The school bus rolls to a stop in front of the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne. Cassie, clad in blue shorts, a Nike sweatshirt and knee-high socks that barely extend past her braces, walks gingerly down the steps. The dog's Golden coat shimmers in the March sun. On this morning, the fifth-graders of Eisenhower elementary will learn all about the 16th president. The man who freed the slaves.
Cassie grabs the walker with both hands and the leash with one and starts up the ramp to the museum.
Her classmates wait patiently by the door. It takes a few scoldings before Phoenix corrects herself. Instead, the dog squirts through the door. Before Cassie could acquire Phoenix, she had to practice her commands on Hohman, who did her best dog impression in the school hallways. It was an embarrassing exercise for Cassie, but an important one.