SABERTOOTH

The trolley dipped down into the afternoon shadows of the glacier valley. The gleaming ice was almost blue. Mimi said, "Don't look now, but I think we're being followed." Behind them, making their way carefully across an ice bridge, were two large sabertooth cats and two small kittens.

As the car rose above the crest of the hill, Barry saw something else. "Sis! Another platform." The end of the ride was within sight. But so was something else. "Hey," he said, "What are those big animals doing there?"

Mimi grinned, "Woolly mammoths! I knew we'd see some!" And for the final time she checked with the guide.

"Woolly mammoths wandered the cold tundra grasslands during the last ice age, about ten thousand years ago, when glaciers covered much of the northern hemisphere. Their long, thick coats kept them warm in the coldest weather. Their long, curved ivory tusks were used to sweep snow and ice away so they could feed on the grass underneath."

The trolley car came to a halt on the platform. The fence separating Prehistoria from the rest of Dinosaur World was close by. As they climbed out, several of the mammoths trumpeted nervously and moved away after catching the scent of the approaching sabertooths. Smiley sniffed the air and smelled the big cats too. He squirmed in Mimi's arms. At the edge of the platform she put him down, happy he could return tb his family, but sad at the same time. "Good bye, Smiley," she said softly. As the kitten scampered off to join the others Mimi thought he looked back, but her eyes were too full of tears to be sure.