Chapter 12: Reunited At Last

As it was to be expected the kids continued to make their way through the forest without any major hurdles or detours,like Scheroder and Marcie had said earlier they were on a hiking trail and they made sure they followed it to a tee despite how little it was actually used by other people who came on by. The hike itself for the most part was actually pretty pleasant and even kind of relaxing,due to there being so many trees it was mostly cool and not very hot despite it being near the end of June,not to mention that they never ran into any bears,lions or tigers. All there was was the sounds of birds,the lovely summer breeze and their own banter that broke the silence every few minutes and during their lunch break.

It was relatively early into the evening as the sun was slowly starting to make it's daily decent and leave the forest in a blanket of night,but it wasn't super late either since they were all guaranteed at least 2 more hours of sunlight before it would get to be nighttime. Charlie Brown was slowly lagging behind all the others as he was far too focused on the map and making sure they always headed north on their compass,even to the point of bumping into trees and rocks by accident,he even fell in a river they had to use rocks to jump across by accident which resulted in a good laugh from everyone and his embarrassment,but his attention would thankfully be diverted back to the trail when he heard the voice of Patty call out to him from up ahead "Woah! Hey Chuck take a look at this!"

"Huh?" Charlie Brown asked back in confusion as he lifted his head up to see that Patty and the others were all standing on top of a nearby and relatively steep hill before Linus stated in awe "Wow,that is something." to which Sally called out once again "Come see this big brother!"

"I'll be there in a second everyone!" Charlie Brown called out to them as he put away the map and the compass and proceeded to slowly/cautiously climb the steep hill and join the others up top. Once he finally managed to make it to the top after tripping and falling down once,he took a deep breath and asked in a tired and woozy tone of voice "Alright,I'm up,what was it you guys...wanted to…..show me?" but slowed down as his eyes were quickly diverted to what everyone else was looking at,and it left him in complete awe.

Stretching out for as far as their eyes could see was a massive and huge stretch of trees,green fields and forestland. Granted it wasn't anything that they hadn't already seen up till that point on the car ride there,but being able to see it fully in person combined with the slowly setting sun giving it all a yellow/orange tint along with the sky and clouds,it was a truly marvelous sight.

"Wow. That is beautiful." Charlie Brown remarked in sheer awe of what he and the others were looking at as Linus nodded his head and agreed "Mother nature never disappoints with its beauty Charlie Brown,you just gotta wait for the perfect time to take a look at it." to which Sally happily sighed and swooned at the display "Its almost like its from a dream."

"You're sure right there Sally,it's literally a dream come true." Peppermint Patty laughed and playfully joked while Lucy couldn't help but be impressed by the visual spectacle as well "I have to admit,you can't beat or get that kind of view anywhere else." before Marcie smiled and added "I guess we're all lucky we got here when we did huh?" to which Scheroder calmly and finally suggested "This calls for a group photo right here,who has the camera?"

"I do. But why not let me be in a group photo? I've had to take all the pictures so far." Charlie Brown replied and politely asked as he took out the camera he brought along for the trip to which Peppermint Patty instantly agreed to take the photo while she snatched the camera away "You know what,why not? Get in there Chuck."

One by one everyone got into position for a group photo while Patty set up the camera and Charlie Brown got at the far end of the group near the edge of the hill since there wasn't that much room left. Once they were all ready and gave off huge smiles for the impending photo and just as Patty was about to hit the click button,Charlie Brown suddenly felt his foot slip as he fell right off the hill and landed on the ground down below with a loud thud.

"Chuck are you alright?!" Peppermint Patty asked in a panicked tone of voice as they all ran over to the edge of the cliff to see if Charlie Brown was alright to which the boy groaned in pain "I'm okay,I think." before Scheroder asked strangely calm "Do you wanna come back up and take it again."

"No thank you!" Charlie Brown yelled from down below as he slowly stood up and regained his posture before everyone else slid down the hill and thankfully didn't get bludgeoned along the way like he did. Once everyone made it down the hill and rejoined Charlie Brown,he wiped some of the dirt off his clothes and asked out of curiosity "How did I look in the photo?" to which Patty nervously replied as she handed the boy the photo "Well the thing is,you weren't really in it."

"Good grief." Charlie Brown rolled his eyes and groaned as he looked at the photo to see that he had already fallen off when Patty took the photo,leaving him completely out of it as he sighed and tried to look on the bright side of things "Well,at least y'all were in." before Lucy sternly suggested "You know what,I think it's time we make camp."

"What? Why now?" Linus asked in bewilderment that Lucy already wanted to set up camp despite there still being plenty of daylight left as she replied dumbfounded "Because it's gonna be night soon,so we might as well go ahead and hunker down for the knight."

"But there's still at least 2 hours left of sunlight left Lucy,I think that'd be a waste of our supplies" Marcie politely disagreed with Lucy's idea as she looked at her watch and the current height of the sun to come up with that conclusion to which the latter shrugged her arms and retorted "So?"

"So I think we should keep on going and make as much distance as we can. What do you think Charlie Brown?" Scheroder joined in the conversation and asked as Charlie Brown begun to sweat and nervously stammered "Well uh-" before being interrupted by Sally "Yeah you're the leader big brother,what are we gonna do?"

