Peanut-Butter Pilgrims Read online

  “Neither am I,” said Sonny with a sniffle.

  “I’m eating peanut butter instead,” said Molly. “I’m going to ask my mom.”

  “No turkey, no turkey,” chanted the Scouts as they climbed back into the cars and went home.

  Molly Saves

  the Day

  Soon it was the day before the Thanksgiving play. The Pee Wees and their dads were busy at the town hall.

  They painted the scenery.

  They set up chairs for the audience.

  Mrs. Betz climbed up high on a ladder to paint the sky. Sonny didn’t have a dad, so his mom came instead. “Hand me that big brush, son,” she called down to Sonny.

  Mr. Peters and Mr. Duff were setting up cornstalks at the sides of the stage.

  Mary Beth’s dad and the twins’ dad were fixing the lights.

  Molly tried to imagine how she would feel when there were people in those chairs. When she was standing under those lights. Under Mrs. Betz’s blue sky. Oh! Would she remember her line?

  “Now, all the Pee Wees not working come over to this table and color these turkeys,” said Mrs. Peters. “We need lots of turkeys for the background.”

  “For the first Thanksgiving dinner,” said Kevin’s dad.

  The Pee Wees didn’t like to think of eating turkey. Molly was glad these turkeys were cardboard.

  “Tiger could be in this play,” said Sonny. “He could be an actor.”

  “A cardboard turkey may be a better actor than a live turkey,” said Mrs. Peters, laughing.

  Molly knew Mrs. Peters was right. A real turkey would squawk and flap and gobble. He would probably run off the stage and out the back door!

  The Pee Wees worked very hard. They colored all the turkeys and set them up at one side of the stage. One turkey had two black tail feathers.

  “How about the berry bushes?” said Roger. “So Molly can shoot a berry for dinner?”

  Molly wanted to punch Roger. She felt bad enough about mixing up her line. Roger wouldn’t let anyone forget a mistake.

  “Pick a turkey, shoot a berry!” sang Roger. Some of the other boys joined in. “Pick a turkey, shoot a berry!”

  Mrs. Peters held up her hand for quiet. “We’ll just have to pretend there are bushes,” she said.

  Finally all the work was done.

  The turkeys.

  The lights.

  The chairs.

  The scenery.

  “Now we just wait until tomorrow night!” said Mr. White.

  He sounds just like Roger, thought Molly. He even looks like Roger!

  The dads took down the ladders. They put the paint away. Then everyone began to leave.

  “Do you think a lot of people will come to the play?” Molly asked Mary Beth.

  “I hope so,” said Mary Beth.

  “My dad knows the mayor,” said Rachel. “And he might come to the play, my dad says.”

  “That’s true,” said Mrs. Peters. “The mayor is coming.”

  Now Molly was really nervous. The mayor of their town! At a Pee Wee Scout play! She could mess up the whole play by forgetting her line. She could ruin Thanksgiving! Everyone would point to her on the street and say, “She’s the one who messed up the play in front of the mayor!”

  “All my aunts are coming,” said Lisa. “And my grandma.”

  “My cousin is coming from California,” said Kevin.

  “All that way, just for the play?” said Lisa.

  “Well, he’s coming for Thanksgiving,” Kevin admitted.

  The Pee Wee Scouts waved to one another and went home. They needed a good night’s sleep before the play.

  * * *

  All night long Molly had bad dreams. She dreamed her mouth was frozen shut. She tried to speak and she couldn’t. The mayor sat in the front seat and laughed and laughed.

  Molly was shaking when she woke up. “I hope that doesn’t happen,” she said out loud.

  All morning Molly said her line over and over. “ ‘We will pick berries and shoot a wild turkey for dinner.’ ”

  During breakfast, she said it.

  On the way to the store, she said it.

  At lunch, she said it.

  Molly’s mom was making the stuffing for their turkey. Molly didn’t want to look in the refrigerator. The naked dead turkey was in there. The turkey with all its soft feathers gone.

  “Do I have to eat turkey?” asked Molly.

  Molly’s mother knew about the trip to the turkey farm. “Of course not,” said Mrs. Duff. “But what will you eat instead?”

  “Peanut butter,” said Molly quickly. “And dressing and gravy and cranberries and pumpkin pie.”

  Mrs. Duff laughed. “You’ll be the first Pilgrim to eat peanut butter,” she said.

  But not the only one, thought Molly. She felt relieved. She just couldn’t eat any relative of Tiger’s or Fluffy’s.

  The rest of Molly’s day flew by. Soon it was time to take her bath and get into her costume. It was dark outside, and beginning to snow.

  All the Pee Wee Scouts were meeting at the town hall at six-thirty. In the car, Molly said her line over and over. She didn’t see how she could possibly forget it. No matter how nervous she was!

  * * *

  The Pee Wees were all on time.

  The Indians and Pilgrims whispered to one another behind the curtain.

  Molly pulled the curtain aside to look out at the audience. The town hall was almost filled! She saw her second-grade teacher in the third row.

  “Molly peeked,” whispered Rachel to Mrs. Peters.

  But Mrs. Peters didn’t mind.

  Rachel had makeup on. Pilgrim makeup.

  “Pilgrims don’t wear lipstick,” said Mary Beth.

  “Everyone knows you need makeup onstage,” Rachel answered. “So people can see you from the back of the room.”

  “Do not,” said Lisa.

  “Do too,” said Rachel.

  “Either way is all right,” said Mrs. Peters.

