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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

  Illustrations copyright © 1999 by Alan Tiegreen

  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: 978-0-307-80010-7

  v3.1

  For Sheila, who adds poetry to my life.

  And to brand-new little Harry,

  welcome to our family!

  Happy birthday, Harry!

  Contents

  Cover

  Other Books by This Author

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1 No More Teachers

  2 The Perfect Badge

  3 Molly the Magician

  4 Magic Is Not Easy

  5 Let the Games Begin!

  6 “In the Center Ring …”

  7 Closer and Closer and …

  8 Better Late Than Never?

  9 The Best Act of All

  CHAPTER

  1

  No More Teachers

  “We’re free! We’re free!” shouted Sonny Stone, throwing his notebooks and school papers in the trash can outside the school.

  “Well, at least he’s neat,” said Mary Beth Kelly in disgust. “He didn’t just throw his stuff on the lawn like he used to.”

  “I hate that school’s out,” said Rachel Meyers. “School’s my favorite thing. I like learning new stuff.”

  Molly Duff was thinking the same thing, but she didn’t say it out loud. Kids thought it was uncool to like school. Hey—that rhymed! Uncool to like school! Molly liked to write poems. And she liked to write stories. And lists. She simply liked to write anything.

  She also liked to read. She and Mary Beth (who was her best friend) went to the library every week and got lots of books to take home. No, Molly was not glad school was out for the summer. Some kids went on vacations to lakes or mountains, or even on a cruise, like Jody George. His family was rich, and they traveled a lot.

  But Molly didn’t travel. Her mom and dad both had jobs and didn’t get much time off. It would be a long summer.

  “We’re going to Alaska,” said Roger White. “Me and my dad.”

  “My dad and I,” said Rachel.

  “You’re going to Alaska too?” asked Roger.

  Rachel glared at him. “I mean you’re supposed to say ‘my dad and I.’ ”

  Roger groaned. “Don’t try to teach me no English,” he said. “I know how to talk.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes. “That’s a double negative,” she said. Then she turned to Molly and Mary Beth and said, “I’m glad he’s going. He can’t go far enough away for me.”

  Roger was a bully. He made trouble in school and in Pee Wee Scouts. Molly was one of twelve Pee Wee Scouts. They met every Tuesday all year long in Mrs. Peters’s basement. The Pee Wees were all seven years old and in second grade. They had a good time together, earning badges and doing good deeds and learning new things. Even with troublemaker Roger, Pee Wee Scouts were fun.

  All the Pee Wees seemed to be in the park. School had let out early because it was the last day. The Pee Wees had some time to kill before their weekly meeting at Mrs. Peters’s.

  “What are we going to do all summer?” moaned Mary Beth, throwing herself on the grass in the park.

  “We can go to the library,” said Lisa Ronning.

  “We do that anyway,” said Mary Beth. “We can’t live at the library every day all summer.”

  Mary Beth was right, Molly thought. Even libraries got boring if you went too often, and if you read all the books Mrs. Nelson would let you take out. Molly and Mary Beth had read almost all the books there.

  “There’s always Pee Wee Scouts,” said Kevin Moe, doing push-ups on the grass.

  “Thank goodness for Pee Wees,” said Jody, who was in his wheelchair.

  Jody and Kevin were both very smart. Molly wanted to marry one of them. She just couldn’t make up her mind which one she liked better. If she married Jody, she’d get to ride in his wheelchair anytime she wanted. That was something Kevin could not offer her. But Kevin was going to be mayor someday. Maybe even president. That sounded good too. Molly sighed. At least she had a while to think about it. Her mother said second-graders should not be thinking about boys and dating.

  Tracy Barnes sneezed. “I’m allergic to spring,” she said into her tissue.

  “Hey, you should get a badge for sneezing!” said Roger. He laughed at his own joke. “Nobody can sneeze as good as you!”

  Tracy made a face at him. “Allergies aren’t funny,” she said. “They’re an affliction, my mom says.”

  “Well, I hope Mrs. Peters has some big fun project for us,” said Mary Beth. “I wonder what our new badge will be for.”

  The Pee Wees had just earned a computer badge, a bike safety badge, and a Wild West badge. It was fun earning those badges, thought Molly. But this summer’s badge should be the best of all, because the Scouts had the whole day every day to work on it.

  “Maybe it will be a Pee Wee trip!” said Tim Noon. “Remember when we went skiing and got caught in a blizzard? That was great!”

  “We can’t get caught in a blizzard,” said Kenny Baker. “It doesn’t snow in July.”

  Kenny was Patty Baker’s twin brother. Sometimes their cousin Ashley Baker from California would visit, so she was a temporary Scout. Ashley wouldn’t be around this summer, though. She would be busy with her Saddle Scouts back home.

