Chapter 14: Up In The Air

For a good few minutes everyone thought they had hit rock bottom,thanks to Charlie Brown and Rebecca accidentally losing the map and the compass in the storm due to a mudslide,they all thought they were hopelessly stranded out in the woods with no way of ever getting home. However it seemed that Ed was more than willing to be their guardian angel since he and Herman would use their witt,survival skills and the later's sense of smell to try and get them back to the rest stop in no time.

It was around noon,about 5 hours since they first started their second hike and the sun was hanging directly above the travelers in the still completely clear sky. So as they could imagine,it was starting to get pretty hot and humid as Lucy groaned and asked "How long have we been out here? I feel like I'm on the verge of melting." to which Ed replied in his standard enthusiastic voice "Well if my memory serves right miss,about 5 hours."

"5 hours?! Oh good grief." Lucy exclaimed in utter shock that they had been out there for so long as Scheroder sighed and respectfully asked "Ed I don't mean to question or butt in on your navigation skills,but are you sure we're going the right way?"

"Of course I am boy. I am many things,but a liar I am not." Ed confidently turned around and retorted as Herman continued to follow the trail before Charlie Brown tried to lighten up the mood and suggested "So uh,I Spy?" to which Marcie politely interjected "There's nothing to really spy out here Charles,it's just trees,rocks and grasslands."

"Well there's gotta be something we can do to pass the time." Patty stated in an attempt to find some way to make their hike a little less monotonous before Linus suddenly chuckled and remarked "Rebecca I think Snoopy likes you." to which the whole group turned around to see that Snoopy was laying on top of Rebecca's head while Amy,Woodstock and Jasper merely laid on his back.

"I think he does too. What a loveable sweetheart he is." Rebecca sighed and agreed with Linus's assumption as she scratched the dog's hanging ear before Lucy scoffed and retorted "Oh yeah well wait until you have to start living around him every day,then you'll be singing a different tune."

"You know speaking of which,if we can get you a house near us in town,maybe he'd be alright for some play dates. That is if Rerun isn't busy hogging him." Charlie Brown suddenly perked up and suggested as Rebecca grew a faint smile and supported the idea "Actually I'd love that idea,if it's alright with the Snoopster of course. But uh,who's Rerun?"

"He's me and Lucy's younger brother." Linus nonchalantly explained who Rerun was to Rebecca before Lucy nodded her head and continued "He insisted that he come along with us when he found out what we were doing,but we told him that it was too dangerous since we'd be out in the woods." to which Linus finally concluded their explanation "So in order to make sure he wouldn't be alone all by himself,we decided to write a letter and invite one of Snoopy's brothers over for his company,Spike. He should have gotten there sometime after we left."

"Aww that was really sweet of ya'll to think of your brother like that. So I take it Snoopy's not an only pup then?" Rebecca smiled and complimented the two Van Pelt siblings for looking out for their younger brother which resulted in Linus blushing a little before Charlie Brown clarified things more specifically "Yeah he's got a lot of siblings actually,7 to be precise. There's Spike out in California,Olaf and Andy,Marbles,Belle out in Kansas,and lastly Rover and Molly."

"Wow,do you think I could ever meet them?" Rebecca softly gasped in awe of how many siblings Snoopy had as Sally smiled and retorted "Yes you can,cause we invited them all to the fireworks show ahead of time." before Scheroder nodded his head and added "Yeah everyone we know is gonna be there,there's gonna be music,games,food,and even a large swimming pool."

"Oh that sounds so cool,I can't wait to meet everyone." Rebecca gasped once again and exclaimed in utter excitement as Patty retorted in a more serious tone of voice than usual "Yeah but the first thing we gotta do now is get back to the rest stop,we have to be getting close." before Herman suddenly perked up and started frantically sniffing the ground.

Everyone's attention was now fully directed onto the wolf as Ed leaned down and ecstatically asked "What is it boy? What do you smell?" to which the wolf barked something out loud for everyone to hear before Rebecca suddenly remarked in excitement "He says the rest stop is just up ahead!" to which Lucy gave a huge sigh of relief and replied "Oh finally,it's about time."

"Well come on let's go already,there's a nice comfy car seat with some back seat AC with my name written on it!" Patty jumped up in the air and ecstatically suggested as everyone cheered in excitement,Snoopy jumped off of Rebecca's head and they all proceeded to sprint after Herman.

Due to their now heightened sense of adrenaline and excitement,it only took them about a minute to finally reach the concrete stairs that would lead back up to the highway and rest stop as they all stopped in their tracks and stared at the 10 feet long flight of stairs,and after everything they went through it was like staring at the stairway that would lead into heaven. After they all managed to catch their breath for a few more moments,Charlie Brown finally decided to speak up as he grew a wide smile and exclaimed "Come on everyone,let's go home." to which Lucy nodded her head and replied "Yeah let's go already."

