Little Zachary

Little Zachary was doing very badly in math.
His parents had tried everything... Tutors, mentors, flash cards, special learning centers.
In short, everything they could think of to help his math.

Finally, in a last ditch effort, they took Zachary down and enrolled him in the local Catholic school. After the first day, little Zachary came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn't even kiss his mother Hello.
Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Zachary was hard at work.
His mother was amazed. She called him down to dinner.

To her shock, the minute he was done, he marched back to his room without a word, and in no time, he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day, while the mother tried to understand what made all the difference.
Finally, little Zachary brought home his report card. He quietly laid it on the table, went up to his room and hit the books. With great trepidation, his Mom looked at it and to her great surprise, little Zachary got an "A" in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity.
She went to his room and said, "Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?"
Little Zachary looked at her and shook his head, no.
"Well, then," she replied, Was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms? "WHAT WAS IT ALREADY?"

Little Zachary looked at her and said, "Well, on the first day of school when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren't fooling around."

Close comfort

Joke of the Day

One night, after the couple had retired for the night, the woman became aware that her husband was touching her in a most unusual manner. He started by running his hand across her shoulders and the small of her back. He ran his hand over her breasts, touching them very lightly. Then, he proceeded to run his hand gently down her side, sliding his hand over her stomach, and then down the other side to a point below her waist.

He continued on, gently feeling her hips, first one side and then the other. His hand ran further down the outside of her thighs. His gentle probing then started up the inside of her left thigh, stopped and the returned to do the same to her right thigh. By this time the women was becoming aroused and she squirmed a little to better position herself.

The man stopped abruptly and rolled over to his side of the bed. "Why are you stopping darling?" she whispered.

He whispered back, "I found the remote!"

The Invisible Red String

With the exception of the slight rustling of dried stalks where the rice had once grown in the spring, the silence was as oppressive as the lump Ju-Lin felt in her throat. She gazed at the parched rice paddies and wondered when she had last seen a raindrop. The severe drought had dried all the crops and spread despair across the land like wildfire. Now, it had suddenly taken on an even more ominous meaning, for Ju-Lin had felt her world come to a crashing halt with her father's words moments earlier.

"Ju-Lin," her father had said that evening, "the time I dread has come. There is so little food left that even the crickets have failed to chirp. Our family will surely die from hunger if I do not take this wretched step. I can only beg your forgiveness for needing to sell you, my only daughter, in exchange for food, but alas, there is no hope left!"

Ju-Lin sobbed with her parents, who were miserable at the thought of her being a slave in some wealthy household. She knew she would be the one to go, as she was the oldest and the only girl, for custom dictated that sons remain at home to carry on the family name and honor. She could only pray that she wouldn't have to leave soon.

As luck would have it, though, a kind, old matchmaker happened to stop by their farm that very night. Now, this matchmaker, or moi-yun as she was called, was very well known in her business. She had the knack of bringing people together from different villages so that both the couple and their respective parents always felt completely satisfied with the match.

The moi-yun was returning from a wedding, when she stopped at Ju-Lin's home to rest and became aware of the family's dire situation. The old woman knew she would not be able to persuade the parents to lose face by selling a son, so she offered to pay a handsome sum for Ju-Lin.

"I'm getting too old to do this work without help," said the matchmaker. "I will make sure that your daughter is provided with food and shelter as long as she performs her duties well as my assistant."

Her parents sighed with relief.

"Ju-Lin," admonished her mother the next morning as she helped her daughter pack her few things, "make sure you do as the moi-yun says, for you belong to her now."

"Yes, Mother, I will. Do not worry."

Trying hard not to shed tears, Ju-Lin bowed in farewell to her parents. Then she picked up the moi-yun's belongings along with her own and respectfully followed the old woman out the door. After many days of travel, they reached a more bountiful countryside, untouched by drought, where the moi-yun lived in a house grander than any Ju-Lin had ever seen before.

"Ju-Lin," explained the moi-yun the next day, "I am not as young as I used to be. That is why you are here. First, when I am at home, you must help me with the cooking and cleaning around the house. When I am traveling, you must accompany me to help carry my things. In return, you shall have enough to eat and a small allowance each month. Is that understood?"

"Yes, most honorable Mistress. I am so very grateful. I will do my best to help you in any way I can."

Faithfully, Ju-Lin kept her promise. After finishing her chores, she often had time to observe the moi-yun as she dealt with her many clients. Ju-Lin listened closely and admired how the old woman was able to choose the right people for each other every time. Finally she had to ask:

"What is the secret of your amazing success, Mistress?"

"There is no magic to this, Ju-Lin," she said. "Helping people make the right choice in a partner is my passion in life. As the story goes, even at birth, that old matchmaker, God in heaven, ties an invisible red string around the foot of a boy and a girl destined to spend their lives together as husband and wife. No matter the distance or the circumstances, nothing can break this string. With each passing year, the string becomes shorter and shorter until fate has its way, and the two are finally united. I consider myself merely a facilitator, a means of shortening that string to help the two meet."

