Pedal Power

by Judy Delton

  “Hey, I’m not Chinese! Leave me alone! I’m not waiting on any old girls!”

  “Good,” said Mary Beth. “Because we sure wouldn’t want you hanging around us all the time.”

  “I think he should. It’s the least he can do,” muttered Ashley.

  “I heard that if you don’t repay the person for saving you,” said Kenny, “you’ll have bad luck for seven years. You have to do at least one good thing to pay them back.”

  Roger stopped what he was doing. “What kind of bad luck?” he asked Kenny.

  “Oh, like if you got a new bike someone might come and steal it. Or you might get hit by lightning,” he said.

  “Maybe you’d get some awful disfiguring disease,” said Rachel. “Or grow two heads or something.”

  “Steal my bike?” said Roger. “My new bike? My dad is getting me a new bike next week!”

  Roger didn’t seem to mind about the lightning, or having two heads.

  Kenny nodded. “I think you better do something to repay them,” he said. “I’d be scared not to.”

  Mrs. Peters came in again, followed by the doctor and nurse. The Pee Wees were asked to say good-bye and leave. The doctor gave Roger a look that said there would not be any more ice cream for him today.

  “Well, I’m glad to see that Roger is improving,” said Mrs. Peters when they were all in the van. “At least his concussion, I mean. It appears he’s out of danger.”

  “If I was his dad, he’d be in plenty of danger,” muttered Rachel.

  Molly had to agree with Rachel. Somewhere inside, she was sorry she’d ever bothered to save Roger!

  CHAPTER 4

  A New Badge

  The next day was Tuesday, and the Pee Wees gathered in Mrs. Peters’s basement for their regular meeting. Roger was home from the hospital, but he wasn’t able to go back to school yet—or to Pee Wee Scouts.

  “I think we can all learn a lot from Roger’s accident,” said Mrs. Peters when all the Pee Wees were there. “Can you tell me one thing it taught us?”

  Hands waved.

  “You shouldn’t ride down the slide backward on a bike,” said Tim. “You can’t see where you’re going.”

  Mrs. Peters nodded. “Bikes have no business being on slides,” she said. “Slides are not for bikes at all. Ever.”

  “I learned that hospital beds go up and down at the ends,” said Sonny.

  “And hospitals smell bad,” said Tracy, holding her nose. All the Pee Wees held their noses and made faces.

  “I learned something else,” said Tim.

  “Yes?” said Mrs. Peters, looking hopeful.

  “Sometimes you bleed and you look dead but you aren’t.”

  Mrs. Peters sighed. “Those are all important things,” she said. “But I was thinking of something else. What can we learn about safety?”

  “Don’t fool around on the playground,” said Kevin. “It can be real dangerous.”

  “That’s right,” said Mrs. Peters. “Roger could have died, or been seriously injured. He could have had brain damage.”

  “He does have brain damage,” whispered Rachel. “He was born with it.”

  “The important thing here,” said their leader, “is that we have learned that a bike is not a toy. Riding one means you follow the same rules as if you were driving a car. We have a lot to learn about bike safety. And that’s going to be our next project. We’re going to learn how to protect ourselves and others when riding bikes.”

  “Do we get a badge for it?” asked Lisa.

  “Yes. After you all learn the safety rules, and practice them, you’ll get a badge,” said Mrs. Peters.

  “Yay!” shouted the Pee Wees. It might be hard work, and it might be kind of boring, but if there was a badge at the end it would be worth it. And of course, thought Molly, everyone wants to be safe. But then, none of the other Pee Wees would ride a bike down a slide. It didn’t take a lot of rules and a badge to know how dumb and dangerous that was.

  “Today I’m going to discuss bike safety and give you all copies of the rules we need to know,” said their leader. “We’ll also learn how to take care of our bikes and keep them in good condition. I realize Roger isn’t here, but I’ll give him his own lesson when he’s better. And besides learning and practicing the bike rules, I have a fun project in mind to earn money for a good deed.”

  The Pee Wees all paid close attention when they heard the word fun. Project wasn’t such a good word, but fun was.

