CHAPTER 15: WIMBLEDON ROUND TWO

After the kids had met up with Snoopy and the animals thanks to them getting thrown out of the cathedral due to their antics in the hallway,they were pretty soon walking around the tall and mighty Big Ben itself,and much like the St. Paul's Cathedral they were all in awe of the landmark while the animals once again headed off to do their own thing,that being Snoopy's second tennis match over at Wimbledon that he was determined to win.

Sally was looking up at the giant golden clock that stood at the top of the tower as she calmly remarked at the sight of it "You know I had a dream one night where Peter Pan took me to Neverland,and we stood at the very top of one of those hand things." to which Linus lightly chuckled and retorted after he and Eudora had taken a picture together under the tower "Just like in the movie I guess,it's hard for people not to associate this tower with anything else." only for Skylar to shake his head and bitterly disagree "Nah,I can't look at this tower without thinking of the dreaded phantom heartless."

"Huh?" Claudia and Rebecca both raised an eyebrow and questioned out of confusion in unison as Skylar promptly explained himself "Oh it's just a pain in the behind boss from a game I like. Dang thing's constantly putting a timer on you and your party members and you have to prevent the clock from reaching a certain point or you're dead." to which Freida blinked twice before she looked up at the clock and wondered out of bewilderment "Did someone really look at this tower and get a phantom out of it?"

"Whoever did must have been a very weird kid,and not the Marcie kind of weird." Peppermint Patty shrugged her arms and nonchalantly guessed in response as Marcie lifted up her glasses a little and sarcastically replied "Thanks for that sir." before Franco sighed and stated in awe as he looked back up at the clock "Big Ben is a marvel. Imagine having to clean this thing whenever it gets all dirty." to which Lucy immediately scoffed and dismissed the idea "Oh I would never want to think of doing something as painful sounding as that. It sounds like something you'd do for a reward,not a regular job."

"Then the pay must be very good for a regular job then." Charlie Brown lightly chuckled and joked in response as he and the kids walked off to look at more of the city's sights before he pointed back at the tower and added in anticipation "And if we think this is tall,we still got to go up the Eiffel Tower when we're in Paris." to which Ed grew a small smirk and enthusiastically stated "Sounds quite the romantic spot. I likey."

"Oh it is Ed,it definitely is." Freida nodded her head and happily agreed with the boy while she slowly looked down at her hidden phone in her hand to see the words "Dinner surprise for my baby on the tower. 6:30 PM before concert." written down in the journal app before the kids boarded a bus and started making their way towards Victoria Station as Charlie Brown calmly remarked "I took a look at our train schedule and it turns out that they moved our train up ahead by several hours,it now leaves in thirty minutes."

"Well if that's the case then Herman and them beagles better hurry their little behinds up at that game of Snoopy's." Ed rolled his eyes and firmly remarked as he stretched out his arms and slunked back in his seat before Peppermint Patty clenched her fist and lamented out of disappointment "Man that ain't no fair at all,we don't even have time to eat." to which Marcie promptly tried to look on the bright side of things "Well considering that we didn't even know what we ate last time,I think that may have been for the best. At least we know what we're getting into when we're gonna be in France. I just hope we don't lose the animals."

Snoopy, his brothers, Gracie, Roger and Woodstock were all lying down at the front gates of Wimbledon with bruises alongside a massive mess of tennis rackets and tennis balls spread across the ground as Olaf sat up and quietly whimpered "Well,at least you actually won the game this time." before Andy followed suit and added more spastic than anything "Yeah but it was against a wrestler looking guy who REALLY didn't like losing." to which Roger coughed and frantically agreed while he brushed some dirt off his fur "Andy's right,if I knew we were gonna get smacked around like that,I would have just given him the World Cup trophy."

"Nuh-uh,because he would have just pounded us anyway with that monster cat of his." Gracie shook her head and angrily disagreed in response as she straightened out her messy and bent collar before Snoopy rose up and tried to think positively "Hey don't think like that,all that matters is that I won,showed that referee what for and restored my pride. Now-" only for him to stop when he realized that Herman was nowhere to be found as he nervously called out "Hey Herman,where you at man?"

