Eggs with Legs Page 3

  Sonny was trying to dye Roger’s hair green when his mother caught him and took him to the laundry room for a talk.

  Rachel had brought some dye that turned an egg many colors, and she showed Molly how to make one look just like marble. It was the prettiest one in Molly’s basket. She wondered if she could take it out and give it to her mother for Mother’s Day, but then she remembered the people in the nursing home who might need to be cheered up more than her mother. Anyway, the eggs probably wouldn’t keep that long.

  When everyone was finished and the baskets were complete, Mrs. Peters put them in the middle of the table to be admired.

  “Now, on Saturday you bring the other things to go in the basket, and I’ll put some candy in each one, and we will deliver them,” she said. “Be here at noon sharp.”

  They sang their Pee Wee song and left for home, most of them covered in as much dye as the Easter eggs.

  On the way home Rachel said, “I’m going to put lots of little things in my basket that my senior would like, like needles and thread, and some paper clips and a manicure scissors and a nail file. Stuff she might run out of.”

  “I’m going to bring some of the little rabbit cookies my mom makes, with jelly beans for eyes,” said Mary Beth.

  “Those are good ideas,” said Molly. “A lot better than old lightbulbs.”

  The three girls laughed, thinking about Tim’s basket.

  “He’s poor,” said Rachel.

  “Well, it’s a very creative thing to do,” said Mary Beth.

  When Molly got home her parents were talking in the den. They didn’t hear her come in. Their voices were muffled, but Molly thought she heard her mom say “And what I’d really like, more than anything …”

  Molly walked down the hall to listen. This might be a clue to what her mother wanted for Mother’s Day! Something that could be a big surprise! Something to help Molly get that badge!

  Molly could hardly make out the words her parents were saying. Something sounded like “Zippers! Lots of them. I can’t seem to find them when I need them.”

  Molly stretched her neck to hear better. She heard what she thought was “hurry” or maybe “worry.” Or was it “jury”?

  Molly got her notebook out of her backpack and wrote all of it down. Zippers were a funny thing to want. Especially a lot of them. In a hurry. But if that was what her mother wanted, Molly would see to it that she got her wish.

  CHAPTER 6

  Zipping Along

  It was lucky that Molly had come home in time to overhear her parents’ conversation! If she had been a little later she would have missed it. But now she came to the next problem: Where could she find zippers? Especially a lot of them? And in a hurry?

  Maybe the word was not hurry. Maybe it was worry or jury! She’d have to cover all the bases. Jury did not seem to make any sense, so she discarded that thought. But if zippers were a worry to her mother, it was very important she get them. And Molly could easily hurry, although she couldn’t give her mom her gift before Mother’s Day. That would be like opening Christmas presents early. It would ruin the holiday.

  Molly got out the phone book and looked in the yellow pages under Z. Not a single zipper was listed. She knew that zippers were in things, like jeans and purses and jackets. But if her mother had wanted things with zippers, she would not have said “zippers.” She would have said “purse” or “jeans” or “jackets.” No, this much was very clear—she wanted just plain zippers.

  Molly went upstairs and found an old sweater of hers with holes in the elbows. Some of the yarn was unraveling. It was worn out and it was too small. Molly could take out the zipper and have her first gift!

  She got a scissors and tried to cut out the zipper. But then it looked ragged and uneven. She decided she’d have to rip out the tiny stitches one by one. She sighed. It was a slow job. It would take forever.

  “I hope all of them don’t take this long,” she said to herself. But she shouldn’t complain. All the work would be worth it when her mother opened the gift! She would be surprised that Molly had known exactly what she wanted! Molly could just see the joy on her mother’s face when she opened it!

  No, the work would be worth it. She smoothed the zipper out flat. It isn’t very nice-looking, as zippers go, she thought. And when she got it halfway up (or down), it stuck. Well, there would be other zippers. All she had to do was find them.

  The next day at school Molly was in a good mood. Knowing what to do for her mother, and for the badge, was half the battle. She had a good start. Now if only she could think of what to get for the Easter basket, she’d feel even better.

  When the bell rang she walked home with Rachel and Ashley because Mary Beth was at the dentist.

  “Have you decided what to do for Mother’s Day?” asked Rachel.

  Molly couldn’t wait to tell them.

  “I’m getting my mom zippers!” she said. “It’s a lot of trouble, but it will be worth it. I heard her tell my dad it’s what she wants.”

  The girls stopped walking.

  “Zippers like in this backpack?” said Rachel.

  Molly nodded.

  “Does your mom sew?” asked Ashley.

  “Sometimes,” said Molly.

  “Well, that makes sense,” said Ashley. “But it’s really best to get zippers and thread and stuff when you start to make something because of the color of the material. You have to match it.”

  Molly hadn’t thought about the color. “I’ll get her lots of colors,” she said. “Then no matter what color she needs, she’ll have it.”

  That must be why her mother had said “lots.” It all made sense now. How practical her mother was!

  “Have you got any old clothes you’re throwing out that have zippers?” asked Molly.

