by Judy Delton
“OOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo,” the ghost moaned. It sounded as if it were right outside their tent!
CHAPTER 4
Tiny Is a Hero
“What was that?” said Molly, leaping up from her cot. The other girls sat up. Mary Beth’s eyes were wide open and as big as saucers. They all listened. They had goose bumps on their arms. But all they could hear now was the wind roaring in the trees.
“It was probably just an animal,” said Lisa bravely. Lisa’s mother was nearby. But not close enough, thought Lisa.
“What kind of animal makes a ghost noise?” asked Rachel.
“A wild animal,” said Mary Beth, rolling her eyes toward the tent door.
“A wild animal!” yelled Rachel. “I want to go home! A wild animal could eat us! A wild animal is more dangerous than a ghost!”
Molly didn’t know which was more dangerous. She didn’t know if she would rather meet a ghost or a tiger. A ghost, she decided. No, a tiger, she thought, changing her mind.
“It’s gone anyway,” said Lisa, who felt she had to be brave. With her mother there, she couldn’t be a sissy.
The children lay back on their cots. Just as they did, they heard the ghost-sound again. “OOOOOOOOoooooooo.” The voice carried on the wind. “OOOOOOOOOoooooooeeeeeeee,” it sounded again.
Molly screamed.
Mary Beth pulled her sleeping bag over her head.
Rachel cried.
Lisa got out of bed and crept to the door. She stuck her head out of the tent opening. But she held on to the sides so they did not flap in the wind. “I can’t see anything in the dark,” said Lisa.
Molly crept to the door beside Lisa.
The creature’s loud voice rang out again, “OOOOOO ooooo eeeee!”
This time Tiny woke up and began to bark. The louder the creature’s voice got, the louder Tiny barked. After a while he stopped barking. He threw back his head and howled. “Owwwooo!”
Molly was getting mad. She put her head out of the tent door and yelled, “A hex on you! Dumb ghost! Get out of our camp!”
The voice stopped. Tiny stopped howling.
Then the Scouts heard the voice say, “I’m going to get yoooooou.”
“That’s no wild animal,” said Molly. “Animals can’t talk.”
“But ghosts can,” said Lisa.
Now all four Pee Wees were at the door of the tent. As they watched they saw two white figures move in and out of the trees.
“Look!” screamed Rachel. “There are two ghosts!”
“HELLLLLP!” shouted all four girls.
The white shapes billowed in the wind. Their floppy arms waved and they looked as if they were floating!
All of a sudden Tiny dashed through the door and began to chase the ghosts. The girls chased Tiny.
Then the flaps on the other tents burst open and all the Scouts raced out!
They ran through the woods. The ghosts jumped over a creek with Tiny right behind.
Then the ghosts ran toward the camp. It seemed as if they couldn’t see where they were going. Soon they bumped smack into the tent that was the kitchen.
Crash went the pots and pans!
Bang! The table toppled over.
Smash! The food fell from the cupboards.
It sounded like glass breaking. Wet things were dripping. By now everyone in the whole camp was awake and chasing the ghosts.
Suddenly a lantern came on, and light filled the kitchen tent.
“Yuck!” said Rachel. “I stepped in maple syrup.”
The other Scouts were stepping in food too. Food was all over. Chairs were on their sides. The place was a mess.
* * *
The ghosts were under it all. They were trapped on the floor. Tiny had a foot on one ghost’s body. He barked and barked.
“Tiny caught the ghosts!” cried Molly. “Tiny is a hero.”
CHAPTER 5
Rat’s Knees!
All of a sudden, one ghost started to cry. Mrs. Peters lifted the chairs and cleaned the food off his body. Then she shone the lantern over him.
“My legs are broken!” wailed the ghost. “And that dog walked on my stomach!”
The Scouts stared.
A ghost did not get broken legs, thought Molly. And do they have stomachs? Hey, that voice sounded familiar!
The ghost slowly got to his feet. The other ghost was still moaning.
“He has a sheet on!” said Mrs. Peters.
A real ghost did not wear a sheet, thought Molly. A real ghost was made out of something like smoke. White smoke. Something that was like a cloud. This was no cloud!
