Free Computer Clues by Judy Delton

CHAPTER
            1
Looking for Excitement
    “I wish something exciting would happen around here,” said Rachel Meyers. It was autumn, and the Pee Wee Scouts were on their way to Mrs. Peters’s house for their meeting. They met every Tuesday in their leader’s basement. “In my cousin Courtney’s school in New York, they have a computer lab,” Rachel continued. “They get to do all this fun stuff using the computer.”
    “I know,” said Patty Baker. “In Ashley’sschool in California, they play computer games and send electric mail and learn about baby whales.” Ashley was Patty’s cousin. She was a part-time Pee Wee Scout. When she was in California, she was a Saddle Scout.
    “It’s not electric mail. It’s electronic mail,” said Kenny, Patty’s twin brother. “And we can learn about whales and stuff in the encyclopedia. We don’t have to have a computer.”
    “Pooh,” said Rachel, kicking at a big pile of red maple leaves. “Books are old-fashioned. Courtney says people who still use books are roadkill on the information superhighway. She says the big cities all have state-of-the-art stuff in their schools. She says Minnesota is way behind.”
    “That’s not true!” said Mary Beth Kelly to her best friend, Molly Duff. “People in Minnesota are just as smart as people inNew York. My mom says Minnesota is a good place for kids to grow up. There’s more fresh air and lakes, and you don’t get run over by taxicabs.”

    “My uncle did,” said Roger White. “Right on Main Street. Pow!”
    None of the Pee Wees had anything to say about Roger’s uncle. They were all too busy thinking about computers.
    There were twelve Pee Wees. Twelve and a half counting Ashley, who came to Scout meetings only during the half year when she was visiting her cousins.
    “All I know is that Minnesota is not as exciting as New York,” said Rachel.
    “And not as exciting as California,” said Patty.
    “My dad’s got a computer,” said Roger. “Right here in Minnesota. It has everything. Even Outernet.”
    “Outernet!” laughed Rachel. “It’s Internet, not Outernet!”
    Roger liked to laugh at others, but he didn’t like it when others laughed at him. His face turned bright red. “Inner, Outer, what’s the difference?” he said. “My dad’s computer can do everything.”
    “Does it wash the dishes?” asked Sonny Stone. “Does it take out the garbage?”
    “Hey! Does it drive a car?” roared Tim Noon.
    “How about doing homework?” asked Tracy Barnes.
    “It does homework,” said Roger. “And it does lots of other stuff.”
    “My dad has a computer at the office,” said Molly. “He can even use it to order groceries from the market.”
    “A computer can’t go to the market,” said Tim. “No way.”
    “It can,” said Jody George, who was in a wheelchair. Everyone liked Jody. He was smart and he was nice. The Pee Wees liked to ride in his wheelchair. They all wished they had one, too.
    “If you have a modem, you can connect with places all over the world,” said Jody. “I can even put CDs in mine. I have one CD with a whole encyclopedia on it.”
    Molly was pleased that Jody was taking her side. She was not surprised that Jody had his very own computer. The Georges were rich. They had a big house with a swimming pool. There weren’t many swimming pools in Minnesota. It was cold and snowy half the year. When Molly was old enough to have a boyfriend, she decided, it would be Jody. If she married him someday, when she was grown up, she would get to ride in his wheelchair as often as she liked.
    The Pee Wees arrived at Mrs. Peters’s house. They went around to the back door and down the basement steps to start their meeting. It felt good to get indoors away from the brisk fall wind.
    “Hello!” called Mrs. Peters. “Hurry in. There’s lots of excitement today! We are going to earn a brand-new badge. Guess what it’s for!”
    “Tying knots?” asked