Wild, Wild West Read online

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  Published by

  Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers

  a division of

  Random House, Inc.

  1540 Broadway

  New York, New York 10036

  Text copyright © 1999 by Judy Delton

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

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  eISBN: 978-0-307-80009-1

  v3.1

  Contents

  Cover

  Other Yearling Books You Will Enjoy

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1 Mood Goo and Eggy Rolls

  2 Westward, Ho!

  3 Good News and Bad News

  4 Grabbing Some Grub

  5 Roping and Riding

  6 Next Stop, Bone Junction

  7 Trouble in the Night

  8 Do-si-do and Around You Go

  9 The Big Hoedown

  For my dad and Craig Lien, the two perfect fathers in my life

  And for Sheila, of course

  CHAPTER 1

  Mood Goo and Eggy Rolls

  “Why do we have to take a make-believe trip?” snorted Sonny Stone. “I like real trips where we go on a jet or a train or a bus or something.”

  The Pee Wee Scouts were on the way to their Tuesday meeting at Mrs. Peters’s house.

  “That’s all Mrs. Peters said last week, that our next badge was going to be for taking a make-believe trip somewhere,” said Mary Beth Kelly. She was Molly Duff’s best friend in the whole world.

  “Make-believe can be fun,” said Molly, although deep down she felt the same as Sonny. A real trip was better.

  “Maybe it’s to Duluth,” said Tim Noon. “My uncle lives there. I think that’s where Paul Bunyan and his blue ox live.”

  Rachel Meyers sighed. “That’s not Duluth,” she said. “That’s Bemidji. That’s where Paul Bunyan is. Or at least a big statue of him.”

  “Pooh,” said Lisa Ronning. “Who wants to take a trip in Minnesota? We always do that because we live here.”

  Molly agreed. She wanted to go on a trip, make-believe or real, that would take them to faraway places.

  “I’ll bet it’s Washington, D.C.,” said Roger White. “Mrs. Peters likes all that government stuff, like presidents’ houses and statues of Lincoln.”

  “Maybe we’ll see George Washington’s wooden teeth!” said Tracy Barnes. “He really had wooden teeth, you know!”

  “Teeth aren’t made of wood,” said Roger in disgust. “Our teeth are made out of plastic.”

  “Real teeth aren’t plastic,” said Lisa. “They grow in your mouth. They must be cement or something.”

  “George Washington’s wooden teeth were false teeth,” said Jody George, wheeling his chair faster to keep up with the other Pee Wees. “And you can’t see them in Washington. They’re probably buried with him at Mount Vernon.”

  “Maybe we’re going to climb Mount Vernon!” said Tim Noon. “That’s that real high mountain where everyone freezes and they end up having to eat one another!”

  “Wow!” said Roger. “That sounds like a fun place to go!”

  Rachel stamped her foot. “You guys are so dumb!” she said. “Mount Vernon is not a mountain. It’s the place where George Washington lived with his wife, Martha. The mountain you’re thinking of is Everest.”

  “I’ll bet Jody knew that,” said Molly to Mary Beth. “But he never brags like Rachel.”

  “Well, anyone should know that Mount Vernon isn’t really a mountain,” said Mary Beth.

  “I think they teach that in third grade,” said Molly. “Not second.” The Pee Wees were in second grade.

  “Well, it’s on TV,” said Mary Beth. “On the History Channel.”

  “I don’t think Tim watches the History Channel,” said Molly. “He watches cartoons.”

  They both remembered how Tim had had a hard time getting his library badge because he couldn’t read the books he’d taken out. Molly had helped him.

  “Maybe,” said Rachel, “we’re going to China. Just pretend, of course. But it would be fun.”

  The Pee Wees thought about that.

  “I like Chinese food,” said Kenny Baker. Kenny was Patty’s twin brother.

  “Yuck! I don’t,” said Sonny. “I’m not going there and eating all those eggy rolls. And that mood goo noodles. Their food has baby-talk names. They don’t even know how to pronounce stuff.”

  “You guys are so boring,” said Rachel. “All you eat is American food, like hot dogs and peanut butter. Chinese food is gourmet.”

  No one had anything to say because no one but Jody knew what gourmet was. And he wouldn’t show off by telling.

  “Well, we’ll find out today where we’ll be going,” said Tracy when they got to Mrs. Peters’s house.

  Mrs. Peters was at the door with baby Nick. “Come on in!” she called, smiling.

  Molly got goose bumps on her arms. She always did when a new badge was about to be announced. New badges were what the Pee Wees lived for. They were fun to earn and fun to collect. The Pee Wees had lots and lots of badges, but they never could have enough. A new badge was the most exciting thing that happened, except for Halloween and Christmas!

  The Pee Wees followed Mrs. Peters down the basement steps. They hung up their sweaters and sat down around the long table where they had their meetings. In the middle of the table was a big statue of a horse with a cowboy on its back.

  “What’s that thing for?” asked Roger, pointing.

