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.

  Text copyright © 1990 by Judy Delton. Illustrations copyright © 1990 by Alan Tiegreen.

  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.steppingstonesbooks.com

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  www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Delton, Judy.

  Rosy noses, freezing toes / by Judy Delton; illustrated by Alan Tiegreen.

  p. cm. — (Pee Wee Scouts)

  Summary: Just before the winter holidays, the Pee Wee Scouts earn a music badge, solve a mystery, and help a friend in need. Includes suggestions for decorating, gift-giving, and spreading good cheer during the winter holidays.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-77889-5

  [1. Scouting (Youth activity)—Fiction. 2. Holidays—Fiction. 3. Winter—Fiction.] I. Tiegreen, Alan, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.D388Rn 2008 [Fic]—dc22 2008003880

  v3.1

  For Shirley and Herbert Gould, And for Mrs. Finley, Ruth, and Carol, With warm Boston and New Hampshire memories. With thanks to Ingrid van der Leeden.

  —J.D.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1 Who Stole the Vase?

  2 Fiddle and Drum Talk

  3 Christmas Shopping and Sledding

  4 Stage Fright

  5 Howling and Screeching

  6 Sonny Runs Away to Alaska

  7 The Police and Molly’s Secret

  8 Good News and Bad News

  About the Author

  About the Illustrator

  Who Stole the Vase?

  “Mrs. Peters,” called Lisa Running, “Tim Noon hasn’t got a good deed to report.”

  “He never has a good deed,” said Roger White.

  “Have too,” said Tim.

  “Have not,” said Roger.

  “Have too,” said Tim.

  “Mrs. Peters, Tim kicked me!” cried Roger.

  Mrs. Peters held up her hand. She gave the boys what Molly Duff called a teacher-look. But Mrs. Peters was not a teacher. She was a Scout leader. She was the leader of the eleven Pee Wee Scouts in Troop 23. Every Tuesday they all met in her basement around a big round table. They helped people and earned badges. They had lots of fun together.

  “Roger’s right,” whispered Molly to her friend Mary Beth Kelly. “Tim never does any good deeds.”

  “Scouts are kind to each other,” said Mrs. Peters. “Tim’s good deeds are his own business.”

  Tim stuck his tongue out at Roger.

  “I have an announcement to make,” Mrs. Peters went on.

  The Pee Wees sat up at attention. Sometimes announcements meant parties, or picnics. Announcements could be fun.

  “It can’t be a picnic,” said Tracy Barnes. “There’s too much snow outside.”

  Molly and Mary Beth laughed when they thought of roasting hot dogs in the snow. With mittens and parkas on.

  “The ketchup would freeze,” shouted Lisa.

  “Our soda pop would turn to icicles!” hooted Patty Baker.

  “Do we have to sell something?” asked Sonny Betz. “Like donuts?” Sonny’s mother was assistant Scout leader.

  Mrs. Peters shook her head.

  “We’re not selling donuts.” She laughed. “This is a different kind of announcement.”

  “Maybe she is going to have another baby!” whispered Rachel Meyers.

  Mrs. Peters had one baby. His name was Nick. He took his nap during the meeting.

  “Do you remember the little Chinese vase I put your flowers in last summer?”

  This wasn’t the kind of announcement they were waiting to hear, thought Molly.

  Rachel was waving her hand. “Do you mean the one you put my rose in, Mrs. Peters?”

  Their leader nodded.

  “You said my rose was so pretty, you would get out your special antique vase to put it in,” said Rachel proudly.

  Kevin Moe waved his hand. “I remember that vase,” he said. “You said it was valuable because it was an antique.”

  Mrs. Peters nodded again. Kevin liked valuable things. He wanted to be a rich businessman and earn lots of money. He even wanted to be mayor of their city someday.

  “That vase seems to have disappeared,” said Mrs. Peters. “I can’t find it anywhere. It’s a mystery where it could have got to.”

