Balmoral Hall School - Optima Anni Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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10 pounding on its shore. Around the bend the sail boat was waiting, and soon she and Graham would be climbing into it and moving out onto the waves. They were going to the big city along the coast where they would be married. It had seemed a wonderfully exciting plan that after- noon, but now Catriona wondered as she sat alone. Nervouslv she thumbed through a book, and soon she heard her father and mother turn out their lights. Hearing a low whistle Outside, she jumped to the window. Now she was on the porch roof, looking dubiously down at Graham's upturned face. A few moments of panic as her feet wavered in the air, and then she was on the ground beside him. The darkness surrounded them as they made their way down the lonely cliff path. Catriona's heart began to thump wildly as she watched Graham prepare the boat. Come on, Cat, Graham called. Coming, she answered and the huskiness of her voice echoed against the cliffs. Looking out to sea, she saw no encouragement. Ahead was a blank wall of fog which had been quietly creeping toward the shore, and soon the thick wet blanket would surround them. Graham pushed the boat onto the waves and slipped in. The wind tugged at the sails and the further out they got, the fiercer the wind became. The only sounds heard were the eerie lapping of the waves against the boat, and the wild flapping of the sails as the wind tore at them from all directions. Enclosed by the veil of fog, they were alone in this wet world. Catriona sat wrapped in a heavy blanket and the wind whipped her long dark curls against her face. She looked at Graham. His face was pale but determined, as his eyes strained to see through the fog. HO-O-O-NK, loud and clear a fog horn resounded through the silence. Catriona could bear it no longer. Let's go back, Graham, please, she cried, her voice sounding unnaturally loud in the silence. Graham started and he looked into Catriona's wild pleading eyes. But . . . Please, Graham, Catriona interrupted. Graham realized now why Catriona had been so quiet. At eighteen she was too young to leave her home. They would have to wait. Catriona sat in a trance on the edge of the seat, and Graham silently steered the boat towards shore. The waves rose higher and higher until they seemed to lose their power and tossed themselves on the beach, as a tired wanderer might fling himself on the ground. Graham helped Catriona out of the boat, pulled the boat onto the shore, and they made their way back up the path which they had come down only a few hours before. Catriona turned to Graham and, Graham, I'm sorry, she said, but her voice broke. It's all right, Catriona, he said. It'll seem like a bad dream in the morning. Then things will go on as before. Don't worry. Catriona nodded and gave a wan smile, the first attempt at cheerfulness that evening. Graham helped her back onto the porch roof and she stepped into her room unnoticed. The next morning Catrionafs mother noticed how pale her daughter was, and told her she should stay in bed. You must have had a nightmare last night, she said. Catriona smiled to herself and looked out towards the sea. The opaque film which had frightened her last night had been blown away and the sea shimmered gloriously in the bright sunlight. The nightmare was finished. DORA DEMPSTER-Grade X rl g A Rpm, .gi 4' ,miillliisiliifuvf ' Q ' i e i an-ncmi. WATCHING THE NEW BUILDING BETTY NIC!-IOL and JUDITH KNIGHT A Knock at Midnight March eighteenth, the day started in the same way for I.ieutenant Dave Macdonald as it had for the last twenty-five years. Dave got up at seven, dressed, went downstairs, and had break- fast. He left for the station at a quarter to eight. It took him fifteen minutes to walk to the station and he was there at eight o'clock. Dave, the head of the Devon Police Force for the last tw enty-five years, was in his early fifties, but was as healthy as his nineteen-year-old son, Donald, who was away at University. Dave worked as usual until five. He cleared his desk, put on his coat and hat, and left the station. When he arrived home, Mary, his wife, was waiting at the door for him. Her face was as white as a sheet for she had just heard on the radio that Johnny Horton had escaped from jail. Johnny was a young killer whom Dave had caught and put in prison three years earlier. Before he went to jail, Johnny had sworn that he would kill Dave. Dave came in and sat down. He was too bewildered to say anything. He remembered all too clearly what had happened that day. It had