The moi-yun paused to sip the hot tea Ju-Lin served her before continuing.

"Of course, I've also learned to keep very careful records. You see, my father was a wonderful poet and a scholar who raised me in a most unconventional way. He never remarried after my mother died giving birth to me. I was his only child. Disregarding the customs of our time to educate only the sons, he taught me how to read and write.

"When I was a child, my father even dismissed our women servants when they insisted my feet be bound like all the other gently bred girls. He couldn't bear the agony I would have to suffer, having all my little toe bones broken and then deforming my feet for the sake of beauty. So when he died, leaving me this big house and little else to support myself, I decided to use my education to earn a living.

"I plan to teach you to do the same, if you are willing to learn. In addition, you will need to listen to people, not with your ears, but with your heart. To do this, you must first have the desire and persistence in you. That is the only way you will find that invisible red string."

So Ju-Lin learned to read and write under the matchmaker's guidance, and she helped the old woman keep records. Just as meticulously as the matchmaker, Ju-Lin learned to keep files on clients who came to the moi-yun for advice. In neat calligraphy, she took down all the important points they stressed and filed them away for future reference in the tiny drawers of an old apothecary cabinet. She took down the names, ages, personal likes and dislikes, as well as the qualities each was looking for in a spouse. Learning all this was the easy part.

Then she learned to listen with her heart to the clients' real needs, those that were expressed in the light of the eyes, the tone of the voice, the gestures of the body and hands. She discussed what she observed with the moi-yun, and the moi-yun was pleased with Ju-Lin's keen perception of people and knew that she would someday become a good matchmaker herself.

One bright spring morning Ju-Lin flung open the windows to let in the fragrance of the blooming orange trees and watched in awe as a long procession approached the gated entrance of the moi-yun's house. Seated in a large, carved wooden sedan chair, held aloft by four brawny servants, was a wealthy matron robed in delicately embroidered silk brocade. The moment she stepped down on her tiny, bound feet encased in dainty matching silk slippers, she winced as if suffering from painful bunions. She introduced herself as Madam Yuen from a distant western province.

When the moi-yun offered her a chair, the matron thanked her and gratefully sank into it. Waving away any offer of refreshment, the matron wasted no time in getting to the point of her visit.

"I'm at my wit's end!" Madam Yuen panted, fanning herself. "I will never see a single grandchild at this rate if my son continues to be so impossible! He has refused to marry any of the hundreds of eligible girls in five neighboring provinces! You are my last resort now, because your reputation has preceded you, even to my province. I have traveled far and I will not leave until you have found a wife for my stubborn son!"

"Ju-Lin," interrupted the moi-yun at this point, "come here and take careful notes. My eyes are not as good as they used to be. Now, let's see how we can help you, madam."

Ju-Lin first bowed to the matron. Then, dipping her brush in the ink, the girl wrote quickly as the woman reeled off the list of necessary qualifications her future daughter-in-law must possess.

"This girl my son wants cannot be found anywhere!" said the matron, whacking her fan in exasperation. "He wants a wife who knows how to read and write, much like your Ju-Lin here. He wants a wife who is educated and who loves to go on long, scholarly walks with him. He doesn't want a wife who has tiny, bound feet or who walks in the proper mincing manner appropriate for women of our station. He probably thinks your girl here with her long peasant feet has more beauty than any one of those eligible young girls I have chosen. So, what is a mother to do?"

"H'm," murmured the moi-yun. "These qualifications are going to be hard to meet. I will see if I can find the right candidate." She went over to her drawers and made a show of rummaging through the files.

Suddenly, she tapped her head with her forefinger and said, "Ju-Lin, you will have to accompany this lady back to her house and see if you can help persuade that young man to change his mind about meeting all of his requirements. Speak for me and tell him that no such girl can be found. I have records here of lovely farm girls who do not have bound feet, but they cannot read nor write. I know of many eligible, well-to-do girls, but they have no book learning and they all have tiny, bound feet. Tell him, my advice is to look closely at those around him. Tell him in person that the one he seeks may be right before his eyes and that he must know enough to follow his heart. Then wait for his answer."

"Well, I can hardly pay you for that information," said the disgruntled matron in a huff. "Your assistant will have to tell him that to his face, but I doubt he will listen to your advice. He hasn't at all to mine. He has already looked high and low among the girls around him. I know for a fact that he has found no one suitable. But if she can persuade him to be less finicky, you will have my undying gratitude. I will personally tell all my friends and relations what a splendid matchmaker you are. I will come back with your apprentice here and look over your eligible choices then. All I really want is for my son to be happy."

