T ""WSr, -.-hj^v Historical Fictif Play m m I ME IN AMERICAN ISTORY, TWO UNLIKELY HEROES BOUGHT HOPE TO MILLIOÑr SPENCER KAYDEN Seabiscuit with his famous rival War Admiral on his tail 20 STORY Nain Idea Why did the Orens, like millions of other LOOK FOR WORD NERD'S 8 Americans, root for Seabiscuit? w WORDS IK BOLD Think about this as you read. Scene 1 Saratoga, New York, August 1936 Nl: Racehorse owner Charles Howard and his trainer, Tom Smith, are looking at a horse named Seabiscuit. Charles: He's got wobbly knees, and his ribs are sticking out. Tom: Yup. Charles: I hear he sleeps all the time. Tom: Yup. Charles: He's lost almost every race this year. Tom: Yup. Charles: And you want me to buy this horse? Characters Tom: Yup. Circle the character N2: Charles stares hard at the horse. you will play. Charles: I see something special in his eyes. Tom: Buy that horse, Mr. Howard. He has real stuff in him. *N1: Narrator 1 *N2: Narrator 2 Scene 2 *N3: Narrator 3 Detroit, Michigan, two weeks later Charles Howard: a racehorse N3: Two jockeys sit outside the gates of a racetrack. owner Red: Man, I'm hungry. George: Me too, but even if I had food, I couldn't eat it. Tom Smith: a horse trainer Red: 1 know—the smaller the jockey, the faster the horse. *Red Pollard: a jockey George: Still no job? George Woolf: a jockey and Red: Nope. Red's friend George: When was the last time you won a race? Stablehand: Charles's Red: It's been years. I've got nowhere to live. I've got 27 cents to my name. I'm at the end of my rope, George. employee George {pointing at the track) : Look, new horses are arriving. *Pa Oren: Dot and Erankie's They're going to need jockeys. father Red: This is my last chance. ^Announcers 1 and 2 Nl: Red visits dozens of stables. Everyone turns him down. (A1,A2) N2: At the last stable. Red sees Tom wrangle a rowdy horse. Red: You need a jockey for that wild fella? ê Clarence: Pa's friend Tom: Sure do, but no one can stay on him. *Dot Oren: a 7-year-old girl Red: What's he called? *Frankie Oren: Dot's Tom: Seabiscuit. Better watch out, though. DON'T MISS OUR 11-year-old brother He took a bite out of the last jockey who 1930s TIME MACHINE * indicates large speaking role came near him. Stablehand: Mr. Howard wasted his money VIDEO! www.SCHOLASTIC.COM/STORYWORKS • APRIL/MAY 2013 2 1 on that cranky creeping up on little horse. the outside. Tom: This here N3 : The sound of horse may he hooves pounding small, and he the dirt thunders may be ornery, over the radio. but we aim to Al: Rosemont make him a comes up on the champion. right. Seahiscuit Stablehand: and Rosemont are Kinda hard if neck and neck! no one can ride P In the 1930s, America was in crisis. More than 12 million A2: They cross him. g people were out of work. Families had lost their homes. the wire together! S Children were going hungry. This period was called the N3: Red holds I Great Depression. Dot: Who won? out a sugar Al: Ladies and cube. gentlemen, it's a Red: Hello, 'Biscuit. My name's John. But folks photo finish—the judges have determined call me Red on account of my red hair. that the winner is ... Rosemont. Rosemont Nl: Seabiscuit takes the sugar cube and gently for a hundred grand! nuzzles Red's shoulder. N1 : The roar of the crowd drowns out the Tom (impressed) : Red, you're hired. announcer. Dot: Aw, I wanted Seahiscuit to win. Scene 3 Frankie: Me too. Can you imagine being at one A migrant-worker camp of those races? Weedpatch, California, February 1937 Pa: We could never afford it. N2: A crowd of migrant families huddles ^ Frankie: Yeah, hut imagine. around a rusted old truck. Pa hooks up a Pa: It doesn't do no good to dream. , radio to the truck hattery. The radio crackles to life. Scene 4 Pa: Quiet down, folks! It's time. Santa Anita Racetrack, later that day Al: Welcome to the Santa Anita Handicap, Charles: What happened out there. Red? one of the country's most important races! Tom: You knew Rosemont was right next to The top horse wins a hundred grand. you. Why didn't you push harder? Clarence: $100,000! What a prize! Red: I tried! We just got heat. A2: We've got a new contender this year by the Tom: I know Seabiscuit has what it takes to be a name of Seabiscuit. champion. Do you? Al: He's a scrawny fellow. Doesn't look like N2: Tom sighs. He and Charles walk away. much of a horse. Red (to himself): If anyone finds out my secret, A2: His jockey. Red Pollard, is nothing to brag they'll never let me race again. about either. Showed up at the stables flat N3: George walks up. broke with a losing streak as long as my arm. Red: Géorgie, how do you do it? How do you Pa: Sounds like one of us. keep your cool when the pressure is on? Al: Horses are at the gates, aaaand they're off! George: When I'm out there, it's just me A2: It's Seahiscuit out front, with Rosemont and the horse, in our rhythm, together. 