"You ready Rebecca?" Marcie turned around and happily asked the soon to be un-orphaned girl as she looked right up at the stairs and the brick wall they were attached to before she smiled once more and replied "I'm ready everyone,I'm ready to put this life behind me forever and start a new one. Not as an orphan,but as a friend." to which she started to climb up the stairs with everyone else following shortly after.

However once they finally reached the top of the stairs and were finally back on the highway once again,Charlie Brown and the others who had came out here in the first place would immediately know that something was wrong as he developed a nervous frown and stammered "Ed,I don't think this is our rest stop." to which Linus added "Yeah this is definitely not where we are supposed to be."

Instead of there being an old fanshoined diner and a country store standing across the road from each other,there was instead only a small hotel under what appeared to be a huge mountain cliff that people could use an elevator of some sort to go up. This was definitely not the same rest stop they went to in Bakersfield as Sally stated in a surprisingly calm voice given their situation "Ed I'm really starting to question your navigation skills." before the boy retorted in confusion "What are y'all talking about? I got y'all to the rest stop didn't I?" to which Patty replied in a much more frustrated sounding tone "Because we're supposed to be in Bakersfield,not whatever this place is."

"Ohhhhhh,Bakersfield. Mmm,yeah maybe I should have told you to be a lot more specific." Ed's eyes widened and he replied with a very nervous looking grin on his face as Lucy grabbed him by the collar angrily retorted "Oh good grief,I'm this close to knocking the rest of those teeth out of your mouth." before Linus thankfully interrupted their dispute and stated "Hey hold on a second everyone,at least we're finally back on the highway. And look we're still at another rest stop,so at the very least why don't we get some directions and continue on from here?" to which Lucy reluctantly let go of Ed and let him crawl away in fear.

"Gee I'm sorry fellers." Ed sighed and apologized for his screw up with a guilt filled frown as Marcie decided to loosen up on the kid "Hey it's alright Ed,but you really should have told us to be more specific from the start. Who knows how far we could be from our stop by now?" to which Rebecca enthusiastically replied while she begun to head across the street to the hotel "Well let's go and find out guys. Besides how far could we be anyway?"

"20 miles?!" The entire gang shouted in utter shock when they heard from the boy running the hotel's front desk how far they were from Bakersfield as Scheroder added equally as surprised "We hiked all this way just to find out we were heading away from there?!" to which Ed got deeply red in the face and stammered out of an attempt to defend himself "Don't blame me,blame the wolf,he's the one who did the sniffing!"

"Oh we're blaming someone alright,we're blaming the both of you!" Patty angrily retorted as she started to crack her fists along with Lucy while Ed nervously whimpered "Mamma,help me." before Charlie Brown tried to intervene "We're not slugging Ed alright? Yes he messed up,but we also messed up for not even thinking about telling him exactly where we needed to be going. It's all our faults here." to which Lucy and Patty reluctantly held themselves back,but not without giving Ed the evil eye.

"What are we gonna do big brother?" Sally nervously asked Charlie Brown on how they were gonna make it back to their rest stop as the boy sighed and somberly replied "Honestly Sally,I don't know myself. Without a car to use who knows how long it will take for all of us to walk 20 miles to get back there. If only there was a quicker way for us to get that far." before the boy running the front counter suddenly got an idea and suggested "Well I think I may got an idea here,but I don't know if you guys are gonna like it."

"What is it whatever your name is? If it means we can get back home quicker without having to resort to those two blockheads,I'll take it." Lucy asked out of curiosity as she not so subtly referred to Ed and Herman before the boy replied "Well the hotel here has a small little shop just around the corner,and I'm pretty sure that there are some hang gliders you all could buy."

"W-where are you going with this?" Charlie Brown gulped and nervously asked when he started to suspect what the boy was talking about as he retorted in confusion "Have y'all not seen the mountain cliff up there? You can easily use those hang gliders to fly down north until you reach Bakersfield. Easy." to which Charlie Brown started to shake out of nervousness before Patty enthusiastically remarked "Hey this sounds great."

Sometime later all the kids were way up at the top of the mountain that hung far above the current rest stop they were at,and they were all holding what appeared to be bright and colorful hang gliders they had bought at the hotel's small store,with the exception of Snoopy and Woodstock who instead had a small inflatable raft with a wind sail up top.

"Are you guys sure this is a good idea? I'm starting to think that maybe walking doesn't sound so bad after all." Charlie Brown nervously asked the others as he looked down the edge of the cliff and saw nothing but thin clouds down below before Rebecca respectfully disagreed with the boy "It seems fine to me Charlie Brown,with these hang gliders we can easily make it to Bakersfield by sundown." to which Patty enthusiastically added "Yeah lighten up Chuck,besides this is our first time hangliding at all,this is gonna be loads of fun."

"Whatever you say Patty,it's just that we're really high up." Charlie Brown once again stated in a very nervous tone of voice as Sally sternly retorted "You know if you wanna stay up here and not join us big brother,fine,but don't be surprised when we end up having to come get you." before Snoopy and Woodstock suddenly darted off the cliff with their raft.

