No Small Victory by Connie Brummel Crook Page A

this crow, Archie?”
    â€œOf course I am. I told you—it came to me once. Just wait. You’ll see it one of these days.”
    â€œWell, I’m tired of tramping through the woods. Let’s get home so you can have a good visit with Boots.”
    As soon as they were out of the woods, Archie cried, “Race ya!” and ran down the hill toward the barnyard.
    Bonnie let him go. Though he hadn’t said so, she knew that Archie had walked home with her to make sure the bullies didn’t follow. She was grateful, but now she had to think by herself. Should she tell her parents what had happened?
    Bonnie decided not to say anything. What was the use? Mum would just say she should stand up to the bullies. After all, that’s what Mum had done. Bonnie hated to admit it, but she knew she wasn’t nearly as brave as Mum.
    â€œWait for me, Archie!” she yelled, grabbing the top of the barnyard gate and jumping over it. “Wow, Archie! Look what I did! I cleared the gate in just one leap!”
    But Archie wasn’t listening. He was running ahead with Boots at his heels. So Bonnie went chasing after the two of them. Soon they were all zigzagging around the barnyard.

EIGHT: SWING HIGH
    Bonnie was in a complete daze as she walked to school one brisk Monday morning in early November. The afternoon before, Mrs. Elmhirst and her son, Roy, had visited the farm. Her parents had been pleased by the owner’s compliments on their upkeep of the place.
    Then Mrs. Elmhirst had asked Bonnie if she liked her new school.
    â€œNo,” Bonnie had said, “I don’t.”
    Bonnie could still see the hard stares from Mum and Dad. So she had added, “I do like school, but I don’t like…”
    Then, Roy the business man came to the rescue. He smiled and winked at her as he said, “Perhaps, you mean that you don’t like being the new pupil.” Bonnie had nodded and smiled with relief.
    The visit over, her parents walked with the Elmhirsts to their Ford Lincoln. Roy turned to Dad and said, “Do you mind if I give something to Bonnie to help her in the new school?”
    â€œIt’s fine with me,” Dad said, smiling.
    Roy turned around and pressed something into Bonnie’s hand. She mumbled, “Thank you,” in a very low voice. Mum did not like her accepting anything from anyone.
    After their guests had gone, Bonnie ran upstairs to her bed and opened her hand. She could not believe her eyes. It was a whole quarter! Was she seeing things? Was it really that much? Yes, it was a quarter. She’d only ever had a nickel to spend. This was worth five of them!
    She was still daydreaming about it the next morning, all the way to school. A nickel would buy a package of five suckers—big, round suckers all wrapped together in cellophane. She liked the orange and lemon best, but brown ones were good, too. Black was also nice, and even green candy wasn’t too bad. But for a quarter, she could also buy a huge chocolate bar, or a big ice-cream cone with two rounded scoops side by side; or she could buy a delicious bottle of Orange Crush that would tickle all the way down her throat. But she finally decided to share it with her best friends—she would take them to the store at lunchtime.
    The morning stretched out uneventfully. At noon, Bonnie, Marianne, and Angela stepped quickly along the pathway by the road that led to the general store. A brisk wind nipped at the girls’ scarves and whipped them across their faces.
    â€œBrrr! It’s cold for this time of year,” said Bonnie. In Massassaga, the days were usually sunny and snowless until December.
    â€œAround here, once November comes, one can expect snow anytime,” said Angela.
    â€œAnd it probably won’t leave till spring,” said Marianne with a sigh.
    As Marianne flung open the door of the little all-purpose store, the girls felt the rush of warm air from the pot-belly