  That meant there was nothing to fight about. Mrs. Peters is smart, thought Molly. She never takes sides.

  Mrs. Peters straightened the Indian headbands. And the Pilgrim hats. Some lively music started. Mrs. Betz was playing the piano in the back of the room. Soon it would be time for the curtain to go up!

  Molly took one more little peek into the audience. There he was! In the front row. Mr. Green, the mayor.

  “Look!” said Molly, pointing. “The mayor is here!”

  But it was too late to worry. It was time to begin. Molly waited backstage until it was her turn to go on the stage.

  She could have said her line in her sleep. She was already sick of it. Boring. Snoring, boring. It was easy now. She whispered it again to herself, just to be sure.

  She heard Roger say his line, and Lisa, and then she and Rachel walked onto the stage.

  Molly blinked at the bright lights. She could see people in front of her. A whole hall full of people! Some were even standing in the back. And right in the front row, looking at her, was the mayor.

  Molly waited for Rachel to say her line so she could say hers.

  She waited.

  And waited.

  What was wrong? Why wasn’t Rachel talking?

  Molly looked at her.

  Rachel had turned white. Her lipstick was bright red on her white face. “I forgot my line!” she whispered.

  Molly couldn’t believe it.

  But she knew Rachel’s line. She knew everyone’s lines by now. She had read the play over and over so many times.

  “ ‘It’s a hard winter, and our food is almost gone,’ ” whispered Molly. She hoped it was loud enough for Rachel to hear. And quiet enough so no one else would hear.

  Rachel looked relieved. Her face got pink again. “It’s a hard winter, and we have no food,” she said loudly.

  The audience tittered. Then they clapped.

  Now it was Molly’s turn. “ ‘We will pick berries and shoot a wild turkey for dinner,’ ” said M
olly. Loud and clear. She would never forget that line again. Never in her whole life!

  The rest of the play went on. Sonny was a funny Indian chief. All the Pee Wees said their lines.

  Molly tried to look like a hungry Pilgrim. A hardworking Pilgrim.

  A brave Pilgrim.

  It was fun to act! Maybe she would be a movie star when she grew up.

  Then it was all over. Too soon. Molly wanted it to go on and on.

  The curtain closed, and then it opened again. The Pee Wee Scouts came out on the stage and bowed. All the people in the town hall clapped and clapped.

  Then the mayor got up and walked right onto the stage! He said what fine actors the Pee Wee Scouts were and thanked them for all the good deeds they did for the community.

  “The Thanksgiving baskets made some families very happy,” he said. “Now, I understand there are some badges to be given out.”

  Mrs. Peters came out with the badges and the list of names.

  The mayor gave out their badges. One by one he called their names. Everyone got a playacting badge. And everyone got a Pilgrim-Indian badge too.

  Then Roger, Sonny, Patty, and Kevin got badges for building the birdhouse.

  Mrs. Peters smiled. She was proud of her Pee Wee Scouts.

  Everyone clapped loudly all over again. Mrs. Betz played “America the Beautiful” on the piano, and everybody sang. Then they went downstairs for coffee and cookies.

  “You remembered your line!” said Mary Beth to Molly. “And Rachel’s too!”

  Rachel looked sheepish.

  “Well, anyone can forget,” said Molly. Then she added, “Guess what, my mom said I could eat peanut butter on Thanksgiving instead of turkey!”

  “Mine did too,” said Mary Beth. “She said there would be plenty of people to eat the turkey.”

  The mayor was drinking coffee. And shaking hands. When he shook Kevin’s hand, the Scouts heard Kevin say, “I’m going to be mayor when I grow up.”

  “Well, I’m glad my term will be over by then,” said the mayor with a laugh. “Otherwise I’d have to worry about my job!”

  The Scouts snickered. It was just like Kevin to want to be mayor. He probably even wants to be president someday, thought Molly.

  When everyone was leaving, Mrs. Peters walked up to Molly. “What a wonderful thing you did,” she said, “helping Rachel with her line. You saved the day.”

  “She saved the play,” said Roger. “The day and the play.”

  “Anyone can forget,” said Molly.

  She was just glad that Thanksgiving was almost over.

  Christmas would be here soon!

  Be a Pee Wee Scout!

  In Peanut-Butter Pilgrims, the Pee Wee Scouts learn about the first Thanksgiving. We celebrate the holiday with a feast because without the help and friendship of the Wampanoag (say wahm-puh-NO-ag) people, the Pilgrims at Plymouth would not have had enough food to survive the harsh winter.

  Today, you might be able to help hungry people, just like the Wampanoag helped the Pilgrims. Here’s how.

  Organize a Food Drive!

  A food drive is a way to collect donations for people in need. Ask an adult about having a food drive through your school, or your Scout troop, or your place of worship, or with the people in your neighborhood.

  Plan Ahead

  How much food will you collect? Set a goal with your partners. Also decide: How long will the food drive last? Where will people make donations? And where will you take donations once you’re done?

  Advertise

  Create posters to tell people about your food drive. Let them know what, when, and where they can donate. Put your posters on lampposts and bulletin boards.

  Give Thanks!

  Be sure to thank everyone who donates to your food drive. Thank any adults, like teachers or parents, who give you time, transportation, or information. And if you meet your goal, celebrate with your team!

  Here is a list of items that a food drive could collect.

  You should not collect items that will go bad, such as fresh fruit and vegetables. You should also not collect items that need to be refrigerated, such as containers of fresh milk and juice, yogurt, or cheese. All food should be in an unopened container.