Halloween Helpers

by Judy Delton

  “I’ll mail this off today,” she said. “And now I think it’s time for dismissal.”

  “We didn’t have a treat!” yelled Sonny.

  “Or talk about good deeds,” said Tracy.

  “Or sing our song and say our pledge,” said Lisa.

  “And we didn’t talk about a new badge or about a Halloween party,” said Kenny.

  “I think our meeting was full enough as it was,” said their assistant leader. “I for one will be glad to call it a day. I am sure the mayor will be glad to see us leave also.”

  On the way home, Roger was the only one not feeling low.

  “That was embarrassing,” said Mary Beth.

  “Well, it wasn’t our fault,” said Ashley.

  When Molly got home, her mother met her at the door.

  “I heard the news,” she said. “Mrs. Stone called me. I’m afraid Brandi won’t be back.”

  Molly didn’t know what there was to be afraid about. The only thing to fear was the possibility that Brandi would be back! A leader like Brandi was a disaster waiting to happen. Rather, it was a disaster that had happened.

  “Good,” said Molly, noticing in the mirror that her hair was stiff with flour water on one side. “Who will be our leader? Mrs. Stone?”

  Her mom shook her head. “Mrs. Stone can’t get away every week with those twins at home,” she said. “But we’ll work it out. Things will turn out for the best.”

  Molly wondered how her mother knew that. The following Tuesday she found out.

  CHAPTER

  7

  Substitute Leader Number Three

  “I wonder who will be our leader this week,” said Ashley on the way to their next meeting.

  “Whoever she is, she’ll probably be gone by next week,” said Patty. “We seem to scare them off.”

  “Hey, Brandi liked me,” said Roger. “It was you guys she couldn’t manage.”

  The Pee Wees got to the town hall and climbed the broad steps. Molly thought she could see the mayor watching from his window. He was shaking his head and didn’t look very happy.

  The Pee Wees entered their meeting room, but there was no leader waiting.

  “I think we should try to make a very good impression on our new leader when she gets here,” said Rachel, throwing her sweater over a chair.

  “How can we do that?” asked Sonny.

  “By not acting up,” Rachel said, glaring at him. “No running around and throwing stuff.”

  “Hey, I’ll bet our new leader will be old and gray, like somebody’s grandma,” said Roger, pretending to walk with a cane.

  But Roger was wrong. The door opened and the new leader walked in.

  She was not old or gray, and she did not walk with a cane.

  And she was not an army captain or a teenager from the high school.

  She was Molly’s mother, Mrs. Duff!

  Molly did not understand. Her mother should be at work! But perhaps she had taken time off to introduce their new leader.

  But no one else followed her, and she took off her jacket and hung it on a hook on the wall. She put some bags she was carrying on the table in the middle of the room. The table that had been full of flour and paper and water only a week ago.

  “Good afternoon!” said Mrs. Duff, smiling. “I guess I’m your new Scout leader.”

  The Pee Wees all clapped and cheered. Having Mrs. Duff was second best to having Mrs. Peters or Mrs. Stone. But Molly did not clap. Her mother did not belong at Scouts. She belonged at home or at work. And besides, she had not told Molly about this!

  “This was a last-minute decision,” Mrs. Duff said, looking at Molly. “I couldn’t get anyone suitable, so I thought maybe I should do it myself. I found out today that I could leave a little early on Tuesdays by working during my lunch hour. And I said, Why not? So here I am! I hope I can run the ship until Mrs. Peters returns, so that you don’t have any more changes. We can get right down to business and earn some badges now.”

  Everyone cheered again. This certainly sounded good. To everyone but Molly. How could she surprise her family with new badges if her mother was the one who was handing them out?

  And who wanted to have their mom in charge of things at home and at Scout meetings? The last time Molly had felt like this was when her parents had come along with Mr. and Mrs. Peters and all the Pee Wees on their trip to the Science and History Museum in Center City. Molly had dreaded it, but it had turned out all right. The Pee Wees had all liked her parents and thought her dad was very funny.