  “I know it doesn’t snow,” said Tim. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t take a trip. We don’t have to ski. We could swim or hike or something.”

  “We already got our swimming badge,” Tracy reminded them. “We swam in Jody’s pool. He had that great pool party.”

  All the Pee Wees looked at Jody with admiration. No one else had a pool. Minnesota was not the place for pools. Most of the year it was too cold to use them.

  Molly looked at her watch. “Rat’s knees!” she said. “It’s almost time for our meeting! We’re going to be late!”

  The Scouts jumped up and started for Mrs. Peters’s house. No one wanted to be late. Scout meetings meant surprises. No one ever knew what that next badge would be! Or what they would have to do to get it!

  CHAPTER

  2

  The Perfect Badge

  “Guess what?” c
alled Mrs. Peters from her front door when she saw the Pee Wees arrive. “The circus is coming to town for one exciting night.”

  The Pee Wees were excited. The circus could make the summer fun. But what did it have to do with the Pee Wee Scouts and earning a badge?

  The Pee Wees scampered down the basement steps. Sonny’s mother, Mrs. Stone, who was assistant Scout leader, followed them with a plate of cupcakes.

  “I’m glad that got your attention,” their leader said, “because the circus has something to do with our new badge!”

  “Yay!” shouted all the Pee Wees.

  Sometimes when Mrs. Peters talked about a new badge, it didn’t sound like much fun. Like going to a nursing home, or learning bike rules. In the end things always turned out all right, but Molly liked a badge to sound good right from the start. None of the Pee Wees liked Mrs. Peters to announce badges with words like learning, working, helping, and project. That was too much like school, and Pee Wees were supposed to have fun. They wanted badges described with words like play, circus, picnic, ball game, travel, farm, and swimming.

  “Do we get a badge just for going to the circus, Mrs. Peters?” Kenny asked.

  “For eating cotton candy?” Patty asked.

  “Maybe for riding on the Ferris wheel,” Lisa said.

  “You’re close,” laughed Mrs. Peters. “But you’ll have to do a little more work than that!”

  Now the Pee Wees groaned.

  “This year,” said their leader when they had settled down, “we have been asked to participate in the circus!”

  “You mean like ride on an elephant?” asked Tracy. “I’m allergic to elephants.”

  “I could dance in the center ring,” said Rachel. “I take ballet, you know.”

  “Hey, I could do a high-wire act,” said Roger. “I could ride my bike on one of those ropes they string up!”

  Mrs. Peters smiled. “You may get a chance to do some of those things,” she said. “The circus coming here is not a big one. It’s a small group that goes to different towns to raise money for charity. They like for local residents to take part. Our Scout troop has been asked to help out! So we can not only have fun but earn money for charity at the same time!”

  Molly’s mind was spinning. What could she do in a circus? She was afraid of high places. She certainly couldn’t be a trapeze artist on one of those swings way above the crowd. She didn’t want to fall to the ground, or even into a net.

  And wild animals were dangerous! What if she had a small-dog act and got stepped on by an elephant or eaten by a lion?

  “I think I’d rather watch a circus than be in one,” Molly told Mary Beth.

  “Being in it might be fun,” said her friend.

  “I want to be a clown!” shouted Sonny, making a funny face and pretending to have big floppy feet.

  “You are a clown,” Rachel said in disgust.

  Sonny began doing cartwheels around the room.

  “I wouldn’t mind selling cotton candy,” said Patty.

  “Do we get paid for being in the circus?” asked Lisa.

  “No,” Mrs. Peters answered. “Remember, this is charity work. We do it to help and to have fun. I’ll list some of the things the Pee Wees can do on the blackboard. Then you can think about them while we have our cupcakes, and sign up for the one you choose before we leave today.”

  Mrs. Peters picked up a piece of chalk and began to write.

  1. Ticket taker

  2. Animal feeder

  3. Cleaner upper

  4. Trapeze artist

  5. Elephant rider

  6. Clown

  7. Unicycle performer

  8. Magician

  9. Dog trainer

  10. Dancer

  “You won’t have to do these things alone,” Mrs. Peters said. “There will be people to teach you things like how to be a funny clown. And how to ride a unicycle. They’ll be nearby to make sure you don’t get hurt.”

  “Hey, I don’t need help,” shouted Sonny. “I can ride a unicycle by myself. That’s what I want to do in the circus!”

  “Ha,” said Roger. “You’ve still got training wheels on your bike! How are you going to ride on only one wheel that’s way up in the air?”

  “I can,” said Sonny, getting red in the face. “I’ll show you!”

  “I want to dance!” Rachel said, twirling around on her toes. “And I don’t need any help with that either. I’m a born dancer, my teacher says so.”

  Mrs. Peters held up her hand. “Let’s give this some thought,” she said, “so you can choose the right thing. Maybe you’ll think of something else you want to do, too.

