Bad, Bad Bunnies Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Originally published by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., in 1990.

  RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks and A STEPPING STONE BOOK and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  www.randomhouse.com/kids

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

  Delton, Judy.

  Bad, bad bunnies / Judy Delton; illustrated by Alan Tiegreen.

  p. cm. — (Pee Wee Scouts)

  “A Stepping Stone book.”

  SUMMARY: As the Pee Wee Scouts prepare for Easter they also visit the firehouse during Fire Prevention Week, and after Sonny’s mother meets and starts dating the fire chief, Molly helps Sonny come to terms with his mother’s new boyfriend.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-77888-8

  [1. Scouts and scouting—Fiction. 2. Mothers and sons—Fiction.

  3. Fire fighters—Fiction. 4. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 5. Easter—Fiction.] I. Tiegreen, Alan, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.D388Bad 2008 [Fic]—dc22 2007010343

  v3.1

  For Santi Udomkesmalee:

  A reader, a winner,

  and a good Pee Wee Scout.

  —J.D.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1 The Fire Station

  2 Hamster Alert!

  3 Hunting for a Hazard

  4 Bad Bunny Sonny

  5 The Winner

  6 Molly Smells Trouble

  7 The TV Pee Wee

  8 A Secret Good Deed

  About the Author

  About the Illustrator

  The Fire Station

  “Today,” said Mrs. Peters, “we are going to the fire station. It is Fire Prevention Week and we are going to learn how to prevent fires.”

  “My dad starts fires,” said Roger White.

  All of the Pee Wee Scouts stared at him.

  “In our barbecue!” said Roger, laughing at his own joke.

  The Pee Wees groaned. They were at their Tuesday Scout meeting at Mrs. Peters’s house. The Scouts were seven years old. They were in second grade.

  “It is all right to start a fire in your barbecue,” said Mrs. Peters, who was their Scout leader. “Because you are there to watch it.”

  “We start fires in our fireplace,” said Rachel Myers.

  “That’s all right too,” Mrs. Peters said. “Today we are going to listen to the fire chief, and we are going to find out how to earn our fire safety badges.”

  Mrs. Peters’s baby, Nick, jumped up and down in his jumper chair.

  “Goo!” he said. He had a yellow marshmallow chicken in his hand. All of the Pee Wee Scouts had chickens to eat too.

  “When are we going to dye Easter eggs, Mrs. Peters?” asked Molly Duff. “It’s almost Easter.”

  “We will do that next week, Molly, when we talk about our Easter plans,” Mrs. Peters answered. “Right now we have to think about fire prevention, and get ready to see the fire station.”

  The Scouts cheered. They liked to go on Scout outings.

  “Do we get to ride on a fire engine?” asked Sonny Betz.

  Sonny’s mother shook her head. She was Mrs. Peters’s helper. She came along to help when the Scouts went on trips.

  “That sounds dangerous,” Mrs. Betz said.

  “She thinks everything is dangerous,” whispered Mary Beth Kelly to Molly.

  “Hey, you’re not bringing that thing along to the fire station,” said Roger, pointing to Sonny’s pet hamster. Sonny carried it in his shirt pocket.

  “Sure I am,” said Sonny, stroking the hamster between its tiny ears.

  Tracy Barnes sneezed. “I’m allergic to that thing!” she said.

  “He’s not a thing,” said Sonny. “His name is Snuffy.”

  “He’s full of germs,” said Rachel. “I read that animals carry disease.”

  “I think he’s cute,” said Molly, petting the hamster. “Look at his cute little whiskers.”

  “Snuffy’s going to be snuffed,” said Roger, putting on his jacket. “He’s going to be one dead weasel when he gets under the wheels of a fire truck.”

  Mrs. Peters looked at Roger and clapped her hands. “Let’s remember our manners at the station, and be sure to thank the chief when we leave. Now we will all get in the van.”