  “I thought a good way to wind up our bike safety program would be to raise money to buy bikes for children who can’t afford them. That way we can give them a bike and be sure they know the safety rules before they ride them.”

  “Bikes are expensive,” said Kenny. “How can we earn the money?”

  “We may be able to buy used bikes,” said Mrs. Peters. “And some business people may donate some. We’ll earn as much money as we can and buy what we can afford.

  “I thought and thought about how to earn money,” Mrs. Peters went on. “Then I read about a group of children in Endicott, New York, who collected recipes to make their very own cookbook. We can do the same thing. Mr. Peters can print them on his computer. In between the recipes, we’ll print the bike safety rules. That way, both the parents and their children will see them. Then we’ll sell the books to earn money for bikes. What do you think of that idea?”

  “I don’t know how to cook,” said Tim. “I don’t have any recipes.”

  “Neither do I,” said Sonny. “My mom doesn’t let me use the stove.”

  Mrs. Peters held up her hand. “You don’t actually have to cook these things,” she said. “You just ask your moms and dads and maybe some local restaurants for their favorite recipes. When we get enough, we’ll choose the best and put them into a book.”

  “Can it be a French recipe?” asked Rachel. “My mom does a lot of French cooking. I know she has a great recipe for coq au vin, and cherries flambé.”

  “She always has to be different,” Mary Beth whispered to Molly. “What’s the matter with just plain American food?”

  “That sounds wonderful, Rachel,” said their leader.

  “Maybe we should have a whole foreign section!” said Ashley. “Like Chinese and Mexican, and even some Thai food.”

  “Pooh,” said Sonny. “I don’t want to eat ties. And I can’t read that Chinese stuff. I’ve got my favorite recipe right in my head. It’s a hot dog on a bun with mustard and ketchup.”

  Molly was just going to say how silly that was—everyone knew how to make hot dogs. But Jody said, “That’s my favorite recipe too. It’s good to have some recipes that are easy to make and that everyone likes, along with the foreign ones.”

  Jody was right, of course. He always made people feel good. Just once, thought Molly, I’d like to see him say something dumb.

  “These are all great ideas,” said Mrs. Peters. “We’re off to a good start. While we learn about bike safety, you can begin collecting recipes that are good for both children and adults to make—some American and some from other places. We’ll have to get started right away so they can be typed up on the computer and printed out. Then we’ll get busy selling them and taking orders.

  “And now, let’s talk bike safety!”

  CHAPTER 5

  Signs and Signals

  After the discussion about recipes and food, the Pee Wees felt hungry. So before they went over the safety rules, Mrs. Stone came downstairs with a plate of brownies. Each brownie had a tiny plastic bike on it!

  “Look how cute they are!” said Rachel. “This red one is just like mine!”

  The Pee Wees ate their brownies and drank their milk and raced their little bikes up and down the table. Sonny made screeching noises with his. Still, Molly thought it wasn’t as noisy as it would have been if Roger had been there. Roger was the noisiest and wildest Pee Wee of all.

  “Now,” said Mrs. Peters, “we’ll get down to business.”

  Their leader passed out littl
e red booklets with BIKE SAFETY printed in big black letters on the cover. They were from the police department. Inside were little stick figures wearing safety helmets, riding stick bikes, and obeying all the bike rules.

  “The first thing to remember,” said Mrs. Peters, holding up her booklet, “is that a bike rider must obey the very same laws and rules of the road as a car.”

  Hands began to wave. “Mrs. Peters, I can’t honk like a car, I have no horn on my bike!” said Tracy.

  “I don’t have headlights,” said Lisa.

  “My bike is nothing like a car,” said Tim. “It doesn’t use gas and it hasn’t got four wheels.”

  Mrs. Peters held up her hand. “But cyclists can still obey certain rules of the road,” she said. “For example, when you’re going to turn a corner, you have to signal, just the way people driving cars signal their turns.”

  Now all the Pee Wees were frowning. “We don’t have signal lights!” said Patty.

  “Bike signaling is done with your arm,” said Mrs. Peters, “just as people in cars signaled long ago before cars had automatic signal lights. When you want to turn left, you slow down and extend your left arm out at your side.”