Charlie Brown's heart began to pound and he felt his stomach churn violently,he hadn't had to make a leader like decision like this ever sense the river race at Camp Remote,not to mention that he felt the heavy and stern stares of everyone including Snoopy and Woodstock pound down on him,but after a few more moments he finally spoke up and bluttered out "W-well Marcie said that we have at least 2 hours left of sunlight,so I suggest that we keep on going until it gets to dusk,that should give us about another hour to hike and enough sunlight for us to see while we set up camp."

"Alright that sounds good,so how about we use a democratic vote to see if we stay or keep on going?" Patty smiled and seemed to agree with Charlie Brown's idea as Lucy groaned and disagreed "Enough with the voting Patty,didn't we have enough of it at camp?" to which Scheroder surprisingly agreed with Lucy and added "And wasn't it your voting game that caused us boys to sleep out in the cold all night?"

"I think we should hold off the voting for now sir." Marcie couldn't help but disagree with Patty's idea as well,and knowing that she was being overruled,Patty ultimately decided to do away with the idea as she shrugged her arms and turned it down "Hey if y'all are voting against me,then we'll do away with the votes for now. C'mon lets go." to which Charlie Brown took another look at the compass and map and said "Ok,we continue to head north and if we don't find anything by dusk,we'll stop and set up camp."

"But it looks like the hiking trail is going east instead of north." Sally suddenly interjected with Charlie Brown's plan as he questioned in confusion while he lifted his head up "Huh? What do you mean?" only for him to quickly see why. As he and the others all looked up ahead,they would be greeted by the sight of the brown dirt hiking trail going east instead of north like it had been for the whole hike,leaving the northern path up ahead being nothing but a bigger barrage of trees and fully grown forests.

"Oh man. This is not good." Charlie Brown nervously said to himself as he looked at the compass to see that the north direction was leading them off the beaten path to which Lucy once again suggested "You know I think we should set up camp now and try to think of a new idea on how to get around this." before Patty sternly shut her down "Oh enough with the camping Lucille." to which the girl pouted and folded her arms.

"What do we do here?" Scheroder asked out of curiosity as it was Charlie Brown's call on what they would do to which the boy stood there in complete silence since he was clearly thinking it over while Marcie sighed and stated "This Devin kid Charles met said to keep going north,but the hiking trail is moving away and going east. I don't think we came all this way to get between a rock and a hard place."

After a few more moments of thinking and pondering,Charlie Brown seemed to have finally come to a decision as he nervously gulped and remarked "I don't know if you guys are gonna like this,but I think we should keep going north. I know the trail is moving east instead but Devin said to keep going north,what if we end up completely missing the orphanage if we keep following the trail?"

"But we'll be out in the middle of nowhere if we keep on going north. What if we get lost?" Sally asked out of a clear desire to go east and stay on the trail,but it seemed that Linus was quite alright with Charlie Brown's idea as he retorted "Hey we'll be fine Sally,if we keep going north and make it to the orphanage,all we have to do is head on south and we'll make it back to the rest stop in no time."

"Oh aren't you so smart?" Sally suddenly and sporadically agreed with the idea as she swooned over Linus to which the boy got red in the face and put his blanket over his head before Charlie Brown nodded his head and added "Linus is right. We need to continue heading north. We've been doing okay so far,and I think we'll all be okay if we continue to head north."

"Alright if you say so,but if we get lost or get eaten,I'll never speak to you again." Lucy sternly yet reluctantly obliged to go along with the plan before they would all be startled when they heard Snoopy suddenly happily shout from above "Heyyyyy!" to which they all jumped and immediately redirected their attention upward to see that Snoopy and Woodstock were standing at the top of a nearby tree. They both seemed to be looking at something off in the distance and they seemed to be oddly excited at the same time as Charlie Brown asked in confusion "What are you two doing up there?" to which Woodstock happily chirped something and Snoopy made an arm signal signifying that he wanted them to come up there.

"Alright I'm coming up." Charlie Brown sighed and reluctantly obliged to see what Snoopy wanted as he climbed up the tree branches and joined him and Woodstock up top. Once he finally made it up to the top of the tree,Charlie Brown wiped some of the gravel he got from the climb off his clothes and asked "Ok,what do you want to show me?" to which Snoopy immediately redirected his owner's head to the left to reveal a shocking sight. Staring back at the three travelers off in the distance was a large chateau like building with a clock tower at the very top,it looked to be a few miles away from them but it was still clearly visible as well.

Charlie Brown's eyes widened as soon as he saw the building because in the back of his mind he knew that had to be the orphanage,not just because it was the only thing they had seen out in the forest,but because it was 100% identical to what he saw in his dream. He didn't say a single word and only stared off into the distance while Snoopy and Woodstock both smiled at the boy since they were obviously happy for him while Patty called out and asked from down below "What do you see up there Chuck?" as Charlie Brown snapped out of his daze and stammered in excitement "I….I see the orphanage!" to which everyone else gasped at the mention and exclaimed in unison "WHAT?!"

"Yeah we see it up ahead,it's just a few more miles up north!" Charlie Brown ecstatically replied out of happiness that they finally found the orphanage as Lucy exclaimed in relief "Woo-how! We're almost there." to which Patty frantically suggested "Well what are we doing just standing here?! Come on and get down here already so we can go!"

