Cookies and Crutches (3 page)

“To make them brown,” said Molly.

“Baking makes them brown,” said Mrs. Kelly.

“It sure does,” said Mary Beth.

The girls took the cookies off the pan and put them on a plate.

“They look like giant Frisbees!” cried Mary Beth.

“Or flying saucers,” said Molly. “We will never get a badge for these cookies.”

“Let’s taste one,” said Mary Beth.

Mrs. Kelly had gone back upstairs.

Mary Beth took one bite.

She made a terrible face. She ran to the sink and spit it out.

“It’s awful!” she said.

“And there is something hard in there.” Mary Beth took a drink of water. “Something real hard,” she said.

Molly broke her cookie in half.

She saw little marble-like things inside.

“Yuck!” she said. “I’m not eating these things. They look like beans!”

“Now we won’t get our badge,” said Mary Beth.

She stamped her foot. She felt mad.

What a waste. They could not even eat the cookies.

“I better go home,” said Molly, getting her coat on.

“Take your half of the cookies,” said Mary Beth.

“No thanks!” cried Molly. “There’s a hex on those cookies, and I didn’t put it there!”

O
n Tuesday almost everyone brought a cookie to the meeting.

Some looked like submarines.

Some looked like brown buttons.

Some looked like dog chewies.

But none looked like chocolate chip cookies.

“Today we will try again,” said Mrs. Peters.

“Right here. I will not help.

“I will just watch.

“Put in only what it says on the paper.”

“That was our mistake,” whispered Sonny. “We put in too much other stuff.”

“We did too,” said Molly.

“I didn’t,” said Rachel in her running shoes.

“Then why were your cookies so yucky?” asked Roger.

“They weren’t yucky,” Rachel said. “They just didn’t get done. I didn’t bake them long enough.”

“Dough-face,” said Roger. “You’re the girl who eats raw dough! Dough-face! Dough-face! Raw-cookie monster Rachel!”

Rachel stuck out her tongue at him.

Each Scout had his or her own bowl.

They had their own measuring cups.

They had only the right cookie things.

Mrs. Peters watched them as they made their cookies.

She put them into the oven.

She set the timer.

This time all the cookies turned out.

Some were big and some were small.

Some were square and some were round.

Some were oblong.

But they all were soft and warm and had melted chocolate chips in them.

Each Scout gave Mrs. Peters a cookie to taste.

“Wonderful!” she said.

She passed out the cookie badges. The badges were shaped like big cookies. The Scouts pinned them onto their Scout kerchiefs. Then they ate their cookies while Mrs. Peters told them about plans for a skating party.

It was a special party. The Scouts were all supposed to bring their dads.

Everyone looked at Tim Noon.

He didn’t have a dad.

Neither did Lisa Ronning or Sonny Betz.

“If you don’t have a dad,” Mrs. Peters was saying, “you can bring a brother, or an uncle, or even a friend.”

“Yikes!” said Rachel. “I get to wear my new figure skates!”

Molly didn’t have skates.

Mary Beth had some, but they were black.

Her big brother had outgrown them.

“You can always borrow skates, or rent skates if you don’t have any,” said Mrs. Peters.

“I have some, Mrs. Peters,” called Rachel from across the room. “They are white figure skates. I won’t have to borrow or rent any,” she said.

“Fine, Rachel,” said Mrs. Peters.

Rachel stood on her toes and made skating motions as if she were already on the ice.

“Show-off,” muttered Roger. “I’ll bet your skates are dumb.”

“My skates are what the stars wear to skate on TV,” said Rachel with her hands on her hips.

“A hex on your skates,” whispered Molly with her eyes crossed.

“And a hex on chocolate chip cookies,” said Mary Beth, moaning. “I ate too many. I don’t ever want to see a cookie again in my whole life!”

T
he Pee Wee Scouts counted the days until the skating party. It was on a Saturday afternoon.

It was at the indoor skating rink downtown.

“A hex on school,” said Molly Duff on Friday afternoon.

