Computer Clues

by Judy Delton

  Molly clicked on NEW MESSAGE. Then she clicked on Jody’s name in the address book. Her dad had put the addresses of all the Pee Wees who had E-mail into the file for her.

  Molly wondered what to write. She didn’t want to say something mushy like, “I like you a lot because you’re so nice.” Or something practical like, “I want to ride in your wheelchair more often.” She had to think a long time. Then she wrote a letter. But when she read it, she pressed DELETE. It wasn’t what she wanted to say. The screen was blank again. “Dear Jody,” she wrote for the second time. “How are you? I am fine.”

  That felt pretty boring, but it was better than being too friendly. She didn’t want Jody to think she had a crush on him—even if she did. It was best to stick to safe subjects. “I just cleaned my room. Have to go now and set the table for supper. Sincerely, your friend, Molly Duff.”

  Setting the table wasn’t very interesting. Jody would think all she did in her free time was housework. She changed that line to “I have to go and eat supper.” But that was a lie. Her mom wasn’t even home yet. Molly sighed. It wasn’t that long until supper. She’d send the message the way it was. Molly pressed SPELL CHECK, and any misspelled words jumped into place. Boy, pretty soon kids won’t have to go to school at all, she thought. Who needs to learn how to spell if the computer does it for you? And who needs math when a little calculator adds and subtracts and multiplies and divides?

  Molly clicked on the word “send.” Jody’s message flew across the screen and out into space, and from there it hopped right into his computer. Molly hoped Jody’s dad wasn’t using the computer. Oh well, she hadn’t said anything personal.

  After the machine sent the message, some words appeared that said, “Message sent” and “Checking mail.” Sure enough, Molly had mail! A letter came onto the screen. The return address was PWS@StPaulschools.edu. Why would she be getting mail from a school? Maybe it was for her dad. But it didn’t look that way. It said “Dear Molly” at the top.

  Then Molly remembered. The Pee Wee Scouts had a special computer set up in the high-school computer lab. The PWS stood for Pee Wee Scouts. Mrs. Peters had told them they could use it anytime. Some Pee Wee Scout was using that computer now.

  “Dear Molly,” the message said. “I liked the shirt you had on today. It was really cool. Plaid is my favorite color. You have lots of cool stuff. I have a new pet. It’s a turtle. Its name is Ralph. Do you have a turtle? Well, I have to go now. Love from a secret admirer.”

  Who was this? It had to be one of the Pee Wees. But which one? Molly wondered if it was Jody. It didn’t sound like Jody. Unless it was a disguise. Jody had more pets besides turtles. And she was sure his favorite color wasn’t plaid. Maybe he was joking. How would she find out?

  As she sat there puzzled, another message popped onto the screen. This one was from Jody. The real Jody! “Dear Molly,” it said. “I just got your letter. Thanks for writing to me. Scouts was fun today. But then it always is. It’s a lot of fun to earn new badges. Well, write back when you get time. Sincerely, Jody.”

  Jody had answered her. He wanted her to write back to him. Rat’s knees, E-mail was fun! But Jody’s writing did not sound anything like the secret admirer’s writing. The admirer must be someone different.

  Now Molly had sent a letter, and she had gotten a letter back. She printed both of them out, to take to the next Pee Wee meeting.

  But what about that other letter? Should she answer it? Should she take a copy of that one to Scouts too?

  And who in the world could her secret admirer be? If Molly’s ESP was worth anything, she should be able to figure out who this admirer was. She closed her eyes and thought and thought. But no name came to her through the airwaves.

  She called Mary Beth and asked her if she had sent her a joke E-mail.

  “Of course not!” said her best friend. “I might send one to Roger, but not to you.”

  “Maybe Roger sent it,” said Molly. “But he’d never admit it.”

  Molly didn’t feel like writing or calling Roger. If it was him, or even if it wasn’t, he would just tease her and tell everyone that she liked him.

  “It could be Tim,” said Mary Beth. “I think his favorite color is plaid.”

  “But he’s not a joker,” said Molly. “And the message was written in real sentences.”

  “How about Sonny?” her friend asked.