"Okay I'll be right down." Charlie Brown laughed and retorted as Snoopy and Woodstock both jumped down from the tree so Sally and Marcie could catch them before Charlie Brown whispered to himself "Just hold on a little longer Rebecca,we're almost there." to which Scheroder chuckled and whispered to the others "I haven't seen him this happy in a long time."


Meanwhile back at the aforementioned orphanage,Rebecca had since given up any kind of hope that she would ever get out of her prison thanks to Mrs Hampton's stern rules and the fact that she tossed out her written letter with no intention of actually sending it anymore,unaware that she would be in for a huge surprise later on.

Rebecca was busy playing a friendly game of chess with Amy while Jasper was watching from the sidelines uninterested as usual,Rebecca was still trying to look on the positive side of things since it was the kind of kid she was,but it was definitely starting to prove to be very hard. Amy was very quick to notice that Rebecca seemed to be extremely depressed looking despite her being a bird as she tweeted something out in concern to which the girl sighed and replied with a bit of a smile "Oh it's nothing Amy,I'm fine." only for the bird to give off a disapproving glare signifying that she saw through her blatant lying.

"Alright I'm…...just a little peeved that mother is forbidding me to be adopted and step one foot outside and that I'm gonna be staying here all my life even when I get older." Rebecca ultimately caved in and admitted that she wasn't feeling good after all as Jasper jumped on top of the chess table with a small picture of Mrs Hampton and attempted to shove it off and break it,only for Rebecca to grab it before it hit the ground and interjected "No don't do that Jasper! You know I love my adoptive mother,she just needs to lighten up a bit and-"

Rebecca's rambling would however be interrupted when they all heard the sound of a door loudly opening down below as she felt her blood turn cold and stomach violently churn. "What was that?!" Rebecca whispered to herself in a panic before they all heard the voice of what sounded like a boy with a thick southern accent "Well looky here Herman,we found ourselves a chateau,and I thought these bad boys only existed in Europe."

"I don't recognize that voice,there's a stranger here! I'm hyperventilating here." Rebecca continued as she was clearly starting to have a nervous breakdown as Amy flew over to the stairs to see who this mysterious visitor was. Once Amy was able to get a good enough look at this new kid and who this Herman character was,she would be surprised with what she would be greeted by,but they definitely gave her an uncomfortable vibe as she flew back up and frantically tweeted something to Rebecca.

"What? We better hide?! And they're coming upstairs?!" Rebecca frantically asked in a nervous tone of voice as Amy nodded her head to which the girl and her two friends quickly used a nearby rope to hide on one of the many wooden pillars that held up the ceiling so they could get a good look at the intruder. Rebecca could feel her heart pounding violently and she was starting to steam up in fear,for this was the first time a stranger had ever broken in while she was home alone,and also the first time she had seen another kid again due to the voice.

After about 10 more seconds of waiting,Rebecca and her two friends started to hear the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs and after a few quick moments,the visitors had finally reached the top and revealed themselves. As Rebecca stared at the two strangers,she was quite confused by what she saw due to the fact that one of them wasn't even a person at all and instead what appeared to be a black wolf,and the other stranger despite being a boy was equally as weird looking.

The boy looked to be around Rebecca's age and was wearing much more old fashioned overalls compared to her or most other kids she had seen,short brown hair topped off with a brown and black fedora,his two front teeth were missing revealing a small hole whenever he smiled,a small worn backpack,and finally an eye patch covering his left eye. Rebecca was quite unsure of whether to classify this guy as a threat or just a stranger,since he did seem to sport a very friendly and enthusiastic grin on his face,but on the other hand he still looked very rugged and had a wolf as a companion as she asked herself in confusion "Who is this boy?" to which Amy sternly and fiercely pounded her fists together.

"Hold on you guys,I don't know if this guy is gonna be a problem." Rebecca quietly and nervously requested as Amy reluctantly held herself back before they heard the boy happily remark "Man look at this place Herman. We could easily fit all of us in here,as long as there aren't any people livin here already or else we'll have to find someplace else to hunker down."

'Well at least he's not trying to mug us." Rebecca whispered to herself in relief unaware that the boy actually heard it as he and the wolf immediately redirected their attention upward and asked "Hey Herman did you hear that? Who on earth is up there?"

"Oh man,he heard me!" Rebecca nervously panicked in fear that she would get discovered as Amy suddenly darted right out of the corner and started violently pecking the boy in the head as he yelled "Hey! Oh dagnabbit help me Herman!" only for the wolf to ignore him as it started cackling at the display of a boy being attacked by a bird.

"Amy what are you doing?!" Rebecca yelled in a mixture of anger and bewilderment as she reluctantly jumped down from the ceiling and tried to catch Amy and stop her assault while the boy asked in awe when he saw that he wasn't alone "What in the world?! Where'd you come from?!" to which Rebecca frantically retorted "I'll tell you later! Amy get back here and stop pecking at him!" only for the bird to also ignore her as she tweeted something very demeaning out.

"Amy! Where did you learn that kind of mean language?!" Rebecca gasped and angrily asked as she had finally managed to grab ahold of Amy before the mysterious boy added while he rubbed his head in pain "That bird of yours has a mighty powerful beak,and I'll have you know little birdie that I am not a hobo!"