22 STORYWORKS Everything else fades away. Dot: Nobody can beat the 'Biscuit. Red: I'm one loss shy of being homeless again. Frankie: Yeah, not even War Admiral, the George: Just believe that anything is possible. horse everyone said was unbeatable. Someone's got to win, so why not you? Clarence (walking in) : Hey, the truck's leaving. Those potatoes won't pick themselves. Scene 5 Nl: Pa sighs heavily. Another migrant-worker camp, Pa (quietly) : Glarence, it's not that I mind two years later working hard, but breaking my back 16 Nl: Pa is getting dressed before sunrise. hours a day for hardly any pay was not the Pa: My only pair of pants is ripped again. life I was planning on. Dot: I'll sew 'em. Pa. Light a candle. Clarence: You had a plan? N2: Dot threads a needle and starts stitching. Pa: We came to California after my wife died. Frankie: Seabiscuit is racing today. Pa. We'll This was supposed to be the land of plenty. listen on the radio and tell you all about it. Clarence: Yeah, plenty of people with no Pa: That horse sure has turned into a celebrity. homes, no food, and no money. Frankie: I hear there are more newspaper Pa: I wanted better for my kids. articles about Seabiscuit these days than Clarence: Erankie is 13 now. He could come about President Roosevelt. work in the fields with us— ^Ssf N3 : Dot holds up the pants, satisfied. Pa: No. Those kids have been through enough. Scene 6 THE DANGEROUS JOB Later that day OF A JOCKEY N2: Erankie, Dot, and a crowd of In the 1930s, horse racing was a harsh and others gather around the radio. sometimes deadiy sport. Al : It's a grand day at the races. More crowded than usual 'cause knee Seabiscuit, the wonder horse, is here. protective tissue can rip A2: But no Red Pollard. Poor guy gear when the horse was riding another horse and got twists and thrown off. His leg was crushed. turns Al: Doctors say he'll never ride again. Red, if you're listening from your hospital bed, our thoughts are with you. hands A2: Red's old pal George Woolf is can get on 'Biscuit today. crushed if the Al: What an explosion horse slams . into rails out ofthe gates! A2: They're on the straightaway—^whoa, weign Seabiscuit stumbles! 1,400 Al: It doesn't pounds look good, folks. Seabiscuit is limping. www.SCHOLASTIC.COM/STORYWOKKS • APRIL/MAY 2013 23 A2:1 hope it's not a torn ligament. There's no recovering from an injury like that. N3: Dot bursts into tears. Nl: Just then, Clarence and Pa hurst in. Pa's hand is wrapped in handages. Frankie: What happened? Clarence: He was loading boxes onto the conveyer helt. His hand got caught. Sliced off three fingers. Dot: Oh, Pa! Clarence: We bandaged him up best we could. N2: Frankie helps Pa shuffle over to a chair. Red: They say we're all washed up, that we're Dot: Will he he OK? done with racing. Let's prove them wrong. Clarence: I think so. N3: Every day. Red rides Seabiscuit. The two Dot: How will he work? What'U happen to us? of them get stronger and çjronger. Frankie: I'll take care of you. Dot. Scene 8 ^ .•Jl Scene 7 The migrant-worker camp, 194d The Howard Ranch, Nl: Pa sits on a grungy mat in his shack. Willits, California, 1939 Frankie walks in, covered in dirt and sweat. N3: Red hobbles out to the stable to sit with Frankie: Here's 25 cents. Pa. I made it in the Seahiscuit. fields today. Red: Well, how do you like retirement? N2: Pa keeps staring at the ground. Nl: Seabiscuit whinnies and stomps. Frankie: How are you doing? Red: Yeah, me neither. Come on, let's see if we N3: Pa doesn't say anything. can get to that tree and back. Nl: Frankie walks out and finds Clarence.