  The Pee Wees loved mysteries.

  “It is very valuable,” Mrs. Peters went on. “It is imported from China. And on top of that, it is an antique that has been in the family for years.”

  Did Mrs. Peters think that one of the Pee Wee Scouts had stolen it? thought Molly.

  “I didn’t take it!” shouted Tim.

  “Me neither,” said Sonny. “What’s an antique?”

  “An antique is something very old,” said Mrs. Peters.

  “My mom throws out old stuff,” said Tim.

  “You don’t throw out antiques,” said Rachel. “People collect them. My mother has a china plate over one hundred years old.”

  “Who wants to eat on some old dish?” asked Tim. “It’s probably all dirty and full of cracks.”

  “It is not!” said Rachel with her hands on her hips. “We don’t eat on dirty dishes.”

  Mrs. Peters had to hold up her hand again. “I just thought maybe my Scouts could scout it out,” she said.

  “We’ll find it,” said Kevin.

  “Where was it last?” asked Roger, like a detective.

  “Is there a reward?” asked Sonny.

  Mrs. Peters laughed.

  “There will certainly be a reward to whoever finds it.”

  The Scouts looked under furniture. They looked over furniture. They looked in the garage and they looked in Mrs. Peters’s laundry tubs.

  “It wouldn’t be in a laundry tub!” said Rachel.

  “It must be somewhere,” said Mrs. Peters. “It couldn’t have walked away by itself.”

  The Scouts looked and looked. Finally they had to give up. “I’ll just have to call the insurance company and report it,” said Mrs. Peters. Their leader explained to the Pee Wees that when you owned something valuable, you insured it. “Then the insurance company pays you for it if you lose it,” she added.

  The rest of the meeting the Pee Wees told about good deeds they had done. They talked about Christmas coming soon. They cut out paper snowmen with arms and legs that moved. Then they said their Pee Wee Scout pledge and sang their Pee Wee Scout song.

  On the way home from the meeting, Kenny Baker, who was Patty’s twin brother, said, “I think somebody stole that vase of Mrs. Peters’s. I’ll bet one of the Pee Wee Scouts took it.”

  Fiddle and Drum Talk

  The Pee Wee Scouts were eager for Christmas vacation to begin. They counted the days of school left. They were all in second grade.

  The next Tuesday at the Scout meeting, Kenny said, “Did you find the thief yet, Mrs. Peters?”

  “What thief, Kenny?” she asked.

  “The one who stole your vase. I can find him for you,” he said.

  “No one stole the vase, Kenny. It’s lost. I called the insurance company and they are going to send me a check.”

  “I don’t like it,” said Kenny. “That vase couldn’t have got up and walked away by itself.”

  “Well, we’ll just put it out of our minds now and get on with our holiday plans,” said Mrs. Peters.

  “The next badge we earn,” she went on, “has something to do with the holidays.” Then she held up a brand-new badge the Pee Wees had never seen.

  The badge was white, and it had a big black musical note on it, with a little black flag on its stem.

  “Ohhh,” said the Scouts. “It’s pretty!”

  All the badges were pretty. Molly loved badges. She couldn’t wait to get the next one.

  “This is the music badge,” Mrs. Peters went on. “You can earn this badge by singing or playing a short piece on any musical instrument. You may even just tell about the life of someone who wrote songs.”

  “I play the piano,” said Rachel. “Would it be all right if I played a song, and told about the life of a composer?”

  “Yes, of course, Rachel,” said Mrs. Peters. “I thought that since the holidays are so close, we would have our little musical program the Saturday before Christmas.”

  “I can’t play anything,” said Tim.

  “I can’t either,” said Sonny.

  “Then you may either sing, or tell us about someone musical,” said the leader.

  “Because it is almost Christmas, I think the song you choose should be a holiday song, like ‘Jingle Bells,’ or maybe a Hanukkah song,” said Mrs. Peters.