  Mrs. Peters put Nick’s jacket on him. Then she herded all the Scouts out of the door and into the van.

  As they rode down the street to the station, Kevin Moe yelled, “Ring! Ring! Here we go to a fire!”

  All the boys made siren noises all along the way.

  At the fire station a man in a uniform came out to meet them. “I’m Larry Stone,” he said. “The fire chief.”

  The Scouts scrambled into the station. The fire dog, Rusty, was asleep on the seat of a big red fire truck. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Betz helped the Scouts form a circle around Larry so they could hear what he had to say.

  “First I want you to meet the other firefighters,” he said. “This is Dave.”

  Dave shook hands with all of the Scouts.

  “And this is Carol,” said Larry.

  Carol had curly red hair. She smiled and shook hands too. Then Dave and Carol went back to work.

  Larry said, “This is my rubber coat and hat.” He put them on.

  He put on his heavy rubber boots.

  Then he told the Scouts exactly what happens when a fire alarm comes in to the station.

  He told them what happens when the firemen get to the fire.

  He showed them the hoses and the truck and let them all climb up on it.

  “Do you rescue animals that get stuck up in trees?” asked Kenny Baker. “My aunt had a cat once that couldn’t get down.”

  “Sometimes.” Larry laughed.

  Larry showed them the pole the firemen slid down to get to the truck.

  “If a fire alarm comes in at night when the men are asleep upstairs, they get into their clothes and slide down to the truck in a matter of seconds,” he said.

  “Can we slide down?” asked Tim Noon.

  Larry looked at Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Betz.

  “If you are very careful,” said Mrs. Peters.

  Mrs. Betz looked doubtful.

  “They won’t get hurt,” said Larry to Sonny’s mother. “There’s some foam padding at the bottom here.”

  “Hey, you’re going to squish that rat in your pocket,” Roger said to Sonny.

  “Am not,” said Sonny, patting his pocket.

  The Scouts ran up the steps and lined up to slide down the pole. Kevin was first. Whiz! He zipped down the pole through the hole in the floor.

  When Molly’s turn came, she closed her eyes. She grasped the slippery pole tightly. Then she loosened her grip and in a minute she was on the ground!

  “That was fun!” said Tracy after her turn. “Can we do it again?”

  Larry laughed. “I have something else in mind,” he said, winking at Mrs. Betz.

  Lisa Ronning walked over to Molly.

  “Look at Sonny’s shirt pocket,” she whispered.

  Molly looked. So did Mary Beth.

  “There’s nothing in it,” whispered Molly. “Oh, no.”

  �
��He’s probably holding Snuffy in his hand,” said Mary Beth.

  Sonny grabbed the pole and swung around it.

  “No, he isn’t,” said Lisa.

  Larry was talking and talking. He was telling the Scouts about preventing fires.

  “I haven’t seen Snuffy since Sonny slid down the pole,” said Lisa.

  Rat’s knees, thought Molly. Where is that little hamster with the whiskers?

  Hamster Alert!

  “We better tell him,” said Lisa.

  “Not me,” said Mary Beth.

  “Maybe we should tell Mrs. Peters,” said Molly.

  The girls looked at Mrs. Peters. She was listening closely to what Larry was saying. Mrs. Betz was listening to Larry too.

  “Sonny will find out in a minute,” said Mary Beth. “By himself.”

  Mary Beth was right.

  “HELP!” screamed Sonny, pulling at his pocket. “HELP! Snuffy is gone! He’s lost!”

  “What did I tell you?” said Roger.

  Sonny began to cry. Softly at first. Then louder and louder.

  “What a baby,” said Tracy.

  “It’s awful to lose a pet,” said Molly.

  Larry raised his arm. “Keep calm, everyone. We will find him if he is in the station.”

  “The door is wide open,” said Kenny.

  Sonny put his head in his mother’s lap.

  He was wailing.

  “Let’s all look around carefully,” said Mrs. Peters, lifting a pile of hoses.

