Grumpy Pumpkins Read online

  A devil sounded good to Molly. She would like to have horns. And carry a pitchfork.

  Molly and Lisa worked all day cutting and sewing.

  Snip, snip, snip.

  Fold, fold, fold.

  “You need long arms on it and a long red tail,” said Lisa.

  “And I’ll need a red cap with horns on it,” said Molly.

  The girls made horns out of cardboard. When they were all through, Molly tried on the costume. One sleeve hung down to the ground. The other one only reached to her elbow. The horns hung down over her face!

  “Rat’s knees!” said Molly. “It’s hard to make a costume.”

  “If we were rich, we could buy one,” said Lisa.

  “My mom wouldn’t let me spend money for a whole costume,” said Molly.

  “Mine either,” said Lisa.

  Molly took off the devil suit and cut off the long sleeve. She sewed it onto the short sleeve. Then she pinned the horns back so they would stand up. Finally the costume fit.

  “I don’t look like a devil,” sobbed Molly. “I look like a red mouse with a long tail.”

  “You could go as a mouse,” said Lisa helpfully.

  “I want to be a devil!” cried Molly, stamping her foot.

  “If you get a pitchfork, you will look like a devil,” said Lisa.

  The girls ran out into the garage. There was a pitchfork! Molly’s dad used it in the garden.

  “You’re really scary now!” said Lisa.

  “Good,” said Molly.

  The girls cleaned up their mess. Then it was time for Lisa to go home.

  “I have to make Tim’s costume tomorrow,” said Molly, wishing she had not thought of it. Lisa was right. Costumes were a lot of work.

  When Molly’s dad came home from work, he said, “That pitchfork is too dangerous. You can’t take that to a party.”

  Molly moped. Her costume was no good without a pitchfork.

  After supper, Molly’s dad went down into the basement. When he came up later, he had a pitchfork for Molly.

  It wasn’t a real one. Mr. Duff made it out of an old shovel. But it worked! It looked just like a pitchfork. And it wasn’t dangerous.

  Molly hugged her dad. She could never have made a pitchfork. She was having enough trouble making costumes.

  The next morning at school, Tim came running up to Molly. “Have you got it?” he demanded. “Where’s my diver’s suit?”

  “Rat’s knees!” said Molly. “I haven’t made it yet. I had to make my own first.”

  Tim looked mad. He kicked a soda can on the playground.

  “I’ll make it this afternoon,” said Molly.

  Everyone on the playground was talking about costumes. But nobody gave away secrets.

  “Mine is really fancy,” said Rachel. “I’m going to win the prize for the best one.”

  At three o’clock, Molly groaned. She had to go home and make Tim’s diver’s suit. She didn’t know how to do it. She needed some help.

  On the way home, she told Patty about her promise to Tim.

  “I know,” said Patty. “Kenny’s got this old snowmobile suit he outgrew. Tim is smaller than Kenny. It will make a good diver’s suit. It will just need some feet and a thing on the head.”

  Molly felt relieved.

  Patty ran home for the suit. When she came to Molly’s house, she offered to help.

  The suit was silvery gray. Just right. And it had a hood that could be part of the helmet. All Tim needed to buy was a face mask.

  The girls thought and thought about what to use for feet, and for goggles and the air hose.

  “We could make feet out of paper,” said Molly.

  Patty shook her head. “They would tear,” she said sensibly. “They have to be made out of something strong.”

  The girls thought hard. “How about old boots?” said Patty. “Old big boots of your dad’s?”

  “Great idea!” said Molly.

  The girls rushed down to the basement. They found some old hunting boots. They were big. Big enough for diver’s feet.

  “I’ll ask him tonight,” said Molly. “I’m sure it’s okay to use them.”

  “Now the hard part,” said Patty. “The air hose. Tim has to breathe underwater.”

  Molly looked at her mother’s old vacuum cleaner standing in a corner. When she got her new one, Mrs. Duff put the old one downstairs. “How about this?” said Molly, grabbing the hose.

  “Just right,” said Patty. “It can be the diver’s air hose.”

  “How will it stay on?” asked Molly.

  “Tim can tie it on,” said Patty. “With a rope or something.”