  Mrs. Peters demonstrated. Then all the Pee Wees signaled too.

  “And for a right turn,” she said, “you put your left arm out, but you point it up.” She showed them and held up the picture in the book.

  “And when you stop,” she went on, “you slow down and extend your left arm, pointing it down. That warns the people behind you that you’re stopping.”

  The Pee Wees practiced signaling— right, left, and stopping.

  “The next rule to remember is always to ride in the street, not on the sidewalk. Bikes on the sidewalk are dangerous to pedestrians. Also, you ride your bikes on the right side of the street, just like cars.”

  Hands waved. “Mrs. Peters,” said Rachel, “that’s not always true. If you’re in England you have to drive on the left side of the road. It’s a law.”

  Mary Beth rolled her eyes.

  “That’s true, Rachel,” said their leader, “but we aren’t in England, we’re in Minnesota.”

  Mrs. Peters went on. “Another thing to remember is to ride close to the curb, single file, or in the bike lane if there is one. Listen carefully for traffic, and never wear headphones while you’re riding. It makes it hard to pay attention to the road. And cyclists must obey all traffic signs. Stop signs are for bike riders, and so are stoplights.

  “At busy intersections, walk your bike across the street. And never ride double on one bike.”

  “I always ride with Rog,” said Sonny. “I hang on to him. It’s lots of fun, especially going down those big hills!”

  Mrs. Peters frowned. “Never put two people on one bike. And that means you and Roger. If you’re not ready to follow rules, you’re not ready to ride a bike.”

  “Sonny isn’t ready,” whispered Mary Beth to Molly. (She whispered so that his mother wouldn’t hear her.) “He just got his training wheels off his bike!”

  “Next rule: You don’t do stunt riding in the street,” said their leader. “You ride in a straight line, with both hands on the handlebars and both wheels on the pavement.”

  “How can I keep both hands on the handlebars if I have to stick out my arm at the corners to signal?” asked Tim.

  “You slow down, signal, then put both hands back on the bars when you turn,” said Mrs. Peters.

  “Boy, there are a lot of rules,” said Tracy. “I hope I can remember all of them.”

  Molly agreed with Tracy. It wasn’t easy to remember all this. And there was a lot more in the little booklet.

  “Now, before you even start to ride your bike,” said Mrs. Peters, “your bike must be registered and have a license.”

  “Mine does!” said Kevin.

  “Mine too!” said Kenny.

  “It must also have reflectors in the front and back, and a headlight for when you must ride at night or on foggy days. It should have a checkup every spring to be sure the brakes work. You must have a lock, park in a bike rack, and—this is very important—you must wear a helmet. If Roger had worn a helmet, he might not have had a concussion.”

  “If he hadn’t gone down the slide on his bike, he wouldn’t have had a concussion for sure,” grumbled Rachel.

  “This page,” said Mrs. Peters, “has all the traffic signs and signals you need to know.”

  She held it up for the Pee Wees to see. Some of the signs said WAIT, DON’T WALK, ONE WAY, DON’T ENTER, KEEP RIGHT, STOP, and YIELD.

  “Now, I want you to study all these signs and rules this week, and we’ll have a little quiz on them later. I’ll ask each of you only one question about something in this booklet, but you won’t know what question it will be.

  “We’ll also look at all your bikes to be sure they’re in good shape and safe to ride. So take these booklets home and show them to your parents. They’ll want to help you get your bikes ready.”

  “Mine is ready now,” said Rachel. “I even have reflector tape on my pedals.”

  “Very good, Rachel,” said their leader. “So once you study your rules, you’ll be free to start looking for your recipe. The sooner we get those recipes collected, the sooner we can get the books made and sold.

  “And now, Mrs. Peters said, “we’ll do a few exercises, since we’ve been sitting still a long time.”

  The Pee Wees stretched and did pushups and told about their good deeds. Then they sang the Pee Wee song. It was time to go home. Home to think about bike safety!

