by Judy Delton
No one could miss Rachel.
She had on little white boots. With tassels. On her head was a shiny crown. On her wrist she wore her gold bracelet.
Everything flashed and sparkled when she twirled.
“Go, team!” Rachel shouted, lifting her knees.
Then she did three cartwheels in a row!
She looked like a pinwheel turning round and round, her arms and legs spinning.
Troop 23 was proud.
“Rachel is really talented,” said Mary Beth.
“It’s good that we have a cheerleader,” said Mrs. Peters. “Troop 15 doesn’t have one.”
Then Rachel started throwing kisses!
What a ham, thought Molly.
“What a ham,” said Kevin.
“Hey!” said Molly. She looked at Kevin in surprise.
“Yeeeaaah, team!” called Rachel as she walked off the field with her hair bouncing in the September sun.
“Arf!” barked Tiny.
“Yip! Yip!” barked Lucky.
“Now,” said Mr. Peters. “Let’s go over the rules one last time.”
The Scouts tried to listen, but there was too much to watch.
“The main thing to remember is not to touch the ball except to kick it,” said Mr. Peters.
“And don’t touch anyone else. There’s no tackling in Pee Wee soccer. Just kick the soccer ball over their goal line. If you tackle anyone or pick up the ball, you will have a penalty called. If you get ten penalties, you will be out of the game.”
More and more people came as Mr. Peters talked.
Mrs. Peters was counting the Pee Wees. “Someone is missing,” she said.
The Scouts looked around.
“Sonny!” shouted Molly.
She was right. Sonny was nowhere in sight.
“Maybe he got scared,” said Roger. “He’s scared of dogs. He might be scared of soccer too.”
Just when Mrs. Peters was about to go find a phone, someone came running down the road.
The Scouts stared.
The person came nearer and nearer.
“That is no one we know,” said Lisa.
The person had something on his body. Something big. Something gray or white.
“It’s a ghost,” said Mary Beth softly.
“It’s bright daylight out,” scoffed Rachel. “Ghosts don’t hang around in daylight.”
“It’s a burglar!” cried Kenny. “He has a mask over his face, and it isn’t Halloween yet.”
“Oh, no! Why is it coming here?” shouted Patty.
It was true. The burglar-ghost was running toward them as fast as he could with the big thing on.
He was shouting something. The words sounded like “My mom had to go to work. I had to come by myself.”
Did burglars have moms that worked? That voice sounded familiar to Molly. She thought and thought. Then she knew. They all knew!
It was Sonny!
Sonny Scores
“What in the world …,” said Mrs. Peters, looking puzzled.
Sonny was not a ghost or a burglar. He just looked like one.
He wore huge football shoulder pads. They stood out on his body like giant wings.
His large white shirt had a number 23 on it. Under it he wore a huge chest protector.
On his head was a helmet with a plastic face guard. It looked more like a cage than a mask!
“My mom had to go to work,” Sonny repeated, all out of breath. “I had to come alone.”
The Pee Wees could not take their eyes off Sonny. Suddenly they all burst into laughter, he looked so funny.
“My mom said soccer is dangerous. She made me wear this big suit because they didn’t have my size.”
Mrs. Peters put her arm around Sonny. He looked like he might cry.
“Pee Wee soccer is not dangerous,” she said. “I think you can take that off.”
Sonny shook his head. “I promised,” he said. “My mom would kill me if I didn’t wear it.”
“You’ve got wings!” shouted Roger, pointing.
“We have to pull together,” said Mr. Peters.
Molly thought he would say, No matter what Sonny is wearing.
The Scouts heard a loud, sharp whistle blow from the field. It was the other coach.
It was time for the game to start!
“Line up!” shouted Mr. Peters.
Rachel had her jeans on now, Molly noticed. Even a cheerleader had to play ball.
The two teams lined up facing each other.
Red and blue.
Mr. Peters threw the round ball into the air. BUMP! It came down on Sonny’s head.
Then it hit the ground, and a big boy from Troop 15 with a 6 on his back kicked it hard.
The ball flew through the air. It landed halfway to the goal line!
Team 23 ran as fast as they could to try to kick the ball the other way. But Number 6 got there first.
He gave it one big kick and it sailed over the goal line like a breeze.
“One to nothing!” shouted their coach, shaking Number 6’s hand.
“Darn!” said Molly. “We are off to a bad start.”
The whistle blew. The Pee Wees lined up again. Poof! The ball came down again.