"I'm so sorry whatever your name,it's just that Amy gets very skittish around strangers-" Rebecca nervously tried to apologize for Amy's sudden attack on the boy's head but suddenly stopped when she realized that the boy seemed to have understood the bird like she could as she stammered "Wait…...did you just understand Amy?"

"Yeah,and she's got a perty foul mouth if I say so myself." The boy nonchalantly replied as he put his knocked off fedora back on before his eyes widened at the revelation that this girl seemed to have understand the bird as well and asked "Wait…..can you understand the bird too?"

Rebecca was far too shocked and confused by the situation presented in front of her that she couldn't even bring herself to answer the boy's question until he suddenly grew a long smile and ecstatically exclaimed "Well I'll be darned! Hey Herman we got ourselves another animal whisperer,and I thought I was the only one."

However the boy was quick to notice that Rebecca didn't seem very excited like he was,in fact she looked downright terrified for some unknown reason as he asked in confusion "Hey what's wrong girl?" before he got an idea and chuckled while he held out his hand "Oh please pardon my manners miss-" but stopped when Rebecca started to slowly back away with a look of uncertainty.

"Hey….it-it's just a handshake miss. It's alright-" The boy politely and kindly tried to comfort the clearly frightened girl before she interrupted him and timidly asked "Who are you,and what are you doing here?" to which the boy finally decided to introduce himself "Well here goes,my name is Edward but you can just call me Ed,flows off the tongue better. And this right here is my trusty companion Herman the wolf."

"Hi Herman." Rebecca quietly greeted the wolf with a wave of her hand and a very faint smile before Ed continued "And if you're wondering what I'm doing out here,well I've never really belonged anywhere,parents dumped my scrawny behind off at an orphanage as soon as I was born."

"Aww,I'm sorry Ed." Rebecca started to show a little bit of sympathy for Ed being an orphan as well before he shook his head and retorted "You really shouldn't be miss,to be honest I think it was for the better,I don't think I would have fit in too well with normal people,with me being an animal whisper for as long as I could ever remember to the point of practically being able to talk to the critters and all,and apparently all the other kids at the orphanage thought so too since no one ever ate with me,played with me,and always made sure to avoid me at all costs. So when the time was just right,I decided to just pack up my things and live my life out in the great outdoors,and it's been like that ever since. Just travelin the world with me,Herman and some of my other pals,I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. Now with my life story out of the way,would you mind telling me yours?"

After a few more moments of silence,Rebecca finally decided to introduce herself as well as she stammered "R-Rebecca Hornwell. And I see you've become familiar with Amy,and lastly this is my friend Jasper the toad." before she held out the aforementioned toad as it croaked to which Ed happily remarked while his face began to turn red "Well that's more like it Rebecca,that's actually a nice name you got there,it's the only thing I knew about my real mother. So uh…...you're an animal whisperer too? I just thought I was the only one after all these years." before Rebecca nodded her head and confirmed that she was "Yeah but…..I wasn't always like this you know,stuck in an orphanage out in the middle of a forest with only two animals as my friends. For the first few years of my life,it was just me and my parents out on a small country farm in Kansas,until one summer when we decided to temporarily move to Sparkyville for the…...and I met a boy there. He was the only kid who was remotely nice to me and didn't try to bully me every time I walked down the street,we quickly became good friends and for those months we did everything together,went to the beach,went to the playground,and unfortunately I wasn't able to see the 4'th of July fireworks since I was sick that day,but he did decide to come over and watch a movie with me while I was sick. But then the day came when we had to move back,and it was so sudden but there was a car crash on the highway that led into the woods,there was a fire…..a-a-and then-"

Rebecca was starting to tear up as she was clearly remembering the death of her parents more vividly almost as if it had just happened before she continued "And just like that my parents were gone,and I found myself here alone for all these years. I've seen so many kids get adopted and taken to a new home over the years while I was always the odd one out,but when all the kids were gone and no more ever showed up,it's just been me here with no one,and it's all because my new mother won't let me get adopted,I don't know why but she just won't." Ed was left completely shocked and bewildered after hearing Rebecca's life story as his jaw hung wide open and Rebecca was left on the verge of tears after having to vividly remember everything she had gone through.

Eventually Ed finally snapped out of his awestruck daze and started to develop a vengeful and determined look on his face as he took out what appeared to be a baseball bat from his backpack and asked "Alright,where is she,if she won't let you go politely,I'll make her." to which Rebecca tried to dissuade him from using violence "No Ed you don't need to do that,besides she's not here anyway,she's on a business trip and won't be back for a few more days I think. Plus…...maybe I should stop trying to escape anyway."

"What?! You're just gonna let yourself rot here for the rest of your life because some old hag wants you to be her daughter? This is your perfect chance to leave girl!" Ed asked in shock that Rebecca seemed to have given up trying to get out as she politely retorted "Look Ed I know you mean well here,but you don't understand. I've tried to escape so many times,I tried to write a letter to my friend in Sparkyville and I tried to convince my mother to just let me go twice,but she still won't bite. I know what you're thinking,is this really supposed to be my life? Just sitting around and waiting for someone to come and get me even though I know it will never happen? With the way my life has been so far,maybe it is."