  And also about recipes. Rat’s knees, where could Molly find a good recipe? Her mother’s recipes were boring, like Jell-O salads and hamburger hot dish. Molly wanted something special. Something good enough to be in print. Something good enough to go into the Pee Wee bike safety cookbook with her name on it.

  CHAPTER 6

  Molly’s Favorite Fast Recipe

  “I don’t like the word quiz,” said Lisa on the way home. “It’s just another word for test, and test sounds too much like school.”

  Tracy nodded. “Teachers say quiz to fool us into thinking it’s a game instead of a test. But we’re no fools. A test is a test.”

  “My mom studied a book like this when she took her driver’s test,” said Tim. “She passed and got her license. We don’t get a driver’s license for passing.”

  “No, but we get a badge,” said Jody. “That’s just as good. Kids can’t drive cars anyway. A license wouldn’t do us any good. Besides, a test has lots of questions. We only have to answer one.”

  Jody is right, thought Molly. Jody always saw the good side of hard things. He made it all sound easy.

  At the corner Mary Beth and Molly said good-bye to the others. Then they walked to Molly’s house and sat down in the kitchen to talk about recipes.

  “Rachel will bring one of those fancy French ones,” said Mary Beth. “Maybe I’ll just bring my mom’s gingersnap recipe. Everybody likes those.”

  Molly nodded. Gingersnaps were okay. But Molly wanted something no one else would bring. She wanted a rare bird, as her grandma would say.

  “Maybe I’ll go to the Green Lantern and ask the cook for a recipe,” said Molly. The Green Lantern was a local restaurant where Mr. Duff took the family sometimes for special occasions like Mother’s Day.

  “I don’t think they like to give out their recipes,” said Mary Beth. “If they do that, everyone will cook the stuff at home and they won’t pay to eat there.”

  Molly hadn’t thought about that. It made sense.

  “You could get a recipe from another cookbook,” said her friend. “At the library.”

  “That’s cheating,” said Molly. “I can’t take a recipe from another cookbook and put it in ours. I want one that isn’t in any other cookbook.”

  “Then you’ll have to make one up,” said Mary Beth. “That’s the only way to be sure no other book will have it.”

  Molly snapped her fingers. Then she stood up and c
lapped her hands. “That’s it!” she said. “My aunt made up a recipe when she was here! She took leftovers from the refrigerator, like ham and asparagus and cheese and tomatoes and onions, and put them in the frying pan. Then she put two eggs on top of everything, and salt and pepper, and mixed it all up. When it was cooked she put the whole thing on a piece of toast. It was really good!”

  “Let’s write it down,” said Mary Beth. “You have to have the amounts just right.”

  Before they could start writing, the doorbell rang. Molly looked out the window.

  “It’s Roger!” she said. “What does he want?”

  She opened the door and said, “Aren’t you supposed to be sick?”

  “I’m okay now,” he said. “Can I come in?”

  Molly couldn’t be rude to someone whose life she’d just saved. “I guess so,” she said.

  “What are you guys doing?” he asked.

  Mary Beth told him about the recipes.

  “We’re busy,” she said.

  “I’ll help,” Roger said.

  Roger wanted to help them? Molly couldn’t believe it.

  Suddenly an awful thought came to Molly. Roger was afraid his new bike would be stolen if he didn’t repay them for saving his life! Kenny’s words must have bothered him. She whispered this to Mary Beth.

  “I suppose we’d better let him help us and get it over with,” Mary Beth whispered back.

  “You can copy the recipe on a card,” said Molly to Roger. “I’ll call my aunt.”

  She gave Roger a card and a pencil. When Molly’s aunt told her the recipe on the phone, she repeated it to Roger.

  Molly’s aunt said the amounts didn’t have to be exact. She told them that if they used two cups of veggies and meat or fish, combined with two beaten eggs, they would have enough for two big open-faced sandwiches on toast. “Big enough even for your dad!” laughed Molly’s aunt. “He’s a big eater, and he liked my recipe.”

  Molly thanked her aunt, and Roger finished writing down what she had said. He wrote down all the ingredients and the directions. At the end he wrote, “Serve on toast. Serves two or more.”