  Now Molly was excited. Tim’s costume was ready. She had saved him from coming to the party as a Scout. It would have been the same as coming as himself. With no costume.

  That evening, Molly asked her parents about the boots and the hose. Her dad said, “Fine. Those old boots have a leak in them. I can’t wear them anymore.”

  And her mom said, “That is a good idea about the vacuum-cleaner hose. It’s a good air tube.”

  The next day, Molly took the diver’s suit to school in a bag. She explained how it worked.

  “You have to tie the hose on,” she said.

  Tim frowned. “What if it falls off when I’m underwater?” he said. “I could drown.”

  Molly stamped her foot. “Don’t be dumb, Tim. You aren’t going in real water with it.”

  “I want a real one,” he said. “Someday I might be a real diver.”

  “Then you’ll have to get another suit,” said Molly. “Those boots leak.”

  “I can’t have leaky feet!” he cried. He looked very upset.

  “Rat’s knees!” said Molly. “You are lucky to have any feet at all.” She turned and walked away. She would never do another good deed for a Pee Wee Scout!

  As she left, she heard Tim say something.

  “What?” Molly said, spinning around. “What did you say?”

  “I said thanks,” muttered Tim with his head under the hose.

  “You’re welcome,” said Molly. She felt a little better.

  The Perfect

  Pumpkin

  The next Pee Wee Scout meeting was on a sunny Saturday. When the Pee Wees got to Mrs. Peters’s house, a bus was waiting. The bus ride went fast.

  “Pumpkin time!” called Mrs. Peters when the bus stopped. The Pee Wees tumbled out.

  “Mr. Riley has let us pick whatever pumpkins we wish,” she said. “We must be careful in the field and not step on any. And only one pumpkin per Scout.”

  The Pee Wees looked around. They were standing in a big, big pumpkin field.

  Mr. Riley was waiting. He had a smile on his face. He looks like a jolly pumpkin himself, Molly thought.

  “You have a good time,” he said. “Choose the biggest, best pumpkin you can find.”

  Mrs. Peters said thank you, and the Scouts thanked him too.

  “I thought they’d be on trees,” said Rachel. “Like apples.”

  “Ha!” Roger laughed. “Pumpkin trees! You’re as funny as Sonny.”

  “I am not!” Rachel yelled, picking up a pumpkin.

  “Hey, don’t throw that!” Roger ducked.

  Mrs. Peters said, “No pumpkin fights.”

  Rachel put the pumpkin down.

  The Scouts scattered in the field, lifting up vines and leaves to look for pumpkins.

  “Some of the best ones are hiding,” called Mrs. Peters. “They are underneath.”

  “Where are the price tags?” shouted Tim. “These pumpkins don’t have price tags.”

  “Pumpkins don’t grow with price tags on them!” called Sonny. Now it was Sonny’s turn to laugh.

  “Well, you thought pumpkins came in cans,” said Tim.

  It was warm and sunny in the pumpkin field. Molly sat down on an extra-large pumpkin and thought about what her pumpkin should look like.

  It should be big, but not too big.

  It should be round.
Not long and narrow. Not tipping over onto one side. It shouldn’t have any marks or bruises on it.

  The one she was sitting on was just right, but it was too big. Far too big. Molly couldn’t even budge it.

  Patty and Kenny walked by. They already had their pumpkins. They looked exactly alike. Twin pumpkins for twin Scouts.

  Molly walked up and down the rows of pumpkins. Every time she thought she saw the right one, something was the matter. It was never perfect.

  “Look at mine!” shouted Tracy to Molly.

  In her hand, Tracy had the smallest pumpkin Molly had ever seen.

  A wee pumpkin.

  A baby pumpkin.

  Molly laughed. “If you had a pumpkin family, that would be the baby,” she said.

  “It’s perfect,” said Tracy.

  Tracy’s eyes were wet because she was allergic to something in the pumpkin field. Her nose was running too.

  But she had found a perfect pumpkin.

  Orange and round.

  Not lopsided.

  No marks or bruises.

  But it was too small.

  “Look at this!” shouted Roger.

  Molly looked.

  Roger was rolling a pumpkin along the path. It was the biggest pumpkin Molly had ever seen. Even bigger than the one she had been sitting on.

