Spring Sprouts (4 page)

The Scouts went outside and sat on the thick green grass. They ate the cookies.

“Hey,” said Roger, “what happens if an egg falls on your head?”

The Scouts groaned.

“The yolk’s on you!” said Roger. “Yolk! Get it?”

“We get it,” said Kenny. He rolled his eyes.

Molly laughed a little to herself, even if she was mad at Roger. He told some pretty funny jokes.

“I’d like to live on a farm,” said Molly to Mary Beth. “I could have a great big
garden then. Lots of radishes!”

“I’d grow watermelons,” said Mary Beth. “Like this.”

She put her arms out in a big circle to show how big they’d be. “Nice and juicy too.”

“Yum,” said Molly. “I’d have a pet cow. I’d ride on her back!”

Molly lay down on the green grass. She looked at the sky. The sun was moving toward the west. It was very peaceful on a farm.

“Well,” said Mrs. Peters, getting to her feet. “We have been here a long time. It is time to start for home.”

She and Mrs. Betz counted Scouts. Mrs. Betz frowned. “There are only ten Scouts here,” she said. “I don’t see Sonny.”

The Scouts looked around. Mrs. Betz was right. Sonny was gone!

“I just saw Sonny a minute ago,” said Mrs. Peters.

Mrs. Betz dashed back into the barn. “Sonny! Sonny!” she called.

She ran up and down the rows of cows. She looked in all the stalls. “He’s not in there,” she cried when she came running out.

“We’ll find him!” shouted Roger. “Let’s all split up and look in different directions.”

“That dumb Sonny,” muttered Lisa. “He’s always in trouble.”

The Pee Wee Scouts spread out.

They looked behind the farmhouse.

They looked in the garage.

And in the shed.

They called his name over and over. “Sonny! Sonny! Son-neee!”

But no one answered.

“What’s behind those trees?” Molly asked Lisa.

“Let’s look,” Lisa said.

They ran down a hill to a clump of trees. Soon the girls reached the other side of the little woods. “Hey!” shouted Molly. “There’s Sonny!”

He was standing beside an animal pen. “Baby pigs!” he said, smiling.

Soon everyone came running down the hill. Mrs. Betz looked relieved to see Sonny.

“I found the sow,” said Sonny proudly.

“Look at those cute baby pigs!” said Lisa. “Their tails are so curly. And they’re so pudgy!”

“Just like Rachel,” said Roger. “Oink, oink.”

Rachel turned and walked away. Her head was down. Molly had to do something
about Roger. He was hurting Rachel’s feelings too much.

The Scouts tried to reach in between the slats on the fence. They tried to pet the baby pigs.

“Look out!” said Mr. Rolly. “The sow is fussy about her babies.”

“Hey! Look at me!” shouted Roger. He had climbed up on top of the fence of the pigpen.

It was high. It was narrow.

Roger put one foot in front of the other like a tightrope walker.

Rachel wasn’t looking, Molly noticed. She was sitting on the grass with her head in her hands. Feeling bad.

Just as Molly started to say something to her, the Scouts heard a shriek.

“Yow-ee!” cried Roger. His left foot slipped from the fence. His arms waved in the air. “Ooooh!” he yelled. “Help!”

Splat!

Everyone ran to the fence.

“Oh, no!” shouted Kevin. “He fell in! Roger fell in the pigpen!”

The Scouts were so surprised they didn’t know if they should feel sorry for Roger or laugh. There he was, in the mud!

Roger was covered from head to toe with guck and gook. He had mud all over his arms. And his legs. Even in his hair.

“Quick!” called Mr. Rolly. “Climb out of there before the sow comes after you. She’ll think you’re after her babies.”

“I don’t want her babies!” shouted Roger. “Just get me out of here!”

The Pee Wees didn’t laugh. They were afraid of the big sow.

But when Rachel saw Roger covered with mud and slime, she began to laugh loudly. She laughed harder and harder!

She pointed at Roger and said, “Ha,
look who’s the pig now!” She couldn’t stop laughing.

Mr. Rolly reached in and pulled Roger over the fence.

“You smell as bad as you look,” said Rachel. “You stink!”

Roger looked sheepish. He tried to pretend it was a good joke. But it didn’t work.

“The yolk’s on you this time,” said Rachel. “The yolk’s on you!”

