by Judy Delton
“I’m stuffed!” said Rachel. “You have a lot of food at Christmas.”
When it began to get dark, Molly and her dad walked Rachel home.
“Thank you,” Rachel said, giving Molly a shy little hug. “Next year you can come over on one of the Hanukkah nights.”
“That would be fun,” said Molly.
When they got back home, Molly’s mom had a fire going in the fireplace. She turned on the tree lights again. Molly’s grandpa read her some stories from a new book. It felt cozy and warm in the house when the street lights came on outside. It got dark early.
Christmas was all over. It had been a good one for Molly.
After Christmas, it began to snow harder than ever. Snow piled up in Molly’s front yard. It made a drift in front of the door. Car wheels spun when they got going in the mornings.
Early one morning, the phone rang.
Molly answered it.
It was Mr. Peters!
“I wonder if the Pee Wees can give us some help,” he said. “It is time to go to the hospital for the baby, and our driveway is full of snow! We may have trouble getting out. If all the Scouts helped, I think we could do it.”
Mrs. Peters’s baby was coming!
“I’ll call everybody,” said Molly. “We will come right over.”
“Wonderful,” said Mr. Peters. “Thank you.”
How exciting! thought Molly.
Quickly, she called the other Pee Wees. Roger and Sonny were still in bed, but their mothers said they’d wake them up.
Molly got out her new scarf and mittens. She put on her coat and boots. Her mother helped her.
“This is a real Pee Wee emergency!” said Mrs. Duff.
Molly took the snow shovel and started walking through the big drifts of snow in front of her house.
When she got to the street, she met Sonny. His mom was with him!
“I couldn’t get in to work today,” she said to Molly. “So I thought I would come and help out.” She and Sonny both carried snow shovels over their shoulders.
When they got to Mrs. Peters’s house, Tim and Kevin were already there. Roger came next. Before long, all the Pee Wee Scouts were helping.
Puff, puff, puff.
The shovels went into the soft fluffy snow.
Puff, puff, puff.
The Pee Wees breathed hard.
Shoveling was hard work.
The shovels hit the driveway.
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
“This snow is deep,” groaned Rachel.
“Many hands make light work,” called Mrs. Betz, who was always cheerful.
She was right. The drifts began to disappear.
Puff, puff, puff.
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
The Pee Wee Scouts sang songs as they shoveled. It was fun to do a real good deed. An emergency good deed. They had to get Mrs. Peters to the hospital on time!
As they shoveled, Sonny said, “I think babies should come in the summer. When there is no snow.”
Mr. Peters laughed. So did all the Pee Wees. But secretly, Molly thought it would be a good idea. She didn’t think it was funny.
“Babies don’t always come when you want them to,” said Mr. Peters. “They usually come in bad weather or in the middle of the night.”
“If you don’t get there on time will they give the baby to someone else?” asked Sonny.
“No,” said Mrs. Betz quickly. “The stork always brings the right baby to the right mother.”
Now the Scouts really snickered. They did not know everything about babies, but they all knew that the stork did not bring them.
“I know where babies come from,” Tracy whispered to Molly. “I know everything about babies.”
Molly wanted to ask Tracy to tell her. But then Tracy would think she was a baby too. “I do too,” Molly lied.
Soon the driveway was clear. “I’ll be able to get the car out now,” said Mr. Peters.
Mr. and Mrs. Peters got into the car. They thanked the Pee Wee Scouts over and over. Mrs. Peters threw kisses to them as they started for the hospital.
The Scouts stood in the driveway waving.
We did it! thought Molly. We did the best good deed yet. It made her feel good.
The Scouts stayed to play for a little while. They began to throw snowballs. And they told each other what they got for Christmas.
“I got everything on the list that I gave Santa,” boasted Sonny. “Every single thing. I told you I would.”
A few Scouts laughed.
“And I found a reindeer hoofprint in my backyard too,” Sonny added.
“It’s probably a dog’s footprint,” said Tracy.