  The Scouts looked under the fire engine.

  They looked in the firemen’s rubber boots.

  They looked behind desks and under ladders.

  Molly even looked outside in the bushes.

  “He’s a goner,” said Roger.

  “You can get another one at the pet store,” said Kevin.

  Sonny cried louder. “I don’t want another one, I want Snuffy!”

  He sat on a chair and sobbed. Larry brought cans of cold soda pop for Sonny and Mrs. Betz.

  Suddenly Rusty, the fire dog, barked.

  “Arf, arf!” His hair seemed to stand up on his back.

  He jumped off the fire truck and dashed through the door.

  “He’s chasing Snuffy!” shouted Sonny. “I saw him!”

  All of the Scouts raced out of the door after Rusty. The little hamster was running for his life, with the dog right behind him.

  “He’s scared!” yelled Sonny. “Snuffy’s scared!”

  Just as Rusty caught up to Snuffy, the hamster dashed up a large oak tree. Rusty stood with his front paws on the trunk and barked and barked. “Arf! Arf!”

  Snuffy sat on one of the branches and trembled.

  “Poor thing,” said Molly.

  “He is cute,” said Patty Baker, Kenny’s twin sister.

  The Scouts all gathered around the oak tree and waited.

  “He can’t get down,” said Sonny, still crying.

  “We don’t have to worry,” said Kenny. “That’s what the fire department is for. To rescue pets from trees. Snuffy knew what he was doing when he went up a tree in the firemen’s yard.”

  Larry laughed. “I guess we can get him down.”

  The Scouts watched while he and another fireman brought out a long ladder. And a slice of bread. They set the ladder up beside the tree. Larry began to climb. Higher and higher and higher.

  But the higher Larry climbed, the higher Snuffy went!

  “He’s way up in the sky!” said Tim.

  “Here, Snuffy!” called Sonny. “Come on, Snuffy.”

  Larry held some bread up to the hamster, but Snuffy didn’t budge. So Larry climbed up even higher. He was almost at the top of the tree now.

  “He doesn’t like bread,” called Sonny. “He wants nuts.”

  “He’ll never make it,” said Roger.

  Suddenly Larry reached out his hand and grabbed Snuffy. He popped him into his pocket and climbed down the ladder.

  The Scouts cheered. “Hooray! You saved him.”

  “How can we thank you?” said Mrs. Peters.

  Larry handed the pet over to Sonny. “All in a day’s work,” he said.

  Sonny smiled.

  “Now for my surprise!” said Larry. “Who would like a ride in the engine?”

  “Me!” shouted every Scout, racing to climb on.

  “I’ll wait here and hold Snuffy,” said Mrs. Betz.

  Mrs. Peters sat in the front seat next to Larry. She held Nick on her lap.

  Off they went.

  Down one street and up another.

  Rusty stood on the backseat with his head sticking out of the window. His long ears blew in the wind.

  “Put the siren on!” shouted Kevin.

  Larry turned on the siren, but only for a little while. “It’s illegal to use it unless there is a fire,” he said.

  Larry drove the red fire engine past their school, and past Tim’s house. Past the theater and back to the station.

  Then the Scouts thanked Larry and they all said good-bye.

  As the Scouts climbed into the van, Molly noticed that Larry was talking to Mrs. Betz more than anyone else.

  “I think Larry likes Sonny’s mother,” she whispered to Tracy. “His parents are divorced.”

  “Really?” said Tracy.

  Everyone waited while Mrs. Betz stood outside talking to Larry.

  “Come on, Mom!” yelled Sonny.

  Finally Mrs. Betz got into the van. “Sorry,” she said with a big smile.

  When the Scouts got to Mrs. Peters’s house, they sat down in her living room. Mrs. Peters said, “Next week is spring vacation, but we will meet on Tuesday as usual. I want you each to bring three hard-boiled eggs with you to our meeting.”

