by Judy Delton
Mary Beth looked as if she wanted to cry. “It was real gold,” she said. “My aunt gave it to me.”
“It is best to leave jewelry at home when we camp,” said Mrs. Peters. She looked at Rachel’s gold bracelet. Rachel put her arm behind her back.
“Don’t worry, Mary Beth,” said Mrs. Peters. “We will find your ring.” Everyone set their baskets down on a camp table and went back to look for Mary Beth’s ring. Even Rachel.
* * *
“Rat’s knees!” said Molly. “It could be buried in all this grass.”
The Scouts looked everywhere Mary Beth had been. They looked under leaves. They looked on low branches. They looked in the ditches beside the road. No ring.
Then it began to get dark. They would have to leave it. The Pee Wees were going home tonight.
“Someone will have to drive out and look tomorrow, when it is light,” said Mrs. Peters.
Mary Beth was very brave. She looked as if she might cry, but she didn’t. She began to sort the berries with the other Scouts.
Suddenly Molly had an idea. She went over to the basket that Mary Beth had used. Molly shook the basket. Sure enough, it made a noise. A noise that berries did not make. Clink, clink, clink!
Molly tipped the basket and reached her hand down to the bottom. There was something hard there. Something hard and round and shiny. It was a ring!
“Look!” shouted Molly, running over to Mary Beth. “I found it!”
Now Mary Beth was crying. But they were tears of happiness. She threw her arms around Molly and hugged her.
“It must have slipped off my finger when I put berries in the basket,” she said. “It is a little bit too big for me.”
All the Scouts clapped for Molly. Rat’s knees! This was the second fun thing that happened to her at camp! And now it was time to leave. Just when things were getting good.
CHAPTER 8
Badges
The Pee Wee Scouts fell asleep on the way back to town. They were too tired to sing. They were too tired to talk. Camp had worn them out.
“The park will be boring now,” said Lisa.
“But we have Scouts on Tuesday,” said Mary Beth. “The day after tomorrow.”
Everyone was eager for Tuesday to come. On Tuesday they would get their badges. The donut badges. The swimming badges. The rowing badges. The nature badges. All the camp badges!
But Molly had no badge to wait for. She had not sold one hundred donuts. She could not float. She could not row. She did not find a rock or a wildflower.
When Tuesday came around, the Pee Wees met at Mrs. Peters’s house. It will be boring to watch the others get badges, thought Molly. She sat on the floor and pretended to be snoring. Boring, boring, boring. Snoring boring.
“Now!” said Mrs. Peters loudly. “What did you like best about camp?”
“Swimming!” said Rachel.
“Rowing!” said Lisa.
“Being a ghost!” said Roger.
“Finding my ring,” said Mary Beth.
Molly wished Mrs. Peters would give out the badges. She wanted to get it over with. Finally Mrs. Peters held up a pile of badges. All the Scouts cheered. Except Molly.
“The first badge,” said Mrs. Peters, “is for selling the most donuts. We all know who gets that badge! Rachel and Sonny are tied for first place, and Roger comes in second.”
Rachel and Sonny went up to get their badges. Then Roger went up. Everyone clapped. A hex on them, thought Molly. And a hex on donuts.
Sonny’s mother clapped loudly. She was the only mother at the meeting. Baby Sonny. Homesick Sonny. Rat’s knees!
Mrs. Peters called Tim Noon for the nature badge. She called Rachel and Mary Beth for the swimming badge. And Roger got a badge for rowing.
Soon almost everyone had a badge. Or two or three. Molly was not bored anymore. She was hurt. She felt left out. She was the only one who did not get any badge at all.
Molly felt a tear start to roll down her cheek. Oh, no, she thought, I don’t want to cry.
“Molly Duff!” called Mrs. Peters.
Molly sat up.
“Come up,” said Mrs. Peters. “I have a badge for you.”
Molly wondered what badge she could get. She had not earned any. But she got up and walked to the front of the room.
“This is a new badge,” Mrs. Peters said. “Just for Molly. I made it up specially for her. It’s the ‘I didn’t get homesick’ badge!”
Mrs. Peters pinned the badge on Molly’s blouse. Everyone clapped. Molly grinned. She wasn’t bored now. Or hurt.
“And I have one more,” said Mrs. Peters. “This is specially for Molly too. She is the only one at camp who earned this badge. And it is an important one.”
She pinned another badge on Molly’s blouse. It was a “finder’s badge.”
“Finding Mary Beth’s ring deserves a badge,” said Mrs. Peters.
The Pee Wee Scouts clapped again. Molly had been last, but she wasn’t least.
It was true she could not float. And she could not row very well. But she did find the ring. And she was the only one at camp who was not homesick!
Rat’s knees! she thought. Why can’t Pee Wee camp last all summer!
Pee Wee Scout Song
(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,
Here a hand, there a hand,
Everywhere a good hand.
Scouts are helpers, Scouts have fun,
Pee Wee, Pee Wee Scouts!
Pee Wee Scout Pledge
We love our country
And our home,
Our school and neighbors too.
As Pee Wee Scouts
We pledge our best
In everything we do.