The next day, Urchin told everyone he was going back on land and Drell allowed him to become human again for the day so he could join Darla on her school field trip to the museum. And where this would be one that would be important for an adventure. The kids were waiting at school until the bus would come to take them to the museum. Urchin then came over and blended in with the crowd, but only Darla knew he wasn't really from their class and luckily, no one else seemed to mind or notice.
'I can't wait to get to the museum.' Urchin thought to himself.
"How much longer, Ms. Wentworth?" Amber frowned.
"Sorry, Amber, they should be here soon." the teacher soothed.
"They?" Darla asked.
"The bus driver." Ms. Wentworth replied.
Amber sighed as it seemed to take a while. A boy smirked as he ran his fingers up and down Darla's back.
Darla yelped before then glaring to the boy. "Tucker!"
"Gotcha, Dimple." Tucker smirked.
"It's not funny..." Darla crossed her arms with a firm look to Tucker. "If my big brother were here right now, you'd be sorry."
"Yeah, but he's not here." Tucker smirked.
"Ahem!" Atticus's voice cleared his throat as he was right behind Tucker.
"He's right behind me, isn't he?" Tucker asked nerovusly then.
"Yep." Darla replied while Amber and Urchin smirked.
Atticus folded his arms while Tucker turned around to him. "You picking on my little sister?"
"W-What? N-No, I-I was just playing." Tucker smiled nervously.
"Uh-huh..." Atticus sounded doubtful of that. "I better keep my eye on you."
"Isn't Mo with you?" Darla pouted.
Atticus frowned back. "She has a cold."
"Aww!" Darla frowned.
"I'm sorry, kiddo." Atticus gently patted her on the head.
"We're gonna leave a bag of candy on her doorstop though, trick AND treat," Cherry replied as she offered cupcakes. "You guys want some leftover cupcakes from mine and my mom's birthday?"
"Sure." The kids smiled.
Cherry shared the treats with the kids as it was the day before Halloween and they would get candy tomorrow of course.
Soon enough, the school bus came which made the kids cheer and board the bus.
"Buddy system, kids!" Ms. Wentworth gently reminded.
"We know, Ms. Wentworth!" The kids said.
The kids then got on the bus and with that, they were on their way to the museum. Urchin giggled as he was going to be like a normal kid for today.
"As long as nothing gets in our way the bus ride to the museum should be smooth sailing." Amber said.
"Aw, come on, what could possibly go wrong?" Darla shrugged.
They soon heard the sound of a tire becoming flat.
"Oops..." Darla said.
"You just had to say it." Cherry deadpanned.
"Oh, my..." Ms. Wentworth frowned. "Do you have a spare?"
"Sorry, ma'am, I guess this field trip is cancelled." the bus driver frowned.
"No, it isn't." Atticus said.
The others then looked to him.
"Let me handle this." Atticus volunteered.
"He's stronger than he looks, Ms. Wentworth." Darla said.
"Well, okay then." Ms. Wentworth said.
Atticus saluted and went out the bus to give them help so their field trip wouldn't be cancelled.
"I doubt that he'll be able to lift up the bus." Tucker scoffed until they felt the bus being moved.
"You were saying?" Darla smirked.
Atticus grunted at first, but then lifted the bus with ease. "Hang on tight, kids, please keep your hands, legs, and selves inside the bus at all times!"
"Looks like I won't have to drive after all." The bus driver chuckled.
"Hang on." Atticus said before going to their destination.
Tucker could only be jaw-dropped at what he just learned. Nick was a little shaky and nervous while his friend Kate tried her best to soothe him.
"Wow, he's really jumpy." Urchin said.
"Poor Nick..." Darla frowned to the cowardly boy of her class.
Soon enough, Atticus stopped and let the kids and teacher out as they made it to the museum.
"Thanks, kid, can ya take me to the airport next week?" the bus driver joked.
"I'll have to check my schedule." Atticus joked back.
The bus driver chuckled and let the doors close. Atticus then went to meet the others inside the museum.
"Darla's older brother is amazing." One of the boy students said.
"Yeah, he's totally cool, I wish I had a cool brother like him." another student agreed.
Darla smiled bashfully as she overheard her classmates.
"Stick close, class, we'll be seeing the Sleepy Hollow exhibit, perfect and just in time for Halloween if I do say so myself." Ms. Wentworth told her students.