  “I’d like to have the program right here at our house,” she added. “But we don’t have a piano.”

  “We could have it at my house,” volunteered

Rachel.

  “That is very nice of you, Rachel,” said their leader. “But I’d like to have a piano here anyway, so that we can all sing together at our meetings. It would be nice to have music to accompany our Scout song, and we could learn new songs together. Songs for all the holidays.”

  The Pee Wees cheered. A piano would be fun. Singing was fun. But how would Mrs. Peters get enough money to buy one? wondered Molly.

  “I’m going to sleep on it,” Mrs. Peters said mysteriously.

  Mrs. Peters and the Pee Wees planned the music show.

  “I’m wearing my recital outfit,” said Rachel. “I can’t wait.”

  “I’m not wearing anything,” said Sonny, “because I’m not coming. I can’t play anything.”

  “Your mother will help you decide what to do,” said Mrs. Peters. “Now let’s have some chocolate cupcakes I baked this morning.”

  Mrs. Peters passed out the cupcakes to everyone. She got baby Nick up from his nap and he had one too.

  “How about Lucky, and Tiny?” said Kenny. “They feel left out.”

  Tiny was Mrs. Peters’s dog. Lucky was Troop 23’s mascot.

  “Cake isn’t good for dogs,” said Mrs. Peters. “I’ll give them a doggie treat.”

  “Arf!” said the dogs when they saw the box.

  “What are you going to do for the show?” Molly asked Mary Beth as they ate their cupcakes.

  “I don’t know,” she answered.

  “Why don’t we sing?” said Lisa. “The three of us can sing together. I like ‘Silent Night.’ ”

  Molly looked doubtful. She liked to sing. But she thought she didn’t sing very well. Not well enough for a real show.

  “I’m going to play ‘White Christmas’ on my drums,” said Roger.

  The girls snickered. “How can you play a song on your drums?” asked Mary Beth. “Bong bong bong.”

  “A drum can’t play a song,” said Lisa.

  Roger looked shocked. “What do you think those guys in bands are doing?” he said. “They play songs.”

  Molly looked doubtful. “I don’t think they play alone,” she said.

  “Well, I’m better than those guys,” said Roger. “I can play ‘White Christmas’ all alone.”

  The Pee Wees helped clean up the room. Then they sang their Scout song together. Molly thought about how nice it would sound with a piano.

  On the way home, everyone talked about what they would play or what they would sing or what they would do.

  “Almost everyone is telling about a composer,” said Tracy. “I don’t think there will be much music.”

  “I’m not coming,” said Sonny again.

  “You have to come, or you won’t get your badge,” said Molly.

  Sonny looked upset. But the next morning on the playground he looked even more upset. He pushed one of the first-graders on the slide, and made her cry.

  “What’s the matter with you?” said Molly. The last time Sonny had been so mean was when he didn’t like his mom’s new boyfriend, Larry.

  Sonny kicked the slide. “My mom is making me take violin lessons.”

  “You can’t learn to play the violin in time for the show, can you?” asked Molly.

  Sonny blew his nose. “She always wanted me to take violin. She says now is as good a time as any. The teacher told her by the time of the show I’d be able to play the first line of ‘Jingle Bells.’ ”

  Molly tried to picture Sonny with a violin.

  “You’re lucky,” said Molly. “You’ll be the only one who plays a violin.”

  Sonny looked a little brighter. “Really?” he said.

  “No other kids get to take violin lessons.”

  Molly added get to because without it it sounded like only weird kids took violin.

  Sonny began to smile again. He smiled until he told the other Scouts about his lessons.

  “Hey, Maestro, where’s your long beard?” shouted Roger.

  “The violin?” yelled Kevin. “There’s no money in the violin. You should take guitar lessons and go on TV.”

  Some of the Pee Wees ran around plucking imaginary strings.