  “Maybe it’s just a decoration,” said Lisa.

  But Molly knew better. This horse meant something. Mrs. Peters didn’t have decorations on the Pee Wees’ table that didn’t mean something. Were they going to study animals? Were they taking a trip to the zoo?

  Sonny began to bang on the table with a library book. “Okay, what’s the badge?” he said. “Do we have to eat eggy rolls to get it?”

  “Are we going to climb a mountain?” asked Tim.

  “Are we going to see George Washington’s false teeth?” asked Tracy.

  “I bet we’re going to ride horses,” said Jody, looking at the horse and cowboy.

  “Jody is the closest,” laughed Mrs. Peters. “Our new badge is going to be a Wild West badge. And I’m going to tell you all about it right now.”

  The Pee Wees cheered.

  “Ride ’em, cowboy!” shouted Kenny.

  CHAPTER 2

  Westward, Ho!

  “I love ho
rses!” said Ashley, who was a cousin of the Baker twins. “When we’re in California I belong to the Saddle Scouts. We ride all the time.”

  “Well, you’ll be a big help,” said Mrs. Peters. “You can give us firsthand information.”

  “I don’t like cowboys and fences and cactuses and stuff,” said Patty.

  “Cacti,” said Rachel. “The plural of cactus is cacti.”

  “Well, I still don’t like them,” said Patty.

  “Boy, I do!” said Roger. He aimed an imaginary gun at Sonny and shouted, “Bang bang! You’re dead!”

  Sonny fell to the floor and played dead. Roger began chasing the other boys around the room, shooting and shouting.

  Mrs. Peters clapped her hands.

  “We can’t really go as far west as I’d like,” she said. “The real ranches are in Montana and Nevada. But we will do the next best thing. We are going to a dude ranch in South Dakota. It has cowboys and horses and roundups and even square dancing,” she said.

  “Then we’re taking a real trip!” said Kenny.

  The Pee Wees all cheered. The West might not be as wild in South Dakota as it was in Montana, but at least they wouldn’t be looking at maps of China and eating phony Chinese food!

  “A real cowboy from Montana started the ranch. Now people take vacations there,” Mrs. Peters continued. “We’ll get to see what the West used to be like. And we have Lisa to thank for telling us about this place. The cowboy who runs it is a friend of her parents’.”

  Everyone stared at Lisa. No other Pee Wees knew real cowboys.

  “We were there last summer,” said Lisa. “It’s really cool.”

  “I’m scared of horses,” whined Sonny. “They have big noses when you get up close.”

  “Pooh,” said Ashley. “Horses are friendly and kind. My horse at home is called Clover. He eats sugar lumps and carrots right out of my hand.”

  Molly liked horses. She remembered when the Pee Wees had been in a parade. Some of them had ridden horses then. But they were not galloping horses. They had walked slowly for a block or two. A man had led them and watched to make sure no one fell off. Western horses galloped. They did not walk in a street led by a man with a rope. Molly remembered how high off the ground it was on the back of a horse. It was a long, long way down. No doubt Lisa’s cowboy had big horses without anyone to lead them.

  Suddenly the Pee Wees heard someone sniffling. It was Tracy.

  “I’m allergic to horses,” she said. “I’ll have to stay home!”

  “I’m sure you can come,” said their leader. “You just won’t go in the barn or get near horses. There are lots of other things to do. There is a restored ghost town nearby to visit.”

  Tracy looked doubtful.

  “Don’t worry about anything,” said Mrs. Peters. “Our last few badges were lots and lots of work. I thought it was time we just plain had fun.”

  “Yay!” cheered the Pee Wees. A badge without work always appealed to them. They were not lazy (except for Roger and Sonny), but they all liked the idea of fun.

  “We’ll talk more about the trip later,” Mrs. Peters went on. “Today I’ll just give you some background information about the Wild West. All you have to do is listen. It’s good to know the basics before you start on a trip.

  “The West is more than cowboys,” she added.

  “How about Daniel Boone?” asked Tim. “I saw him in a movie. He had one of those caps with a long tail on it.”

  “Raccoon,” said Jody. “Those are raccoon caps.”

  “The Lone Ranger is from the West,” said Roger.

  “He’s not even real,” said Patty Baker. “He’s just a movie character.”

  “He is too real!” said Roger.

  Lisa rolled her eyes. Today Lisa was the expert. “He’s no more real than Hopalong Cassidy or Superman.”

  Roger looked disappointed. He didn’t want to think his heroes were make-believe.

  “The West is also famous for gold mines,” said Mrs. Peters. “When gold was discovered in Montana, many people from the East traveled west in covered wagons. They hoped to pan for gold and become rich. But not very many of them did. It was a long, hard trip across the prairie. There were no roads, and there were wild animals and Native Americans already living there.”

  The Pee Wees looked thoughtful. The West didn’t sound like fun back then. There wasn’t even a Disneyland to go to, thought Molly.

  “Where’s the West?” asked Sonny. “My mom says Minneapolis is west.”