  “It could be him. Or Kevin. Or Kenny,” admitted Molly.

  “Well, I know it isn’t Rachel,” said Mary Beth. “She never fools around like that.”

  The girls hung up the phone.

  All week Molly tried to find out who her secret admirer was. All week she practiced ESP to see if it would help. But Tuesday came and still she had not been able to come up with anything.

  At Pee Wee Scouts, Mrs. Peters looked at all the E-mails. Almost everyone had one. Some of the Pee Wees had two or three. Everyone but Rachel.

  “Rachel?” said Mrs. Peters. “Do you have yours? I thought you would be the first one to bring in an E-mail and a reply.”

  Hearing this, Rachel flung a piece of paper onto the table and burst into tears.

  CHAPTER

  9

  “Oops!”

  The Pee Wees were used to seeing Rachel in control of things. This was the first time they had seen her so upset.

  “Maybe her mom is in the hospital,” Tracy whispered to Molly.

  “Maybe her parents are getting divorced,” said Lisa.

  “Her dad’s a dentist,” Kenny scoffed. “Dentists don’t get divorced.”

  “Dentists can get divorced just like anybody else,” said Patty. “Who says they don’t?”

  The paper lay on the table. No one touched it. Maybe Rachel was in trouble with the police, thought Molly. Maybe she had been caught shoplifting. No, that was silly. Rachel had all the clothes she wanted. But then Molly remembered hearing on TV once that most shoplifters don’t need the stuff they steal. They take things to get attention.

  “Just read this!” cried Rachel. “He said I was stuck-up! He said my legs were fat! They aren’t! I have a dancer’s legs!”

  Rachel put her head down on the table and wept. Mrs. Peters went over and put her arms around her.

  “Of course you do,” Mrs. Peters said. She picked up the paper and read it. “This E-mail went to the wrong person. I forgot to warn you that mistakes can be made using E-mail. The writer meant to click on Roger’s name in the address book, but instead he pressed Rachel’s. So Roger never got the message. Rachel got it instead.”

  “And it’s all a bunch of lies!”

  “Of course it is,” said Mrs. Peters. “And what’s more, those things are rude and impolite and should not be said to anyone. Especially in Pee Wee Scouts, where we are good to others.”

  “There are worse things than having fat legs,” said Lisa. “It would be worse if Rachel had two heads or something.”

  Rachel stamped her foot under the table. “But I don’t have fat legs!” she cried.

  A hum was going through the room. Everyone was saying the same thing: “Who wrote that nasty letter to Roger?”

  Wasn’t the sender’s name at the top of the letter? It should be. Unless, like the message from Molly’s secret admirer, it had been sent from the high school.

  Soon everyone knew who had sent the letter, because all of a sudden Sonny turned bright red and ran from the room.

  Mrs. Peters turned on the computer. She showed them how easy it was to make the mistake of clicking the mouse while the arrow was on a name above or below the name you wanted. “You have to take your time and double-check what you say and who your letter is going to. You have to be sure you are really ready to press SEND before you do. But even more important, it is never wise to say mean things about others.”

  Rachel wiped her eyes and combed her hair. Mrs. Peters didn’t talk about the bad letter any longer. They went on to other things, then told about their good deeds and sang the Pee Wee song. They were jus
t about ready for their treats when Mrs. Stone came down the steps, dragging Sonny by his ear. Now Sonny was the one who was crying.

  “Sonny has something to say to Rachel and to all of the Pee Wees,” Mrs. Peters said. Sonny looked as if he didn’t have anything to say. His mother gave him a nudge.

  “I’m sorry!” he said. His mother nudged him again. “I wrote it to Roger, not Rachel.”

  Now Mrs. Stone nudged him harder. “I don’t know why I said that stuff. Rachel doesn’t have fat legs.” Sonny sat down and put his head in his hands. Mrs. Stone went upstairs to get the cupcakes.

  “He didn’t say she wasn’t stuck-up, though,” whispered Mary Beth to Molly. Her friend was right. But then, Rachel was stuck-up. Even though Sonny should not have said so, it was true. It would be hard to take that back.

