Katie Morag and the Old Teacher Katie Morag

# Katie Morag

# Far away across the ocean

# Katie Morag

# Over the sea to Struay

# Katie Morag

# Far away across the ocean

# Katie Morag

# Over the sea to Struay. #

My name is Katie Morag McColl and I live on the island of Struay.

I suppose it's quite wee, but it's ginormous to me, and everyone

looks out for me when I'm out and about having my adventures.

Some people like everything to be new and shiny,

but I'm not one of them!

I like my old teddy, my old dolls and my old welly boots!

People sometimes give me new things and that's really very kind,

but I never ever want to play with them.

I don't like it when things change.

I like them how they are right now.

And, if it was up to me, that's exactly how they'd stay!

But it isn't up to me.

Yesterday, my teacher, Mrs Muir, told us that she was leaving Struay

to go and live on the mainland.

Hurry up, sweetheart. You'll be late for school.

And that wasn't the only big change that was going to happen.

My mum was going to have a baby.

Mrs Muir told us she was like a magpie.

She kept all kinds of things and didn't like throwing them away.

Thank you, Agnes.

You know, I think I've got every jotter from every child

I ever taught here.

I call it my box of memories.

-Miss?

-Yes, Katie Morag?

How many years have you been here for?

Ooh. Lots and lots!

Since your mum was knee-high to a grasshopper.

So, why do you have to leave?

Well, nothing stays the same for ever.

Not the flowers, or the trees, or the eagles, or the bees.

Our new baby was inside mum's tummy,

growing bigger every day.

Grannie Island said it wouldn't be too long

till it was ready to come out.

-Oh!

-What's wrong?

The baby kicked me.

That's not very nice.

It's just the baby's way of saying hello.

You were a bit of a kicker yourself, Katie Morag.

Say that again!

What are you doing there, Katie Morag?

Looking up in the dictionary what "attention" means.

"Attention"?

Agnes says when the baby comes, I won't get any.

We all wanted to give Mrs Muir a going-away present.

Agnes was going to sing a song, so I couldn't do that,

and Sasha was doing a painting for her.

Wow! It looks just like her.

I wished I'd thought of something like that.

Then Neilly Beag came by at tea-time

with some of his lovely cream meringues,

and I had a really good idea.

-Freshly made.

-I could save mine...

-Katie Morag.

..and give it to Mrs Muir.

Look what Neilly Beag's brought. Do you want one?

But the silly thing went and got itself eaten,

so I had to come up with another plan.

Then I remembered what Mrs Muir had said about her big box of memories.

I made a big poster to tell people to come to our house

with anything that reminded them of Mrs Muir,

or anything that might remind Mrs Muir of them.

Then I got the most ginormous cardboard box

I could find, to put all the special memories in.

Liam! No wonder the box was so heavy.

After that, all I could do was wait

and see if my idea was going to work.

I couldn't believe how many people came by to drop off

one of their special memories.

I was absolutely rushed off my feet.

The one thing I was worried about was Mrs Muir finding out

what I was doing.

And there were quite a few close shaves.

-Hello, Katie Morag.

-Hello, Miss!

Can I have a pack of white envelopes

-and a dozen second-class stamps, please?

-Coming right up!

What are you doing exactly?

Just...practising.

What for?

Just practising.

Here we go.

Well... Good luck with it, then.

Thank you very much.

Pretty soon, it seemed everyone on the island came by with something

for Mrs Muir's memory box and they all said what a good idea it was.

Well, almost everyone.

All right, Neilly Beag?

As well as can be expected.

Well, look at all this wonderful stuff!

People have really loved your idea, haven't they?

Neilly Beag didn't.

-No.

-I thought him and Mrs Muir were friends.

They are! She's his oldest friend on the island.

Why hasn't he put something in the memory box?

And that's when my mum said what she usually says

when I ask a difficult question.

Why don't you ask your father?

That's exactly what I did.

Oh. Well...

And he said what he usually says when I ask a difficult question.

Why don't you ask Grannie Island?

Luckily, Grannie Island never tells me to ask someone else.

In fact, I should have just asked her in the first place.

So, everyone's given something for the memory box, except Neilly Beag?