“It’s a reindeer’s,” said Sonny. “I looked it up in my nature book.”
“Sonny, Sonny, baby Sonny!” sang Roger and Rachel together.
Molly didn’t laugh. She felt sorry for Sonny. He didn’t have a sister to tell him things. And Mrs. Betz was no help.
Molly had to help him. Or the whole world would laugh at Sonny! But what should she say?
The stork.
Santa Claus.
She had to think of a way.
CHAPTER 7
The Snow Pee Wees
Mrs. Betz and the other parents took their shovels and started for home. But the Scouts still had lots of pep. The sun came out and the snow grew sticky. Snowman-sticky, thought Molly.
She began to push a snowball across the ground. It got bigger and bigger.
“Hey,” she called. “Let’s make a snowman for Mrs. Peters!”
“We can make eleven snowmen with all this snow we shoveled,” said Kevin.
“Eleven Pee Wees!” said Tim. “We can make Mrs. Peters and all eleven of us!”
The Pee Wees got right to work, rolling big balls out of snow. As Molly’s ball got bigger, it got heavier to push.
She worked and worked.
And shoved and tugged.
At last she got the ball of snow right in front of the Peterses’ living room window.
Then she began to roll another. And another. She needed help to lift the head on top of the second ball.
“This has to be the head,” said Roger. He and Kevin helped Molly push it up on top. “We can’t get another ball on top of this.”
“I’ll carve arms in the sides,” said Molly. When she finished the arms, she fixed the face and ears and hair.
“We should each make our own self,” said Kevin. “Then we can all make Mrs. Peters.”
“And the baby!” shouted Lisa.
Molly looked at her snow Pee Wee. It didn’t look like her. Her hair was fluffier. She got more snow and added it to the top for hair.
“I’ve got an idea,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
Molly ran home quickly and got one of her old hats, and some mittens. And her Pee Wee kerchief.
She told her mother what they were doing.
Then Molly dashed back and put her red cap on the snowman’s head. She tied her kerchief around the neck. She filled the mittens with snow and put them where the hands should be. And she put some big round buttons on the front.
“What are those for?” asked Lisa.
“Those are my badges,” said Molly proudly.
Some of the other Scouts dashed home too. They came back with some Pee Wee kerchiefs and badges. The Scouts put them on the snowmen.
Except Tim’s. His snowman was behind all the others. In the back.
“I want mine plain,” he said. “Snowmen should be white.”
“These aren’t snowmen,” said Patty, laughing. “They’re snow Scouts.”
“Look at Rachel’s!” shouted Tracy.
Rachel’s Pee Wee was wearing a dance tutu and toe shoes. She had even put a sparkly crown on the head made from an old necklace.
“Tracy’s is fat!” shouted Kevin.
Tracy had stuffed the arms of her old jacket with snow. Her snowman did look fat. It looked round and funny.
“It doesn’t look li
ke you,” said Lisa.
“They don’t have to be perfect,” said Tracy.
“My head keeps falling off!” cried Sonny.
“You have to pack the snow, dummy,” said Roger.
But it wasn’t the snow.
It was Kevin.
“Kevin is pushing it off when you aren’t looking,” Kenny told Sonny.
Sonny began to chase Kevin in and out among all the snow Pee Wees.
Poor Sonny, thought Molly. Everybody picks on him. She made a new head for Sonny’s snowman.
Roger and Patty were rolling big balls of snow to make Mrs. Peters. They rolled them right into the middle of the group.
“Let’s make a chair for her to sit on,” said Tracy. “Because she has to hold the baby.”
Tracy pushed up a big chunk of snow behind her.
“Ho! It looks like a beach ball!” Roger laughed.
“It’s a chair,” said Tracy crossly.
Kenny rolled a small ball of snow and put it in Mrs. Peters’s arms.
“Wait!” called Tracy. She lifted the baby up and put an old scarf around it. “It’s a blanket,” she explained.
Molly stepped back to look at Mrs. Peters and all the snow Pee Wees.
Some were little.