  “I’ve got the biggest one here!” shouted Roger happily.

  “You’ll never get it on the bus,” said Molly. “I’ll bet you can’t even lift it.”

  “I can too,” said Roger, but he didn’t try to pick it up. He rolled it a few feet farther on.

  “It’s too big,” said Molly.

  Roger didn’t seem to worry. He kept pushing.

  Suddenly Molly shouted, “Here is my pumpkin!”

  There under a great big pumpkin leaf was the perfect pumpkin waiting for Molly.

  Round.

  Orange.

  Medium-sized.

  No bruises.

  Molly broke the stem off in just the right place so that the top would have a handle. She cradled it in her arms and walked back to the bus.

  All the Scouts were admiring their pumpkins.

  Sonny’s pumpkin was bent. It did not stand up. It was a funny shape, with lots of lumps. It had a big bruise on one side. It was an ugly pumpkin!

  “Ho, ho,” said Lisa, pointing to it. “What a dumb pumpkin!”

  “It isn’t dumb,” said Sonny. “It’s the best one.”

  “Everyone likes a different kind,” said Mrs. Peters.

  Soon all of the Scouts had returned. Mrs. Peters counted noses. “Someone is missing,” she said.

  They looked across the field. Far away they saw a Scout.

  “Who is that?” said Mrs. Peters, squinting in the sun.

  “It’s Roger,” said Molly. “He has a giant pumpkin. He can’t lift it.”

  Mrs. Peters frowned. “Maybe some boys can help him,” she said.

  Tim and Sonny and Kevin and Kenny put their own pumpkins down. They ran to help Roger. With all of them pushing, the pumpkin rolled along faster.

  “Wow!” said Tracy. “You got the biggest one and I got the smallest!”

  It took all the boys, and the bus driver, and Mr. Riley to lift the giant pumpkin onto the bus. Roger’s pumpkin had to have a seat of its own!

  “It’s bigger than you are!” said Molly.

  The Scouts thanked Mr. Riley again and got onto the bus.

  On the way back, the Pee Wee Scouts rubbed and polished their pumpkins with their sleeves to make them shine. They couldn’t wait to get back to Mrs. Peters’s house to carve them.

  “Let’s sing our Pee Wee Scout song,” said Mrs. Peters. She led Troop 23 as they sang their song over and over. Then they sang some of their favorite camp songs.

  Soon the bus rolled up in front of Mrs. Peters’s house. They carried their pumpkins inside. Everyone but Roger. His pumpkin wouldn’t budge.

  “It will have to stay on the bus,” said Lisa.

  “It will have to ride around every day with the bus driver!” shouted Sonny.

  “That’s what you get for choosing the biggest pumpkin,” said Molly.

  Just then, Mr. Peters came out of the house. “I’ll help,” he said when he saw the problem. Finally they got Roger’s pumpkin into Mrs. Peters’s house.

  Frowns All

  Around

  Mrs. Peters put newspaper down on the table. She had paper towels and brown bags. She had a pumpkin carver at each place. She held one up.

  “This tool is not dangerous,” she said. “It will cut pumpkins but not fingers. First we will draw the face on the pumpkin with this marker.” She held one up.

  “First we better think about what our pumpkin should look like,” said Mary Beth.

  “What a good idea!” said Mrs. Peters. “Once you cut into it, you can’t change your mind.”

  The Scouts sat and thought. Some of them frowned. They looked at the pumpkins. They decided which was the best side for the face. Then they picked up their markers and drew the faces.

  “Keep it simple,” said Mr. Peters. He was helping too. “Don’t make them too fancy or they will be hard to cut.”

  That was a smart thing to say, thought Molly. She watched Tim draw thin, spiky teeth. How could he carve them? They would fall out, they were so thin.

  Molly decided to make hers a grumpy pumpkin.

  A grumpy grandpa pumpkin.

  She drew a long mouth.

  She turned the corners down.

  Frown, frown, frown.

  Pout, pout, pout.

  It looked grumpy already.

  Rachel stood beside Molly. She drew a mouth on her pumpkin that was turned down too.

  “Copycat!” shouted Molly. “Mrs. Peters, Rachel is copying my pumpkin!”

