Moans and Groans and Dinosaur Bones (2 page)

Before she could say more, the Pee Wees broke into loud cheers. They loved new badges. They had quite a few badges already. One for baby-tending, one for working with pets, and several for helping out in the community. But they could never have too many. A new badge was an exciting thing to hear about.

“What do we have to do on the trip to get a badge?” asked Tracy.

“What’s the name of the badge?” asked Patty.

“It will be called our museum badge!” said Mrs. Peters. “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

Mrs. Peters tried to make her voice
sound exciting, but it didn’t work. No one looked as if they thought a museum badge was fun. The Pee Wees all groaned.

Their leader made another try. “Just think of all the old things you will see!” she said. “Mummies and dinosaurs and old pots and gold coins. All you have to do to earn your badge is choose your favorite and write a little paper about it or draw a picture of it.”

Many of the Pee Wees did not think it was fun to do something they did in school. And writing sounded like school. Molly secretly liked to write. Especially lists and book reports. But she didn’t want the other Pee Wees to know that, so she groaned too. But she was already thinking of how hard it might be to choose just
one
thing out of all the things in the museum to write about. She had the feeling she would want to write about quite a few of
them. She knew that it was a big museum. She didn’t want to draw a picture. That was for babies. It was for the Pee Wees who were too lazy to write, like Roger, thought Molly. Roger would probably draw a picture. When the Pee Wees had been working on a badge for reading, Roger took baby books out of the library instead of real books. It was like cheating.

“Mrs. Peters, can we write a paper
and
draw a picture?” asked Rachel.

Rachel was a show-off sometimes, thought Molly. Even if Molly wanted to do both, she wouldn’t brag about it.

“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Peters to Rachel.

“I guess a picture or a paper won’t be so bad,” said Mary Beth.

“Now for the last thing,” said their leader. “I need one more parent to help me on the trip, since Mrs. Stone can’t
leave the twins alone and Mr. Stone is out of town.” Larry Stone was Sonny’s adoptive dad. Sonny looked relieved.

The other Pee Wees looked worried. No one wanted their parents there.

“She said parents weren’t coming,” grumbled Lisa.

“It would spoil the trip for whoever had their parents along,” whispered Mary Beth. “I sure hope mine don’t volunteer.”

Rachel’s hand was waving again. “My mom or dad can come,” she said.

“Why would Rachel
want
her parents there?” Tracy said to Molly.

Molly didn’t know. She was just glad her own mother worked on weekends.

“My parents could come, too,” said Jody.

Jody was so good-hearted, he wouldn’t even mind having his parents around, thought Molly.

“You didn’t let me finish. I already have a parent who has volunteered to come,” said Mrs. Peters. “I am pleased to say that Molly’s mother, Mrs. Duff, has agreed to take some time off work to help out.”

M
olly couldn’t believe her ears! In one minute, one second even, her trip had been ruined. The other Pee Wees made comforting noises. They could afford to feel bad for her, she thought. They were safe. They knew their own parents would be at home, where they belonged. Even though Jody and Rachel might not mind, the rest of the Pee Wees definitely did not want their parents along on a Pee Wee trip.

“That’s too bad,” said Mary Beth.

“She should be working,” said Molly crossly.

Mrs. Peters was telling the Pee Wees what to pack and how to behave. She was telling them about manners and that there would be no running or shouting on the train or in the hotel. Usually Molly would be making a list. But this time she wasn’t even listening. After all, her mother would pack for her. And she surely wouldn’t run and shout with her mother nearby. She wouldn’t be able to do anything that was any fun.

On the way home Molly tried to think of ways to make her mother change her mind. Wasn’t her mother too old to travel with a lot of rowdy children? And who would keep her dad company? Had her mom thought of that? What if Molly’s
grandma got sick or Mrs. Duff was needed at work in an emergency?

When Molly got home, she said, “I don’t think we should leave Dad alone for a whole weekend. He’ll get lonesome.”

“He’d have plenty to do,” said Mrs.
Duff. “But guess what? Dad is invited to come with us! After your meeting today Mr. Peters called to say he’s coming, and he wants Dad to join him. Isn’t that great?”

Rat’s knees. Now she had two parents to ruin her trip instead of one! Why had she even mentioned it? Still, it wasn’t Molly who had made her dad come. It was Mr. Peters, and it had been arranged before Molly even asked.

“Just in case you don’t really want to come, Jody’s mom and Rachel’s mom could come,” said Molly in a last-ditch effort to save the trip.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said her mom. “But it almost sounds like you don’t
want
us along!”