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9 The train approached Edmonton near noon. She was anxious to get home. She wondered who would be there to meet her. She could see the familiar oil derricks clustered on the outskirts of the city. When the train began to slow down, she hastily collected her belongings. As she stepped down from the car she surveyed the station, looking for a familiar face, but failed to see one. On the platform she passed a young woman of about thirty and her two children. Their anxious faces examined every emerging passenger. Deborah was on her way into the building when she heard loud exclamations of joy from behind her. She turned and saw the man who had sat across from her in the arms of the anxious young woman. Tears of joy shone on her cheeks and the children danced up and down at their feet. From behind her she heard a station attendant mention to another, You'd think it was a famous star they were meeting! Then over the loudspeaker came an announce- ment. Will Miss Deborah Elgin please call at the information desk. When she did so, she was given a telegram reading, I've been delayed at the hairdresser. Take a taxi. Mother. BETTY N1cHoL-Grade XI Prize-winning Story-Senior Literary Competition Water Mr. Madison felt smug. That was a smart plan, to say the least, that he had thought up. It was strange, in fact, that no one else had thought of it. Mr. Madison planned to travel in a three-hundred-mile radius around San Fran- cisco, finding all the water holes in that area, and buying the land around them. Then he could sit back and watch the settlers' money roll in when they paid through the teeth as he said, to drink his water. Mr. Madison had been making business ventures like this all his life. Since he had come to San Francisco, however, he had had no deals , and so he had spent his time gambling. This deal was a good one, though, and would, he hoped, set him up for life. There was only one drawback-he had been travelling for a day and a half, he had no water with him, and not being used to travel in the desert, he could find none . . . Hank Err was worried. He had been travel- ling for years-all his life as a matter of fact- and he had never seen a place like this before. All he could see and had seen for the past one and a half days was sand and stones, no cactus, no animals, just sand and stone. The last time he had eaten was the day he had stolen the bread from an old dame's place in New Mexico. He could barely walk. After all the things he had done, the robberies, the double crosses and especially the murders, it seemed ironic that he should die this way . . . alone in a desert. He did not even have a gun, not his gun with the seventy-nine notches on the belt, or any one else's gun. To live such a wild, cruel life and then die alone amidst peace and quiet was terror to him. If he could get some water-any water- he could get out of this trap, but he could find none . . . Frank Hawkins was happy and proud. His little wife and baby were beside him, and there he was, almost in San Francisco. They had come faithfully to him from Liverpool, and travelled with him all the way from Boston. Now they were in their land of milk and honey . He wondered, though, why his wife had not asked for water. She must have known there was none left in the wagon, for she silently agreed with a smile when he said he was going to scout ahead to find the shortest route. Perhaps she knew he was really going for water. He should have told her, but it did not seem fair to worry her when they were almost at their destination. The thought of death he put out of his head, for surely God would not let that happen after all the distance they had travelled. He searched des- perately for water, the love for his family pushing him on, but could find none . . . There are many skeletons in the California desert, but three in particular. One is lying just outside the property of a wealthy grape-grower. It is lying, slightly covered by the sand, on the other side of a fence which surrounds the grape grower's swimming pool filled with water. The house is a product of wealth . . . just the type Mr. Madison might have liked had he lived in this century. Another skeleton can be found in the alley behind an old gambling hall in a ghost town. It was reputed to be the worst hall of its kind, and according to history, the citizens' com- mittee came and closed the place, packed their be- longings and left the place the way it stands today. Perhaps Hank would have enjoyed the hall . . . if he had lived. The third skeleton lies under the ground. It is covered with rich green grass and a headstone which reads, Here lies Frank Hawkins, beloved husband of Martha Hawkins and beloved father of Mary, Jack, Robert, William and Judith Hawkins, beloved friend of the city of San Francisco. Here lies the type of man who will make the west a golden land of milk and honey. 1829-1880. NANCY ANN EATON--Grade XII A Nightmare The Mayor's house stood high upon a cliff silhouetted against the moon. Inside, the Ere refiected a golden hue on the walls and furniture, and on the dark face of a young girl, who was pensively gazing into its flames. Restlessly, she moved to the window and looked down upon the beach with the waves