Rebecca: Guess we are all born with parts to play. Some of us are stars and some are just in the way. I know I was meant for something,but that's never what my story brings,and yet I keep on waiting.

When you have the passion and the drive. You expect your moment center stage to arrive. I show up with heart a blazing,ready to achieve amazing things,but I'm left waiting in the wings.

I hear my cue and yet I'm kept there waiting. Know what to do and still I stand there waiting. It's always someone else who sings,while I'm left waiting in the wings.

And so I keep on keeping on,my chances come and then I blink and they're gone. Always overlooked unfairly,while pretending that it barely stings,but it stings yes it stings.

And I'll shed no tears,I'll only keep on waiting! If no one cheers,well I can keep on waiting! Who cares how loud,the silence rings,you'll find me waiting in the wings.


However Rebecca and Ed's discussion on whether or not she should leave the orphanage and try to find a new home would be suddenly interrupted when they heard the front door open again from downstairs,although it would be much more polite and quiet before they heard a boy's voice call out "Hello? Hello? Anyone here?" to which another voice that sounded like a girl's added "Is anyone home? We're just looking for someone."

"Uh…...are those friends of yours?" Rebecca timidly asked Ed as she was starting to feel nervous again as Ed shook his head and denied it "No way Rebecca,you're the only other kid I've seen for quite some time. These are strangers." before they heard another boy call out from below "Rebecca are you here?"

"They know my name?! Are they here for me?!" Rebecca gasped at the revelation that these new strangers seemed to have known her name as Ed heroically replied while he straightened out his fedora and raised the sleeves of his shirts up "I don't know,but I'll make sure you don't find out. Herman,Amy,Jasper stay here and look after Rebecca,I'll deal with these guys." before he snuck off to try and take care of the intruders,leaving Rebecca alone with the baseball bat.

Once Ed made it over to the stairs and was able to get a good look at the strangers,he would be quite surprised by what he saw. They all appeared to be kids that looked around his and Rebecca's age along with a black and white beagle and a small yellow canary,but Ed could have sworn that the beagle and one of the boys in particular looked oddly familiar.

However Ed would quickly brush this strange sense of deja vu aside as he jumped right off the edge of the stairs and shouted "Timber!" to which the kids immediately redirected their attention upward to see Ed about to land right on top of them.

"What the-" Linus asked in confusion of what was going on before he was swiftly interrupted when the boy landed right on top of his head and started punching him like crazy as the others instantly tried to get him off despite how weirded out they were.

"Hey got off of my sweet baboo you hobo!" Sally angrily yelled as she started throwing whatever she could find sitting around at the boy to which he yelled amidst his assault "I am not a hobo!" before Peppermint Patty added while she tried to punch the boy in the face and knock him off "Get off of our friend you freak!"

"Get off of my brother! Only I can rag on him like this!" Lucy demanded in anger and scorn while she tried to pull the mysterious boy off her brother as he sarcastically retorted "Oh thank you so much Lucy!" All the while Charlie Brown,Snoopy,Woodstock,Marcie and Scheroder were merely and nervously watching this display from the sidelines in utter confusion not knowing what to do in this kind of situation.

"Don't worry up there,I'll protect you Rebecca if it's the last thing I do,or my name isn't Ed!" The boy shouted at the top of his lungs on the verge of being pried off Linus as Charlie Brown's eyes widened out of shock as soon as he heard the boy's name. "Hold on a second." He thought to himself in confusion as he could have sworn that the name "Ed" sounded very familiar before the boy was finally thrown off of Linus and into a nearby wall as Peppermint Patty pounded her fists together and angrily remarked "All right,let's get mm!" to which Lucy and Sally retorted in unison "Yeah!"

"Oh gold nuggets." Ed nervously whispered to himself as he was preparing for the beat down of a lifetime,but just as Patty and the other two girls were about to lay the smack down on him,Charlie Brown suddenly came in between them and yelled "Hold on guys!"

"What's the big idea big brother? He jumped Linus and nearly killed him." Sally angrily lamented her brother for trying to get in between their assault on Ed as Linus straightened out his messed up hair and remarked in a woozy tone of voice "That kid has some issues." before Charlie Brown replied "I know but…..I think this guy's actually a friend of mine."

"Huh?!" Everyone in the room gasped at the possibility that Charlie Brown might have known this mysterious boy as even Ed raised an eyebrow and asked "Now looke here mister,if I knew you I wouldn't have jumped your friend over there in the first place." to which Charlie Brown turned around to face the boy. He took a long hard look at the now dirty and slightly bruised boy before he eventually asked "Ed? Is that you?" to which the boy developed a puzzled frown and slowly stood up.

Ed seemed to stare at Charlie Brown quite intently as well much to the concern of the others as Linus readied his blanket in case he needed it and Patty cracked her fists,but after a few more moments Ed finally pointed at Charlie Brown and meekly asked "Wait a sec…...Charlie Brown?" to which the latter merely kept silent. After about 10 more seconds Ed suddenly grew a large smile and started to happily laugh as he exclaimed "Well howdy there Charlie Brown! What on earth are you doing out here?!" before he gave the boy a big ole crushing bear hug to which he replied nearly out of breath "Hi there…...Ed. I could ask the same to you." while the others merely watched with confusion.

