicly traded molybdenum producer by letting piddly humans like me influence their practices.

They don’t give a rip about me, my family, or about the wild things that call this valley home. And they certainly don’t care about its future.

Alaska Wild doesn’t think they can win a lawsuit, so they’re quitting. Now that I know who we’re fighting, I see why.

The Nature Conservancy will only help if I can magically make ten million dollars appear out of thin air.

F2F sounds willing to help. Are they my last chance?

When I get home, the house is quiet—Grams is spending time with her grandbabies Tristan and Lizzie while Petra and Hunter get the house ready for baby #3.

I wish I had someone to talk to about this, but it’s too late to call one of my brothers.

Is it too late for Soren Lake also?

After a quick shower that does nothing to soothe my apprehension, I open the package from Fish2Forever.

It’s a book calledEco Resistance, with a note from Kalle.

Lexie,

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world.In fact, it's the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead.

I think you’ll find inspiration and hope between these pages.

Kalle Jensen

Volunteer Coordinator, Fish2Forever

The quotefrom Margaret Mead is familiar thanks to an inspiring teacher during my senior year of high school. We used it as a lens to look at history, as a way to break down the myth that regular citizens are powerless.

I curl up in bed and start reading. But my mind can’t focus. The book starts with a bunch of history about wilderness destruction and the failure of our elected officials to stop it. While it’s accurate, it’s a little over the top, and well, boring. Where is the hope Kalle is promising? I flip ahead to a chapter about Juliana Butterfly Hill, the famous activist who lived in a California Redwood tree for 738 days in order to protect it. There’s a whole section on ecoterrorism—tree spiking and engine tampering and something called a “silent agitator.” My stomach tightens and I flip to the cover. Is this book even legal?

I’m not sure this is the kind of inspiration I’m looking for.

My mind starts to wander. What are Quinn and Dawson doing right now? Are they thinking about me? A shiver rushes down my spine.

I picture them in bed, restless like me. Thinking about what might be happening between us.

I’ve never been so turned on in my life.

When Dawson and I watched each other…never in a thousand years would I have thought I’d do something like that. I set the book down and curl under my covers. Thinking about them makes my pulse flutter into my throat.

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