CHAPTER 14: A SPECIAL BEAGLE GATHERING
The kids were being given a tour of the cathedral after they had headed inside alongside many other people,and they were all in awe of the craftsmanship of the chapel and all the other rooms they were taken through,not to mention that the paintings that were up on the ceilings they found absolutely breathtaking and simply beautiful,while Herman, Woodstock and the rest of the dogs however had instead wandered off into other areas of the cathedral and moved away from the crowd.
"Wow,look at all those paintings." An awestruck Freida quietly remarked while she pointed up at one of the paintings she saw on the ceiling as Charlie Brown promptly commented on their beauty "I know honey,they're all incredible,even after already being here before. If all those biblical milestones and events are as pretty as they're displayed here,then wow." before Eudora wondered out of curiosity "I wonder how long it must have taken for them to paint all this." to which Linus nonchalantly guessed out of a hunch "Well I won't say that their workload rivaled Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel,but it was still a lot."
"Let's just pray that the guys that were in charge of this place had some Warners to add some fun to the situation." Lucy rolled her eyes and jokingly replied as she took a picture of the ceiling to which Peppermint Patty scoffed and firmly retorted "Like those guys would do anything but make the painter's job a nightmare,and conversely a comedy riot for the rest of us." before Marcie confidently guessed while she and Sally leaned on a nearby wall "You know I have a feeling that James would be fangirling if he were here."
"Yeah,when he's not trying to perfect his musical theater abilities,he sure loves some good architectural design." Rebecca nodded her head and nonchalantly agreed with the brunette before Franco lightly chuckled and remarked as he pulled out his phone "It's funny you say that,I just sent him picture of painting and he replied with a GIF of someone freaking out." to which Sally rolled her eyes and somewhat mockingly retorted "Of course he would,but what I'm most surprised by here is that they let Ed into the building."
"Honestly same Sally,I practically have Pigpen style clothes minus all the dust. I thought a place like this would have a very strict cleanliness policy." Ed nodded his head and couldn't help but agree with Sally's little quip as the kids moved on ahead with the tour before Freida wondered out of curiously "You know I wonder where them dogs, Herman and Woodstock went? The tour should be over in a few minutes I think." to which Franklin sighed and calmly guessed "I'm sure they're somewhere around here. All we have to do to spot them is to look for a trench coat because that thing is doing a good job hiding Herman,even though he walks on all fours compared to the dogs people still think he's one of them." followed up Claudia dumbfoundedly stating "It's s-still a l-little jarring seeing G-Gracie walk around like t-that to be honest whenever she d-decides to."
Speaking of which actually,Gracie, Snoopy, Andy, Olaf, Roger, Herman and Woodstock were busy strolling down a hallway away from the crowd and the tour as the crossbreed calmly remarked "I prefer this over the tour. Mainly because it's quiet." to which Andy nodded his head and added in agreement "Yup,and also because that means we get to look at this stuff on our own time. At least until we have to get on the train." before Olaf looked up at a nearby clock and stated when he saw that it was 9:30 AM "And since it leaves at 5:30 that ain't for another 8 hours or something."
"Yup we got time to do what we want,because I got a rematch to win over at Wimbledon later on." Snoopy gave a sigh of relief and remarked with anticipation in his voice before Woodstock started quietly giggling to himself to which the beagle took notice and bitterly retorted "Hey I'm gonna win this time,just as long as that one referee isn't there to cheat me out of my points." which caused Roger to ask out of slight confusion "Snoopy do I even need to ask what you're going on about?"
"No. No you don't." Snoopy shook his head and immediately denied in response while Olaf leaned in and whispered into Roger's ear "I'll tell you the goods when we get to Wimbledon." before Herman suddenly raised an eyebrow and pointed out when he saw what looked like an abandoned bluetooth speaker sitting on a bench up ahead "Guys look,someone left their radio here."
"Well would ya look at that?" Andy lightly chuckled and remarked at the sight of the radio before Olaf instantly suggested while they all approached it "Let's see if there are any songs on this thing." to which Gracie cautiously pressed the play button on the speaker which was instantly followed up by a song starting up,making the beagles along with Herman and Woodstock giddy as Andy excitedly stated "All right,let's see if the person who left this here has taste."
Jesus,it's years we've been climbing your mountain.
Yes it's years we've been walking your road.
Lord it's been years,far too many for counting.
With a lifetime of sin as our load.
When will we rise up?
And lay down our burden?
Won't you tell me how long must we roll?
When will we rise up?
And lay down that burden?
Tell me when will you gather us home?
However it was right then and there that a man's voice suddenly came out of the speaker as the song continued in a much more upbeat and jazzy direction,something that made the animals start tapping their feet as they listened to the voice "Good evening listeners! Thank you for joining us on this. Our revival's third and final glorious night. I am the reverend Jonas Nightingale and I know we've got a house full of sinners tonight. You sir,you a sinner? Ma'am,you're sin on a stick. And you? You're wondering if you can leave at intermission and commit even more sin. You're all sinners. Each and every one of you,but you can be saved."
