Teeny Weeny Zucchinis (5 page)

Was she being too bold? Maybe Jody didn’t like bold girls.

“Good,” said Jody. “I like to have lots of friends. The more the better. That was a good fortune!”

That’s a good sign, thought Molly. It didn’t sound as if he was marrying Rachel! Rachel had black hair.

Jody went and bought one of Mary Beth’s cookies and then came back.

“Do you know what you should do?” he said. “You should put your fortune stand and the cookie stand together. Teamwork. I think the reason we have so many people at our booth is because they get two things for the price of one. Tea and their fortune. What if you gave them a cookie, plus a fortune from the crystal ball?”

Jody made sense! But why was he helping
her? Didn’t he know they were competing? He didn’t seem to care. Maybe he liked her after all! Did he notice
she
had brown hair and brown eyes?

“It’s just a thought,” said Jody. “My dad’s in marketing. He says people go where they get the best deal. And teamwork is always better than working alone.”

Jody’s dad must be right. His family was very well off.

Mary Beth ran over and joined them.

“What do you think?” she said. “Jody told me his idea. It sounds good, doesn’t it?”

“Great,” said Molly. “Let’s try it. Bring your cookies over here.”

Molly made room for trays of cookies to stand beside the crystal ball. Mary Beth got her cookies and her sign, and the girls stuck both signs up onto one booth while Jody held the tape.

“Over here!” he called. “Two-for-one sale, over here!”

“Good luck,” he called as he wheeled back to his tea stand. Rachel was frowning.

“Of course we’ll only get half as much money,” said Mary Beth.

“No, we’ll get twice as much money, if it works,” said Molly. “Half is twice as much as nothing!”

More people were coming to the festival now. Lots of them were eating because it was almost noon. The ones with hot dogs stopped to get a cookie for dessert.

“Are these really homemade?” asked Lisa’s mother.

“In our own kitchen,” said Mary Beth, collecting the money.

Mr. and Mrs. Peters came by with baby Nick. Molly wasn’t sure how to tell her Pee Wee leader’s fortune! But at last she thought of something.

“I see a new little baby,” said Molly.

“Is it baby Nick?” asked Mrs. Peters.

“Is it a new Pee Wee?” said Mr. Peters.

Molly shook her head and looked into the ball again.

“It’s a brand-new baby from the hospital,” she said. “It’s a baby girl.”

“Oh my goodness,” said Mrs. Peters. “That is a surprise!”

Now there was a long line of customers! Molly could hardly think fast enough. She depended on her imagination, and it wasn’t easy to imagine something when people were crunching cookies in her ear. She wished Mary Beth could help her tell fortunes. It was definitely easier to sell cookies than to predict the future.

“Roger’s in line,” whispered Mary Beth. “With his dad!”

What would Molly tell Roger?

“Tell him no one likes him,” Mary Beth went on in a whisper. “Tell him he’s a bully.”

“That’s no fortune!” whispered Molly back. “That’s the truth!”

“Ha,” said Roger when his turn came. “Read my palm.” He held out his hand. “Tell me what a good businessman I am!”

“I don’t read palms,” said Molly. “I look into my crystal ball.”

When Molly looked into the ball, she could see Roger’s reflection. He was making faces at her.

“I see a church, I see rice, I see a wedding,” said Molly.

“Ho, you don’t see mine!” cried Roger. “I’d never marry any dumb girl.”

“No girl would marry you,” said Mary Beth. “You don’t have to worry.”

“No, I see the groom.… It’s not you.… It’s … your
dad
! Your dad is walking down the aisle.… Your dad is getting married!”

“No, he’s
not
!” said Roger, turning red and angry. “My dad’s not marrying anybody!”

Roger’s dad was smiling.

“I guess that takes care of my fortune too,” he said with a laugh. “Two for the price of one.”

Molly wondered how Roger could have such a nice father and be such a bully himself.

Roger began pummeling his father on the chest and crying. Other people in line moved up and held out their money. Sonny gave his friend a push and said to Molly, “Tell my fortune. And don’t tell me my mom is getting married. She already did.”

Sonny was easy. Almost anything would be good to tell Sonny.

“I see a bike,” said Molly, looking into the ball. “A bike with no training wheels! It’s your bike! Your two-wheeler!”

Everyone who knew Sonny laughed. “Good for you!” said Larry, his dad. “I’m glad to hear that!”

Mrs. Kelly came by, and Mary Beth asked her to bring more cookies. Tray after tray was being sold. And more and more fortunes were being sold too.

By the middle of the afternoon, Molly’s voice was getting weak.

But the money was overflowing the box her mother had given her! Mary Beth’s was full too! What good ideas Jody had!

Tracy came by, and Molly said she would get shots for her allergies.

“I already do,” grumbled Tracy.

“And your booth is going to be a success,” added Molly.

Tracy stamped her foot. “I know that,” she said. “It already is a success. I’ve sold lots of acorn necklaces.”

“I can’t think of any more good fortunes,” said Molly to Mary Beth when Tracy left.

“Yes, you can,” said her friend. “They can’t all be as good as the one you told Roger. Tracy is just too fussy.”

Molly took her earrings off. They were pinching her ears and made her cross. And it
was too warm, wearing the scarf with the fringe. She took that off too.

“I thought you were a gypsy,” said Tim when he ran by.

“I am,” said Molly, frowning.

The next customer was Kevin. She had to have a good fortune for Kevin!

She looked into her crystal ball and said, “I think I see an election. A sign says ‘Moe for president!’ The votes are counted, and you win!”