Some were big.
They were all smiling.
Most of them had on badges and kerchiefs.
“Won’t Mrs. Peters be surprised when she comes home from the hospital,” said Molly.
“The baby looks real,” said Lisa softly. “It looks like Mrs. Peters is singing to it.”
“I’m hungry,” said Sonny. “I’m going home to eat.”
All the Scouts were hungry. They had worked hard in the fresh air. It was time to go home.
Molly could hardly wait for Mrs. Peters to see their surprise.
CHAPTER 8
The Littlest Scout
That night Molly’s phone rang. It was Mrs. Betz. “Good news!” she said. “Mrs. Peters had a baby boy!”
It was finally here. A brand new little baby. Molly secretly wished it was a girl. Then they could name it Holly to rhyme with Molly.
“I have to call everyone,” said Mrs. Betz, hanging up.
The next morning Mr. Peters called. “There’s a big family in my front yard!” he said.
Molly giggled. “Those are snow Pee Wees!” she said.
Mr. Peters wanted all the Scouts to come over so he could take their picture. When they got there, each Scout stood next to the snowman he or she had made.
“Smile!” called Mr. Peters. Click!
“Now we can show Mrs. Peters. Just in case they melt,” he added.
Two days later, Mrs. Peters came home. The snow Pee Wees were still there. But they were very very small. They were melting.
“Snow doesn’t last forever,” said Molly’s mother at supper that night.
Molly felt sad.
Christmas vacation went fast. Molly was glad when school started again. That meant Scout meetings would start again soon.
Monday was the day before the meeting. At recess Rachel said, “I’m bringing the baby a present. It’s a little silver spoon to feed the baby with.”
“A new baby can’t eat with a spoon, dummy,” said Roger. “They just drink milk.”
“Dummy yourself,” she said. “He will be eating cereal in a few weeks.”
“How could he hold a spoon?” asked Sonny. “He can’t chew cornflakes without teeth.”
“You hold the spoon for babies.” Rachel sighed. “You have to feed them mushy stuff. Like oatmeal.”
“Yuck,” said Sonny. “I hate oatmeal.”
On Tuesday, most of the Scouts brought little presents for the baby. Molly brought a little yellow stretch suit. Her mother had wrapped it.
Rachel’s present had a little rattle tied in the bow.
“Come in!” called Mrs. Peters.
She wasn’t fat anymore, Molly noticed.
The Scouts filed in quietly. Mrs. Peters’s house looked different today.
It smelled different too. It smelled like baby powder. There were boxes of diapers on the table. And packages and cards around.
But most important, there was a wooden cradle in the living room. And in the cradle was the new baby!
Troop 23 made a circle around the cradle so they could all see him at once.
“Rat’s knees!” said Molly. “He’s so small!”
She had never seen a baby so small.
“Look at his little nose!” cried Patty.
“Where’s his hair?” asked Tim.
“He looks soft,” said Lisa. “Soft and pink.”
“Look at his tiny little fingers,” said Rachel. “Oooochy, cooochy!”
“He is almost as pretty as Lucky,” said Roger with a snicker. Lucky was a dog.
Molly wanted to hold the baby. And give him a hug.
The Pee Wee Scouts sat down in a circle and gave Mrs. Peters their packages.
“What a nice little suit!” she said. “He will wear it tomorrow when he goes to the doctor. Thank you, Molly.
“And he doesn’t have a feeding spoon,” said Mrs. Peters to Rachel. “It is just what he needs!”
Rachel made a face at Roger.
Sonny pushed a big box toward Mrs. Peters. It did not look like a gift. “My mom sent these,” he said, “for the baby. They’re my old baby clothes.”
“Why, thank you, Sonny! These will come in handy,” said Mrs. Peters.
She opened the carton and took out a little white cap and a stuffed dog. Then she held up a little sunsuit with a boat on it.
Sonny turned red.
A few Scouts laughed out loud.
“I’ll look at the rest of these later,” said Mrs. Peters, closing the box.