Mrs. Ronning marched up and pulled the sheet off of the ghost.
“Sonny Betz!” shouted the Pee Wee Scouts. “It’s not a ghost, it’s Sonny Betz!”
“Roger made me do it!” he shouted. He pointed to the other ghost.
Some-of the Scouts began to laugh. Some of them called him names. “Dumb bunny Sonny!”
Molly did not laugh. Being scared in the woods at night was not funny.
A hex on Sonny Betz.
A hex on Roger White.
A double hex.
Sonny was still sobbing in pain. Mrs. Ronning checked his legs. She felt all his bones. He cried louder. “Nothing is broken,” said Mrs. Ronning.
“He made me do it,” said Sonny again, pointing.
Mrs. Peters pulled the sheet off the other ghost. Sure enough, it was Roger.
“It was his idea!” Sonny cried. “Roger said we should scare the girls.”
Roger did not look hurt. He looked sheepish. He looked as if he would like to dash out the door and run away. “It was just a joke,” muttered Roger.
* * *
Molly felt like giving Roger and Sonny a big smack. Pow! Bang!
But Mrs. Peters said, “I think the ghosts have suffered enough. I hope they learned a lesson. Jokes are dangerous. They could have been hurt.”
“This camp is named wrong,” said Mary Beth. “Instead of Camp Hide-Away, I think we should call it Camp Ghost-Away!”
“Yeah!” shouted Molly. “That is a good name.”
In the morning Mrs. Peters made Roger and Sonny clean up the mess in the kitchen.
Everyone was yawning when they came to breakfast. They had all missed a lot of sleep because of the ghosts. But when the food came, they were hungry.
“Pancakes.” said Mary Beth. “I love pancakes.”
Rachel said, “I don’t eat pancakes. My dad says there’s too much sugar in them.”
Molly groaned. Rachel was a fussbudget. She just drank orange juice and ate some grapefruit.
Molly made a face at the grapefruit. “Sour,” she said. “It gives me the creeps. Yuck!”
“You’ll be sorry when all your teeth fall out,” said Rachel.
“Teeth-schmeeth,” said Molly. “My teeth are as good as yours.”
Later that morning, Mrs. Peters said, “Everyone into your swimsuits.”
When the Pee Wees were ready, she said, “Let’s see if you can learn to float. When you can float alone, you will get the Pee Wee float badge.”
“You can’t float,” said Rachel to Molly. “You ate too many pancakes.”
Molly wanted to stick out her tongue. She wanted to hex her. She wanted to say a bad word.
All of a sudden she shouted out, “Rat’s knees!”
It felt good. It was better than a hex. Rats were ugly things. It was a bad word. And a new one!
When they got to the beach there was a lifeguard. He looked old, maybe eighteen. His name was Rick. He showed them how to do the dead man’s float.
“Just relax,” said Rick. “Then your body will float.”
The Pee Wees tried it. Rick held his arms under each of them at first. Then he let go.
When he let go of Lisa, she floated!
When he let go of Tim, he floated!
But when he let go of Molly, she began to sink. Plunk, plunk, plunk.
Molly’s feet sank down. Right down to t
he bottom of the lake. She could touch even the ground with her toes!
Molly kicked her legs to get them up. She got a big gulp of lake water.
“I can’t do it,” she sputtered. Then some water went up her nose.
“I told you, you ate too many pancakes!” Rachel said. Rachel could float before she came to camp. She had had private swimming lessons in kindergarten.
Rat’s knees! A hex on Rachel.
“Don’t worry,” said Rick the lifeguard. “It takes time to learn to float. You have to relax all of your muscles.”
Molly felt like crying. She even felt like going home. It was no fun to be a failure. She was as smart as they were. Why couldn’t she float? Maybe Rachel was right! She was too fat!
Rachel went to the tent and changed into her other swimsuit.
Molly practiced floating with Rick. But she still sank. Soon it was time to go out in the rowboat. Molly still could not float.
Rick showed them how to row. Sonny tried it. His oars flopped around, but the small rowboat moved.
