Jean Little: Mine for Keeps by Shaun Hunter 14

Jean Little: Mine for Keeps by Shaun Hunter 14

CASI 8

Retired by Cynthia Rylant 3

Spirit of the West by Doug Smith 8

Jean Little: Mine for Keeps by Shaun Hunter 14

Roses Sing on New Snow by Paul Yee 19

Should Uniforms be Mandatory in Public Schools? by James Flinn & Bianca Paoli 23

Tennis Champion by Ken Roberts 25

Homemade Sound Effects by Shaun Hunter 31

Shells by Cynthia Rylant 37

Interview with the Potato 43

The Tunnel by Sarah Ellis 49

Why Miss Cutcheon decided one day to walk Velma a few blocks farther, and to the west, is a puzzle.

Retired

by Cynthia Rylant

Her name was Miss Phala Cutcheon and she used to be a schoolteacher. Miss Cutcheon had gotten old and had retired from teaching fourth grade, so now she simply sat on her porch and considered things. She considered moving to Florida. She considered joining a club for old people and learning to play cards. She considered dying.

Finally, she just got a dog.

The dog was old. And she, too, was retired. A retired collie. She had belonged to a family who lived around the corner from Miss Cutcheon. The dog had helped raise three children, and she had been loved. But the family was moving to France and could not take their beloved pet. They gave her to Miss Cutcheon.

When she lived with the family, the dog's name had been Princess. Miss Cutcheon, however, thought the name much too delicate for a dog as old and bony as Miss Cutcheon herself, and she changed it to Velma. It took Princess several days to figure out what Miss Cutcheon meant when she called out for someone named Velma.

In time, though, Velma got used to her new name. She got used to Miss Cutcheon's slow pace--so unlike the romping of three children - and she got used to Miss Cutcheon's dry dog food. She learned not to mind the smell of burning asthmador, which helped Miss Cutcheon breathe better, and not to mind the sound of the old lady's wheezing and snoring in the middle of the night. Velma missed her children, but she was all right.

Miss Cutcheon was a very early riser (a habit that could not be broken after forty-three years of meeting children at the schoolhouse door), and she enjoyed big breakfasts. Each day Miss Cutcheon would creak out of her bed like a mummy rising from its tomb, then shuffle into the kitchen, straight for the coffee pot. Velma, who slept on the floor at the end of Miss Cutcheon's bed, would soon creak off the floor herself and head into the kitchen. Velma's family had eaten cold cereal breakfasts all those years, and only when she came to live with Miss Cutcheon did Velma realize what perking coffee, sizzling bacon and hot biscuits smell like. She still got only dry dog food, but the aromas around her nose made the chunks taste ten times better.

Miss Cutcheon sat at her dinette table, eating her bacon and eggs and biscuits, sipping her coffee, while Velma lay under the table at her feet. Miss Cutcheon spent most of breakfast time thinking about all the children she had taught. Velma thought about hers.

During the day Miss Cutcheon took Velma for walks up and down the block. The two of them became a familiar sight. On warm, sunny days they took many walks, moving at an almost brisk pace up and back.

But on damp, cold days they eased themselves along the sidewalk as if they'd both just gotten out of bed, and they usually went only a half-block, morning and afternoon.

Miss Cutcheon and Velma spent several months together like this: eating breakfast together, walking the block, sitting on the front porch,

going to bed early. Velma's memory of her three children grew fuzzy, and only when she saw a boy or girl passing on the street did her ears prick up as if she should have known something about children. But what it was she had forgotten.

Miss Cutcheon's memory, on the other hand, grew better every day, and she seemed not to know anything except the past. She could recite the names of children in her mind-which seats they had sat in, what subjects they were best at, what they'd brought to school for lunch. She could remember their funny ways, and sometimes she would be sitting at her

dinette in the morning, quietly eating, when she would burst out with a laugh that filled the room and made Velma jump.

Why Miss Cutcheon decided one day to walk Velma a few blocks farther, and to the west, is a puzzle. But one warm morning in September, they did walk that way, and when they reached the third block, a sound like a million tiny buzz saws floated into the air. Velma's ears stood straight up, and Miss Cutcheon stopped and considered. Then they went a block farther, and the sound changed to something like a hundred bells pealing. Velma's tail began to wag ever so slightly. Finally, in the fifth block, they saw the school playground.

