I went to my room to find something to do between now and bedtime. I perched on my bed and straightened my knee socks before digging into my pocket and removing the four small badges. We had some lame badges in Cub Scouts such as the sewing badge, but none so underwhelming as a sweeping up badge. “Whatcha got there?” my sister’s voice said. I looked up to see her leant against the door frame. “More badges?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I replied. She stepped into my room and perched besides me. “They’re not ‘good’ ones.” I said as she peered into the palm of my hand.
“Well they’re better than nothing.” she said. “I remember being proud as Punch when I got my first Brownie badge… it took me weeks.” she told me, before congratulating me on earning so many after attending only two meetings.
I told her that Benjimin and Antony also gained their table laying and sewing badges this evening, and also got two last week. “I think they’re being generous because we’re boys.” I assumed.
“Hmm… I don’t know.” she said. “They don’t just hand them out willy nilly.”
“Maybe.” I said. “What other badges did you have?” I asked.
“Er…” Judy began before listing those she could recall. I grabbed my Brownie Badge book and began flicking through it. The images of all the badges jogged her memory and she could recall a few more. I enquired as to what she did to get the ‘helper’, ‘agility’, ‘shopping’ and ‘conversation’ badges. Judy grinned and corrected me. “That’s conservation… protecting the countryside.” she informed me. “A group of us helped clear a load of hog-weed from the canal bank.”
“Sounds boring… just clearing weeds.”
“Yeah but it was fun… and I liked the little panda patch.” she replied, tapping he finger nail on the image. She went on to tell me about the other badges. “We helped out in an old people’s home to get the helper badge; cleaning, tidying, making cups of tea, washing dishes, chatting, that sort of thing.” she said. “Agility is jumping, skipping, vaulting, doing cartwheels and stuff… and shopping is self explanatory.”
“What… you just buy some shopping and get a badge?” I asked.
“Well… you’re given a list and have to go to the greengrocers, butchers, bakers, fishmongers, haberdashery, homeware and hardware store to get everything in all the correct weights so you don’t go over budget.” she explained. “It’s not just a case of buying some sweets.” she said, turning her head toward the door. “Hi Mother.”
“Hi.” Mother smiled. “I must say… it’s nice seeing you two sitting together and talking instead of bickering and sniping.” she told us.
“We were just looking at the badge book.” I said. Mother asked me which one I hoped to get next. “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “The same ones as my Cub badges I guess.” I suggested. I don’t want an arm full of easy badges such as sewing, sweeping and laying the table… I want pathfinder, map reader, fire maker, climber and the like.
“Hey do you want to borrow my old Brownie books?” Judy asked.
“I’ve got my own.” I said, pointing out my handbook and badge book.
“I don’t mean those ones.” Judy replied before exiting and returning a moment later with two Brownie annuals, the Brownie Adventure Book, the Brownie Book of Things to Do and Fun Crafts for Brownies and Guides. I took them from her and thanked her. “You’ve got to look after them.” she said.
“I will.” I replied, knowing that I probably wouldn’t even open them. Mother gave me a glance and prompted me to say ‘thank you’.
“You’re welcome.” Judy smiled. “It’s nice that we’ve got something in common, even if I’m not a Brownie any more.” she added.