Rachel had tears in her eyes, Molly noticed. She was laughing and crying at the same time!

M
r. Rolly led Roger to the barn. He turned on the hose and sprayed Roger all over. But all the dirt did not come off. Only part of it.

“My hair is stiff,” said Roger. “And these are my new pants! My mom will kill me.”

Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Betz tried to wipe Roger off. But they just smeared the mud. On his skin. On his clothes. On his shoes.

The Pee Wees held their noses.

“Yuck!” said Tim. “You smell like the pigpen.”

At last Mrs. Peters herded all the children toward the bus. “We have to get back to town,” she said. “It is getting late.”

The Scouts thanked the Rollys and got onto the bus.

Molly sat with Rachel.

Mary Beth sat with Lisa.

Roger sat alone.

He did not tell jokes. He wasn’t laughing and talking. He just sat and looked out the window.

“Something sure smells in this bus,” said Tracy.

Even the bus driver was holding his nose.

“I don’t think Roger will call you names anymore,” said Molly to Rachel.

“My mom will say that he got a taste of his own medicine,” said Rachel. She laughed.

Molly felt relieved that Rachel didn’t feel hurt anymore.

At Mrs. Peters’s house everyone piled off the bus and started walking home.

“Whew!” said Rachel. “Fresh air!”

All week long the Scouts worked on their scrapbooks. And they watered their gardens.

At the next meeting the Scouts shared their scrapbooks. Mrs. Peters talked more about vitamins and nutrition.

Roger did not smell bad anymore. He went up to Rachel and told her a private joke. “What did the ghost eat for breakfast?” he asked.

When Rachel shook her head, he said, “Scream of wheat!”

Rachel laughed hard.

“Now,” said Mrs. Peters. “All you need for your badge is to bring something from your garden.”

“I am going to get my badge next week,” said Rachel after the meeting.

Molly didn’t answer. She was hoping her garden had grown.

At home, Molly sprinkled some fertilizer on her radishes. She weeded them and talked to them and gave them more water.

“Grow, little radishes,” she said.

The plants were getting tall. Tall and green. They looked healthy. But Molly couldn’t find any radishes on them. Not a single one.

On the way to Mrs. Peters’s house, Rachel carried a plastic bag. A red radish was in the bag. Big and red. She held it up. “From my very own garden!” said Rachel.

Molly wanted to grab the bag and hide it. Or grab it and take the big radish for her own. It was the biggest radish Molly had ever seen. Huge. Round like a ball.

“Look, Mrs. Peters!” called Rachel as they went into the house.

“Boys and girls, look at this!” said Mrs. Peters. “It looks like Rachel is the first one to get her new badge! She has a green thumb.”

Mrs. Peters got out her camera. She
took a picture of Rachel with her big radish. Then she gave Rachel a badge. It said EAT RIGHT on it. In the middle was a big orange carrot. With green leaves.

Molly thought Rachel should help her out. She had tried to help Rachel at the dairy farm. Rachel should help Molly make her garden grow! Fair is fair.

But Rachel didn’t help. And the next Tuesday all the Scouts brought something from their garden. Even Tim. Tim had a little baby carrot. But it was enough for him to get his badge.

Mrs. Peters passed out badges to everyone.

To everyone but Molly.

“Are you watering your garden every day, Molly?” asked Mrs. Peters.

Molly just nodded.

Soon it was time to sing the Pee Wee Scout song.

And say the Pee Wee Scout pledge.

Molly stood in the circle, but she didn’t sing or speak. She just moved her lips. Sometimes it was very hard to be a good Scout.

When she got home, Molly went into the kitchen for a glass of milk. Mrs. Duff was not home yet.

Molly saw something on the counter. It was a little plastic bag with radishes in it! From the grocery store.

Molly looked at them. Round, clean, red radishes. She could take one. She could take one to Scouts and tell Mrs. Peters it was from her garden. Her mom wouldn’t know. She didn’t count radishes. She just sliced them into the salad.

Molly stared at the bag.

But just as she was about to tear the bag open, her mother came into the kitchen. She thought Molly wanted a vegetable for a
snack! “Pretty soon you’ll be eating things out of your own garden,” said Mrs. Duff. “Won’t that be wonderful?”

Molly popped the radish into her mouth. She made a face. It was hot! Radishes were spicy. “Oh, oh!” she said, and she spit it out into the sink.