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ll been a day just like any other. Dave was leaving the station for home when he received a call from a woman who had found the bodies of two girls. These two girls were Joan Gray and Sandra Watson. They had been coming home from school in Sandra's car, and now they were dead. A few hours later, Dave was told that the Devon National Bank had been robbed just a little while after the murder. These two incidents fitted together. Late that night the car was found abandoned. The next day the car was tested for finger- prints and the ones they found belonged to Johnny Horton, a recent arrival in town. No one knew much about him and no one wanted to, except Dave. A few days later, he was found hiding in an old cabin by the lake. He was put on trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. Dave kept asking himself how Johnny could have escaped. How'? Dave just sat in his chair too stunned to speak. Mary brought him a drink to calm his nerves, and she finished pre- paring dinner. During dinner, neither Dave nor Mary spoke, but they were both talking silently to themselves about the same thing. Had Johnny broken out to get revenge on Dave? Would he strike at home or on Dave's way to work? Dave wondered, if Johnny tried to get him at home, whether he would kill Mary also. He hoped not, but he was not sure. He was not sure of anything that night. After dinner they sat in the living room read' ing the paper. After fifteen minutes Dave stood up, looking very restless. He decided to be cautious. He went upstairs and locked the windows, and downstairs he locked both windows and doors. By this time Mary was pacing the floor, too. Dave turned on the television and Mary picked up her knitting. About ten o'clock they decided to go to bed. Mary went upstairs while Dave turned out the lights. He knew it was foolish, but he was scared. As he was walking up the stairs, he heard a crash. Thoughts quickly flashed through his head. What should he do? Was it Johnny? Dave took his gun out of its case and carefully and quietly went downstairs. When he reached the living room, he switched on the lights. Sitting on the floor was their little French poodle who had just knocked over a vase. Dave continued to go to bed, still feeling nervous after the last episode. He and Mary got into bed, but they could not sleep. About midnight there came a loud knocking at the door. They both jumped. Dave put on his dressing-gown and got his gun. He crept down the dark stairs very slowly. He hesitated, then swiftly opened the door. Surprise, Dad! said Donald with a smile. SIGNY HANSEN-Grade XI Seasons Springing crocus Mournful dove Gleeful child in a muddy pool Dusty sunset Waking bough- SPRING is a growing time. Sparkling white-caps Pungent pine Orange sun in a dazzling sky Sunburnt faces Laughing loons- SUMMER's a lazy time. Raucous blue jay Goldenrod Rich reward of the farmer's toil Plopping raindrop Dying leaves- AUTUMN's a busy time. Coal- eyed snowman Holly wreath Rabbit prints in a snowy field Freezing fingers Friendly fire- WINTER,S a resting time. Nona BAKER-Grade X Courage The Laurentians in Quebec are renowned as a skiers' paradise, and the white slopes were definitely being enjoyed on this January evening. The tiny fiakes of powdered snow seemed to dance as they sparkled in the dim light of dusk. Fifteen-year-old Carol Austin hurtled down the snake-like path on the black and niveous mountain side. Her graceful form indicated that she skied often and loved it. She joined her smiling friend, Sheila Curtis, at the termination of the run. Then both set off down a second slope, whipping up clouds with each twist. Finally, they veered toward the soft light of two buildings nestled in a valley. This was Eagle Mount School for Girls. They were greeted at the door by their plump, kind-hearted house-mother, Mrs. Lewis, who in- formed them that a girl had just arrived from Switzerland and was to share their room. Her name is Greta Helvitia, and she is extremely shyg so be kind to her, cautioned Mrs. Lewis. Her father owns . . . , she began