However it seemed that Ed's reunion with Charlie Brown was actually loud enough for Rebecca to hear all the way upstairs as she instantly felt herself turn ghost white and her eyes widened as far as they could possibly go,she have to had heard that wrong. She hadn't heard the name Charlie Brown come from someone else that wasn't Mrs Hampton for years,but now it seemed that he was here in the orphanage.

"Amy,Jasper,oh my god he's here. Charlie Brown's here. What's he doing here?!" Rebecca quietly and frantically whispered to herself in a mixture of happiness and confusion as she snuck over to the stairs to try and get a look at the kids,and just as she was expecting/hoping,Charlie Brown was indeed down there getting a massive bear hug courtesy of Ed. He looked exactly the way he did the last time she saw him aside from an increase in his height,he still had the same round head and the same old yellow shirt with the black zig-zag across it. Rebecca then placed her hand over her mouth in an attempt not to alert him of her presence just yet as she snuck away from the stairs and ran into her room and happily screamed into her pillow.


Meanwhile back down stairs Ed had finally managed to let go of Charlie Brown and allow him to catch his breath as he had since noticed Snoopy and exclaimed "Well hi there Snoopy! Come over here you little hound dog!" to which the beagle quickly remembered his encounter with Ed in the woods and happily gave him a hug as well while Ed asked "How have you been buddy?! Man today just keeps getting better and better,hey Herman Snoopy's here,come on down."

Afterwards Herman quickly came jumping down the stairs and made it to the front floor of the orphanage much to the awe of the others as Patty's confused glare turned into an excited smile as she exclaimed in awe "Woah a wolf!" to which Sally on the other hand screamed at the sight of it and hid behind Linus.

"Relax he's friendly!" Ed laughed and tried to calm Sally down as Herman and Snoopy shook paws and gave each other a reunion hug before Linus brushed it all aside and rationally tried to figure out what was going on "Well hold on a second here,who are you? What are you doing here? And how do you two know each other?"

"Well...it's a bit of a long story." Charlie Brown timidly chuckled and replied before he continued "Well do y'all remember when I ended up running away after that one baseball game? Well part of the reason I was away for so long is because I ended up hurting myself really bad in the woods,and Ed here happened to find me and he nursed me up and even taught me some survival skills. He's also an orphan and an animal whisperer."

"Yep it's all true,and me and Snoopy ended up meeting in the woods when he ended up running away as well from what my memory serves." Ed nodded his head and backed up Charlie Brown's statement with a smug grin on his face before Patty decided to let bygones be bygones and introduced herself to Ed as she held out her hand "Well you sure sound like an oddball Ed,but to be honest that's the kind of people I like. Name's Peppermint Patty."

"Howdy there Patty. Name's Edward but you can all call me Ed as Chuck over there kindly displayed." Ed gleefully greeted Patty as he shook her hand before Linus walked up to him and remarked "Well at least it's not just Rebecca we'll find today. Linus Van Pelt." to which Charlie Brown suddenly perked up and exclaimed "Oh yeah that's what we're here for,Rebecca where are you?!"

"I'm right here." An angelic and absolutely beautiful sounding voice instantly answered Charlie Brown's answer from behind to which everyone except for Ed gasped at the mention and redirected their attention over to the stairs with the exception of Charlie Brown as he felt his stomach churn and his forehead begin to sweat before Linus softly whispered "Charlie Brown,it's her."

"Wow,I don't say this very often,but she is pretty." Lucy couldn't help but admit at the sight of her as Snoopy and Woodstock quietly exclaimed at her beauty as well "Ooh!" before the former anxiously tugged at Charlie Brown's shirt. After a few more moments,Charlie Brown finally decided that it was time to face Rebecca as he nervously gulped and whispered to herself "Here goes nothing Charles." before he mustered up all of his inner strength and slowly turned around,and what he would see would shake him to his inner core.

Standing at the top of the stairs and slowly walking down them was a beautiful young girl around everyone else's age with long golden blonde hair and a bright purple dress with a violet colored bow tied to the back. Charlie Brown instantly felt himself turn bright red at the sight of her as he started to walk towards the stairs and even Rebecca seemed to blush a little at the sight of him as well. Once Charlie Brown and Rebecca were both at the base of the stairs and were fully staring at each other,the former finally decided to speak up and greet his long lost friend "Rebecca…...is it you?" to which the latter blushed once more and greeted him back as she looked down at her feet "Hi Charlie Brown."

However Charlie Brown slowly started to develop a guilt filled and saddened frown as he started to tear up and tried to apologize for forgetting her "Rebecca…..I am so sorry for everything. I-" before being swiftly interrupted when Rebecca gave him a huge and heartfelt hug while she happily whispered "This is real." to which Charlie Brown slowly joined in. Snoopy and Woodstock both "awed" at the sight of it and Linus,Sally and Lucy smiled at each other and Patty patted Marcie on the shoulder. It seemed that it was a happy and tearful reunion for all and once Rebecca and Charlie Brown finally let go of each other,the former started to laugh uncontrollably which the latter quickly joined in before she exclaimed "I-I just can't believe this! Y-you're really here and still wearing those same old clothes of yours. You haven't aged a day." to which Charlie Brown chuckled and retorted "I could honestly say the same to you,you do look a little different but I'm just glad you're here."