The next day, Ju-Lin began the journey alone with the matron, for the moi-yun insisted she was too old to travel the distance this time. Ju-Lin was to go in the matchmaker's place to relay the blunt fact that, in spite of the moi-yun's vast resources, the son's requirements for a wife could not be met.

On the way, Ju-Lin entertained the matron with stories of her mistress's success in bringing couples together. Madam Yuen smiled when she heard how the moi-yun had joined two unlikely people who shared a love for cooking noodles. She laughed when she heard about her pairing a couple who shared a passion for singing Chinese operas. Then, Madam Yuen sighed till tears ran down her cheeks when she heard of how the moi-yun's father had refused to marry again because he could not find another kindred spirit and thus poured all his learning and wisdom into his daughter. She wept even harder when she heard Ju-Lin's own story of how the moi-yun had saved her family from starvation. Not only that, but upon stepping down from the sedan chair, Madam Yuen was even more surprised at how much shorter the journey home had seemed.

Commanding her servants to whisk Ju-Lin away for much-needed freshening up, the matron herself went to prepare her son for the meeting. The handsome young man had just returned home from a walk and was reading in his library.

"My son, I told you your expectations were unreasonable! Now you will have to listen to the words of the most respected moi-yun of all five provinces. She couldn't come in person, but you will hear from her assistant. You should pay close attention, for I have gone through a lot of trouble to find the perfect wife for you. Now I must go rest my weary bones a moment, but I shall be back shortly."

Her son didn't have to wait long before Ju-Lin was brought to the door of the library. She was wearing a lovely embroidered silk robe the moi-yun had given her as a parting gift. As she entered the library, she gasped at the magnificent scrolls of poems written on silk hanging on the walls. Admiring the wisdom and beauty of the words, she stopped to read some of them aloud.

"Ah!" said the young man as he emerged from behind his writing desk. "You can read the words of poets and scholars. That was one of my requirements, and I see that you walk gracefully and freely, too, without the unnatural mincing gait of someone with bound feet. Not only that, you are lovely! How is it that my mother has found you and yet she still complains about my impossible expectations?"

"You are mistaken, Master Yuen," interrupted Ju-Lin. "I am only the matchmaker's assistant."

"Never mind who you are. You can be anything you want to be, but you are the one."

"But you don't understand. I was sent by the moi-yun to tell you in person to look closely at those around you. She said that the one you seek may be right before your eyes and that you must know when to follow your heart."

Suddenly, becoming aware of the meaning of the words herself, Ju-Lin flushed in warm embarrassment as his face lit up.

"You are very close, and if I follow my heart now, it says that I have just found the one person I would be honored to share my life with for the rest of my days… if you will have me."

"Y-y-yes, I will!" said Ju-Lin, gasping in surprise at her own words.

Returning at that very moment to introduce Ju-Lin to her son, Madam Yuen was astounded to hear his proposal and her acceptance. Still unsure of the girl's worthiness with her long, peasant-sized feet, she almost started to protest, but upon seeing her son's smile, she suddenly realized that the moi-yun had known all along whom she was sending to her son. She smiled and wished the two much happiness as she wobbled off in a delighted frenzy to prepare for the upcoming wedding.

By Quen Law

The Indian family

Hot Wheels

Follow a fleet of solar cars as they zoom past kangaroos in Australia's wild Outback

Australia is home to colonies of koalas and mobs of kangaroos, and soon it will host a squadron of race cars. On October 25, 2007, dozens of sleek vehicles will rev their engines and begin a cross-country race (see race map, right). For a large part of the 3,000 kilometer (1,864mile) journey, the cars will speed through the Outback. Navigating through this immense desert--where desolate roads are dotted with signs warning of camel and kangaroo crossings--may be daunting enough, but these race cars will be making the trip without using a single drop of gasoline. Impossible? Not during Australia's Panasonic World Solar Challenge (WSC).

The WSC is the largest solar-car race in the world. To fuel the trip, the vehicles will soak up sunlight and convert its energy into electricity. Held every two years, the WSC attracts teams of university students and engineers from private companies around the globe. The first race took place in 1987, with the winning car crossing the finish line in roughly 45 hours. In 2005, the winner clocked in at 29 hours and 11 minutes. What will it take to win the 20th anniversary race this fall?

SUN CATCHERS

As racers charge through the Outback, they might catch a glimpse of giant termite mounds rising like headless tree trunks from the desert sand. But there's no time to stop and snap photos. A car's driver and the support team that will be accompanying the car in separate vehicles are too busy making sure that the race vehicle is running smoothly and its solar-energy-capturing functions are operating properly.