  Sonny went into a funk all over again. But the next day his mom picked him up after school to take him to his violin lesson. In the car was a big black case. And in the case was Sonny’s violin.

  “It’s as big as Sonny!” shouted Roger. “We could put Sonny in that violin case!”

  Poor Sonny, thought Molly. Somehow he always ends up being picked on. And this time Molly didn’t see how she could help.

  Christmas Shopping and Sledding

  Time was going by fast. Every day the girls practiced their song for the music show. They had decided to sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” They planned to paint their noses red for the show.

  At practice Molly thought Mary Beth sang too high.

  Molly thought Lisa sang too low.

  Molly thought that she herself sang just right.

  “I can’t wait to get that badge!” said Mary Beth.

  “I wonder if Sonny and Roger will get their badges,” said Molly.

  “Sonny has lessons three times a week now,” laughed Lisa. “But the violin is hard to learn. My dad said so.”

  One day the Pee Wee Scouts went Christmas shopping together at the mall. Molly got her mother a new hairbrush. She got her dad a new tie with red and green stripes. She got her grandma some bubble bath. And Mary Beth a book. Mary Beth loved to read. Then all of her saved-up allowance was gone.

  “I got my mom this candle snuffer,” said Rachel, holding up something that looked to Molly like a long spoon upside down. “You put it over the candle and it goes out, ‘poof,’ just like that.”

  “Why can’t she blow out candles like everybody else?” demanded Roger.

  Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes at Roger.

  “She won’t get her wish if she doesn’t blow,” said Tim.

  “These aren’t birthday candles, silly,” said Rachel.

  Some of the Pee Wees got baby Nick something too. And some of them even bought Lucky and Tiny a holiday treat.

  “My mom is getting Mrs. Peters a present,” said Rachel. “It’s a red scarf.”

  Most of the Scouts were making Mrs. Peters a gift.

  “She said she likes things we make ourselves better,” said Lisa.

  “Everybody says that,” said Rachel. “But nobody really means it. Nobody likes homemade gifts.”

  Rachel may be right, thought Molly. Her mother always said it was the thought that counted, but who wanted a lopsided pot holder anyway? Who wanted any pot holder, come to think of it.

  “I’m going to be real rich someday,” said Kevin. “Then I’m not going to make any of my presents. I’m going to buy everything in the store. I might even buy the store!”

  When everyone had spent all their money, the Scouts took their gifts home and wrapped them. Then they got out sleds and toboggans and plastic saucers and dragged them to the park. They climbed the highest hill in town and slid down the icy path made for sliding.

  “This thing is too small,” said Sonny, kicking his little sled that had rusty runners. “It sticks in the snow.”

  “It’s a baby sled,” said Kenny. “Only baby sleds have sides on them.”

  “Hey, Sonny, go home and get that violin case! You can slide down real fast in that!” said Roger.

  The Pee Wees broke into laughter. Except Molly. She felt sorry for Sonny. Everyone always laughed at him.

  “He’s such a baby,” said Tracy. “No wonder people laugh.”

  “It’s not his fault,” said Molly. “It’s his mother’s. She always makes him do things no one else does.”

  Maybe she should talk to Mrs. Betz about Sonny. Maybe Mrs. Betz didn’t know that other kids didn’t take violin lessons or ride bikes with training wheels when they were seven. Once she had heard her own mother say, “That Sonny Betz is going to be a handful by the time he gets to high school.”

  Molly couldn’t imagine Sonny in high school. When she tried, all she could see was someone taller with a baby face and a whine.

  “I wonder what Sonny will be like in high school,” said Molly to Mary Beth and Lisa.

  “He’ll be driving a car with training wheels!” roared Lisa.

  When it got dark, the Pee Wees started home. Sonny sat on his sled and wouldn’t move. The Scouts took turns pulling him home.

  That night Molly and her mother and dad went to get a Christmas tree at the corner lot. The snow was falling and the man who sold the trees had Christmas music on a tape in his warming house.

 

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