Tell me what do you do when the world's a mess?
And your life's in flux because the economy sucks?
And you're stuck way down in the depths of despair?
(Rise up!)
And what do you do when you're feeling the stress?
And you've run out of hope and you just can't cope?
And you're pretty darn sure that you ain't got a prayer?
(Rise up!)
See,the worse your troubles get.
The deeper you feel your sinking.
The more your one sure bet is he who reigns on high.
Because at your lowest low.
You only got one place to go.
(Rise up!)
"Wow,this is actually some good stuff here." A quite frankly impressed Olaf remarked as he really started getting into the beat with Andy, Snoopy, Gracie, Roger and Woodstock before the crossbreed noticed that Herman wasn't dancing with them and politely called him out on it "Hey Herman,why aren't you joining us?" to which the wolf nervously tried to explain himself "I-I don't really feel comfortable doing that here and risk exposing myself and getting us thrown out like at that nightclub." which prompted Snoopy to try to get him to join him with a slap on the back "Oh come on,there's no one around here for miles,you're going to be fine."
Singing that'll make the rafters rock.
Stories that'll make your soul unlock.
Even if you think it's all a crock.
You'll rise up,you doubting thomases.
Music that'll wipe away your blues.
Preaching that you'll find you can't refuse.
Though you're mostly atheists and Jews.
You'll rise up,rise up and give unto the lord.
"Come on Herman,you know you want to get out of that thing for a while." Roger insisted that Herman join in on the fun they were having in a singsong tone of voice while he and the rest of the beagles stopped dancing and looked over at the wolf,who was getting increasingly redder in the face due to nervousness and bashfulness.
Fellas that have been laid off at the plants.
Farmers who have lost their federal grants.
All of them are desperate for a chance to rise up!
It was at this point that Herman was starting to uncontrollably tap his feet to the music and grow a large smile on his face as the beagles along with Woodstock slowly took off the trench coat and the hat,fully exposing the wolf.
Men who've got no way to pay the rent.
Wives who wonder where their savings went.
Watch them offer us their last red cent to rise up!
These folks are stone cold out of luck.
And you know what they're hoping.
That if they maybe throw the lord a buck,he'll come and save their shirts.
They'll be driving in from miles around.
With hearts and wallets open.
We'll make them suckers rise up.
They'll give until it hurts.
"So? You ready to join us?" Snoopy chuckled and politely asked as he turned the volume on the speaker up to max to which the wolf instantly agreed to do "Oh you bet I am!" before he started dancing with Woodstock and the beagles while they all imagined that they were back at the nightclub from Ed's story and were being watched on the dance floor by all the other people that were there,even the three people they met and their pets.
Tell them I can set their children straight.
Tell them I can help keep off the weight.
Tell them that tonight right here at eight.
They'll rise up and pass the plane around.
Tell them I can make their conscious clear.
Tell them I can make the rain appear.
You tell them anything they need to hear.
To rise up,rise up,and then we'll bleed them dry.
Jesus,it's been years we've been climbing your mountain.
It's been years we've been walking your road.
(Rise up! Rise up!)
Lord it's been years,far too many for counting.
With a lifetime of sin as our load.
But we will rise up!
And open up our hearts and pray to you.
Rise up!
And say the words we long to say to you.
Rise up!
And sing out each and every day to you.
Help the sinful find their way to you.
If they've got cold cash to pay to you.
Rise up!
Bass!
Wait a minute!
If you want to rise up you have to got to go higher.
(Higher!)
Higher!
(Higher!)
Higher!
(Higher!)
I can't hear you,let me hear you now.
Higher!
(Higher!)
Higher!
(Higher!)
Higher!
(Higher!)
Let's go up.
(Wooah!)
Just a little bit higher!
(Higher!)
Higher!
(Higher!)
Higher!
(Higher!)
We don't need no music!
Rise up!
And dedicate our everything to you.
Rise up!
And offer all that we can pay to you.
Rise up!
And give whatever we can pay to you.
Lift our voices to the skies.
Until that happy day.
Come on people.
Come on.
Show me you want it.
Come on!
Come on!
Rise up!
Now let's get out there and save some god dang souls.
Rise up!
"Woo-hoo!" All of the animals cheered in excitement after the song had come to a close before a nun suddenly shouted from the other end of the hall "WOLF! GET AWAY FROM MY SPEAKER!" which was quickly followed up by all of them being kicked out the front door quicker than they could have ever imagined,where the rest of the kids were conveniently waiting for a taxi after their tour had ended as Charlie Brown looked over at the animals and happily greeted them "Oh there y'all are."
NEXT CHAPTER: WIMBLEDON ROUND TWO
Author's Note: This chapter felt very hard to write at times when it came to the song. I hope it doesn't come across as me being preachy,I just liked the song and felt that this was a good place to include it.
"Rise Up." Written By Alan Menken and Glenn Slater.
©️Menken Music. Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.