Howl by Karen Hood-Caddy Page A

instead. Her grandmother picked it up and began reading.
    Robin poured herself some cereal and ate it while Griff turned the pages. The report looked tiny in her big hands.
    Squirm came in from the barn and picked up an apple.
    “Wash your hands first,” Ari ordered.
    Squirm rolled his eyes and looked at Robin.
    Robin stared at her sister. Every time either of them came back from the barn, Ari acted like they were covered in toxic waste.
    Griff closed the report and shook her head. “Shocking the way animals used to get treated.”
    “The parts about animals getting beaten or starved, I could hardly read them,” Robin said.
    “Cruelty to animals is disgusting,” Ari said. She straightened her back and set her chin in that way she always did when she made a declaration.
    Squirm grimaced. “Then how come you were going to let your boyfriend shoot the baby bear?”
    Robin expected her sister to retort, “He’s not my boyfriend,” as she always did, but Ari said nothing.
    A wistful look crossed Griff’s face. “Love is blind.”
    Their dad came into the kitchen. Ari gathered her things and they left.
    Griff patted the bright red folder. “Well done, my girl.”
    Robin felt herself relax. She’d been telling herself she didn’t care if she did well on the book report, but still.…
    Griff handed Robin the book report and hugged her hard. Robin pulled away quickly, stuffed the book report into her backpack and followed Squirm out the door. When they were on the bus, Robin put the pack on her lap to keep it safe and looked out the window.
    “I’m going to put one of those old tires in Mukwa’s cage after school,” Squirm said. “Bet he’d love that.”
    “Shh!” Robin hissed. He’d already blabbed to half the school about Relentless and the puppies. She didn’t want him doing the same about the bear.
    The bus pulled into the school parking lot. Before getting off, Robin checked to see if Brittany was around. When she didn’t see the bully, Robin hurried to her classroom. She felt relieved when she got to the safety of her desk.
    She glanced over to the far side of the classroom. Brodie was trying to pull his books out of his backpack, and Brittany kept trying to get him to look at something in her notebook. Robin noticed how Brodie’s eyebrows knitted with irritation at Brittany’s interruptions, but she also saw that he did nothing to stop them. What was it with this boy? She was still mad at him for not saying anything when Brittany had squashed her apple, but then a new thought poked its head into her awareness, like a tiny seedling. Maybe Brodie felt as bullied by Brittany as she did. That thought diluted her anger toward him.
    At that very moment, Brittany tossed a dark look her way.
    “All right, class, let’s come to order,” Mr. Lynch said and gave the morning announcements. When he finished, he told the class to split into their small groups. Robin made sure she sat with her back turned towards Brittany.
    Zo-Zo read out the final questions for the eco-contest, and when they had all agreed, she said, “We need to give this little eco-project of ours a name. Something cool. I know! How about ‘The Extreme Green Eco-Contest’?”
    “Not bad,” Brodie said. He was drawing pictures of animals in the margins of his notebook.
    They tossed out various ideas. Robin finally said, “How about, ‘Your Big Fat Footprint’?” She was only half serious.
    Brodie jumped on the idea. “That’s awesome!”
    Zo-Zo frowned at Brodie. “You always like her ideas better.”
    “No, I don’t!” Brodie reddened. “It’s just that the footprint thing would make a great logo. Look.” He drew a large footprint. “We could colour it green and put it on white T-shirts. If your dad was still willing to donate stuff, we could get a bunch made up and give them away as prizes.”
    “Yeah, my dad would do that. He already told me he’ll donate some prizes. He also said that if we wanted to have our