To capture the sun's energy, the top of each car is decked with a solar array, or panels made up of approximately 3,000 photovoltaic cells (see Nuts & Bolts, p. 14). When sunlight hits the array, negatively charged particles called electrons flow through the cells. These moving electrons create electrical energy that flows to the car's motor. Any energy not used immediately by the motor to move the car is stored in batteries. These batteries are the same as the rechargeable kind used in laptops. But while a laptop's battery pack contains only six batteries, "our solar car [battery pack] has 640 of them," says Alex Hayman, a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team, which placed sixth in the 2005 race. Batteries provide a race car with a needed boost on cloudy days, when the solar array might not produce enough energy to power the vehicle's motor.

At 5:00 p.m., the race clock officially stops for the night, and the teams set up roadside camps. They use the downtime to make car repairs and to charge their cars' batteries some more. To capture the maximum amount of the fading sunlight, a team lifts off its car's top and positions the solar array toward the sun. However, the team must watch for sudden willy willys. These whirling "dust devils" can blow away an array or pummel the delicate cells with debris.

SPACE CRUISES

Outback campers must also be alert for scorpions and venomous snakes, and "the flies are all over your face," says Hayman. But at 8:00 a.m., any thoughts of creepy creatures disappear; the race clock officially starts ticking again. The drivers hit the road in their spaceship-like cars. These cars' sleek shapes not only look cool, but they actually help the cars optimize power.

Under peak sunlight conditions, the solar array can provide a vehicle with about as much power as a hairdryer. To run on such a meager power supply, solar cars must be aerodynamic. A sleek shape allows air molecules to flow smoothly over a car. By reducing air resistance, or air molecules rubbing against the car, there is less drag. With less energy used to fight this slowing force, more energy is available to propel the car.

Another way to conserve energy is to keep the car lightweight. Since the more massive a car is, the more energy it takes to move it, most solar race cars weigh less than 180 kilograms (400 pounds). That's less than half as much as a gas-fueled two-seater sports car. To achieve this, solar cars are made of lightweight but tough materials such as Kevlar, a material used in bulletproof vests. Also, every part of the car must have an essential purpose. That means there are no hood ornaments or bulky stereo speakers.

Stripped down and streamlined, solar-powered cars have an average cruising speed of 100 kilometers (60 miles) per hour, says David Fewchuk of Melbourne, Australia's Aurora team, which finished second in the 2005 race.

FLASH TO THE FUTURE

Winning the WSC is the dream of all the teams, but a deeper motivation drives racers. "We believe in developing solar energy for practical purposes--to reduce harm to the environment and to people's health," says Meghan Cartwright, a member of Canada's Queen's University team. Solar-powered vehicles, unlike traditional gas-guzzling cars, do not spew air pollutants such as carbon dioxide. This gas is a leading contributor to global warming.

Today, most people don't drive environmentally friendly, sun-fueled cars because they are very expensive to build. But thanks in part to technological advances made by WSC racers, some motor companies are beginning to test for ways to effectively incorporate solar power into cars. For example, companies have tested hybrid cars that use solar energy to supplement other energy sources, such as gasoline--or even wind. "I believe that someday, solar-powered cars [for the public] will become a reality," says Jonathan Mash, a member of the Queen's University team.

As the clock ticks toward the October race, eager teams are putting the final touches on their vehicles. "Once you start working on this project you get sucked in because it's so addicting," says Kristine Cramer of the University of Michigan team. Her teammate Brian Ignaut agrees. "Everyone lives, sleeps, eats, and breathes the race for two years or more." Even the Outback's bush flies, biting snakes, and willy willys can't stop these racers.

RACECOURSE

When WSC racers hear "Go!" they will dash out of the city of Darwin on Australia's tropical northern coast. The finish line awaits them in Adelaide, a seaside city in the south.

WATCH OUT Racers must stay alert for the estimated 15 million to 50 million kangaroos that hop all over Australia.

webextra

To learn more about the Panasonic World Solar Challenge, visit: www.wsc.org.au/

nuts & bolts

How a solar vehicle gets its power.

SHINE ON Sunlight is made up of particles of light energy called photons.

DRINK UP The photovoltaic cells on the solar array absorb the photons, converting them into electrical energy.

DECISION TIME Devices called peak power trackers monitor how much of the energy should flow to the motor and how much should flow to the batteries.

SAVE UP The battery pack stores energy that could be used at a later time.

GO REV The motor converts the electrical energy into mechanical energy to move the car forward.

AUSTRALIA FACTS & FIGURES

AREA: 7,686,850 square kilometers (2,967,909square miles), slightly smaller than the U.S. mainland.

POPULATION: More than 20 million

UNIQUE CONTINENT: Australia is the only nation to govern an entire continent and its outlying Islands. Its mainland is the smallest, flattest continent on Earth.

AUSSIE SPEAK: "Chook" means a chicken, "arvo" is short for afternoon, and "loo" or "dunny" is slang for the word toilet.