  Would she be lucky again, or would this whole leader thing be a disaster?

  “Hey, isn’t this great?” whispered Mary Beth to Molly. “Why didn’t you tell us your mom was going to be our new leader?”

  “I didn’t know,” said Molly.

  “We’re really lucky,” said Jody. “Your mom will be a great leader.”

  If Jody thought it was great, Molly felt better about the whole thing. Molly liked Jody. He was smart and he was kind. After all, it wasn’t the most important thing in the world to surprise your parents with badges.

  Mrs. Duff started the meeting the right way, by singing the Pee Wee song, saying the Pee Wee pledge, and hearing about all their good deeds.

  The good deeds had been piling up for three weeks because no one had asked to hear them in all that time.

  “I’ve got piles of good deeds,” said Tim.

  “I’ve got tons of them,” said Sonny.

  “I’ve got three weeks’ worth of good deeds,” said Tracy.

  “I didn’t do any because Mrs. Peters wasn’t here,” said Roger. “Why waste time doing good deeds when there’s no one to tell about them?”

  The Pee Wees booed Roger, and Mrs. Duff explained that the reason for doing good deeds was to help others, not just to tell about them.

  “I still think it’s a waste,” said Roger. “I’ll do some new ones this week.”

  The other Pee Wees told about their good deeds. Lots of them had walked dogs and cleaned their rooms. Three weeks of good deeds took quite a while to tell, but at last they were through.

  “Now I think we’ll learn a few new exercises,” said their leader, “so that we won’t get restless and bother the mayor with our energy.”

  First she showed them bending and stretching exercises. Then some swinging windmill exercises. And finally, some make-believe bicycle-riding exercises.

  “Wow,” said Roger. “I’m pooped!”

  Rachel frowned at Roger. “Can’t you say tired like anyone else?” she said.

  Roger stuck his tongue out at Rachel.

  “And now,” said Molly’s mother, “I have a treat for all of you.”

  The Pee Wees cheered. This was what a real meeting was all about. Good deeds and treats. Especially treats. Things were back to normal at last.

  Mrs. Duff reached into one bag and took out some paper plates with fall leaves on them. Then she took out some paper cups with pumpkins on them!

  “Your mom hasn’t forgotten about Halloween!” said Mary Beth. “That’s a good sign!”

  From the other bag, Mrs. Duff took out some fudge bars with candy corn stuck in the top. And a big Thermos of milk. And last of all, some big, shiny red apples.

  “Roger and Tim, would you help pass these out?” she said.

  Roger was surprised to be asked to help. Molly was surprised too. Her mom knew how to treat Roger. She gave him some attention before he even had a chance to act up. Mothers can be smart sometimes, thought Molly.

  “And when we finish eating,” said Mrs. Duff, “I have some news. Some good Pee Wee news.”

  CHAPTER

  8

  Mrs. Duff Saves the Day

  Her mom just did another smart thing, Molly realized. To make sure they didn’t play with their food or start a food fight, she told them about the good news beforehand. They knew that the sooner they had eaten and cleaned up, the sooner they would hear it. It was good to see her mother in action.

  Su
re enough, it worked just the way Molly thought it would. No one played with their food. They ate it and enjoyed it, then washed up and waited to hear the news.

  “I think the first thing we should plan is a Halloween party,” said their substitute leader.

  “Rah, rah, rah!” shouted the Pee Wees. A good leader knew what they wanted to hear, thought Molly.

  “It’s always nice to mix fun with helping someone, don’t you think?” were Mrs. Duff’s next words.

  The Pee Wees groaned. Was this going to be another one of those parties in a nursing home or a hospital? Although they all had to admit that both of those parties had turned out to be fun.

  “What about a party that’s just fun and nothing else?” said Sonny.

  Mrs. Duff laughed, although Molly did not think what Sonny had said was very funny.

  “It’s more fun when you know you’re doing something worthwhile,” said Mrs. Duff.

  Sonny and Roger were shaking their heads as if they did not agree with that.

