4:


It was a quarter to dawn. On the second floor of Bonnie's doll house, Jessie and Buzz were snuggled together in their four post bed. Jessie's boots peeked out from under the quilt blanket and Buzz's frame stuck out from the side. Still, they dozed peacefully…

Until Woody crashed through the door. "Guys, wake up!"

Both dolls jumped as though they had been shot. Buzz launched himself top of Jessie. "Look out!"

"Ow! Buzz ya big lug!" she cried, smacking his chest plate from underneath. "Get off!"

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. He rolled back into his spot.

"Guys, I need to talk to you! I found…"

"Woody?" Buzz looked up at him in confusion. "What time is it?"

"It's four forty something, but that's not important! I…"

Buzz groaned and fell back. "Four?"

Jessie had her face buried in her pillow. "Hurt him, Honey. Karate chop his face in."

"Will you two just listen?" Woody cried. "I found Bo!"

In their bed, his two friends stopped groaning. They stared at him blankly. "Uh…what?"


Once again in the doll house kitchen, Woody sat at the table with Buzz. Jessie handed a cup to the Ranger. "Here, I made it extra strong for ya." She glared at Woody. "You woke us up. You don't get any coffee."

Buzz gave her a look. "Now Jessie…"

"Pfft, all right." She dropped a cup in front of Woody. "You get tea." She then added under her breath, "Extra weak."

Woody pushed the empty cup aside. "Look, I know I sound nuts but I'm telling you it's her! Look!" Reaching under his hat, he pulled out a folded piece of paper. "I took this screen shot from the video and printed it out! Do you see?"

Buzz unfolded it and he and Jessie bent over to look. "Woody, this is a middle aged woman…"

"No, no, you Space Case! Not Doctor Marcella!"

"Doctor?"

Woody pointed to the piece of skirt sticking out from behind her. "There! Now do you get it?"

Jessie sat back looking stunned. "Son of a buildin' block…"

"Exactly."

Buzz looked shocked for a moment. Then his thick brows furrowed. "Wait…Woody, how do you know it's the same Bo? There must be other Little Bo Peep dolls, maybe even thousands. This could be…"

"Four hundred." The other two looked surprised at the Cowboy's quick answer. "She was limited edition one hundred and thirty-four out of four hundred." He sat back and added under his breath, "Though I thought she was one in a million."

Jessie clasped her hands to her heart. "Awww!" she cried loudly, making Woody jump.

Buzz cleared his throat. "Well, one of four hundred certainly does reduce the odds."

Woody flipped over the printed page to reveal an address scrawled in pen. "I went to Doctor Marcella's website. I couldn't find any more pictures of her, but I did get the address. It's in Berkeley. If I leave now, I can…"

"Whoa, whoa!" Buzz interrupted. "Slow down! You're not thinking this through!"

"Yes I am!"

"Listen to me! This isn't a few blocks away! Berkeley is the next town!"

Woody glared at him. "I don't care."

"And what if…" At this the Ranger faltered. "What if it isn't the Bo Peep we know? What if this Bo is limited edition one hundred and thirty-five?"

"I'll take my chances."

"But what if…"

Woody brought his hands down on the table. "Look Buzz! I need to do this! I can't go through the next hundred years of my life knowing I could've gotten her back and did nothing!" His energy began to drain, and he slumped back. "I…I can't give up on her, Guys. I can't lose her again."

Jessie shot Buzz a look. "Aw, Buzz, look at him! He still loves her!" She jumped up and circled around behind Woody. She grabbed his cheeks and chin in her little hand and squeezed. "How can ya say no to a face like this?"

"Jessie…"

"Please Buzz!" Jessie began to shake Woody's face up and down. "I'm yer Bestest Buddy and I need to find my true love!"

Woody finally shook loose. "Quit it! I'm not a ventriloquist dummy!"

Buzz sighed. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "All right, we'll…"

"All I'm asking is that you guys hold down the fort while I'm gone."

Jessie had returned to her chair. "What? What do you mean?"

"I'm not asking you to come with me. This is my decision, and it wouldn't be fair to drag you along. Besides, someone's gotta keep things together."

"So let it be Dolly!" Buzz said. "You can't possibility make it from Emeryville to Berkeley all by yourself!"

Jessie grasped her coffee cup. "It's a dangerous world out there for a toy…" she muttered darkly into the empty mug. Both males looked at her in surprise.

Shaking it off, Buzz turned back to Woody. "There's no way you can make this trip alone…" he paused. "And…there's no way I can let you. I'm going with you."

"But…"

Jessie interrupted. "And there's no way I'm letting you take Buzz anywhere without me! I'm goin' with you!"

"But…" Woody tried again. Jessie reached across the table and put her hand in the center. Buzz placed his large white hand on top of hers. They looked at Woody expectantly.

With a heavy sigh, he placed his hand on top of Buzz's. "Okay."

"Adventure is out there!"

Buzz looked at the Cowboy as the circle broke. "One thing. Just how do you plan on getting to Berkeley?"

Woody shrugged haplessly. "I just planned on walking."

Jessie jumped out of her chair, nearly knocking it over. "Eerrrrnnntttt! Negatory!" she shouted. "We're drivin'!"

Woody shot her a look. "And I suppose you're just going to make a Pizza Planet Truck appear out of thin air?"


A minute later, Woody found himself staring at a teal colored vintage model car. Jessie knocked him on the shoulder. "Told ya we have a garage, Sassyfras!" she said. "What'd you think was in there, Christmas decorations?" Running to the car, she jumped in the open top. "Road trip!"

Woody circled to the driver's side and got in. "Jessie, please! Will you try to take this seriously?"

"I am taking this seriously!" Reaching over, she began to fiddle with the tiny radio. Music began to blast.

"THEY SEE ME ROLLIN'…THEY HATIN'…PATROLLING THEY TRYIN' TO CATCH ME RIDIN' DIRTY…"

Jessie pulled up her knees and began to bob her head to the music like a bird.

"TRYIN' TO CATCH ME RIDIN' DIRTY… TRYIN' TO CATCH ME RIDIN' DIRTY… TRYIN' TO…"

Woody clicked the radio off. Putting his boot on the gas, he zoomed out of the doll house garage.