COLORFUL COUNTRY: In 1984, green and gold were formally recognized as the national colors of Australia. The gold represents Australia's beaches, mineral wealth, and grain harvests. The green represents Australia's forests and pastures.

By Judith Jango-Cohen

TIME TRIP: Blowing Hot and Cold

To cross the Sahara today, you'd probably want a camel and bottles of water. But about 6,000 years ago, you would have needed a boat to traverse parts of it — and you'd have had to keep an eye out for crocodiles Lurking in the swamps. Earth is no stranger to climate change. The planet's 1 billion-year history has included frigid ice ages and tropical warming periods.

About 60 million years ago, trees grew in Arctic and Antarctic regions, and Earth was virtually ice-free. About 20,000 years ago, the last major ice age was at its height. Agriculture in Europe blossomed during the Medieval Warm Period, which lasted from 1000 to 1300 AD. That was followed by a cold period known as the Little Ice Age, which didn't begin to thaw until about 1890.

Typically, temperature changes occur gradually. Yet volcanic eruptions have sometimes changed Earth's climate virtually overnight. Volcanoes spew sun-reflecting sulfur dioxide into Earth's stratosphere. When Indonesia's Mount Tambora erupted in 1815, it blanketed the world with volcanic ash, changing the climate so dramatically that snow was reported in July in New England and Northern Europe. The year 1816 became known as the year without a summer.

Current Events, 4.23.2007

Hot Trend: Cellphone Sports Games

NO Sweat Cellphone games are simple to play -- the phone's D-Pad is the controller. The games are easy to figure out after a quick read of the on-screen tutorial.

Q Quick Time Most games are designed to be played in about five minutes. "These games are quick bites. Console games are the full meal," says Travis Boatman of EA Mobile.

Best Games Madden NFL '07 features full 11-on-11 action, more than 50 plays, and commentary from AI Michaels and John Madden. In NBA Live '07, your phone vibrates when you throw down a spectacular dunk. Coming soon: Fight Night: Round 3, FIFA '07, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07.

How to Buy Them Most sports games can be found in the Games section on your phone's browser. The downloads are pretty cheap ($3 to $11 per game), but be sure to get your parents' permission before downloading.

Sports Illustrated Kids, Apr2007

My Little Love Butterfly

my little love butterfly
when she walks by makes me want to cry.
cry for the need to touch her heart.
sweet, sweet mystery.
the words i want to whisper into her ears.
the fighting tears that i try to hold inside.
i miss her when she is gone for a mintue.
i love it when she looks at me.
i love it when she litens so carefully to my words.
but i wish she would listen carefully to my heart, what it has to say.
when i want her to stay.
the little love butterfly that makes me want to cry for her every night.

Unicorns On Octavion

By O'Neil De Noux

Along the farthest reaches of the Milky Way hovered a sun-kissed planet of brightly colored oceans, vast forests, and plateaus that stretched as far as the eye could see. When humans first came to Octavion, they were amazed, like children in a toy store, and named all the places for their vivid colors: the Sapphire Sea, the Copper Plateau, the Indigo Forest.

Many people settled on Octavion, bringing with them their machines and computers, their ideas and books, even their plants and animals. Soon the inevitable clash of worlds began, and Earth's creatures--cows, horses, cats, dogs, and fish--edged aside Octavion's native species. After thirty years and a million human inhabitants, the Indigenous Creatures Act was passed to protect Octavion's wildlife. No longer could anyone import creatures from other planets.

One summer evening, as the huge Octavion sun hung just above the horizon, a twelve-year-old girl named Dana learned what the Indigenous Creatures Act was all about.

Sitting on a bench beneath a towering spearmint tree, Dana spied a movement beyond the low stone wall at the edge of the campgrounds. Something stepped up from the Charcoal Plain. The waning sunlight glimmered on its silver horn, and its golden mane flowed in the warm breeze. Dana knew it was a unicorn, and her heart beat furiously. The unicorn poked its nose over the wall and nibbled the coral leaves of the bush just inside.

Dana sat frozen, afraid to blink, and gazed at the graceful creature. It ate every leaf it could reach before turning and moving away. Crouching, Dana hurried to the wall and watched the unicorn disappear into the growing darkness.

The bell rang. Suppertime at Mrs. Miniver's Summer Camp for Girls. Dana hurried to the dining hall, the last to arrive. Her heart thumped with her secret safely inside.

Her friend Joanie ran up to her. "Dana, where have you been?"

"Reading," Dana answered.

"Reading at summer camp? What fun is that?" Joanie said. During supper, Joanie talked about sports and her friends back home. Dana only half listened, thinking about the unicorn. She imagined it racing between the dark gray rocks of the Charcoal Plain, rearing on its hind legs and snorting, then scratching the ground with its front hoofs before stepping over to let Dana pet it.