  Mrs. Peters clapped her hands. “Watch your E-mail this week,” she said, “for clues about our treasure hunt. The treasure is hidden somewhere in the fairgrounds. Tomorrow you can start looking for it. Every day there will be parents there, in case you have any questions or problems. There won’t be any mistakes this time. There will only be E-mail messages full of good news! Each day there will be a new clue about where the treasure is hidden. Follow the clues, and by next week at this time, someone may have found the treasure!”

  Molly had the feeling that she wouldn’t even need the clues. She had ESP. If she just closed her eyes and concentrated, she would find the treasure. All she had to do was think, think, think!

  When Molly got home, she told her parents about Rachel’s E-mail from Sonny. They just shook their heads. Then Mrs. Duff said, “Sonny is taking a long time to grow up.”

  Molly told her parents about the treasure hunt at the fairgrounds. “It’s an E-mail game,” she said. “All the clues will be on E-mail. One every day.”

  The Duffs nodded. “We will be there on Saturday and Sunday while you are looking,” said her dad.

  “I think I’ll be the one to find it,” said Molly.

  “How do you know that?” her dad said, laughing.

  “I just feel it,” Molly answered.

  The next morning before school, Molly turned on the laptop. Sure enough, the first clue was already there!

  CHAPTER

  10

  The Treasure Hunt

  “Water’s near, and a fence that’s white. Look for a building, on your right.”

  Molly’s mind began to spin—water, white fence, a building. Was there a place at the fairgrounds that had all three things?

  All day during school, the Pee Wees thought about where to look for the treasure. As soon as school let out, they sped out the door. They went home to get shovels and rakes and warm jackets.

  “Be home before dark,” called Molly’s dad. “Mr. Peters and Dr. Meyers will be there to answer questions today.”

  Molly went with Mary Beth and Rachel and Kevin.

  Jody’s dad took him in the van because of his wheelchair. After his father dropped him off, Jody went right to the carousel. “I found out from doing my report on carousels,” he said quietly to Molly, “that sometimes the horses are hollow. The treasure could be inside one of them.”

  Jody had confided in her! Molly felt good about that, but she didn’t think Jody was right about the treasure. Her ESP told her that finding something inside one of the horses would be too hard. He might have to open up every horse!

  While Jody searched the carousel, the four friends walked up and down the streets of the fairgrounds.

  “There’s a white fence around the midway,” said Kevin.

  “There’s no water near the midway,” said Rachel.

  They waved to Dr. Meyers and Mr. Peters. They looked for the white fence and the water.

  “The water could be in bottles or something,” said Kevin. “It doesn’t have to be a river.”

  “That’s good!” said Mary Beth. “Because there is no river near here.”

  Before long, the children got tired and hungry. “This isn’t easy,” said Molly.

  “Tomorrow there will be a new clue,” said Kevin. “That will help.”

  That night, Molly fell into bed, exhausted. The next morning she turned on the laptop. There was another E-mail. In fact, there were two E-mails. One of them had the high-school address at the top.

  “Hi,” the message said. “Don’t you know who I am yet? I saw you looking for the treasure with Kevin and Rachel. But I am going to find it first. From your secret admirer.”

  Rat’s knees, thought Molly! Which Pee Wee was it? She knew it wasn’t Kevin or Jody or Tim. That left Roger, Sonny, or Kenny.

  Molly would have to worry about it later. Right now she had to read the clue and find that treasure before her admirer did!

  “Look for a barn, and rides so dandy. Sometimes even cotton candy.”

  Rides? Rat’s knees, what kind of rides? But barn, there was a word she knew! Molly closed her eyes and concentrated.

  After school, the Pee Wees met again.

  “I have an idea,” said Kevin. “I think rides means Ferris wheels and stuff, so it must be in the midway, where the merry-go-round is.”

  “And cotton candy!” said Rachel. “They sell that in the midway too.”

  “But where is there a barn?” asked Kevin. “The animal barns aren’t near the rides.”