“Kick it!” screamed Rachel to Molly.
The ball was at Molly’s feet. She kicked. But she didn’t kick the ball. Something was in the way.
It was Sonny.
Sonny and his big suit.
Molly tripped over him and tumbled to the ground.
“A penalty on Molly,” called Mr. Peters.
Molly felt like crying. It wasn’t her fault that big dumb Sonny got in the way.
But she couldn’t cry. Ballplayers didn’t cry. Not when they had team spirit.
Instead, she ran after the ball.
“Pow!” yelled Roger, giving the ball a good kick. It sailed toward the goal line. The Scouts raced after it. The ball slowed down right before the goal line. Molly gave it a little kick.
It went over.
Goal!
“One to one!” shouted Mr. Peters.
The team clapped and cheered for Molly. The dogs barked. The people watching blew whistles and waved flags.
Her parents shouted:
“Molly! Molly! She’s all right!”
Molly felt wonderful! She did not feel like crying now. She felt like a soccer hero!
It was fun to play the other Scout troop. It was easy too.
“That was good,” said Mary Beth when the coaches called time-out.
“Roger was the one who kicked it really far,” said Molly.
“But you kicked it over the line,” said Rachel.
Rat’s knees! It felt good to hear nice words from Rachel.
The Pee Wees drank some Kool-Aid and then lined up again.
Out flew the ball. Whooosh!
It stopped in front of Sonny. He gave it a huge kick. The ball sailed through the air, farther than it had ever gone. It went right over the goal line!
But no one cheered.
“Dummy!” yelled Roger. “You kicked it over the wrong goal line!”
The blue Pee Wees laughed and cheered. “Goal!” they shouted.
“Two to one,” said the other coach with a chuckle. “For us!”
“I got turned around,” Sonny admitted.
“Hey, Wings,” called a girl from the other team. “You’re an angel to make a goal for us!”
“Time-out,” called Mr. Peters.
He did not look happy.
Break That Tie!
Molly thought Mr. Peters would yell at Sonny for being so dumb. But he didn’t. He put his arm around Sonny’s padded shoulders and told him to keep his eye on his team’s line.
The Pee Wees played on. Troop 15 kicked another goal. Then Troop 23 got one.
Kevin was called out of the game because he got ten penalties. He was a good player, but too rough. The other team clapped. They wanted the best red players out.
Pretty soon the bl
ue Pee Wees got ahead by three goals.
“We’re losing!” cried Tracy. “We’ll never catch up.”
But then the big blue Pee Wee, Number 6, grabbed Kenny’s arm and tried to get the ball. It was his tenth penalty. He was out of the game.
“Now that he’s gone,” said Roger, “we can win.”
Roger knows a lot about soccer, thought Molly.
He will be the hero.
Sure enough, Roger kicked two goals in a row. The Pee Wees cheered. The parents cheered too.
Then Molly kicked the ball over the line again. She tied the game.
It was five to five!
Time was running out.
“Whoever gets a goal now will win the game for us!” called Mr. Peters. Then he called time-out.
Rachel got into her sparkly outfit. The pom-pom Pee Wees followed her out onto the field.
They sang:
“Kenny! Kenny! He’s our man.
If he can’t do it, Molly can.
Molly, Molly, she’s our man.
If she can’t do it, Roger can.
Roger, Roger, he’s our man.
If he can’t do it, NOBODY can!
Yeah, Roger!”
Everyone was bursting with team spirit now! They dashed back to the field to break the tie.
The ball bounced onto the field. Troop 15 kicked it. Then Sonny kicked it the right way. Then Tracy kicked it farther.
But the other team sent it back the other way. Would it go over?
No!
Molly ran up and gave it a hard kick. POW! But the ball hit Roger and bounced to the ground. Roger kicked, but he missed it.
The crowd groaned. “Break that tie, break that tie,” chanted the spectators.
All of a sudden, Patty raced up to the ball and kicked it as hard as she could. Molly heard a loud SMACK! The ball sailed over the goal line, breaking the tie!
The crowd roared! The dogs barked, running in circles.
Patty was the hero! She broke the tie!
Little Patty Baker! She hadn’t even kicked the ball once until then.
Mr. Peters ran onto the field and picked up Patty. He put her on his shoulders. Everyone yelled and screamed.
They chanted:
“Patty! Patty! She’s our man.
If she can’t do it, NOBODY can!”
The ball game was over. Troop 23 had won.