  Rachel frowned. “I don’t think you should give someone a used gift,” she said.

  “I know where you can get new ones real cheap,” said Ashley. “I was in the Sew Sew shop with my mom Saturday in the new mall, and they have what they call seconds in these huge baskets, and they’re only a nickel apiece.”

  A nickel! Molly had lots of nickels in her bank! Or she could take a dollar from her allowance and buy lots and lots of zippers for that amount! And the new mall was just at the top of the hill. It was within walking distance!

  “They’re all different colors too,” said Ashley.

  “Let’s go now!” said Molly.

  The girls agreed to go along and show Molly the zipper basket at the Sew Sew shop.

  Molly raced home to get her money and tell her mother she was going to the mall with Rachel and Ashley.

  When they got there Ashley ran ahead and found the baskets. “Five cents!” she said, holding up a purple zipper for Molly to see. “What a bargain!”

  This was a dream come true. Molly went through the baskets carefully and chose a zipper in every color. She chose six short ones and four long ones. She chose five thick ones and five thin ones. She counted out twenty zippers, the number she could buy with one of her dollars. Her mother would never run out of zippers again in her whole life!

  Molly looked at the zippers that were left behind. She hated to not buy them all. They were so colorful. And so cheap. All of a sudden she had a wonderful idea. It was as if one of Tim’s lightbulbs had switched on in her mind! She went back to the basket and chose twenty more zippers. Then she paid for them all and the girls started for home.

  “That was very nice of you to help me get my badge,” said Molly to her friends. “Thanks a lot,” she added warmly.

  “You’re welcome,” said Ashley. “Your mother will really be surprised.”

  On Saturday the Pee Wees met at Mrs. Peters’s house to go to the nursing home. Everyone had brought things to put in the baskets with the eggs.

  “What is that?” said Mary Beth, staring at Molly’s basket. “What are those things in your Easter basket?”

  “How pretty!” said Tracy. “You have the brightest basket of all.” />
  Everyone was looking at Molly’s basket. It was the most attractive one. Not only were the eggs bright, but there were blue and red and yellow and green and purple ribbonlike things sticking out of the grass.

  “They’re zippers!” said Molly. “I decided if my mom wanted zippers so bad, the people in the nursing home would like them too.”

  “Why, what a surprising thing to put in an Easter basket!” said Mrs. Peters. “Yours is the most imaginative Easter basket here, Molly.”

  “What do they do with zippers?” asked Sonny.

  “They can put them in shirts and dresses and stuff when they sew,” said Molly.

  “Those old geezers can’t sew,” said Roger. “They have bad eyesight. Anyway, what if a guy gets it? Men don’t sew.”

  “Men can sew as well as women, Roger,” said Mrs. Peters. “And it is rude to call people names.”

  “Even if they can’t sew,” said Patty Baker, “they can just look at them. They’re like a giant bouquet.”

  Mrs. Peters packed the baskets into the van. Then the Pee Wees piled in. When they got to the nursing home, the children tumbled out of the van. Loaded down with baskets full of treats and eggs, they went through the front doorway.

  An elderly man smiled. “Look,” he cried, “here come eggs with legs!” The Pee Wees laughed. They realized their faces were hidden behind the tall baskets! They set the baskets down on a table nearby and introduced themselves to all the senior citizens.

  The seniors made a big fuss over the holiday visit and the baskets. They all admired Molly’s zippers. Even the nurses asked how she had thought of such a clever Easter decoration.

  Then one of the men played the piano in the community room, and the whole group sang “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” and “Easter Parade.” Some of the women modeled their Easter bonnets. Others got out pictures of past Easters with their families and their many grandchildren.

  It felt good to Molly to cheer these people up. When you cheer someone else up, you start to feel good yourself, she thought.

  And Patty was right, no matter what Roger said. Even if no one used the zippers, they were fun just to look at.

  CHAPTER 7

  Slippery Zippers

  The next weekend the Pee Wees raked the park. Then they went to a number of homes where people needed help with their yardwork. Molly washed windows and scrubbed lawn furniture.

  The others helped load leaves and trash into Mr. Peters’s pickup truck. By the end of the day, they were tired and hungry.

  “The Tuesday after Mother’s Day,” said their leader, “we will get out new badges. You have all worked very hard for this badge. You’ve really earned it.”

  It had been fun helping clean up the park, thought Molly.

  It had been fun visiting the nursing home.

  And it would be fun having Easter dinner at her grandma’s house!

  When she got home Easter evening, Molly crossed everything off the list in her notebook except “Mother’s Day.”

  The days passed quickly, and Molly spent time looking for just the right box for her mother’s gift. She looked in the attic and in the closets, but none of the boxes she found was right. She couldn’t ask her parents to find her one. That would spoil the surprise.

  When she told Mary Beth about her problem, her friend said, “My mom just got a big box of yogurt pretzels, and we can put them in something else and you can have the box. It has a plastic top and you can see through it!”

  The girls ran to look, and Molly said, “It’s pretty big for the zippers.”