I thought Mrs Muir was his oldest friend.

So, that's your explanation, right there.

Problem is, I don't always understand Grannie Island's answers.

Tell you what.

Why don't we pop over and see him?

Oh, there you are! We've been looking everywhere.

Och, just giving the old girl a bit of a spruce-up.

Aye, well, we could all do with some of that.

Oh, I brought you some porridges.

-Thank you.

-Show you how they should be made!

Not bad.

Not great. But not bad.

Katie Morag has a question for you.

Fire away, Katie Morag!

I'm collecting things for Mrs Muir's memory box.

Everyone's put something in, except you.

And then the strangest thing happened.

The wind blew a speck of sand up from the beach

and it landed right in Neilly Beag's eye.

Memory box, eh?

She wouldn't be needing a memory box if she wasn't leaving.

Things change, Neilly Beag.

They have to.

Why?

Why should they change, when they're perfectly good as they are?

Thanks for the porridges.

-What do you reckon?

-He's sad.

-Mm-hmm.

He doesn't want anything to change.

Aye, that's right.

Mrs Muir was his oldest friend and he's going to miss her.

But she's worked at the school a long time now, and she needs a rest.

And she wants to spend more time with her grandchildren.

-Just like us.

-Exactly!

And, yes, we'll miss her and she'll miss us, but she's going

to be really happy on the mainland and we should be happy for her.

Will everything change when the baby comes?

Well... Some of the things will.

I mean, your mum and dad will be very busy for a while

and they won't get as much sleep as they need to.

Now, from time to time, they might get a bit cranky.

And poo-ey.

But there's one thing that's not going to change.

Your mum and dad will love you just as much as they do now.

And there will be a bonus at the end of it.

You'll have a little brother or sister!

And, before you know it,

that smelly wee tumshie will be one of the best friends you've ever had.

Eh?

All right.

That's a lovely job she's done.

Aye, she's going to miss her. We all will.

And Grannie Island said there's something else she's worried about.

-I'm starving!

-So am I.

Hold your horses. The sausages aren't burned yet!

Has anything been bothering you, Katie Morag?

I know we've been talking a bit about the baby.

You've been talking a LOT about the baby!

I know. It's just...

Well, things change when there's a baby in the house.

You and mum won't get much sleep and you'll probably be a bit cranky,

but you'll still love me as much as you do now

and I'll have a baby at the end of it.

-Well, that's right.

-Absolutely.

Can I have my sausages now?

I've got a song I'd like to sing for you, Mrs Muir.

SHE SINGS IN GAELIC

# Sad am I without thee. #

Mrs Muir loved all her gifts.

She especially liked the magical memories

and everyone that shared them.

Everyone told their stories and they were all wonderful.

# They're a pathway to thee. #

SHE SINGS IN GAELIC

-ALL:

-# Sad am I without thee. #

Finally, it was Mrs Muir's turn to talk to the class for the last time.

I'm overwhelmed by the kindness shown to me today.

I may be leaving Struay, but Struay won't be leaving me.

So, to all my friends on the island - each and every one of you -

I thank you from the bottom...

I'm sorry. Sorry, I'm late.

Nothing new there.

I didn't want this day to come...

..because I didn't want my dear old pal to be leaving.

And then, the strangest thing happened.

The wind blew some sand all the way up from the beach,

through the closed window, into Neilly Beag's eye, again!

She was my good friend, then, and she's still my good friend now.

That's her sitting right beside me in the school, all these years ago.

And now, there's only two of us left.

Now you might think I'm just an old bodach - an old man.

And that Mrs Muir is just an old cailleach - an old woman.

But, one time, we, too, were young, like you people.

I'd never heard Neilly Beag talk so much in my entire life.

Some of it was sad, but most of it was really funny.

He told us all the things him and Mrs Muir used to get up to.

And some of them you wouldn't believe,

especially not from a TEACHER!

Then, finally he finished and it was time to go home.

It's easy to forget sometimes,

but grown-ups are just like normal people.

They get worried and upset about things, too.

And, sometimes, you just need to have a little chat with them,

to make things better.

That was something else I would have to teach the baby,

when it finally arrived.

(I could hardly wait.)