"Over here." Herman promptly responded as he slithered our of the front gates before Olaf wondered when he noticed that he looked practically unscathed from Snoopy's opponent "Hey! How come you didn't get slugged like we did?" to which the wolf chuckled and smugly explained himself as he reached into his trench coat and pulled out their opponent's trousers "Well you see I ended up hiding in the stand while y'all were being pounded,and when the time was just right I snatched his trousers off of him and high tailed it out of there. After giving him a bite on the posterior of course." making the beagles along with Woodstock start howling with laughter while they walked away from the tennis club. They may have gotten pounded by a very angry manchild who couldn't handle losing,but all that mattered was that they won,Snoopy regained his pride and Herman quickly got them their revenge.

Sometime later after the kids had made it to the train station and gotten their luggage loaded up along with the animals,they were now all in their seats and waiting for the train to head towards the Cliffs Of Dover as Peppermint Patty lightly punched Ed in the shoulder and happily stated "Well it looks like we're on our way to France now Eddy. And you're one step closer to meeting your mum!" to which the hermit nodded his head and cheerfully added in agreement while he took out the letter from his pocket "I know,all we gotta do is make it over to France and ask the locals about where this chateau is. If I'm lucky I can probably find her in about another day. I hope."

"Well,just remember that you don't need to do this whole thing by yourself sweetie,we're your friends and can help out if we need to." Freida sighed and respectfully offered Ed their potential help in the future as Sally happily agreed with a smile "You said it,it's because of your mother writing that letter that I'm over here in the first place." to which Lucy nodded her head and couldn't help but agree as well "Same here Ed,I can't think of any other way to repay you due to your lifestyle,so I think a little help in the search is the least I could do." before Ed wiped a slowly forming tear from his eye and happily replied "Thanks guys."

However it was then that Rebecca started to develop a slight look of uncertainty on her face while Ed looked out the window as she meekly thought to herself while she rubbed Roger's fur "Ed,I hope you're able to find what you're looking for….but don't be too disappointed if you don't. We both know what it's like to be hugely disappointed in our lives,and I don't want you to feel hurt like that again,like I did sometimes." before the train suddenly jolted and slowly began to take off as Marcie happily announced while Gracie got into Claudia's lap "Okay,we're making our way to the Cliffs Of Dover." followed up by Sally quietly cheering in excitement.

As the train quickly began to blaze past the city of London and soon made it way into England's countryside,the kids were all mesmerized by the lovely scenery as they all looked out the window and took it all in without saying a single word,all the while Rebecca kept thinking about Ed and the slight chance that he could be disappointed by what he could find,and how it reminded her of when she was still in the orphanage.

When I was just a kid.

More than a bit naive.

I knew dreams could come true.

Especially if you believe.

Wished on a million stars.

Prayed till my knees were red.

And I'd ache lying awake in my bed.

But now I'm long past dreamin'.

Long past burnin'.

Long past learnin' things can't be just right.

Cos all that wishin'.

Comes to nothin.'

When you waken to the dawn's cold light.

Lowered my hopes a notch.

Wasn't too hard to do.

Life,love,big dreams and small.

Somehow they all fell through.

Wished upon one last star.

Shimmering way up high.

But that too was just a beautiful lie.

And now I'm long past dreamin'.

Long past tryin'.

Long past sighin' when the stars shine bright.

Cos hopes get stolen.

Hearts get broken.

Dreams get taken from you overnight.

And you with all the pretty things you like to say.

We both know come mornin' they're just gonna melt away.

You see I'm long past dreamin'.

Long past hurtin'.

Long past certain that I know the score at all.

So all I'm askin' is a reason.

One good reason I should dream once more.

Show me somethin' that's worth's dreamin' for.

NEXT CHAPTER: BONJOUR

Author's Note: The phantom heartless I was referencing was a secret boss in Neverland from Kingdom Hearts 1. I hate that boss with a passion.

"Long Past Dreamin." Written By Alan Menken and Glenn Slater.

Performed By Jessica Phillips.

©️Menken Music. Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.