  “You have to put tissue paper in first,” said Mary Beth. “Then you spread out the zippers on top, and when your mom unwraps it, she’ll see all the pretty colors!”

  Molly had to agree it would make a nice impression. The girls put the pretzels in a plastic bag and sealed it. Then they washed out the pretzel box and dried it. They dashed back to Molly’s and filled it with pink tissue paper and the zippers.

  “It’s gorgeous!” said Mary Beth. “No other mother will get anything like it!”

  Mary Beth was right, Molly was sure of that. But would Molly’s mom like her gift better than catching her own fish at The Trout Farm? Molly hoped so.

  After Mary Beth left, Molly wrapped the big round box in flowered paper. It wasn’t easy to wrap a round box, and it was a little lumpy. She put a big yellow bow over the biggest lump to hide it.

  The next morning Molly heard her dad up early getting breakfast. Before long he brought a tray to Molly’s mom in bed, and a tray for Molly too.

  Molly followed him into her parents’ bedroom. “I’m not a mother!” she giggled.

  “No, but I wouldn’t be a father if it wasn’t for you!” he said.

  After they ate their French toast and scrambled eggs, Molly took out her box.

  “Happy Mother’s Day,” she said. “I think it’s just what you wanted.”

  “Why, what a pretty, big box!” said her dad.

  Mrs. Duff tore off the wrapping, saying, “I can’t imagine what it can be!”

  Molly couldn’t imagine how her mother couldn’t imagine what it was! After all, she had said it out loud! When the wrapping was off, Molly waited for her mother to shout “Just what I wanted! Zippers! And I wanted them in a hurry!”

  But she didn’t. She just stared at the colorful zippers in their little plastic house, on their bed of tissue paper. She had a quizzical look on her face. Mr. Duff stared too.

  “What is this pretty thing?” asked her mother finally.

  “It’s what you asked for!” said Molly. “Zippers!”

  “Why, thank you,” said her mother. “What a … nice gift. But I don’t remember asking for zippers.”

  “I heard you!” said Molly. Things were not going as she’d planned. Just as with Roger’s April Fool, she was the one who was surprised! Why were her holiday surprises always backfiring?

  “You were upstairs in the den, and I heard you tell Dad that what you wanted real bad were zippers. Lots of zippers, because you never could find them.”

  A smile spread slowly over Mrs. Duff’s face. At the same time Mr. Duff began to laugh out loud.

  Mrs. Duff came and gave Molly a big hug. “How thoughtful,” she said, “to get me what I wanted! But I think what I said was ‘slippers,’ not ‘zippers’. ‘Furry slippers.’ I never can find my slippers when I want to put them on.”

  Molly felt like a fool. How silly this box of zippers must look to her parents! It was April Fools’ Day all over again. Her parents would tell this funny story to their friends, just as Roger had! She would be the laughingstock of the town!

  “I like these zippers better,” said her mother. “Really I do. I never have a zipper when I need one, and I never think to buy them!”

  “Anyway,” said Mr. Duff, taking a big box from behind his back, “it wouldn’t be a good idea for both of us to give your mom the same thing!”

  And there inside Mr. Duffs box were furry slippers for Mrs. Duff! Two pairs, one blue and one pink!

  “All’s well that ends well,” said Molly’s mom. “I love both gifts very much.”

  On Tuesday at the Pee Wee meeting, everyone told about giving her or his gift.

  “My dad liked his steak!” said Roger.

  “My mom liked her fish too,” said Rachel. “It wasn’t as easy to catch as you’d think.” She glared at Roger.

  “How did your mother like her zippers?” Mrs. Peters asked Molly. “Was she surprised?”

  “Yes, she was,” said Molly. “And she liked them a lot. It was just what she wanted.” There was no need to confess the misunderstanding when it had all ended so well.

  Then, one by one, Mrs. Peters called out names for badges. Everyone got one. The badge had a little green tree—for spring, their leader told them. And under the tree was an egg, brightly colored.

  Molly ran her fingers over the smooth, silky stitching on the tree. Nothing in the world felt as good as a fresh, new badge! And this one fel
t twice as good because she had worked so hard for it!

  As they joined hands and sang the Pee Wee song, Molly was very, very glad to have her friends around her to share in the Pee Wee warmth and fun.

  Rat’s knees, it was great to be a Pee Wee!

  Even with Roger in the troop.

  Pee Wee Scout Song

  (to the tune of

  “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”)

  Scouts are helpers, Scouts have fun,

  Pee Wee, Pee Wee Scouts!

  We sing and play when work is done,

  Pee Wee, Pee Wee Scouts!

  With a good deed here,

  And an errand there,

  Here a hand, there a hand,

  Everywhere a good hand.

  Scouts are helpers, Scouts have fun,

  Pee Wee, Pee Wee Scouts!

  Pee Wee Scout Pledge

  We love our country

  And our home,

  Our school and neighbors too.

  As Pee Wee Scouts

  We pledge our best

  In everything we do.