  “What about if we have fun, help others, and earn a badge at the same time?” their new leader asked.

  Mention of a new badge got everyone’s attention. They all agreed that at least two of those three things went well together.

  “Your mom is as good a leader as Mrs. Peters!” said Kevin.

  “She’s more like Mrs. Peters than Mrs. Peters!” said Rachel.

  “I thought we would turn the tables on Halloween this year,” said Mrs. Duff. “Every year we do the same thing, go house to house and ask for something for ourselves.”

  “What’s the matter with that?” shouted Roger.

  “That’s what Halloween is for,” said Sonny.

  “Yes, but it could be time for a change,” said Mrs. Duff. “What if we turn it around and give something instead of take something?”

  “Oh, like a backward Halloween!” said Ashley.

  “And we could get a backward badge!” said Kevin.

  “We could wear it with the wrong side out!” said Jody. “Cool.”

  “Dumb,” said Sonny. “I want my candy!”

  “How do we have a backward Halloween?” asked Mary Beth with a frown.

  “Well,” said their leader, “we will still dress up and go trick-or-treating. But instead of taking candy, we’ll give them candy! Or something nice. It doesn’t have to be candy. There are a lot of people who live alone in our neighborhood, who are lonely and don’t see children often. Think what a treat it would be if we visited them and brought them something special. Like a nice warm dinner, or a homemade pumpkin pie, or even a pair of warm slippers for these cold nights.”

  “I can’t bake a homemade pie, Mrs. Duff,” said Patty. “My mom won’t let me use the oven alone.”

  “But your mom may want to donate a homemade pie, Patty, and you could deliver it.”

  “You mean we give out a pie at every single house?” asked Tim.

  “How do we know who to go to?” asked Tracy.

  “We won’t go to every house in the neighborhood. I thought each of you could choose one person to visit. Altogether that will be thirteen stops. We will all go together as a group. Talk this over with your parents and choose someone you think would like a surprise. Afterward we’ll come to our house for hot cocoa and treats and games. That way we’ll have our party, do something nice for others, and get our badge for being Halloween helpers. How does that sound?”

  Most of the Pee Wees cheered. But a few of them frowned.

  “After the thirteen backward things, can we do regular trick-or-treating?” asked Tim.

  “If it isn’t too late,” said their leader. “And it isn’t too cold.”

  The Pee Wees were won over. No one could resist regular trick-or-treating and a party and a badge.

  Everyone began to talk at once, telling Mrs. Duff whose houses they wanted to go to.

  “There’s a man who lives by me who has no teeth,” said Roger. “But I think he could chew pumpkin pie. No one ever goes to see him because he’s so grumpy.”

  “He sounds like he might need a friend to bring him a gift,” said Mrs. Duff. “If he will let us in. We have to remember to only go where we are wanted. We don’t want to force ourselves on anyone.”

  “I think we should take a treat to Brandi,” said Roger. “She liked me.”

  “Then you take her a treat yourself, White,” said Kenny.

  “Roger may have a good idea,” said Mrs. Duff thoughtfully. “It would be a chance to show Brandi there are no hard feelings. That we appreciate her trying to help us out.”

  Then she added, “I’ll bet the captain would like a treat too. I’ll put him on our list as my choice.” Mrs. Duff got a notebook from her bag and wrote Captain Spencer’s name down.

  “That will make it fourteen surprises,” said Lisa.

  “Once we have their names and interests, let’s think about what kind of treat would be best for each person. We want to choose something they will really like. We wouldn’t want to give someone a musical CD, for example, if they don’t like to listen to music. I’ll get in touch with your parents later and we’ll make more plans.”

  For the rest of the meeting the Pee Wees talked about what they were going to wear for the backward Halloween.

  “I think we should put our costumes on backward!” said Kevin.

  “Or inside out,” said Lisa.

  “Are we going to say ‘Trick or treat’ backward at their door?” asked Ashley.

  Rachel got out a paper and wrote something down. “That would be ‘taert ro kcirt!’ ” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense!”