  Some of the Pee Wees began to chuckle.

  “Hey! Let’s go to Minneapolis and dig for gold!” shouted Roger. “Giddyap!”

  Molly didn’t think they should laugh at Sonny’s question. Probably lots of the Pee Wees didn’t know where the West was. Molly knew California was west, but she wasn’t sure what other states were out there, besides Montana and Nevada.

  Ashley groaned. “I live in the West,” she said. “California is as far west as you can go.”

  “Without falling in the ocean,” said Kenny.

  Mrs. Peters unfolded a map that was on the table. She held it up. “Here is where we are,” she said, pointing to a spot in the middle and kind of high up. “This is Minnesota. This star is St. Paul. It’s the state capital.”

  Mrs. Peters pointed to the states to the right of Minnesota.

  “This is the East,” she said. “Where the sun comes up. All these states near the Atlantic Ocean were settled before Minnesota.”

  “Why?” asked Tracy. “Why didn’t the people settle out West to start with?”

  “Actually, they did,” said Kevin. “My dad told me the Spanish came up from Mexico and built Santa Fe even before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.”

  Molly was proud of Kevin. She wanted to marry him someday. Either him or Jody. Kevin was smart, and he wanted to be mayor when he grew up. Molly knew she would vote for him.

  “That’s true,” said Jody. “But the people who started the United States were from England. So they settled in the part of the country closest to England.”

  “That’s right!” said Mrs. Peters. “And for a long time, none of the immigrants could afford to go all the way across the United States. Besides, they didn’t know what was out there. It was scary. How would they find food and places to stay?”

  “What’s an immigrant, Mrs. Peters?” asked Tracy.

  “Someone who comes from somewhere else,” said Ashley.

  Mrs. Peters nodded. Then she pointed to the rest of the map, to the states left of Minnesota.

  “This is the West,” she said. “California, Nevada, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, and all these other states. This is where the pioneers went looking for gold. They had to cross the big, hot desert. When they ran out of water, some died of thirst.” Mrs. Peters pointed to the big sandy-colored area on the map.

  Tim’s hand was waving. “Mrs. Peters, camels store water in their humps.”

  “But people don’t,” said Sonny.

  “Cacti store water too,” said Rachel. “But that won’t save you in the desert.”

  “Everyone needs water,” said their leader. “So not everyone made it all the way west. Some of the people stopped and settled along the way. They built homes, and little towns sprang up here and there. Some did not get any farther than Minnesota. To go all the way from New York to California took weeks, even months. Now it takes only a few hours in a plane. In those days, the way was long and bumpy and travelers were often cold and hungry. The trip is over three thousand miles.”

  The Pee Wees stared at the map. It was hard to believe a trip could take that long, thought Molly. It was only ten miles to Minneapolis. Imagine three thousand miles! And back then people didn’t have cars.

  “There were no movies in Hollywood then,” said Mrs. Peters. “There wasn’t even a Hollywood. From the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains was just wide open prairie. The Indians there were not happy that the pioneers were taking over their land.”

 
This sounded like a sad story. And a sad badge to earn. The West didn’t sound like a happy place to visit.

  Molly felt like crying for the poor pioneers. And for the Indians who had had their land stolen. Today all people had to do for water was turn on the faucet. What if she had been born then? She could have died! Had her ancestors traveled west too? Maybe they only got as far as Minnesota and stayed there. Molly was glad they did. Otherwise they could have died in the desert looking for water. There must not have been grocery stores then. Where did the pioneers get food? This was not going to be a fun badge to earn. Even though Mrs. Peters had said it would be.

  “When does this badge start getting to be fun?” asked Patty.

  CHAPTER 3

  Good News and Bad News

  Mrs. Peters laughed. “It will be fun right away!” she said. “The trip will be fun. And staying overnight and sleeping in the bunkhouse like the cowboys do will be fun. We’ll wear ten-gallon hats. We’ll visit the ghost town. We’ll learn how they round up cattle and do some lassoing ourselves.”

  The Pee Wees cheered. This was good news! This was the fun badge they’d been waiting for. No work involved.

  The boys ran around pretending to lasso each other with imaginary ropes.

  “And of course we’ll ride horses and square-dance.”

  Now the Pee Wee cheers turned to frowns. Some of them began to boo. Dancing was definitely bad news.

  “I can’t dance, Mrs. Peters!” shouted Tim.

  “Neither can we,” said Kenny and Patty.

  “But we’ll learn!” said their leader.

  Mary Beth groaned. “I thought we didn’t have to learn anything,” she said to Molly. “I thought it was just supposed to be fun! Learning to dance and ride horses sounds like work.”

  “Trust me,” said Mrs. Peters. “It will be fun. Dancing is not only fun, it’s good exercise. Just wait till you hear the fiddler play and you and your partner promenade in that big barn—”

  “Partner?” shrieked Tracy. “Do we have to have boys for partners?”

  “Well, yes, but …”