Tomorrow, she thought. Tomorrow I'll gather as many leaves as I can. Then I'll pile them on top of the wall and wait.

The next day, all the campers went swimming at Lake Robin. While Joanie splashed and laughed with the other girls, Dana sat with Mrs. Miniver, who told her that the lake water matched the color of a robin's egg. Dana had never seen this kind of egg, nor a robin for that matter.

Dana and her big brother, Vincent, had been born on Octavion. Their mom and dad had come from Earth, and they'd often said how lucky Dana and Vincent were to live on a planet without pollution. Like most native Octavions, Dana had seen many things from Earth, like unicorns, only in photographs-until the previous evening. But it wasn't even a photo of a unicorn she'd seen before--it was a drawing. And Vincent had said that unicorns didn't exist.

Turning to Mrs. Miniver, Dana asked what she knew about unicorns.

"There are no unicorns," Mrs. Miniver said. "There never were, not even on Earth. They are mythical creatures, like mermaids and fairies."

Joanie splashed water on two other girls, who screamed. Dana closed her eyes and imagined mythical creatures, mermaids and unicorns, splashing together in the shallow end of Lake Robin. A spray of water in the face, from a giggling Joanie, brought Dana out of her daydream.

"Come swim with us!" Joanie said.

With a sigh, Dana walked into the pale blue waters of the lake.

That evening, Dana was putting coral leaves on the wall for the unicorn when Joanie came looking for her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Dana looked around guiltily and tried to think of something to fool her friend, but there was no way to make Joanie leave.

"Can you keep a secret?" Dana asked. Joanie nodded, and Dana led her friend to the bench. They sat together in silence. "What are we waiting for?" Joanie asked. Dana shushed her. "You'll see."

As the sun was about to set, Dana spotted the golden mane and the gleam of silver. The unicorn came out of the dimness, walking toward the leaves on the wall.

Joanie let out a long breath, and Dana shushed her again. Noises behind the girls, some of their friends horsing around, made the unicorn lift its head twice, but it kept moving along the wall, eating.

Dana didn't see the second unicorn until she heard it whinny. It stepped up to the wall, where it joined the first in nibbling the coral leaves. Joanie grabbed Dana's arm and squeezed. Dana hoped her friend could keep quiet.

The second unicorn was slightly smaller than the first. Dana thought it was a filly and the other a stallion.

The unicorns finished eating the leaves, then turned and moved away. Dana ran to the wall, with Joanie right behind, and they watched the smaller unicorn nuzzle the bigger one as they disappeared into the gathering darkness.

A few minutes later, the girls sat back down on the bench. "What's wrong, Dana?" asked Joanie. "You look so sad."

"What if someone wants to catch them--or even hurt them?"

"Why would anybody do that?" Joanie's voice caught. Dana could see the worry in her friend's eyes now.

"Maybe that's what happened to unicorns on Earth," Dana said.

Joanie nodded slowly. "But I heard Mrs. Miniver say there weren't any unicorns on Earth. Ever. "So she had been listening.

"But they're here, aren't they?" Dana said.

"Yes, and we need to protect them. What can we do?"

If only I could talk to Dad, Dana thought. He was out "in the field," as he put it, not at his office or at home. He had given Mrs. Miniver an emergency contact number, but she would want to know why Dana needed to talk to him.

"You know," Dana said after a few minutes of silence, "these might be the last unicorns in the universe." She felt a sudden chill, and the hair stood up on the back of her neck.

At breakfast the following morning, Dana sat with Joanie. She felt nervous and frustrated. Her father would know exactly what to do about the unicorns. If she could keep anyone else from finding out about them until then, everything might be O.K. But she had to do something.

As she pushed her food around on her plate, a plan began to form. "I think we should follow them," she told Joanie.

"Follow them? Onto the Charcoal Plain? But that's dangerous!"

"They must live close by," Dana said. "We can bring flashlights and water bottles and food." Then she explained that, if they could show her father where the unicorns lived, he could find a way to protect them.

"Your dad? How can he protect them?" Joanie asked. "That's what he does," Dana said with pride. "He's a ranger. Like a police officer, but out in the wilderness. He helps animals as much as he helps people. He puts poachers in jail."

"So we follow the unicorns tonight?"

"Yes," Dana said. "We follow them wherever they go."

The unicorns came early that evening, and Dana worried that someone else might see them--but all the other girls were busy rehearsing for the camp play or bouncing basketballs in the gym.

The filly came first, with the stallion right behind, and they nibbled the leaves on the wall. Dana found she was holding her breath as she turned her head to make sure no one else was watching.

When the unicorns moved away, Dana picked up her knapsack. Then she and Joanie climbed over the wall and started out onto the darkening Charcoal Plain.

