"The World is Ahead" from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey soundtrack.
Part 3: Graduation Day
Fredrick Bradley Jones had done a lot of scary things. He had flown antique fighter jets against aliens. He had fought mummies and pirates and mobsters. He had nearly died at least a dozen times. He had had dinner with Daphne's parents. But today was the scariest of all. Today was graduation day and he was about to be late.
Hastily he grabbed his lucky wallet, his orange bandana, his tin of mints, and his cap and gown and booked it out of the house. The Coolsville clock tower loomed in the distance, ticking off minutes until it began ringing. Naturally today had to be the day that the van is in the shop he thought as he pulled on his robes while running down the street. Several neighbors waved at him and laughed nostalgically. Sure, it's funny for you. The school came into view and he burst through the door just as everyone was lining up for the rehearsal.
Everybody was already there; Shaggy, Jimmy, Velma, Marcie, Eric, Shannon, Minga, Dell, Red. And there was Daphne, standing their waiting for him looking stunning, angry, but stunning.
"Sorry" He panted as he ran up to her. "Overslept."
"It's fine" She laughed, fixing his crooked cap. "Just get on stage."
The rehearsal lasted three hours and then everyone was free to go until the real thing at eight. Still, parents and families were already arriving, getting parking spaces and buying last minute gifts. He could see Velma's parents already demanding photos. Dell's father was high-fiving him. Eric's mother was frantically trying to stall him while her girlfriend hid a graduation present in the trunk of their car. The Blakes were talking to Fred's own parents, now there was a scary thought.
He walked across the street to where he saw Shaggy sitting under a tree with Scooby. He was absently scratching Scooby's ears while staring at the wolf charm around his neck.
He looked up as Fred approached. "Like, any word on the castle, or those people I asked you about."
A few months back Shaggy had asked that Fred look into a castle he had been dreaming about, and a couple named Seamus and Fiona. In the time since he had exhausted every resource he had, those resources being Eric, Dell, and Marcy, who made no secret of how exhausted they were.
"I'm going to meet them at the coffee shop in a bit, you wanna come?"
Shaggy nodded and a while later he and Scooby followed Fred down the street. They entered the small café and met Eric and the others by the back. Shaggy was grateful to each of them. All of them had assisted in cases before, but this was different. This was something personal and he knew that they and Fred had been working for months to help him find answers. They all had their own lives, college applications, school. All four had girlfriends that they were away from right now just to help out. Shaggy could not help but feel immense gratitude.
"What's the latest?" Fred asked sliding into their booth.
"Well…" Eric smirked. "Dell's ecstatic, I'm exhausted, and Marcie's girlfriend might think she's having an affair…"
"I'll explain things to Abby for you" Fred said awkwardly. "But have you found anything?"
"That depends" Eric leaned back in his seat. "Shaggy, when did your mom's side of the family come to America?"
"Like, uh, around the Civil War I think."
"Alright, Marcie you explain what you found then…" Eric stood up. "I'm gonna get another round of espressos… anyone else want anything?"
Fred and Shaggy looked at him worriedly as he went up to the counter. A few cups already lined their table and there was a noticeable shake in his hands.
"Like, is he alright?"
"Don't worry about him, he's just nervous about tonight, Shannon and Daphne's whole family is coming to the ceremony and I think they kinda scare him."
"Yeah, they scare me too" Fred said. "So, what'd you find?"
"Well, there was a couple in Ireland, around the late eighteen forties named Seamus and Fiona O'Flannery. Now they disappeared from the record books toward the end of the decade, but just before the civil war, two Irish siblings by the names of Alexander and Marion O'Flannery settled down in America. If we look at the records, their ages match up with Seamus and Fiona's children Alexander and Marion back in Kilkenny, Ireland, which as I understand it, is where your family came from. But here's where it all comes together, wanna take a guess at where they settled when they got here?"
"Like, uh, Boston?"
"So, close…" Marcie smiled. "They settled in a small town called Oakhaven."
"Raggy" Scooby looked up him excitedly.
"I know bud" Shaggy nodded. "So, I'm, like, dreaming about ancestors?"
"Not the craziest part…" Dell said, finally looking up from his computer. "I ran the sketch Jimmy made based on your description of the castle. Tell, me, ever heard of O'Flannery Hall?"
"O'Flannery what now?"
"Shaggy, those people, that castle you saw, it was theirs, O'Flannery Hall."
"Like…" Shaggy stared at him in disbelief. "My family has a castle?"
"Oh my god!" Fred let his mouth hang open. "Your family is rich! Your first car had no air conditioner… and no roof!"
"Hey, we might not, like, have the money anymore. My mom's always been quiet about her family. Both her parents died before she even met my dad, heck I only just found out that she had a brother." Shaggy unconsciously fingered the charms around his neck.