“Wow,” said Kevin. “President of what?”

“The United States!” said Molly.

“What about mayor and governor?” asked Kevin, eating his cookie.

“I don’t see anything about that,” said Molly. “Just president.”

“Good,” said Kevin. “I love politics.”

When Kevin left, Molly told her dad he would win the lottery.

She told Lisa she would get a dog for a present.

And she told Rachel she would be moving out of the state—maybe even out of the country.

Molly was hoarse. This was the hardest she had ever worked for a badge!

But the festival was a success! Everyone was sold out! And thanks to Jody and his teamwork, so were she and Mary Beth!

F
inally the line at their stand came to an end, and Molly sat down on the grass to eat a cookie. Music was playing nearby, and small children carried cotton candy and panda bears their fathers had won tossing rings onto a wooden bear’s tail. Mr. Duff came by and said he would watch the stand if the girls wanted to check out the rest of the festival.

“You can’t read a crystal ball!” said Molly, laughing.

“Just let me have a chance,” said Mr. Duff. Then he put on Molly’s earrings and robe and scarf and gazed into the ball.

“I see, I see, I see someone with a new badge.… It’s a Harvest Fest badge! It’s Molly!” he said with a laugh.

Molly and Mary Beth walked around the park. They stopped at all the stands. They drank cold drinks and ate hot dogs.

“Should we take a ride on Sonny’s motorcycle?” said Mary Beth, laughing.

“He’d dump us out on the street,” said Molly.

“I wonder if any of the fortunes you told will really happen,” said Mary Beth. “I mean, like Mrs. Peters’s baby. Do you think she’ll really have one?”

“I don’t think so,” said Molly. “Crystal balls aren’t real. I just made the stuff up. But it would be nice if my dad won the lottery!”

At five o’clock the girls sat down and listened
to a concert in the bandstand. After that the fest was over. All the Pee Wees helped clean up the park and take the stands down. It was time to go home.

As they left, Molly noticed that Rachel was not with Jody. Instead, she and Ashley were walking out of the park with two boys in third grade. They were laughing and talking. It looked as if Rachel had a new boyfriend!

Molly ran and caught up with Jody’s wheelchair.

“Thanks for the help,” she said. “If you hadn’t thought of putting the stands together, we wouldn’t have done very well. Teamwork was much better.”

“That’s okay,” said Jody. “I’m glad it worked. Say, I’m having a party at my house next week. Can you come? It’s on Saturday.”

Jody did like her!

“Yes,” said Molly. “Is it your birthday? Do I bring a present?”

Jody shook his head. “It’s just a back-to-school party,” he said. “We’ll play games and stuff. And we’ll have Chinese food.”

Molly never had Chinese food at home. Except egg rolls. But she didn’t care what they ate at the party. She was just glad she was invited.

“See you next Tuesday,” said Molly when she left.

At home, in her own room, Molly took off the rest of her costume. She was about to take a bath and get ready for bed when she noticed a piece of paper on her desk. She picked it up. It was her list. It said, “Get Jody back” and “Costume.”

She had done both of those! She crossed them both off the list. Sometimes Molly thought her mother was right. She worried too much. Things had a way of working out. And on Tuesday she would get her new badge. And she would see to it that she reported her old good deed at last.

When she got to Mrs. Peters’s house for the meeting on Tuesday, Rachel was laughing with Jody. “I’m sorry I can’t come to your party,” she said. “The third grade is having a treasure hunt that night.”

“Maybe next time,” said Jody.

And maybe not, thought Molly. The party was a perfect time to turn Jody into her boyfriend! Or at least into a
good
friend.

“Well, our festival was a great success and a great lesson in teamwork,” said Mrs. Peters. “When we all work together, we can move mountains! And every one of you will get your new badge today.”

Then Mrs. Peters called off names and handed a badge to each scout. That was something no Pee Wee ever had enough of. Badges.

But was Molly going to get a chance to report her old good deed?

“We have to tell our good deed today,” she said to Mary Beth.

“What good deed?” asked her friend.

Molly stamped her foot. Rat’s knees! It was so old that Mary Beth had forgotten it!

“The pork chop dinner!” said Molly.

“That’s old news,” said Mary Beth. “Besides, I don’t think she’s going to ask about good deeds on badge day.”

But she did. After the Pee Wee song and pledge and cupcakes and badges, Mrs. Peters looked at her watch. “We have just enough time for a few good deeds,” she said.

Hands waved. There were a lot of Harvest Fest good deeds reported.

“I worked in the lost and found,” said Tim.

“I found a little kid’s mother when he was lost,” said Lisa.

Molly’s hand was waving. So was Rachel’s.

Mrs. Peters called on Rachel first.

“Mrs. Peters, my good deed wasn’t at the Harvest Fest,” she said. “Mine was at home. It was my mom and dad’s anniversary,
and I cooked them a special gourmet dinner.”

Molly couldn’t believe her ears! That Rachel was always topping her stories! How could she steal Molly’s best good deed?

“I cooked their favorite food, French, Mrs. Peters,” she went on. “I made five courses, all by myself. Well, my aunt helped me a little, with the éclairs.”

Rachel described every dish she prepared, using ingredients and spices Molly had never heard of!

“My parents were really happy,” Rachel said. “They said they never had such a good dinner, even in a restaurant.” Rachel sat down with her curls bouncing.

Molly took her hand down. Who wanted to hear about pork chops, and gravy you had to cut with a knife, after Rachel’s gourmet French dinner?

“Molly, did you have your hand up?” said Mrs. Peters.