  Most of the Pee Wees already had decided what they wanted to do. They gobbled down their cupcakes and ran to sign up.

  Molly had no idea what she wanted to do in the circus. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to go to the circus. She remembered that when she went to one with her dad, a pony had stepped on her shoe, and she had gotten sick on one of the rides. It was dangerous enough to go to a circus, she thought, let alone to be in one.

  “I want to be one of those ladies who wears a sparkling dress and stands on a horse’s back as the horse runs around the ring,” said Lisa. “Can I do that, Mrs. Peters?”

  “Some things may be too dangerous,” said their leader.

  “That’s not as dangerous as being on a trapeze,” said Lisa.

  “A trapeze has a net under it,” Mrs. Peters said. “So if you fall you can’t get hurt.”

  “What if I rode a horse bareback, but sitting down?”

  “That sounds more likely,” said their leader.

  Molly looked the list over. There was nothing that wasn’t scary! Even with a net! Unless of course, she took tickets at the door. But what fun was that? Even feeding the animals could give a lion a chance to bite off her arm!

  “I’m going to sign up for cleanup,” said Kenny. “I like to clean our garage. I’m good at that.”

  “What are you going to do?” Mary Beth asked her best friend.

  Molly shook her head. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “I thought a circus badge would be fun, but this feels scary.”

  “You could dance,” said Mary Beth. “That isn’t scary.”

  “I don’t know how to dance!” said Molly. “Anyway, Rachel is choosing that.”

  “Mrs. Peters said we’ll get help. I think the circus people will teach you,” said her friend.

  Even with help, Molly didn’t think she could learn to be good enough to dance in a circus ring. In front of strangers. Lots of strangers. Crowds of people who had come to the circus to be entertained!

  “I’m going to do a high-wire act!” said Roger. “I’m going to ride my bike way up in the air!”

  All the Pee Wees remembered when Roger rode his bike backward down the playground slide and had to go to the hospital. Molly and Mary Beth had saved his life by dialing 911. It sounded to Molly as if Roger hadn’t learned his lesson.

  “No one is going to save you this time if you fall with your bike,” said Rachel.

  Roger made a face. “I won’t fall.”

  By the time the Pee Wees had told what good deeds they had done, and sung their Pee Wee song, and said their Pee Wee pledge, all the Pee Wees except Molly had signed up. She read the list.

  Roger on the high wire.

  Kenny in cleanup.

  Rachel to dance.

  Lisa as a bareback horse rider.

  Sonny on a unicycle.

  Tim as ticket taker. He must be scared too, Molly thought. Now everything left was really scary!

  Jody to feed the animals.

  Tracy to be a clown.

  Kevin to have a dog act.

  Patty and Mary Beth to ride on an elephant.

  It looked as if the only thing left for Molly was to be a magician! And Molly had no idea how to do magic!

  CHAPTER

  3

  Molly the Magician

  “You should have signed up with me to ride on the el
ephant,” said Mary Beth.

  “I’m afraid of elephants,” said Molly. “They’re so … big.”

  “Well, now you have to pull rabbits out of a hat, and how can you do that?” Mary Beth asked. “Patty and I will just sit on an elephant and ride. Anyone could do it.”

  “Anyone who isn’t afraid of heights,” said Molly.

  But Mary Beth was right. It would be easier to ride an elephant than to do magic when you had no idea how.

  How to pull a rabbit from a hat.

  How to pull scarves from your sleeve.

  How to saw a person in half.

  “What’s the worst that could happen?” Rachel said to Molly. “You’ll just look silly if your tricks don’t work.”

  Was Rachel right? Was Molly worrying for nothing?

  “But it would be embarrassing not to do it right,” said Mary Beth. “Everyone would boo you. ‘Boo, boo, boo,’ they’d say. You’d turn red and no one would clap when you finished. Outside of that …”

  “It’s just your reputation you have to worry about,” said Tracy. “At least you’ll be on the ground and not up in the air on an elephant or on a high wire.”

  Mary Beth and Tracy were right. Failing was scary. And embarrassing. Whether it was in school or in the circus. Magic was definitely not the best thing to have chosen. But it was better than doing something high in the air.

  Mrs. Peters clapped her hands. “The circus arrives next Saturday morning,” she said. “They’ll set their tents up in the park, and unload their animals and equipment from the trucks at about ten o’clock. Let’s all be there to meet them, and start practicing! Our performance will be Saturday afternoon, so be prepared.

  “Meanwhile, think about what you would like to wear. We’ll have to show up in our own costumes, so get busy! See you all Saturday in the park!”

  Rat’s knees! Molly definitely had a lot of work to do before Saturday! She had to find out about magic. And practice it. How could she pull rabbits out of hats with no practice? And where did the rabbit come from? Did it really appear out of nowhere by magic? Was magic real?