Twelve-year-old Dana has lived on the planet Octavion all her life. While she's at Mrs. Miniver's Summer Camp for Girls, she sees a pair of unicorns, creatures she's always heard did not exist. Dana and her friend Joanie fear that someone else will discover the unicorns, maybe even harm them. Because Dana's dad is a ranger--a person who protects Octavion's natural wildlife--she believes that he'll be able to keep the unicorns safe. She and Joanie decide to find out where they live and tell him. Before sunset, the girls slip away to follow the unicorns onto the darkening Charcoal Plain.

The unicorns moved across the plateau at a leisurely pace, twisting around the dark gray rocks and occasional boulders. Their trail wound its way toward the Cranberry Hills. Dana and Joanie followed close behind. Darkness enveloped them as they neared the first hill, but they could still see the white unicorns up ahead.

A high-pitched howl made Dana jump. Then the girls heard footfalls behind them. Joanie grabbed Dana's hand.

"What's that?" Joanie whispered. Dana heard a low growling, followed by more footfalls.

"Come on." Dana pulled Joanie along. Joanie tripped over a rock and fell. Dana helped her up as the unicorns seemed to vanish straight into the side of a hill.

"Where'd they go?" Joanie asked.

Dana took a hesitant step forward, reached into her knapsack, and pulled out the flashlights. She passed one to Joanie.

It took them ten minutes of frightful to find the entrance to a cave.

"I don't want to go in there," Joanie said.

"Then stay out here by yourself!" Dana stepped into the cave mouth and shone her light around the dark red walls. She didn't want Joanie to know how scared she was, so she clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering and continued walking into the cave. Joanie followed.

Swinging her flashlight around, Dana could see the cave was so wide, the beam barely reached the walls and the ceiling. Something small scurried past, making Dana jump and Joanie screech.

"Was that a snake?" Joanie asked.

"There are no snakes on Octavion," Dana said. "There aren't supposed to be any unicorns, either." Dana swallowed and paid more attention to the floor as they inched forward. She didn't realize that she was hearing something until the sound grew louder. Running water. The girls swung their beams around, but there was no water in sight. It took a few moments to decide that the sound came from up ahead.

They made a turn to the right, and suddenly their beams seemed to go on forever, without hitting any walls. Dana focused on the floor again and saw that, just a few footfalls away, the ground sloped downward. They had reached another opening into the cave.

The sound of water was louder now, coming from below. "There must be a stream or river down there," Dana said.

"What do we do?" Joanie's voice broke.

"We wait until morning.

"All night--in here?"

"Do we have a choice? We don't know, what's out there. And I don't want to go back across the plain at night. Do you?"

Joanie shook her head.

Dana moved to a cave wall and dropped her knapsack, then reached inside for the fire log and lighter. "This fire should last eight hours." She assembled a circle of rocks around the log. It ignited slowly, but once aflame, it filled the cave with light. The girls settled with their backs against the wall and watched the flickering shadows dance.

"There's no way I can sleep," Joanie said with a sigh. Ten minutes later, she nodded off, still sitting Up.

Dana closed her eyes and listened to the soothing sound of the gurgling water. When sleep finally came to her, she dreamed about the unicorns. She saw them playing in a stream, bouncing and rearing up, then racing across a wide plain.

Paul, Dana's dad, stood at the summer camp wall, a powerful flashlight in his hand. Seeing nothing, he looked back at the girl standing next to Mrs. Miniver. "What did Joanie tell you?" he asked.

The girl spoke quickly, explaining how Joanie had bragged about a secret she and Dana discovered out on the plain. "I think it was some kind of animal," the girl said.

Pointing the flashlight back over the wall, Paul spotted footprints in the charcoal dust. Two sets of prints led across the plateau. He climbed over the wall and crouched low, looking at the ground. There were other prints, too. Hoofs. Turning to where his fellow rangers were assembled, Paul said, O.K., they walked off this way."

A worried ranger stepped forward with her flashlight. "They crossed the plain by themselves? At night?"

"It certainly looks that way. Come on." The other rangers followed Paul on the trail of the footprints. He didn't have to say that the rescue mission couldn't wait until morning. Not with two young girls lost on the Charcoal Plain.

Paul forced himself to remain calm. He would find Dana and Joanie---he'd never stop looking until he did. He whispered a silent prayer that the girls hadn't stumbled upon anything dangerous. He also told himself that Dana was smart enough to be careful.

Locating the footprints through a patch of overgrown weeds was difficult. Suddenly there were other tracks--large, lizard-like ones. Paul felt his heartbeat rising as he swung his flashlight around, then pointed it back toward the ground. He couldn't identify the tracks--could they be a predator's?

"Oh no," he said, picking up his pace. The plain became rockier, and there were no more tracks. The other rangers stopped walking and gathered around Paul, who immediately called for reinforcements on his radio. Then he turned to everyone else. "We need to spread out in twos. Keep in touch by radio and move south by west."