Rebecca's attention however would be soon directed over to the others as she developed a slightly puzzled look on her face and asked in confusion and curiosity "Uh…..do you know these guys?" to which Charlie Brown turned around and decided to introduce them "Oh yeah,these are some of my friends from back home. Why don't y'all introduce yourselves?"

The first up was Linus since he had finally managed to straighten himself back up as he waved over to Rebecca and greeted her "Hi there,my name's Linus Van Pelt,and over there is my sister Lucy." to which the latter calmly joked "Don't ask him about the blanket."

"All you should know is that it's the fastest blanket in the west,and this is my younger sister Sally." Charlie Brown nodded his head and decided to introduce his sister as she politely waved over to Rebecca before Charlie Brown continued "And this is my dog S-" but stopped when he noticed that Snoopy was already kissing Rebecca's hand as he rolled his eyes and continued "Snoopy."

"You never told me you had a dog." Rebecca happily remarked since she was very fond of dogs while she started to scratch Snoopy's ear to which Charlie Brown kindly corrected her "Actually I got him after you…...moved." before Woodstock suddenly got right up in Rebecca's face.

"Oh! Who's this?" Rebecca softly gasped at the sight of the yellow bird and asked as Charlie Brown clarified things for her "Oh that's just Woodstock,he's one of Snoopy's friends." to which Rebecca gently shook hands with Woodstock and remarked "Well it seems you've become a bit of an animal person. Actually speaking of which." before she whistled at the top of the stairs and Amy and Jasper came coming down.

After they both got on top of Rebecca's shoulders and were now facing the whole group,Woodstock immediately started blushing at the sight of Amy while Rebecca decided to introduce the animals to everyone "This is Amy and Jasper,they're some of my only friends around here. Amy,be nice." to which the bird cautiously flew around everyone and examined them while Rebecca continued "Amy gets a little cautious around newcomers,just be wary about that. And Jasper is mostly alright with anyone."

"A little maybe the biggest understatement of the entire millennium." Ed scoffed and quietly disagreed with Rebecca's choice usage of the term before Scheroder cleared his throat and introduced himself "Pardon but uh….my name is Scherdoer…..Rebecca is it?"

"Hi there Scheroder….uh what's with the piano?" Rebecca greeted Scheroder back and asked in curiosity when she noticed the red piano in Scheroder's hands as he nonchalantly retorted "A musician makes sure to bring an instrument wherever he goes,just in case he needs it." Afterwards Patty and Marcie decided to lastly introduce themselves as the former cheerfully greeted Rebecca "Hi there,names Peppermint Patty,I'll say Chuck over there told us a lot about you." to which Marcie added while she cleaned the dust from the air off her glasses "He sure did huh sir? I'm Marcie." before she shook hands with Rebecca.

Meanwhile Amy was continuing to inspect the gang and make sure they were okay to be around,and as soon as she reached Woodstock who was standing in Snoopy's purple dog dish on top of his head,the yellow bird's blushing greatly intensified as he started steaming and shaking violently,and even Amy seemed to blush a little but nowhere near as intensely before she quickly flew away and perched on Rebecca's shoulder. Afterwards Woodstock flew out of the dog dish and merely floated in mid air with hearts appearing around him,Snoopy was very quick to assume that Woodstock was starting to fall in love as he merely smiled and rolled his eyes at the display.


It now seemed that everyone was finally and properly introduced to each other and Rebecca had managed to calm herself down as she asked "Well now that we're all…...acquainted,what are y'all doing here anyway? And how'd you find this place anyway?" to which Charlie Brown stammered while he pulled out both of the pieces of paper he brought including the flyer for the orphanage "Well you see,I got your letter and we decided to come out here to…...get you a new home."

Rebecca on the other hand was quite confused by what they meant by that since she hadn't recalled sending off a letter of any sort as she raised an eyebrow and asked for clarification "M-my letter? What letter?" to which Marcie tried to jog her memory while Charlie Brown handed her the letter "The letter you sent to Charles? It said you were very lonely here and that you wanted to see him?"

As Rebecca glossed through the written letter Charlie Brown handed her,she started to slowly realize that this was the letter she wrote the day her mother had left as her eyes widened out of shock and she stuttered "Y-y-you guys…...this is the letter I wrote but…...I never really intended to send it."

"Huh?" Charlie Brown replied in confusion of this strange revelation as Linus politely asked "What do you mean by that Rebecca? Didn't you want to see him?" to which Charlie Brown snapped out of his confused daze and added "Yeah you said you wanted to talk to me about something? Was that "something" about wanting a new home away from here? Because we can get you out of here and give you a loving family….and maybe you can live in Sparkyville again for real this time. Don't you want that?"

Rebecca was utterly bewildered at the fact that they came all the way out here just so they could get her out of this prison of hers as she grew a large smile and replied on the verge of tears "Oh Charlie Brown,you guys all did this for-" but that enthusiasm and happiness would quickly fade away when the harsh and stern words of her mother rung and echoed in her head "Rebecca,don't ever ask to leave this orphanage again." and "ENOUGH WITH THE ADOPTION REBECCA! YOU ARE NEVER LEAVING THIS ORPHANAGE! EVER!" as her smile faded away into a saddened frown.