“Good!” said Rick.
Then Roger rowed. He got water in the boat. The girls got wet.
“Hey, stop it!” said Rachel. “I just got all dried off!”
But Rick said, “Good!”
Then it was Molly’s turn.
Molly pulled on one oar. Then the other. The oars were heavy. She felt one begin to slip. Ker-plop! One of the oars fell off the boat. It sank to the bottom of the lake as the Pee Wees watched.
Rick did not say Good. He said, “How are we going to get in to shore?” He had to row all the way in with one oar. It took a long time.
“Ho-ho! What a rower!” shouted Roger. He made sounds like the oar going into the water. “Ker-plop, ker-plop.” Everyone laughed.
Molly was getting tired of camp. Everyone could learn camp things but her.
After lunch, the Pee Wee Scouts went on a nature hike with Mrs. Peters. They looked for seeds and berries. They listened to the birds sing. Mary Beth found a stone that was an agate. Rachel found a robin’s blue eggshell. Tim Noon found a rare wildflower. But Molly got poison ivy.
“Now, everyone, look here,” said Mrs. Peters. “Stay away from this plant. It has three leaves together. It looks just like the picture in our nature book.”
The Scouts all looked at it closely. “That was dumb,” said Rachel. “Why did you touch it?”
“It doesn’t look like the picture in the book,” muttered Molly. She scratched and scratched.
Mrs. Peters put some lotion on her arms. She still itched. Rat’s knees!
CHAPTER 6
I Want My Mother
Everyone was tired by suppertime. Everyone but Rachel. She put on a new outfit for supper. It had an anchor on the shirt and a whistle around the neck.
Rachel made a face. “I hate hot dogs!” she said. “I thought we’d have a picnic with steak and stuff.”
After supper the Scouts had a treasure hunt. Then they sang around the campfire. They sang the Pee Wee Scout song. Rachel got ashes and mustard on her new outfit. And Roger pushed her into the lake with her new sandals on.
Camp wasn’t so bad after all, thought Molly. Even though her arms were still itching.
Soon it was dark. Everyone helped put the campfire out. All of a sudden there was the sound of someone crying. Molly looked around. Sonny was sitting on a tree stump. Tears were running down his face.
Mrs. Peters went over to him and said, “What’s the matter, Sonny? What happened?”
Sonny cried even louder. He buried his face in his hands. Everyone ran over to see why he was crying.
“I want my mother!” screamed Sonny.
“I want to go home!”
Mrs. Peters put her arm around Sonny. “You’re just homesick,” she said. “You will feel better in the morning.”
“Baby,” muttered Rachel. “Mama’s boy.”
Mrs. Peters tried to make Sonny feel better. She gave him warm milk and tucked him into his sleeping bag. Sonny still sobbed.
“He is really spoiled,” said Rachel when they were in bed. “Can’t even leave his mother when he’s in first grade. Yuck!”
In the middle of the night Sonny came to the girls’ tent. He was carrying a blanket and crying. He was not playing ghost now.
“I want to go home!” he screamed.
Mrs. Peters heard the noise and came running.
“I want to go home,” wailed Sonny. “Right now!”
All of the Pee Wee Scouts were up now. They wondered what Mrs. Peters would do.
“You should have stayed home,” muttered Roger. “Babies shouldn’t come to camp.”
Sonny wailed louder. “I feel sick,” he said, holding his stomach.
“Homesick,” said Mrs. Peters. “You are just homesick, Sonny.”
“It feels awful,” sobbed Sonny.
“I guess the only thing to do is to call Sonny’s mother,” said Mrs. Peters.
Sonny threw his arms around Mrs. Peters. “Call her!” he cried. “Tell her to come and get me right away!”
Mrs. Peters went up the hill to the campground office to use the telephone. When she came back Sonny was still sobbing.
“Is she coming? Is she coming?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Mrs. Peters. “She is leaving right away.”
No one could sleep because of all the excitement. “Sonny’s mama has to rescue him!” sang Roger.
“Mama’s boy, mama’s boy,” sang Rachel.
“Rat’s knees!” said Molly.