As the team split up, Paul thought to himself that, as soon as it was light, he'd call for a hovercraft; then the rangers could look for the girls from the sky.

Worried now that he'd never find Dana and Joanie, Paul continued walking in the direction their last tracks seemed to lead.

A feeling of warmth on Dana's face woke her up, but it wasn't the fire log, which had gone out. It was sunlight streaming into the cave. She stood, shielding her eyes from the golden glow--a shimmering that bounced and danced outside the cave opening. It was something magical.

Dana hesitated, then reached out, her hand moving toward the brightness. She took a deep breath and forced her eyes open --and before her was an incredible sight. It took a moment for the dazzling colors to register.

A trail led out of the cave, down to a silver river so shallow that she could see the bottom. There were emerald boulders and fields of lush grass separated by stands of indigo trees and long rows of coral-leafed bushes. As she looked around, Dana saw that the cave opened onto a deep valley surrounded by the Cranberry Hills.

And, grazing on the grass, just ahead of her, stood a herd of unicorns. Two foals raced each other, rearing and shaking their heads, golden manes flowing in the warm early morning air.

Dana sat down and watched the unicorns. Joanie soon awoke and joined her. They didn't say anything for a long time.

At last, Dana spoke. "We can't let anyone see this. If we do, they'll put the unicorns in zoos or kill them for their horns."

"It'll be our secret," Joanie said.

Three unicorns moved to the river and drank, then began playing in the water, bouncing and s with a stomping of hoofs. They were joined by the foals, and the play continued until all settled down and began to nibble the grass again. Some ate the coral leaves off the bushes.

"I'm hungry," Joanie said, digging into the knapsack. She pulled out some protein bars and two bottles of water.

"Bet that water down there is cooler," Dana said, then froze as she heard footfalls behind them. The girls turned and looked into the cave.

A man and a woman in ranger uniforms rounded the last turn inside the cave and stopped. The woman took another step forward and squinted, having trouble seeing through the shimmering light.

"You wouldn't happen to be Dana?" the woman asked. Dana nodded. The woman pulled a radio from her belt and spoke into it. "Paul, I found the girls. They're both fine. We're in the southeast cave."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Dana's dad said. "Stay with them till I get there."

"Will do." Putting the radio away, the woman turned toward the girls. "You are all right?"

Dana's chin sank, and she left it to Joanie to say, "Yes. Are we in trouble?"

The woman smiled and looked down at the valley. "Lovely, isn't it?"

"Yes," Dana said. "I've never seen anything like it."

It took Dana's dad ten minutes to arrive. He rushed into the cave and stopped a few feet away to put his hands on his knees and catch his breath. A bunch of men and women stopped behind him.

When he stood upright, he opened his arms, and Dana moved toward him. He hugged her harder than she'd ever been hugged before. Then he brushed her hair from her face and asked if she and Joanie were all right.

"Yes," Dana said. "It was my idea. We stayed here all night. Joanie wanted to go back, but I wouldn't let her."

"Whatever possessed you to cross the plain like that?" His eyes narrowed.

Dana shook her head, grabbed her dad's hand, and pulled him over to the cave opening. Then she pointed down at the unicorns. "We followed them from camp.

Her dad called back to the other rangers, and several came forward with tools in their hands. I

"What are you going to do?" Dana asked.

"We' re going to seal off this cave and two more that open onto the valley, to keep the unicorns from getting out on the plain again. That's what we've been doing these last few weeks, preparing to set it up."

"Set what up?"

Her father looked back at two rangers carrying a large piece of clear plastic.

"Come on, let's get out of the way." Dana's dad led the girls back through the cave.

Dana suddenly stopped. "I'd like to tell the unicorns good-bye."

Her father smiled. "What for? As soon as they set up the viewing station, we can come back and watch them any day."

"Viewing station?"

Her father prodded the girls along. "It's a miracle we've kept this a secret. The only way we can protect the unicorns is to keep them in their valley and let people watch them from the caves. Nobody goes in, and nothing comes out."

"So you won't take them to a zoo?" Joanie asked.

"No. And no one will hurt them." I

They stepped from the cave, passing more rangers carrying plastic sheets. Dana took her dad's hand as they moved toward his Land Rover. "They are the most beautiful animals I've ever seen," she told him.

"Yes, but that big lizard whose tracks followed you two from camp wasn't very pretty."

"What big lizard?"

Her dad stopped and pointed to the tracks next to his vehicle. The girls looked at them and shuddered.

Before climbing into the Land Rover, Dana glanced back at the cave. She closed her eyes and imagined the unicorns again. Their silver horns glowed in the morning sunlight, and their golden manes danced as they raced across the grass. She smiled, knowing that now they were safe-v-and that she'd be able to see them whenever she liked.