She glared at Mrs. Lane.

First grade was boring sometimes.

Molly knew how to read.

She knew how to spell.

What she didn’t know how to do was skate.

They should teach skating in first grade, she thought.

That would be more sensible. Something she didn’t know.

Something that was fun.

Chug, chug, chug. The big hand of the clock climbed to the three.

BRRRING! rang the bell at last.

The school day was over.

The skating party was almost here.

In the hall, Molly met Rachel.

She had on her running shoes.

She had on a lavender jacket.

Molly liked lavender. Her mother said it was too fancy a color for first grade.

“It’s Ultrasuede,” said Rachel when she saw Molly looking at her jacket.

Ultrasuede was very expensive.

No one in first grade had anything Ultrasuede, except Rachel. Rachel’s family must have a lot of money, Molly thought.

Rachel turned up the collar on her jacket.

“My dad has figure skates too,” said Rachel. “Black ones.”

Black-schmack. Rachel’s whole family probably were show-offs.

A hex on her father’s black figure skates, thought Molly.

She would have to rent skates.

Her father would too.

Even Mary Beth had to rent skates, or wear her brother’s black ones.

On Saturday afternoon the Pee Wee
Scouts met at the school. They wore their Pee Wee kerchiefs. Mrs. Peters got rides for the Scouts who needed them.

Rachel was there with her white figure skates.

They had white laces with blue pom-poms on them.

The blades were shiny. You could almost see your face in them, like a mirror. They had notches on the end to twirl with.

Her father had black skates. His blades were shiny too.

His black laces had red balls on them.

Just like figure skaters in the Ice Capades on TV.

Lisa Ronning was there with her uncle.

He had a red tassel cap on.

He looked very young. Almost like a brother.

All the fathers and uncles and brothers were laughing together.

In the middle of all of the adults, there was one woman.

“Who is that?” whispered Molly to Mary Beth. “Why is she here?”

People were laughing, and pointing to Sonny.

“It’s Sonny’s mom!” said Mary Beth. “Sonny brought his
mom
instead of his dad.”

“Mrs. Peters said you had to bring a
dad,”
said Molly. “Or at least a brother or an uncle!”

Mary Beth nodded. She pulled on her new wool hat.

“Sonny does everything with his mom,” she said.

Roger was poking Sonny, and saying, “Sissy! Bringing your mom to a fathers’ skating party!”

Roger was bent over now, laughing.

“My mom can skate,” said Sonny. “She can probably skate better than your dad.”

“Ha!” said Roger. “We’ll see about that.”

* * *

Roger began to worry about whether his dad could skate.

He wondered if he could skate himself.

He hadn’t been skating for over a year.

He was in kindergarten the last time he was on the ice.

Everyone piled into cars.

All the men.

And all the Scouts.

And Mrs. Betz.

When they got to the indoor rink, Mrs. Peters had everyone’s tickets ready.

The men went to a counter to rent skates.

The Scouts who did not have their own skates went to another counter, where they could rent children’s sizes.

Molly and Mary Beth got in line to rent skates.

Rachel followed them, even though she had skates of her own.

She hung them around her neck by the laces.

The blue pom-poms were bouncing as she walked.

“Your feet are really big,” she said to Molly.

“They are not,” said Molly quickly.

“What size do you wear?” demanded Rachel.

“I can’t remember,” lied Molly.

“These are size ten,” said Rachel proudly, pointing to her skates. “My mom says ten is a very small size for my age. She says I have dainty feet.”

“Size please,” said the man behind the counter.

Molly didn’t stop to think. “Ten,” she said.

“You don’t wear ten,” said Rachel, pouting.

“I do too,” said Molly, taking the skates.

When Mary Beth had rented her skates, the three girls walked over to a bench. They sat down and began to unlace the skates. They put them on.

Mary Beth pulled hers on easily and laced them up.

Rachel pulled hers on carefully and laced them up.

The blades sparkled. The pom-poms danced.

She stood up on the ice in front of Molly and twirled.

* * *