“What is the baby’s name?” asked Mary Beth.
“His name is Nick,” said Mrs. Peters. “After his grandpa. And because he was born around Christmas.”
Molly liked the name Nick. If he could not be called Holly to rhyme with Molly, Nick was the next best thing.
“Yeah!” The Pee Wees cheered. Some of them whistled, to show they liked his name.
Then they got quiet. Nick was sound asleep.
“Now that he is sleeping,” said Mrs. Peters, “let’s go into the kitchen for our meeting.”
The Scouts followed her.
“The first thing we must do today is give out some badges,” said Mrs. Peters.
Mrs. Peters held up a red badge. It showed a Scout holding a songbook. And wearing a tassel cap. The Scout’s mouth was open, in the shape of a big O. “This is a badge for caroling in the mall,” Mrs. Peters said.
“And this one,” she went on, holding up a white badge, “is even more important! It is the Helping Out in an Emergency badge.”
This badge had a big E on it, and a picture of a helping hand. It wasn’t as pretty as the caroling badge, but Mrs. Peters said it was very important.
“This is the badge for shoveling the snow so we could get to the hospital,” said Mrs. Peters. “Thank goodness for all of you!”
Everyone clapped and cheered.
As Mrs. Peters called out the names, the Scouts came up one by one. Mrs. Peters pinned their new badges on their blouses and shirts.
When they all had their badges, the Pee Wees cheered and clapped all over again. Molly felt proud.
Mrs. Peters put some cookies out on the table. And some hot chocolate.
“Before long,” she said, “spring will be here. We will go for nature walks in the park. And plant gardens.”
“We can help push the baby stroller,” said Mary Beth.
Mrs. Peters laughed. “The baby will have so much attention he will be spoiled,” she said. “When he cries during a Scout meeting, there will always be someone to hold him!”
But Nick did not cry at his first meeting. Molly hoped and hoped he would. She wished she could wake him up. But he slept right through the whole meeting.
When the Scouts finished their cookie
s, they joined hands and sang the Pee Wee Scout song. Then they said the Pee Wee Scout pledge.
They told Mrs. Peters about doing the favors on their Kindness Coupons.
“My mom hopes we make Kindness Coupons again next Christmas,” said Lisa.
“My mom wants some for her birthday,” said Kevin.
The Scouts cleaned up the kitchen and went into the living room to watch the baby.
“Look, he is smiling in his sleep!” said Mary Beth.
“That’s gas,” said Tracy. “He is too little to smile.”
“I’m afraid she’s right,” said Mrs. Peters. “Nick is just two weeks old today.”
The meeting was over. The Scouts were ready to go home. It’s now or never, Molly thought. She had to tell Sonny about Santa Claus!
She tapped him on the shoulder as he was putting his jacket on.
“Sonny,” she whispered bravely. “There isn’t any real Santa Claus. Your mom gives you the things on your list. I used to believe in him too. But when you’re seven you should know.”
“I know that,” said Sonny. “I knew he wasn’t real. I saw his beard. It was just pasted on.”
Rat’s knees! Molly stamped her foot. “Then why did you say he was real?”
“I was just pretending,” said Sonny, zipping up his coat. “It’s more fun to believe.”
“But people laugh at you,” Molly argued.
“Hey,” called Sonny to the rest of the Pee Wees. “I don’t believe in Santa Claus anymore. I was just pretending.”
“About time,” said Roger, putting on his mittens.
“Sonny is still a baby though,” whispered Tracy to Molly. “He may not believe in Santa Claus, but he still believes in the stork.”
Maybe he does, thought Molly. But he’ll have to find out about babies by himself!
Mrs. Peters waved to the Pee Wee Scouts as they walked down the street toward home.
(to the tune of
“Old MacDonald Had a Farm”)
Scouts are helpers, Scouts have fun
Pee Wee, Pee Wee Scouts!
We sing and play when work is done,
Pee Wee, Pee Wee Scouts!
With a good deed here,
And an errand there,