  “No two pumpkins will look alike when you carve them,” she said. “No one can really copy your pumpkin.”

  But Rachel was copying. Molly put her jacket over part of her pumpkin so Rachel couldn’t see.

  Pretty soon there were many grumpy pumpkins. Pumpkins with turned-down mouths.

  No matter what Mrs. Peters said, they all looked alike to Molly.

  Rachel put eyebrows on hers that looked mean.

  Kenny drew hair on his pumpkin.

  Lisa put sunglasses on hers.

  Tracy put her Pee Wee kerchief on her pumpkin’s head! It looked like a little old lady.

  After they had finished drawing, the Pee Wees used their pumpkin carvers. First they made little holes along the black marker lines. When they had made enough holes, the piece of pumpkin fell out. It was hard work.

  Then the Scouts hollowed out the insides of their pumpkins.

  “Yuck!” said Rachel. “Slimy seeds!”

  They were slimy.

  And wet and slippery.

  When the pumpkins were carved, Mrs. Peters lined them up on the table. She put a little candle in each one. She pulled down the shades and lit the candles.

  “Ooooo,” whispered the Pee Wee Scouts. “Look how pretty they look!”

  “Scary,” said Sonny. “They look like evil ghosts.”

  “I think they look funny,” said Roger, laughing out loud. “Ho, ho, Tim’s pumpkin needs braces on his teeth!”

  “It does not,” cried Tim. “His teeth are just sharp.”

  “But they all look angry or sad,” said Mrs. Peters. “They’re all different, but they’re all grumpy. Well, we have lots of grumpy pumpkins for Halloween!”

  Molly looked at everyone’s pumpkin there.

  At Tim’s with the skinny teeth.

  At Rachel’s with the pointed eyebrows.

  At Roger’s huge pumpkin. At Tracy’s little bitty one.

  They were funny. And they were grumpy. But hers was best.

  Molly’s was the perfect pumpkin.

  He looked just like her grandpa.

  Bingo and Badges

  The Pee Wee Scouts took their pumpkins home. All except Roger. He had to go and get his wagon
. He had to pull his pumpkin home.

  Molly put hers in the living room window.

  “He does look a little like Grandpa,” admitted Molly’s mother.

  Molly counted the days until the Halloween party. She was still a little bit afraid of seeing her grandpa. But just a little. Maybe he would be more cheerful at a party.

  At last it was Halloween. All the Pee Wee Scouts gathered at Mrs. Peters’s house first. Some of the parents came too. Mrs. Peters did not have her costume on yet.

  The Pee Wees jumped up and down.

  The costumes were ready.

  The food was ready.

  Kevin’s mother made an orange and black cake. Lisa’s mother sent orange and black candy corn. Molly’s mother made cupcakes with pumpkin faces.

  Roger brought carameled apples. “These are for us,” he said. “Not the old folks. The caramel might pull their false teeth out.”

  Some of the Scouts laughed.

  Molly frowned.

  “We’re lucky Halloween’s on a Sunday,” said Lisa. “We don’t have to spoil it with school.”

  Molly agreed. This way they had two parties. One at school on Friday. And the big costume party today.

  It was dark outside when the Pee Wees got into their costumes and masks. Their parents drove them to Crestwood Nursing Home. The Scouts helped carry the food inside.

  Molly picked up her long tail and threw it over her arm. She felt very nervous walking into the party. She hoped her cardboard horns wouldn’t fall in her face.

  All at once, she thought she was in the wrong place. This didn’t look like a nursing home at all!

  There were orange lanterns for lights, and black candles.

  There were skeletons hanging from the ceiling.

  There was spooky music playing.

  Most of all, there were strange creatures walking around.

  Molly shivered inside her devil suit. Who were these people? Were they old people, or Pee Wees?

  Suddenly a large egg that looked like Humpty Dumpty came up to Molly. The egg reached out a hand!

  “Welcome,” said the egg. The voice sounded just like Mrs. Peters’s! She made a perfect Humpty Dumpty because she was going to have a baby.

  Humpty Dumpty walked on to greet a ballet dancer in a pink tutu. Probably Rachel, thought Molly.