Mrs. Peters ran around throwing red confetti up in the air.
Roger yelled:
“Patty Cake, Patty Cake, baker’s man,
She wins a game like none of us can!”
Molly felt good all over. She had tried to let the new girl win, and it didn’t work. But then she tried to win herself, and the new girl won!
The blue Pee Wees did not seem to feel bad that they had lost. They all came running up to shake Patty’s hand and to congratulate Troop 23.
They don’t seem so big and tough now, thought Molly. They seem just like us. Like regular Pee Wees!
Mrs. Peters held up her hand for quiet. “I think now is a good time to give out the badge for the winning player. You all played very well, but it was Patty who broke that tie and won the game for us.”
Patty turned pink.
She’s shy, thought Molly.
Mrs. Peters pinned the badge on Patty’s scarf.
Everybody clapped. Even Troop 15.
“Good work, Patty Cake,” said Roger.
“Now you all get badges for team spirit,” said Mrs. Peters.
The other troop leader passed out badges for team spirit too.
“The important thing isn’t to win,” said Mr. Peters, “but to have a good time and pull together.
“We had a good time, and we helped the sick children at the hospital.”
All the Pee Wees clapped.
“But it was fun to cream those Pee Wees, wasn’t it?” whispered Roger to Molly.
Molly nodded. Pulling together is good, but winning is better!
The two troops of Pee Wee Scouts joined together in a giant circle on the field under the blue, blue sky.
They alternated. One red Pee Wee, one blue Pee Wee.
One red, one blue, all around the circle.
“We look beautiful!” shouted Molly.
Everyone laughed.
They did look beautiful.
Even Sonny with his wings.
All together, they said the Pee Wee Scout pledge.
Then they sang the Pee Wee Scout song.
Their voices rang out clearly in the autumn air. It sounded twice as good with two troops of Pee Wees!
The big day was over.
It was time to go home.
“I’m hungry,” said Sonny. “For a big plate of french fries!”
“I think we all deserve french fries!” said Mr. Peters. “Let’s go to Fun-and-Fries and I’ll treat everybody to all the french fries they can eat!”
“Yeah!” yelled the Pee Wees.
“Arf! Arf!” barked Tiny.
Lucky went, “Yip! Yip!”
The dogs were hungry too.
Be a Pee Wee Scout!
In Blue Skies, French Fries, the Pee Wee Scouts play soccer to raise money for charity. In real life, many famous athletes work hard to help people in need.
Michelle Kwan, one of the greatest figure skaters of all time, started very young. When she was only thirteen, Michelle was so popular that fans would give her stuffed animals—by throwing them on the ice-skating rink! Soon she had too many. She decided to donate the toys to a children’s hospital in her hometown. Michelle went on to win Olympic medals, but to the kids at the hospital, she was already a hero.
Roberto Clemente played baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 to 1972. Roberto was an extremely talented outfielder, but he was famous for more than his throwing arm. When off the field, Roberto spent his extra time, energy, and money bringing baseball supplies and food to Latin America, including Puerto Rico, where he was born. Sadly, Roberto died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972. He was on his way to Nicaragua to help victims of an earthquake.
Lance Armstrong holds an amazing record. He won the Tour de France, a world-famous bicycling race, seven years in a row. And he did it after he had been treated for cancer! Lance established a charity, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, to help others in the fight against cancer. And his success as an athlete has inspired millions of people.
Tiger Woods, a very talented golfer, created a high-tech clubhouse for kids in Southern California. It’s called the Tiger Woods Learning Center, and it offers after-school and summer programs in science, math, and language arts. Tiger also donates prize money from golf tournaments, and every year he hosts a fund-raising concert with popular musicians. The Tiger Woods Foundation has an exciting program for young people called Start Something. If you have a dream and you want to work to make it come true, you can find out more at www.twfound.org.
There are many more examples of athletes who do their best to help other people. Any of these stars would make a great subject for a school project. They also make great role models! To follow in their footsteps, just ask yourself how you can make the world a better place.
About the Author
Judy Delton was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was the author of more than 200 books for children. She was also successful as a teacher, a speaker, and a class clown. Raising a family of four children, she used the same mix of humor and seriousness that she considered important parts of any good story. She died in St. Paul in 2001.
About the Illustrator
Alan Tiegreen has illustrated many books for children, including all the Pee Wee Scouts books. He and his wife currently live in Atlanta, Georgia.
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