  The Scouts listened quietly to Mrs. Peters.

  “Vacation is a good time to start to earn your fire safety badge,” she explained. “First of all, you must draw a picture of something you saw at the station today. Next, you must check to see if you have a smoke alarm in your home. And then you must watch for any fire hazards. And if you ever see a fire, or a dangerous situation, be sure to report it to your parents or to the fire station.”

  Molly knew there was a smoke alarm in her house. And she could draw a picture of a fire truck. That was easy.

  But where was she going to find a fire hazard?

  Hunting for a Hazard

  On the way home Tracy said, “Maybe we can work on our badge together. You and Mary Beth and me.”

  “Okay,” said Molly. “I’ll meet you in the park tomorrow.”

  The next morning the girls sat on a bench together. The sun was shining and the day was already warm. They wondered where to start.

  “We don’t have a smoke detector,” said Tracy.

  “We do,” said Molly. “You better tell your mom to get one. I drew my picture of the fire truck.”

  “Mine is of Snuffy,” said Mary Beth. “He was the best part of the trip.”

  “Where can we look for fire hazards?” asked Molly. “I’ve got the number of the fire department right here.” She patted her back pocket. “When we see one, we can call Larry right away. Then we’ll have proof, for our badge.”

  “Let’s close our eyes and think of where most fires are,” said Tracy.

  The girls thought and thought.

  “Maybe we will just have to go looking,” said Mary Beth. “We can’t find a fire here in the park.”

  The girls walked up one street and down another. They looked in backyards and front yards. They looked in the windows of stores and in gas stations.

  “Look!” said Tracy. “Is that a hazard?”

  She pointed to a man in the middle of the street. He was digging a hole with a loud machine. The machine was shooting sparks out into the air.

  “Those sparks look dangerous,” admitted Mary Beth. “I think we should warn him.”

  Tracy marched up to the man. He put his arm out and said, “Stay away! This is dangerous!”

  “I know it is!
” shouted Tracy. “That’s why I’m here.”

  “What’s that?” shouted the man. “I can’t hear you.”

  “Those sparks are a fire hazard. You have to stop digging that hole this minute! Or I’m going to report you.”

  The man put his hand behind his ear and shook his head. “Stay away,” he kept saying.

  “I am going to report him,” said Tracy.

  She called Larry from a pay phone.

  He told her he would check out the situation.

  “You were lucky,” said Molly. “Those sparks are a real hazard.”

  The girls walked and walked. They stopped at Tracy’s house for a snack. Then they walked up and down some more streets.

  One old house had lots of junk in the yard.

  “Mrs. Peters said junk is a hazard,” said Mary Beth.

  “Not a real good one, though,” said Molly. “There isn’t actually any fire or sparks.”

  The girls agreed. “I want one as good as yours,” said Mary Beth to Tracy. “One with real fire.”

  “Let’s stop and get a candy bar at the store,” said Molly.

  When the girls went through the parking lot to the grocery store, Mary Beth cried, “Look!”

  The girls stopped. There was a fire right in front of them. A huge fire! Orange flames were shooting into the air!

  “Rat’s knees!” cried Molly.

  “He’s burning boxes,” said Tracy. “In that big oven.”

  “It’s an incinerator,” said Mary Beth. “And the door is wide open. Anybody could get burned. All these cars could get burned! We better warn him.”

  Tracy ran up to the man with the boxes.

  She pulled on his apron.

  “Stand back!” he shouted. “This is dangerous!”

  Tracy ran back. “He knows it’s dangerous,” she said.

  “Then why doesn’t he put it out?” asked Molly.

  Mary Beth went up to him this time. “That is a fire hazard,” she said.

  The fire was crackling and popping and spitting.

  “Stay out of the way, kids,” said the man.

  “We are reporting you!” said Mary Beth, turning around to leave.

  At the next pay phone Mary Beth called Larry and told him about the hazard.

  “I still don’t have one,” said Molly.