Stage Frightened Read online

  “In case anyone gets lost, just go to the grandstand,” he said. He pointed to it. “We will find you there. But let’s not have anyone wandering off today.” He looked at Sonny and Roger. They pretended not to notice.

  “First we’ll take a boat ride around the park,” said Mrs. Peters. “Then we’ll go into the house of mirrors, and the haunted mansion, and then on the Ferris wheel.”

  “Is that the agenda, Mrs. Peters?” asked Kevin. Kevin liked to use big words.

  “That’s right, Kevin, that’s the plan,” laughed Mrs. Peters.

  Mrs. Peters had not mentioned the Mile High roller coaster in her agenda. Maybe it was too high and too dangerous for children. Molly hoped that was the reason. Then she wouldn’t have to go on it. But then she’d miss out sitting with Jody.

  Jody was waving his hand. “Mrs. Peters,” he said. “When are we going on the roller coaster?”

  “Well, that ride is too scary for me,” she said. “But for all the brave ones who like to be scared, I thought we’d do that this afternoon, after our lunch settles. I only hope we’ll have some brave adults to go on it as helpers.”

  Molly wished Mrs. Peters had said “I think that ride is too scary for any of us to go on.” Then she could tell Jody what bad luck it was. She could say, “Oh well, let’s go on the Ferris wheel together instead.”

  But the roller coaster was on the agenda. And she couldn’t tell Jody she was a big baby who had changed her mind. Besides, she wanted to sit with him in that little seat. It would be the bravest thing, the scariest thing, the hardest thing she ever did—and there wasn’t even a badge for it! There should be a badge. A bravery badge.

  The worst thing about it, outside of actually shooting down that great big high track, was thinking about it all day long. Molly would be unable to enjoy the haunted mansion or the house of mirrors or the Ferris wheel because she would be busy dreading the roller coaster.

  Maybe she should come clean and tell Jody she was a chicken, or that heights made her dizzy, or that speed made her throw up. But then someone else would get to sit with him. Probably Rachel, who liked Jody too.

  Rat’s knees! It looked as if this would be a trip she’d never forget. For more than one reason.

  CHAPTER

  8

  Scared Stiff

  The Pee Wees broke up into two groups. Some went with Mr. and Mrs. Peters, and some went with the Kellys.

  Molly and Mary Beth went with the Peterses. Mary Beth told Molly she didn’t want to go with her own parents.

  In the haunted mansion Sonny got so scared of a bodiless hand that Mr. Peters had to take him out.

  “Well, it was a live hand without a body!” said Sonny. “Anybody would be scared stiff of that.”

  “No they wouldn’t,” said Mary Beth. “Only you.”

  Molly would have been having a very good time if it hadn’t been for the roller coaster worry. That seemed to ruin the whole day. She finally told Mary Beth.

  “I think you should tell Jody,” said Mary Beth. “The truth is always best, my mom says.”

  But with Molly the truth was never that simple. Sometimes she didn’t even know what was the truth and what wasn’t. She looked at the other Pee Wees laughing and talking and having a good time. Why did she have to be so different? Why did she always worry about trouble? Didn’t the others see problems all around them too?

  On the Ferris wheel the seats were big enough for two. Molly and Mary Beth sat together. When they went over the top, Molly’s stomach seemed to be left behind. If the Ferris wheel was this bad, what would the roller coaster be like?

  “I’m not going on that thing,” she shouted to Mary Beth.

  “Good,” said Mary Beth. “I’d be scared stiff too. Come on the bumper cars with us instead.”

  Molly was scared stiff. But she wanted to sit with Jody. “I don’t like bumper cars,” she said.

  “Well, you better make up your mind before Mr. Peters gets the tickets,” said Mary Beth.

  “I guess I’ll do it,” said Molly.

  “Well, there’s always the chance it will break down before it’s your turn,” said Mary Beth. “Maybe some little spring will pop out of something and you won’t have to decide after all.”

  Mary Beth meant to make her feel better, Molly knew. But it only made her feel worse. Did roller coasters really have springs? How could a little spring keep a roller coaster from working?

  And what if the spring didn’t break before she and Jody got on, but during?

  At lunchtime, after all the walking and exercise, the Pee Wees were starving.

  All except Molly. Mr. Peters and Mr. Kelly went to a hotdog stand and brought back lots of good food to eat at a picnic table. The picnic table was on a grassy hill, with flowers all around and a good view of the roller coaster.

  Whiz, grind, swooooosh! it went, as the Pee Wees munched their dogs.

  Except Molly. Her dog and fries sat on her paper plate and got cold.