"N-no. I can't leave,I have to stay here." Rebecca nervously and timidly stammered as she slowly started to back away up the stairs and Charlie Brown replied in shock "What?! No Rebecca,you don't have to live like this anymore!" to which Ed added while they all followed her up the stairs "We were just talking about this earlier,you don't have to let that witch of a woman control your life."

"You're making a big mistake here Rebecca,come with us please." Linus pleaded that Rebecca come with them in agreement as Charlie Brown added on the verge of a panic attack "Rebecca you need to listen to us,don't be afraid."

Charlie Brown: Please don't shut me out again,please don't slam the door,you don't have to keep your distance anymore.

'Cause for the first time in forever,I finally understand. For the first time in forever,we can fix this hand in hand,we can head through that forest together,you don't have to live in fear. 'Cause for the first time in forever,I will be right here.

Rebecca: Charlie,please go back home,your life awaits. Go enjoy the sun and laugh and play and skate.

Charlie Brown: Yeah but-

Rebecca: I know,you mean well,but leave me be. Yes I'm alone but I'm alone and safe,so stay away and leave me be.

"Rebecca are you even listening to yourself? What's gotten into you?" Charlie Brown asked in awe that Rebecca was even considering staying behind as she tried to explain herself "My mother has forbidden me from ever being adopted and leaving this place,I've tried to escape so many times but every time I fail. What's the point of trying if I'll just get cooked up here again anyway?"

"But Rebecca she's not even your real mother,she just found you and is now dictating your life. It's not right and you have to know that." Linus shook his head and tried to knock some sense into Rebecca as Patty added in frustration "Rebecca if you stay out here you're making a big mistake." to which Sally fiercely added "Our brothers didn't drag us all out here for nothing. You're coming with us."

It was then that Charlie Brown realized that the borderline threatening sounding tone from Sally and Patty was certainly not helping things as he walked right up to Rebecca and pleaded once more "Rebecca….listen to me,you have lived like this for far too long…...and it's all my fault. I tried to forget about you after I thought you had died,and it caused you to be stuck out here for all these years. And I just want to make it up to you in anyway I possibly can,if you just come with us to Sparkyville we can easily find you a better and more suitable home for you. Please let me be your friend again?" before he held out his hand. As Rebecca stared at Charlie Brown's held out hand,she started to think things over intensely in her head,on the one hand her mother had forbidden her to ever leave the orphanage and she would be deliberately disobeying her by doing this,but on the other hand she would finally have a chance to live the life she wanted for so long.

After about 30 more seconds,Rebecca had finally made up her mind as she started to tear up and grow a small smile before she took Charlie Brown's head and finally obliged "You don't even have to ask for that." to which everyone immediately started cheering in excitement. Snoopy,Woodstock and Sally started happily dancing,Lucy and Linus actually came together for a hug which was very surprising coming from them,Charlie Brown and Rebecca gave each other another hug before Marcie patted Charlie Brown on the shoulder and happily stated "You finally did it,well done Charles." to which Patty laughed and remarked "I was worried we'd have to knock you out and bring you back home ourselves!" which resulted in everyone including the animals having a laugh.


Sometime later the gang along with Ed were all out and about on the front lawn of the orphanage with all their supplies in hand as Lucy yawned and asked "How much longer till we can set up camp?" to which Marcie looked at the current height of the sun and her watch and speculated "It looks like we got at least 30 minutes left of sunlight." before Charlie Brown called out "Rebecca you coming?"

"I'll be right down everyone!" Rebecca happily replied from her bedroom window while Amy and Jasper happily sat down on her shoulders before she sighed and remarked "I just can't believe it you guys,I'm actually getting out of here after all these years. I keep expecting myself to wake up under the clock tower or something like that,but no…...this is all real."

Rebecca: Look at the world so close and I'm halfway to it. Look at it all so big do I even dare? Look at me there at last,I just have to do it.

Should I? No…..here I go.

Afterwards Rebecca dashed right out of her room and came sprinting down the stairs at a speed she never thought she could muster up,but as soon as she reached the still open front door,she stopped dead in her tracks. Instead she merely stared at the others and the huge forest awaiting her outside with just a little bit of uncertainty left inside her,but it was when she saw Charlie Brown kindly call out to her "Come on,it's alright." that she finally decided to step outside for the very first time.

The feeling of fresh green grass under her feet and feeling the hot and setting sun shine directly on her was a feeling she never would have thought she'd ever feel again as she started to laugh uncontrollably in excitement while the others watched with glee.

Just smell the grass,the dirt,just like I dreamed they'd be! Just feel that summer breeze,the way it's calling me! For like the first time ever I'm completely free!

Afterwards Rebecca decided to run straight on into the forest and climb up one of the many trees as she was already starting to embrace her freedom.

I could go running,and racing,and dancing,and chasing,and leaping,and bounding,hair flying,heart pounding,and splashing,and reeling and finally feeling,now's when my life begins!

"Waiting In The Wings","For The First Time In Forever Reprise",and "When Will My Life Begin Reprise 2" Copyright Of Walt Disney Records