"I know a certain someone is excited about Halloween." Atticus said.
"Come on, guys, we gotta go!" Cherry beamed.
Urchin blinked in surprise, he had not really witnessed the perky goth's more chipper side.
"Cherry gets this way when Halloween comes." Atticus said.
"I'm scared..." Urchin shivered.
They were then inside the museum and the tour guide led them to the Sleepy Hollow exhibit and they were going to watch a video which would show them footage of Ichabod Crane running from the Headless Horseman.
"I wonder if a descendant of his is in this class." Annabelle smiled.
They all then watched the video. Patch was a little scared, but not too badly, it was cool to see a video of this after hearing the story last night. And where he could see someone running away from a Headless Horseman.
"That's Ichabod." Forte whispered.
"Thank you, Maestro." Cherry deadpanned.
Once he got across the bridge, Ichabod thought he would be safe. He thought the coast was clear. The Headless Horseman then took out his pumpkin with an evil laugh and threw it. Patch looked unimpressed with that move.
"The church, we'll be safe there, I hope!" Ichabod pointed as he was on his horse's back.
The Headless Horseman charged through the cemetery to catch up with the cowardly schoolteacher of Sleepy Hollow. The pumpkin met Ichabod's face as they were across the bridge to the holy sanctuary of the church.
'And the terrified schoolteacher Ichabod Crane was never seen again.' the video narrated and then ended the story.
"But how does that even make sense?" Darla asked.
"It's just a story, Dimples." Cherry said to her.
"And so ends Washington Irving's classic tale: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Ms. Wentworth smiled to her class. "A perfect tale for the day before Halloween, wouldn't you say, class? And aren't we lucky our new Sleepy Hollow Museum even has Irving's original manuscript from 1819, perfectly preserved."
"Pretty cool." Nick smiled at the exhibit.
"It sure is." Atticus smiled.
"How much do you think it's worth?" Amber asked.
"Irving really dug himself deep into the spooky regions for his story." a girl agreed.
"I meant the case, Kate," Nick replied. "It's totally air tight and kept at a constant temperature. Pretty cool."
The others rolled their eyes slightly at his excitement.
"Seriously, that's what excites you?" Darla asked.
"What excites me is the story," Kate said to her classmates. "Parts of it are said to be true and based on real people at the time."
"That's an interesting theory, Kate," Ms. Wentworth commented.
"Thanks, Ms. Wentworth, I've done a lot of reading." Kate smiled.
"You must really love the story." Amber said.
"I really do." Kate smiled, proud of herself. "So for all we know, our very own Nick Crane could be a distant relative of Ichabod Crane."
"That's just another one of Kate's theories," Nick chuckled sheepishly. "It's totally bogus. I mean, I'm no scaredy cat like old Ichabod was."
"You're kidding, right?" Cherry asked.
Tucker then popped bubblegum behind Nick which startled him instantly and he ended up in Kate's arms.
"I'd say I just proved Kate's theory conclusively, 'Nickabod' Crane." Tucker smirked while folding his arms.
"Is he always this mean?" Urchin asked Darla.
"He's worse than Alvin." Darla nodded.
"You should save the scares for tomorrow." Amber glared to Tucker.
"What's tomorrow?" Urchin asked.
"Pumpkin Contest." Darla told him.
"Oh." Urchin then nodded in understanding.
"Yeah and tomorrow is also Halloween." Darla said.
"There'll be a haunted house." Amber told Cherry.
Cherry grinned. "Let's go!"
"Yeah!" Forte added.
Cherry glanced at him strangely for his excitement.
It was then time to leave the museum and the guard smiled as they went off.
"Why do I feel like that book is going to get stolen?" Urchin asked as they were getting on the bus.
"You playin' detective, Merboy?" Darla asked the merboy she had a not-so secret crush on.
"I just have this feeling it's going to get stolen." Urchin said.
"Atticus, Urchin thinks that the manuscript is going to be stolen." Darla told her big brother.
"Hmm..." Atticus hummed in thought, then looked to Cherry. "We better stick around while the kids go back to school."
"All right, but nothing embarrassing." Cherry said while fiddling with her glasses.
"Alright, but first, I better get them back to school since it seems they don't have any more spare tires." Atticus said.
Cherry nodded about that.