Free Pee Wees on First by Judy Delton

CHAPTER 1

Spring Things
    “I t’s not
your
fault you’re not handicapped,” said Jody George kindly. He looked up at Molly Duff from his wheelchair.
    How did Jody know what she was thinking? thought Molly. Was he like the fortune-teller she had seen on TV? He seemed to know that she envied his shiny wheelchair with a motor and brakes.
    Molly didn’t actually want to be handicapped, but she did like to ride in Jody’s wheelchair. And he got so much attention! Everyone at the Pee Wee Scout meetingson Tuesdays made a big fuss over him, running and getting him cupcakes and soda pop and pencils. He could do all that himself, but everyone liked to help him. And Jody had great parties at his house. He had his own CD player, and he took lots of trips with his family.
    “Let me take a turn pushing him now,” demanded Roger White. He shoved Molly out of the way and grabbed the wheelchair. Mrs. Peters, their Scout leader, frowned at him. “Sit down, Roger,” she said.
    Maybe it wasn’t the wheelchair Molly wanted. Maybe it was Jody himself Molly envied. He was kind and generous and funny. And he was rich and got to do things the other Pee Wees didn’t do.
    Whatever it was, Molly felt guilty. She had a nice home and good parents who loved her. She had her own little room with a new white canopied bed and a white rocking chair with a ruffle on the seat. It was no wheelchair, but it was more suitable for her bedroom, her mother said.

    Mrs. Peters rapped a spoon on the table. “Attention!” she called. “Today we have some news.”
    All of the Pee Wees stopped talking.
    Roger stopped throwing plastic forks at Tim Noon.
    They all sat down in their chairs and looked at Mrs. Peters.
    When Mrs. Peters said “news” it could mean a party. Or a field trip. Or best of all, a new badge. Once, while they tried to earn a badge, they got caught in a blizzard and were rescued just in time, before they had to eat each other.
    And once Mrs. Peters had told them she was going to have a baby! That was baby Nick, who sat in his high chair at the table with them right now.
    But Mrs. Peters didn’t look like she was going to have a baby.
    And it was spring, there couldn’t be any blizzard.
    “This is sort of two-part news,” she went on.
    The Pee Wees cheered. Two-part news was even better than one-part news. Unless, of course, it was one of those “good news, bad news” things.
    Rachel Meyers waved her hand. “Mrs. Peters,” she called. “Is it a contest? My cousin’s troop in Wisconsin entered a contest and won a refrigerator.”
    When everyone looked at her, puzzled, she added, “It makes these cute little ice cubes and everything.”
    “Who wants a refrigerator?” scoffed Roger. “We’ve got a refrigerator.” He pointed upstairs to Mrs. Peter’s kitchen.
    “No, Rachel,” said Mrs. Peters patiently. “The news isn’t a contest.”
    “I’ll bet it’s the Fourth of July parade,” said Patty Baker. She had a twin brother who was a Pee Wee too. His name was Kenny.
    “We had that last year,” said Sonny Stone. “I remember those horses.”
    Sonny’s name used to be Betz until his mother married the fire chief, Larry Stone. Now Sonny had a real dad, and two babies, twins, a boy and a girl, who came on a plane from far away. Molly thought a father would help Sonny grow up, but it hadn’t. He was still a mama’s boy. He was the only one with training wheels still on his bike. Seven was too old for training wheels, Molly thought. The kids all laughed at him.
    Mrs. Peters laughed. “No, it’s not a parade,” she said. “Today we’ll talk about the first part of the surprise, and that’s about the next badge we are going to earn.”
    “Yea!” shouted the Pee Wees. Roger stomped on the floor and whistled between his teeth.
    They couldn’t have too many badges, thought Molly. She already had lots of them. Badges for skiing and skating and baby-tending and horseback riding. Badges for acting and walking pets and