* * *
At last Sonny’s mother came. Sonny leaped into the car and hugged her. “Take me home!” he cried.
Mrs. Betz put her arms around Sonny and hugged him.
The Scouts giggled. Mrs. Betz drank a cup of coffee and then they left.
Finally the camp was settled down for the night.
Molly was almost asleep, when she heard a sound. What was it? She listened closely. Someone else was crying. It was Rachel!
Molly crept over to her cot. “What is the matter with you?”
“I’m homesick too.” She sniffed. “I want my mother!”
Suddenly Molly heard something else. It was Mary Beth! She was crying into her pillow too. And so was Lisa! Even though her mother was close by.
“Rat’s knees!” said Molly. “I’m the only one here who isn’t homesick!”
CHAPTER 7
Molly the Brave
The Pee Wee Scouts slept late. When they got up for breakfast they found out that lots of them had been homesick. Tim and Roger had been crying. And two girls in the tent next to Molly’s had cried too.
“I guess Molly is the brave one.” said Mrs. Peters. “The only one who didn’t get homesick!”
“It’s not my fault,” grumbled Rachel. “My mom said Pee Wee Scouts are pretty young to be gone overnight.”
“Homesickness is an awful thing,” said Mrs. Peters. “It feels like real sickness. It is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“See?” said Rachel to Molly, making a face. Molly made a face back. Molly was still the bravest! She was still the only one who was not homesick. That meant she acted older than six. It meant she was more grown up than the other Pee Wee Scouts.
Molly the brave. Rat’s knees! That sounded good.
Rick came to get the Scouts for swimming. Molly still could not float. But when they went rowing, she did not drop the oar in the water. She rowed a little way by herself. But the boat kept turning around in a circle. Rick helped her. He showed her which oar to pull.
* * *
After lunch the Scouts took naps. Then Mrs. Peters showed them how to weave baskets out of straw. They took their baskets down the road to pick some wild berries. Mrs. Ronning went too.
Rachel had another new camp outfit on. It was bright pink.
Rat’s knees! thought Molly. Rachel must be rich. Rachel’s gold bracelet sparkled in the sun. Mary Beth’s ring sparkled too.
“Is this a berry?” called Roger, holdin
g up something red.
“No, Roger, that isn’t a berry we can eat. Be careful to pick only the kind I showed you,” said Mrs. Peters.
“What about this?” said Rachel, waving something blue in her hand.
“That is a grape,” said Mrs. Peters. “That is all right to pick.”
“Don’t you know what a grape is, dummy?” said Roger.
Rachel made a face. She didn’t like to crawl on the ground to get berries. Berries stained. Her new outfit would get dirty. And her hair got all messed up on the twigs and low branches.
Molly had a lot of berries in her basket. She found a patch of red, red strawberries. And a patch of blue, blue blueberries. She would have more berries than anyone!
“I hate these bugs!” shouted Rachel. “They’re flying in my eyes!” She waved her arms at the bugs.
“Put some of this on, Rachel,” called Mrs. Peters. She handed her a can of bug spray.
“Yuck!” said Rachel. “That makes me smell! It makes my hair ishy! My mom doesn’t like me to use that.”
“You’ll be scratching tonight,” said Mrs. Peters. “Mosquitoes bite.”
Rat’s knees! Rachel should have stayed home, thought Molly. She didn’t like the camp food. She didn’t like bug spray. She didn’t like tents. She was homesick. Rachel Myers was a big baby.
Soon most of the troop’s baskets were filled. “Let’s start back to camp now,” said Mrs. Peters, counting noses.
The Pee Wee Scouts followed Mrs. Peters. They were all scratching. They had berry juice on their arms. They were sunburned too.
When they got back to camp, Mary Beth said, “My ring is lost!”
She held up her hand. Sure enough, the little gold ring was not on her finger. She had it on when they left to pick berries. Molly had seen it.
“Oh, dear!” said Mrs. Peters. She frowned.
“I’ll bet someone stole it,” said Rachel.
“No one took it,” said Mrs. Peters. “It must have fallen off when we were picking berries.”