“I do,” lied Molly. Sometimes it was just not polite to tell the truth. She didn’t want to hurt her parents’ feelings.

“We won’t treat you any differently
than anyone else on the trip,” said her mother. “We’ll just ignore you. In fact, with Roger and Sonny there, I think we’ll have plenty to do keeping an eye on them to be sure they aren’t getting into trouble.”

Molly smiled. It was true that some of the Pee Wees needed more watching than others.

The phone rang. It was Tracy. “Too bad about your mom,” she said.

“Not only my mom,” groaned Molly. “My dad is coming too.”

“Bad luck,” said Tracy. “My mom couldn’t get off work even if she wanted to.”

“She must have a good job,” said Molly.

Well, there was no use crying over spilled milk, as Molly’s grandma always said. She would have to be brave and try to make the best of the ruined trip.

“D
eparting on track seven,” said a deep, gravelly voice that sounded to Molly as if it were coming from the bottom of a pit. “Track seven,” it repeated, “for Smoky Junction, Argyle, Rochester, and Center City.”

“That’s us!” shouted Sonny, running toward track seven. “That’s our train!”

“There’s no rush,” said Mr. Duff. He pointed to the sign that was lit up over the
ticket windows. “The timetable says it leaves at nine-oh-four. We have plenty of time. And I’d like to get a cup of coffee first.”

“We’ll miss the train!” shouted Sonny. “The guy said it’s reporting!”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “That’s
departing
,” she told him. “And trains can’t leave before it says on the sign. It’s a law.”

Rachel knew a lot. Molly had learned many things from her. Like where silverware and napkins went when you set the table. And how to get grape juice out of a new sweater your grandma knitted before your mom could see the stain. And now something else she’d never known. Trains could not leave before the time it said on the sign. No matter what.

Sonny looked as if he did not believe Rachel. He went over to the door to track seven and sat down on his backpack.

“Let’s all have a look at the model railroad set up over here,” said Mrs. Peters in her Scout leader voice. Molly’s mother herded the Pee Wees along, and Mr. Peters guided Sonny forward with the rest.

“The train is leaving!” said Sonny. “It’s going without us!”

“Baby,” said Tracy.

“We’ll just have a look at the model trains and then we’ll go,” said Mrs. Peters. “See, there isn’t even a line in front of track seven yet.”

The man in charge of the model railroad was glad to have an audience. The Pee Wees watched as a little model train went up hills and down valleys and across bridges. It stopped at the little train station in the make-believe town. It stopped while the engineer switched tracks to let another train pass.

“Isn’t it cute!” said Lisa. “Look, there
are even little tables in the dining car!”

“Hey, is there real oil in those tank cars?” shouted Roger.

“What a dumb question,” said Mary Beth. “Of course there isn’t real oil. That would be dangerous.”

The man didn’t call Roger dumb; he just said no. He told the Pee Wees how important trains were for carrying freight. “They carried lumber from the mills and coal from the mines,” he said.

“Now they carry brand-new cars,” said Tim. “The car my uncle just bought came on a train.”

“Let’s go,” whined Sonny, who wasn’t paying attention to the model trains. He was looking toward the real train that had pulled in on track seven. A small crowd was beginning to gather in front of the door that led to the track.

The Pee Wees thanked the man and
followed the Peterses to the rest rooms. When they came out, Mr. Peters and Mr. Duff made sure each Scout had their own backpack or overnight bag. They made sure they knew how to fold Jody’s wheelchair to get it on the train.

“Well, I guess we can go to track seven and line up,” said Mrs. Peters. She began to count noses. She counted several times, Molly thought. Their leader frowned. She went to talk to Mrs. Duff.

All four adults looked around.

“Someone’s missing,” said Kenny.

“Who?” asked Jody.

“Well, it’s not Roger. Darn,” said Mary Beth. Roger was running and sliding on the marble floor and making faces at a baby in a stroller.

“It’s Sonny,” said Mrs. Peters. “Have any of you seen Sonny since we came out of the rest rooms?”

The Pee Wees looked around. Sonny was not with the group. He was not at the door to track seven with the crowd. And he was not running and sliding with Roger.

Mr. Duff ran back to the model trains and spoke to the man. Molly could see him describing Sonny and holding his hand up to show how tall he was. But the man shook his head.

Now the crowd at the door to track seven was getting bigger. The light went on over the door, and the man in charge opened the door and began to check tickets.

“Stay here and don’t move,” said Mrs. Peters to the Scouts as the four adults went to search.

“Rat’s knees, we
are
going to miss the train!” said Molly, watching as the people began to walk through the door, along the platform, and onto the train.