  “Hey, can I have yours?” said Roger. His face was covered with mustard and ketchup.

  Molly nodded, and Roger gobbled down a second lunch.

  Molly sat on the grass and watched for a spring to pop off the roller coaster. She could picture it happening. And when it did, a voice would come over the loudspeaker saying, “We are sorry, but due to repairs, the roller coaster will be closed for the rest of the day. Money will be cheerfully refunded.”

  Molly was so lost in thought that she was sure it was real. She felt happy and relieved and didn’t even hear Mary Beth talking to her.

  “Hey, Mr. Peters is going to buy the tickets—you guys go on the roller coaster at one o’clock.”

  “It’s closed,” said Molly. “The roller coaster is closed for repairs.”

  But when she looked up, the roller coaster was chugging up the track as it had done before. As she watched, it plunged down like lightning and everyone on it screamed!

  “It isn’t closed,” said Mary Beth. “What’s the matter with you?”

  Mr. Peters asked how many wanted to ride, and when Molly saw Jody’s hand go up in a flash, she forced hers up too.

  Mr. Peters counted. “Six children and two adults, then,” he said. He set off toward the ticket booth, and when he came back, he had the tickets. This was it. Molly was going to do the bravest thing of her life, and she wasn’t even going to get a badge for it.

  CHAPTER

  9

  A Surprise

  for Molly

  After lunch Mrs. Peters led the Pee Wees to a big pavilion where there were deck chairs for people to sit in and watch the swimmers and boaters.

  “We’ll all have a little rest now,” said their leader, “to let our lunch settle.”

  Molly’s lunch didn’t need to settle. Or at any rate, it needed to settle in Roger’s stomach, not hers. Mary Beth lay next to her, snoring away. Molly wished she could fall asleep that easily.

  “Do you know what?” said Rachel, who was on the other side of Molly. “Mrs. Peters said our new badge is for our talent. But don’t you think we should get a badge for coming to an amusement park? And for going on the scary rides? I mean, I think since it’s a two-part project, we should get two badges.”

  Rachel may be right, thought Molly. It’s unusual not to earn a badge for a Pee Wee trip. Even a one-day trip. But no one mentioned another badge.

  “I guess a trip is just for fun,” said Rachel. “And you don’t get a badge just for having a good time, do you?”

  Rachel might think this trip was a good time, but it didn’t feel that way to Molly. It felt as if she deserved a badge for all this worry. The worry was a lot more work than going onstage three times.

  After a while Molly dozed off and dreamed that the Pee Wees could earn badges only if they went to the top of the roller coaster to get them! High in the sky, Mrs. Peters stood on a fluffy cloud, like the pictures of God in Molly’s grandma’s prayer book, and gave them badges for having fun. Just as Molly was telling their
leader she didn’t deserve a badge because she was definitely not having a good time, she felt someone shaking her.

  “Hey,” said Jody. “It’s time to go on the Mile High roller coaster!”

  Was Molly’s dream coming true?

  “Have fun,” called Mary Beth, waving to Molly and Jody as they left.

  Fun, fun, fun, is that all anyone around here talks about? thought Molly.

  Molly tried to walk slowly to delay the ride, but Jody’s wheelchair seemed to be racing along. “We want to get a good seat!” he said.

  “The seats are all alike,” muttered Molly. Jody didn’t hear her. He was already at the entrance, watching the cars pull to a stop to let the riders off. Molly joined Jody and Mary Beth’s dad and Roger behind the rope that separated the people getting off from the people waiting to get on. Mr. Kelly pointed to the safety signs posted nearby.

  “ ‘Remain seated in the cars while they are in motion,’ ” he read. “ ‘Fasten the seat belt firmly.’ ”

  “Big deal,” said Roger. “Those rules are for babies.”

  Mr. Peters glared. He took Roger aside and spoke to him quietly.

  Molly and Jody watched people get out of the cars and walk down the ramp. One woman said, “Boy, I’ll never go on that thing again.” She leaned against the ticket booth and looked as if she might faint.

  Three children were clinging to their fathers and crying as they climbed out of the cars.

  Roger ignored them. He was waiting to dash onto the car he’d share with Mr. Peters. He wanted to sit in the front seat!

  “It looks higher from up close, doesn’t it?” Jody asked Molly.

  Molly looked up. Her head swam, the tracks went so high. She nodded.

  Jody was watching the rest of the riders stagger out of the cars. Most of them did not look happy.

  So far, no springs had popped and no voice had said the roller coaster was out of order. It looked to Molly as if she’d have to bite the bullet, as her grandma said. There was no last-minute angel who was going to swoop down and save her. Well, she’d have to be brave and make the best of it.