Children, small and large, ran wildly about, screaming, laughing, falling down, climbing up, jumping, dancing. Velma started barking, again and again and again. She couldn't contain herself. She barked and wagged and forgot all about Miss Cutcheon standing there with her. She saw only the children and it made her happy.

Miss Cutcheon stood very stiff a while, staring. She didn't smile. She simply looked at the playground, the red brick school, the chain-link fence that protected it all, keeping intruders outside, keeping children inside. Miss Cutcheon just stared while Velma barked. Then they walked back home.

But the next day they returned. They moved farther along the fence, nearer where the children were. Velma barked and wagged until two boys, who had been seesawing, ran over to the fence to try to pet the dog. Miss Cutcheon pulled back on the leash, but too late, for Velma had already leaped up against the wire. She poked her snout through a hole and the boys scratched it, laughing as she licked their fingers. More children came to the fence, and while some rubbed Velma's nose, others questioned Miss Cutcheon: "What's your dog's name?" "Will it bite? .... Do you like cats?" Miss Cutcheon, who had not answered the questions of children in what seemed a very long time, replied as a teacher would.

Every day, in good weather, Miss Cutcheon and Velma visited the playground fence. The children learned their names, and Miss Cutcheon soon knew the children who stroked Velma the way she had known her own fourth-graders years ago. In bad weather, Miss Cutcheon and Velma stayed inside, breathing the asthmadora, feeling warm and comfortable, thinking about the children at the playground. But on a nice day, they were out again.

In mid-October, Miss Cutcheon put a pumpkin on her front porch, something she hadn't done in years. And on Halloween night, she turned on the porch light, and she and Velma waited at the door. Miss Cutcheon passed out fifty-six chocolate bars before the evening was done.

Then, on Christmas Eve of that same year, a large group of young carolers came to sing in front of Miss Cutcheon's house; and they were bearing gifts of dog biscuits and sweet fruit.

Spirit of the West

by Doug Smith

Today, most mustangs in North America are protected, but they still have trouble finding enough room to roam.

When you think of horses, what comes to mind? Depending upon where you live, you may picture cowboys and bucking rodeo broncos or show jumpers or maybe a horse you saw or rode at a fair, a farm, or stable.

Chances are that whatever idea popped into your head, it probably included at least one person, which is not surprising, considering that humans have been domesticating horses for more than 6000 years. But what about the horses with no owners, like those running free in the wilds of western North America?

The First Mustangs

Until 8000 years ago, wild horses roamed across much of North America. No one really knows why they died out--perhaps it was climate change, or maybe they were hunted to extinction by early humans---but horses were not seen again in the Americas until the

late-15th century. That's when Spanish explorers - including Christopher Columbus - arrived looking for gold in the New World. It wasn't long before some of their horses escaped or, in some cases, were turned loose. They became the first mustangs, or mestenos---the Spanish word for stray or feral animals-- to roam free.

Fast Facts

Found: Parts of western North America

Height: 12 to 14 hands (122-142 centimetres or 48-56 inches) at the shoulders

Weight: 295 to 455 kilograms (650-1000 pounds) Mainly grass, also other leaves, twigs, and roots

Alpine meadows provide summer food for many of the mustangs in the Pryor Mountain Wild Home Range.

When Native Americans first caught a glimpse of the Spanish soldiers on horseback, they thought the horses and riders were magical beings--half human and half animal. But when they realized that they were seeing two separate creatures, they wanted horses of their own.

Soon they, too, were using horses for hunting and travelling. Eventually, some of their horses also escaped and joined the horses lost by the Spanish on the prairies.

Wild 'n' Free.

Before long, thousands of mustangs were running free in the West from Mexico to Canada, and by the late 1800s, there were an estimated two million horses in the wild. At the same time, however, humans were also rapidly expanding their range. And as ranches and farms spread, hundreds of thousands of

horses were captured and killed to make way for livestock and crops. Others were caught, tamed, and then sent off with soldiers to fight in the Boer War and World War I. This took a tremendous toll on the mustang population and by the late 1960s, a mere 17 000 remained.

Wild Horse Annie.

Then a Nevada woman named Velma Johnston--who later became known as Wild Horse Annie---came to the horses' rescue. After seeing first-hand how the mustangs were being treated, she begged the government to do something to protect the horses. And when that didn't work, she organized a writing campaign among schoolchildren. After politicians started receiving thousands of letters, they began to take notice.

