Ted's True Cues Jolly Phonics · Step 3, Unit 8: /ue/ mixed

Ted grabs his cane and marches out, chin up. Today there is a party! Cake! Games! And Ted can tell the way there. By the fence, Cat peeps at Ted. Ted can not see Cat, but he can tell Cat is there. It is true. He can tell all the time.

'Wait! Wait, wait, wait!' Kim runs up with her arms out. 'Ted, let me help you get there!' Ted keeps on. He smiles his best smile. 'Kim, I go to the shop each day. I go to the park. I go all round this town. This party is not so hard to get to.' 'But what if you miss a turn?' Kim says in a low voice. 'I will not miss a turn,' says Ted. 'I have my cues, all the way there.'

At the next street, Ted stops. He lifts his chin and takes one long, deep sniff. Then he grins. 'This way.' He turns right. Kim gapes at him. 'But there is no mark here! Not one clue! How can you tell this is the turn?'

'Sniff, Kim, sniff!' says Ted. Kim sniffs. 'Fish!' 'The fish shop,' says Ted, proud. 'It is on the way to the party. When I smell fish, I turn right. It is true all the time.' Kim takes one more big sniff and grins. 'It smells like fish!' 'Kim,' says Ted, 'it smells a lot like fish.'

Ted stops at a tall stone wall. He pats the wall, slow and soft, and feels each bump and each crack. Cat sits up on top and peeps down. 'What are you up to now?' asks Kim. 'This wall is an old pal,' says Ted. 'I pat it each time I pass. All the bumps, all the cracks. No wall in town feels like it. It is my cue to turn left.'

'Look out, Ted!' Kim points at a big pool on the path. 'You will get wet! You will get so, so wet! You will...' Ted takes a few steps to the side and goes past the pool, cool as can be. Not one drop on his feet. 'Go on, Kim,' he says, still grinning.

'But how?' asks Kim. Ted taps his cane. Tap, tap! 'My cane tells me. When it hits a wet spot, the sound is not the same. The feel is not the same. So I can tell just where the pool is. And just where it is not.' Kim looks at the cane, then at the pool, then at Ted. 'That is so cool! What a smart clue!' Ted just grins a big grin.

Woof! Woof, woof! A big brown dog barks at the gate. Cat jumps up on a fence post. 'Look out, Ted!' Kim yells, and grabs his arm. But Ted grins. 'That dog barks at all who pass. No news there! His bark is my cue. I turn left here.',

Kim claps. 'Let me try this time! The dog barks, and you can tell by that sound just where to turn!' 'Now you get it,' says Ted. 'Smells, sounds, the wall...' Kim counts them up. 'Ted, you have cues all the way there!'

'Smells, sounds, my hands, and my cane,' says Ted. 'Four cues, and they do not take a day off.' Then he stops. He takes a long, slow sniff. 'Yes,' he says in a low voice. 'Cake. We are not far now.' Kim gasps and sniffs. Her face lights up. 'I can smell it! Ted, I can smell the cake!'

'We are here!' yells Kim, jumping up and down. Balloons bob in the wind. Party trim sways at each window. Songs spill out to the street. Ted steps up with his gift box. 'I said I could tell the way. It is true!' Cat trots up, sits down, and licks one paw. As if to say: I could tell Ted had it right all the time.

In the house, the table is full, with cake and food and more. Ted and Kim sit with the kids, party hats on. They chew and chew. 'Ted,' says Kim, 'I am so glad you could tell the way.' Ted grins. 'And I am glad you are here with me, Kim. It is more fun with a pal.' Kim smiles. Then she stops. 'Ted... how do we get back home?' Ted grins big. 'That is not hard. I just follow the fish smell.'