"Woah! Wait for me!" Lucy exclaimed in utter excitement as she ran right off the cliff and joined them up in the sky while Patty yelled before she ran off "Let's do this! Woo-hoo!" to which Scheroder calmly remarked while he glanced at his piano that was ducktaped to the top of his glider "Lets hope my piano comes out of this alive." before he jumped off the cliff as well.

However Marcie was quick to notice that Ed didn't seem to have a hang glider of his own as she asked in confusion "Ed are you not coming with us? Where's your gilder?" to which the boy explained himself with a smug grin "Oh I'm coming with y'all,I just have my own methods." before he let out a loud and high pitched whistle as what appeared to be a huge bald eagle quickly came flying by at lightning speed,much to the awe of the remaining group members.

"Woah! Ed that's amazing!" Linus exclaimed in bewilderment that Ed was gonna use the eagle as a glider as the boy happily replied while the eagle picked him and Herman up with it's claws "Hey,I told y'all there were some advantages to living out here! Hold on Herman,yee-haw!" before the eagle took off for it's flight,leaving only Linus,Sally,Marcie,Rebecca and Charlie Brown left.

"Well,here goes nothing." Linus sighed and enthusiastically whispered to himself before he ran off the cliff and joined the others as Sally ran after him with her glider and yelled "Wait for me sweetie!" before she jumped off the cliff and followed after him. Now all that were left were Charlie Brown and Rebecca as the former nervously asked while the latter was setting her glider up "Rebecca,are you sure you wanna do this? I just don't want you to get hurt here." before the girl turned around to face him and confidently replied "I'll be fine Charlie Brown,I promise,and just to make sure I will be fine you could always come with us." to which the boy politely declined "I'm good Rebecca,just make sure to have fun."

"I will. Amy,Jasper,hold on tight and prepare for a wild ride! Whoo-hoo!" Rebecca sighed and reassured Charlie Brown that she would have fun and be careful as the two animals tightly held onto the handle while Rebecca ran off the cliff and joined the others who were very close by in the sky.

Rebecca: Life's been so unsatisfying,look suddenly now I'm flying freewheeling from cloud to cloud to cloud. Wings spread and the sky below me,there's no one to stop or slow me,plus freedom and everything's allowed.

Down there,I know there's tons of burdens I must bear somewhere. But from up here,the world looks so small,and suddenly life seems so clear. And from up here,you coast past it all,the obstacles just disappear.

Never feel heavy or earthbound. No worries or doubts interfere. There's nothing but you looking down on the view from up here.

"Charlie Brown you have got to try this,this is so fun!" Rebecca yelled and suggested in utter excitement as she and the others flew back to the edge of the cliff where Charlie Brown still was before Patty laughed and added "Come on Chuck,just let the wind and the breeze take you wherever you want to go." to which Charlie Brown finally yet reluctantly decided to give it a try "Alright,I'll try."

Lucy: Stretch out with the wind behind you. (Here we go.)

Sally: Float up let the current find you. (Look out below.)

Marcie: Keep climbing and sail from breeze to breeze. (Stay close don't leave me please!)

Scheroder: Head up to the stratosphere with only the stars to steer us just think of the possibilities. (I think I've got it.)

Patty: Below,we spend our whole lives trudging to and fro. Now-

Charlie Brown: Woah!

Everyone: And from up here!

Rebecca: The world looks so wide.

Snoopy's Thoughts: Yet every horizon seems near.

Everyone: And from up here.

Sally: No path is denied.

Lucy: You choose which direction you veer.

Linus: And suddenly you can breath easy.

Lucy: Contented.

Linus: Care free.

Lucy: Cavalier.

Everyone: Just gliding on through looking down at the view from up here.

Suddenly they all passed through a giant cloud that sported a massive double rainbow behind it that they rode and followed like a slide.

And from up here,the world is all yours,each mountain and meadow and mere. And from up here,life's duties and chores are barely worth shedding a tear.

And all of the sky lies before us,straight up to the far stratosphere,so head for the blue and lets take in the view from up here! It's just me and you looking down at the view from up here!

"Hey,I think I'm starting to see Bakersfield!" Charlie Brown suddenly perked up and exclaimed when he could have sworn that he saw the rest stop down below as Sally squinted her eyes for a second before she opened them wide and backed her brother up "Yeah I see it too! It doesn't look too far at all!"

"You see Chuck,I knew this was a good idea!" Patty laughed and smugly remarked when she realized that this plan of theirs was a good idea after all as Charlie Brown rolled his eyes and finally admitted "Okay I admit,this idea doesn't seem so bad after all. Now all we gotta do is land these things-" before a huge gust of wind suddenly brushed past them and made Charlie Brown's glider start to act out of control.

"Woah!" Charlie Brown yelled in a panic as he frantically tried to regain control of his glider before another gust of wind ended up sending him downward at an incredible speed,and right before he knew it,his entire world went black.

"The View From Up Here" Copyright Of Walt Disney Records