  All of a sudden, Molly knew! And it wasn’t her ESP that told her. It was the computer information she had gathered for her report. She was probably the only one who knew that the snack bar in the midway had once been a farmer’s barn. That was where they sold cotton candy. And there was a water fountain there, and a white fence outside!

  The Pee Wees all sped off in the direction of the Ferris wheel. But Molly knew where she was going. Straight to that snack bar!

  The fair had been closed since the summer, but most of the rides and buildings were still there. Molly saw Jody examining the horses on the merry-go-round. She wondered if she should ask him to come with her. Should she share her idea with him? He looked very busy. She decided not to disturb him.

  When she got to the snack bar, a few other Pee Wees were digging in the leaves nearby.

  “How big is this treasure?” asked Lisa. No one knew.

  “Probably the size of a treasure chest,” said Tracy.

  “Only pirates have treasure chests,” scoffed Sonny. “There are no pirates around here.”

  Molly’s grandma always said, “Measure twice, cut once.” Molly had to be sure her clues were right. But it was all here, she thought. The barn that no one else knew was a barn, the cotton candy, the water, and the white fence.

  The door to the snack bar creaked as Molly pushed it open. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mr. Peters watching her from behind. Would he stop her and tell her the snack bar was off-limits? He started walking in the other direction.

  It was dark inside. It took a minute for Molly’s eyes to adjust to the darkness. When they did, she saw something shine! She bent over and picked up a box from the floor. The box looked like a treasure chest, even though Molly knew there were no pirates around.

  She gave a tug at the handle and the chest popped open. Inside, something even shinier sparkled at her! It was a big, glittery coin that looked like gold. And on the front of it were the words PEE WEE TREASURE HUNT. CONGRATULATIONS!

  Molly screamed, “I found it!” She ran outside, right into the arms of Dr. Meyers!

  “Yes, you did!” he said. “We watched you because we thought you were on to something!”

  The other Pee Wees came running.

  “How did you know it was here?” asked Jody, who reached her first because the carousel was close by.

  “My report on barns,” she said. “I knew this snack bar was once a farmer’s barn.”

  “Well, congratulations, Molly,” said Mr. Peters. “You really followed the clues! There’s something else in the chest,” he added.

  Sure enough, there was an envelope at the bottom of the chest. Molly took it out and opene
d it. Inside was a piece of paper that said, “Gift certificate for any Halloween costume at Sanders’ Department Store.”

  “Wow!” said Roger. “That means you can get the most expensive one. Like that Batman suit with the wings that really fly.”

  “How come you didn’t tell me you knew where the treasure was?” grumbled Mary Beth. “We’re best friends, you know. You should have shared your ESP with me.”

  “It wasn’t ESP after all,” said Molly. “It just came to me when I read the clue that said ‘Barn.’ remembered some of the stuff I found on the computer. I put two and two together and there it was, in the old barn!”

  “Hey, I didn’t know this building used to be a barn!” said Tim.

  “I didn’t find out important stuff like that when I did my report,” said Kenny.

  “I thought barns were really boring,” laughed Molly. “Until now! I’m really glad I got that subject for my report.”

  Mr. Peters dusted off the chest and carried it to the van for Molly. Everyone was patting her on the back and congratulating her. They were all asking her questions at once.

  “It didn’t take many clues before it was found,” said their leader. “I still had about three days’ worth of clues to go!”

  “Darn,” said Sonny, kicking a rock. “I wanted to find that treasure.”

  “We can’t all be winners,” said Mr. Peters. “As Scouts, we have to learn to be happy for others.”

  “Pooh,” said Sonny, sticking out his tongue in Molly’s direction. “See if I’m ever your secret admirer again!” Then Sonny covered his mouth quickly. “Oops!”

  “So you’re the letter writer!” said Molly.

  “No I’m not,” Sonny lied.

  “You are too!” said Molly. “I have proof. Mary Beth heard you say it too!” Mary Beth nodded. Sonny ran off and hid.

  “Sonny is not your model Pee Wee Scout,” said Mary Beth in disgust. “Didn’t I tell you it was Sonny who sent those E-mails?”

  “But why? He doesn’t even like me!” said Molly.