  “Then we can walk backward instead!” said Kevin. “Jody can wheel his chair backward too!”

  Mrs. Duff laughed. “You see,” she said, “doing the opposite thing will make this Halloween more fun than ever!”

  “No one else will have a Halloween like it!” said Tracy. “We’ll be the only ones who do things backward, upside down, and inside out.”

  CHAPTER

  9

  The Backward Halloween

  The Pee Wees liked to be different. They liked to be unusual. And this Halloween was going to be just that.

  Molly was used to rushing home from the Scout meeting to tell her mom all the news. But she couldn’t do that today. Her mom already knew the news! Her mom had told them the news! Instead of going home to tell her, Molly went home with her. And they both told Mr. Duff about the backward Halloween at supper.

  “Can I come?” asked Mr. Duff. Molly laughed, but Mrs. Duff said, “That’s not a bad idea. I need parents to help, and you’re a parent.”

  All week the Pee Wees thought about Halloween. They mostly thought about what they would wear. On Saturday Molly and Mary Beth walked to the center of town to look in stores.

  “We can just get ideas,” said Molly, “and then we can go home and make the costumes ourselves.”

  Mary Beth nodded. “My mom says homemade costumes are best.”

  Molly didn’t think so. But homemade things were cheaper, and she liked to save her parents money. Besides, costumes were fun to make.

  Most of the stores had window displays of scary Halloween costumes. The girls stopped in front of one window that showed a dragon costume.

  “I don’t want to be a boring animal or a witch or ghost,” said Molly. “Let’s be something no one else will think of.”

  “Like what?” asked Mary Beth.

  “Like a computer with legs,” said Molly. “Or a stalk of celery.”

  “That isn’t scary,” said her friend. “And it would be hard to make.”

  “How about a candy bar?” said Molly. “It wouldn’t be scary, but no one else would be one. And it would be easy to make. Just some brown paper with words on it, and holes for eyes.”

  “I could be a Nut Crunchy!” said Mary Beth, “With red and green paper. And you could be a Chocolate Delight!”

  “Let’s do it!” said Molly.

  Just as the girls were leaving, Rog
er and Sonny came up behind them.

  “Boo!” said Roger. “Hey, I’m getting that dragon costume, and Sonny is getting the Spider-Man outfit.”

  “We’re making ours,” said Mary Beth.

  “My dad has a lot of money,” bragged Roger. “I can get the most expensive one in the store.”

  “I’m going to wear Spider-Man backward,” said Sonny. “You know, for the backward Halloween.”

  “Sonny is backward,” said Mary Beth. “He doesn’t need to prove it with his costume.”

  On the way home, Molly said, “No one could tell if ours were backward or not. They’re the same either way!”

  “We don’t want to be like Sonny anyway,” said Mary Beth.

  All the Pee Wees worked on their costumes during the week. On Tuesday they met and talked about the people they had chosen to visit on Halloween.

  Hands waved. “Mrs. Duff, there’s a lady in the apartment house near us who has no children or relatives,” said Rachel. “My mom says she likes to play cards, but she has no one to play with. So our treat is going to be to go there once a week and play cards with her.”

  “What a wonderful idea for a treat, Rachel!” said Mrs. Duff.

  “Mrs. Duff,” said Patty, waving her hand. “We chose the foreign student who lives with the family next door. She doesn’t know many people here, and she loves American movies. We’re getting her a video of one of the old musicals. From Kenny and me.”

  “Hey, you could run it backward, for the backward Halloween,” said Tim.

  “It won’t be Halloween when she watches it,” said Rachel.

  “What creative Pee Wees!” said Mrs. Duff. “That’s just what I hoped you’d do, think of something special to do for someone.”

  More hands waved, and more ideas were announced. Ideas for mittens and scarves and cookies and pies and TV dinners. Ideas for helping in the yard and dusting and carrying in groceries.

  “These sound like good deeds,” grumbled Sonny. “Not like Halloween stuff. It sounds like work.”