Nine years later, the "Wild Horse Annie" law, which banned using vehicles or polluting water holes to capture horses, was passed. And in 1971, another, tougher law was introduced in the United States stating that "wild and free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West" and as such should be protected from capture, harassment, and death.

The government also set aside a number of refuges for the horses. One such reserve is the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range on the Montana-Wyoming border. The area, which is home to 140 mustangs, is also a popular hangout for photographers eager to get mustang shots.

MUSTANGS in Hollywood

Maybe one day you'll get a chance to see mustangs running free in the wild, but in the meantime, you can cheer them out on the big screen. The animated movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is about the adventures of a wild and rambunctious mustang stallion as he journeys through the untamed American frontier. The film is told from the viewpoint of Spirit and is narrated by Matt Damon.

Set in the Wild West in the 1800s, the story tells of Spirit's first encounters with humans and his discovery of the effect the expanding civilization will have on his freedom. (He also meets a beautiful paint mare named Rain that he immediately falls in love with, and he develops a remarkable friendship with a Lakota brave.) Despite Spirit's repeated attempts to avoid capture, in the end he is caught by the cavalry and trained to be a warhorse.

Although the movie is animated and fictitious, Dream Works' producers wanted Spirit to look the part, so they bought a Kiger stallion - a breed that descended from the original Spanish mustang to be a model for the horse.

Foals (left) live in the family band, which consists of a stallion and his mares (or harem), until they are two to three years old. Stallion encounters (above) involve a lot of prancing and neck arching. But if neither male backs away, the horses may duel and try to knock each other over by kicking with their front legs.

At Last Count

Today, there are roughly 42 000 mustangs in western North America. Nevada is home to more than half the wild horses in the U.S., and there is also a large population in Wyoming. The rest are scattered in small pockets in eight other states.

There are also a few hundred mustangs in Canada. One herd lives in B.C.'s Chilcotin Range and another in the Siffleur Wilderness Area, near Banff National Park, Alberta. Neither population has any legal protection; however, one B.C. environmental group is campaigning for a National Chilcotin Wild Horse reserve.

Looking to the Future

Even today, the controversy surrounding the mustangs continues. Because the horses reproduce rapidly and have few natural predators, their populations double every four to seven years. Left unchecked, they quickly outgrow their food supply, which can lead to starvation, as well as competition for resources with cattle and native wildlife.

To keep numbers down, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management rounds up horses, using crews of wranglers on horseback and helicopters. Some of the captured horses are released, while others are put up for adoption. (Canada has adopted a similar program.)

Unfortunately, in every roundup, there are some horses that are unadoptable--perhaps, because they can't be tamed or they just don't look attractive. So what happens to them?

Some find homes on reserves, but there is simply not enough space to fill the demand. One solution that is meeting with some success is having inmates at a Colorado state prison help tame the mustangs before they are adopted. Scientists are also looking into possible birth-control methods for the horses to prevent the populations from growing so fast in the future.

When there is not enough grass and water to support a mustang herd, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management conducts roundups and the mustangs are put up for adoption.

No one really knows what lies in store for the mustangs, but if they are strong enough to thrive in some of North America's harshest environments, there's a good chance they'll still be running wild and free well into the future.

Mighty Mustangs

Chow Down!

Because horses have very inefficient digestive systems, they need to chew their food until it is soft and mushy. Since they eat up to 14 kilograms of food a day, they can sometimes spend over half of their time just chewing!

Full Alert

In addition to a keen sense of smell and hearing, mustangs can feel vibrations in the ground through their legs and will flee at the first sign of danger.

Wild Colours

Some mustangs have a dark stripe that runs down their back from the mane to the tail or faint zebralike markings on their upper legs. The usual coat colour is bay (reddish brown with black mane, tail, and lower legs), but black and sorrel (yellowish brown) are also common. Other colour variations are black, brown, grey, gold, and white.

Family Rules

While they may seem wild and carefree, mustangs follow strict ranking within

a band, or family group. The stallion is the head of the family and next in importance is the lead mare. When the band moves, she leads the group and the other mares and young follow in single file, with the stallion pulling up the rear.

Nip & Clip

Mustangs often nibble at each other's necks to free tufts of matted hair or dead and itchy skin. Then they work their way down the sides and back of their partner.

Key Events

1939 Returns to Canada from Taiwan at age seven

1947 Self-publishes her first book of poems at age fifteen

1955 Graduates at the top of her class at the University of Toronto

1962 Publishes her first novel, Mine for Keeps