  And then, at the very last minute, just when the attendant unlatched the rope and Roger dashed through, a most unexpected thing happened. It was even better than a spring springing. Molly heard Jody’s voice say to her very clearly, “I don’t think I want to go on this ride after all.”

  CHAPTER

  10

  Badges for All

  Molly couldn’t believe her ears!

  “I’m sorry to change my mind and ruin your fun,” he said. “But it looks scarier than I thought. I guess everyone else has a partner by now. Could you sit alone?”

  “It’s fine!” Molly almost shouted. She thought about adding, “I didn’t want to go on it anyway!” But she didn’t. There was no need to make that confession. Her life was saved without it.

  Jody leaned back in his wheelchair and looked white.

  Molly gave Mr. Kelly the tickets and explained what had happened.

  “Jody just got scared at the last minute,” she said.

  “That can easily happen,” said Mr. Kelly. “I’ll give the two tickets to someone who can use them.”

  Mr. Kelly wasn’t even surprised! Molly herself could have changed her mind at the last minute, and no one would have cared! They would have understood. Why hadn’t she?

  Molly knew why. She didn’t want the others to think she was afraid. Her dad had always said not to worry about what people thought if you knew you were doing the right thing. But Molly did worry about it.

  Jody hadn’t worried. He’d felt afraid and he’d changed his mind. Molly decided she would have to remember that. It was okay to change your mind and take care of yourself.

  Molly and Jody joined the others watching the cars climb to the sky. No one made fun of Jody, and no one even teased him for changing his mind.

  “I’m sorry you missed out on the ride,” Jody said to Molly.

  “No problem,” said Molly. “I’d rather watch.”

  Those three words were probably the truest Molly had ever spoken.

  All of a sudden, Molly felt very, very hungry! She asked Mrs. Peters if she could have a hotdog.

  “I’d like one too, please,” said Jody.

  As they munched their late lunches, they watched Roger and the rest of the riders go up and down and over and under and sideways.

  When the roller coaster stopped and they got off, Mr. Peters was still smiling. So was Mr. Kelly. But Roger was not. He was crying and he looked green. Mrs. Peters took him to the rest room, and when he came back, he had nothing to say. He just threw himself on the grass and stared at the sky.

  “So you didn’t have to ride after all,” said Mary Beth to Molly later in the day.

  “Jody changed his mind,” said Molly.

  “Lucky for you,” said Mary Beth.

  “I shouldn’t have waited for luck,” said Molly. “I should have made my own luck. But we had a good time watching instead of riding.”

  “Watching Roger the Brave,” laughed Mary Beth.

  “Well, I guess it’s time to call it a day,” said Mrs. Peters to all the Pee Wees. “But before we do, I have a surprise for you.”

  “Another ride?” asked Tracy. Roger moaned.

  “An ice cream cone?” asked Lisa.

  “Neither of the above,” said their leader, reaching into the bag of Pee Wee supplies. She took out a pile of little round shiny things.

  “Badges?” said Rachel. “Are we getting our badges here at the park?”

  “I thought it would be a good way to end our trip, and end our day,” said Mrs. Peters. “A new badge is fun to get.”

  “More fun than being onstage, or even going on a roller coaster,” whispered Molly to Mary Beth.

  Mrs. Peters called names and gave each Pee Wee the talent badge he or she had earned.

  “I think you all learned a lot by putting on a talent show,” said Mrs. Peters. “You practiced your talents and then you were brave enough to go on a big stage and perform them in front of lots of people. You were afraid, but you did it anyway.”

  “I learned that it’s okay to be scared,” said Molly. She was thinking of the talent show and the roller coaster.

  “Good for you, Molly,” said Mrs. Peters. “And let’s not forget there are times when it’s okay to be afraid and not do something.”

  “I learned the roller coaster can make you sick,” shouted Roger.

  “And that was a good lesson even though it has nothing to do with the talent show,” said their leader.

  Mrs. Peters must have noticed that Jody was scared of the roller coaster and that he had stood up for himself and changed his mind, Molly thought.

  “Mrs. Peters knows a lot,” said Molly to Mary Beth.

  The Pee Wees examined their new badges. They said the Pee Wee pledge. Then they sang the Pee Wee song.

  And then, as the sun went down in the west, all the tired Pee Wees said goodbye to Minnesota Magic and climbed into the van for the trip home.

  Molly curled up on the seat and thought about the day. “Rat’s knees,” she said to herself. Being a Pee Wee was sometimes not an easy thing to do. But it was still the best thing in town!

  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.