CHAPTER 16: BONJOUR
Once the kids made it over to the Cliffs Of Dover and boarded a hovercraft that took them across the sea in about forty five minutes,they were officially in the country known as France much to their excitement,especially Ed's since he was now one step closer to finding the location of his mother. After the kids got off the boat and Snoopy made sure he, his brothers, Woodstock, Roger, Herman and Gracie weren't embarrassingly blown away by it like the previous time,the gang decided that their first order of business was to rent a car as they headed to the closest dealership available,for the main part of their trip had finally begun.
"Wow,I'm in France. It's all so otherworldly big brother." Sally quietly swooned in awe and excitement as she looked around at the car dealership and all the people that were in there before Linus politely retorted while he grew a small smirk "Honestly from personal experience Sally,once the novelty wears off the place just looks like any other normal location." to which Rebecca calmly added while she looked through a French guidebook she got at the entrance "Yeah pretty much that,except that almost everyone here speaks a language we don't even know. I barely know the basics."
"Guess I'm going back to being our translator." Marcie sighed and timidly whined in response before Skylar glanced over at the girl and politely offered "Well Marcie I'm pretty fluent in the French,I can be our translator." to which Marcie immediately took him up on the offer "Please do that Skylar,I would very much like to not be needed for all the translating this time. At the very least we can take turns."
"At long last my search for my mom can begin,but France is quite a big country though. This is either gonna be very short or very long. Where should I even start?" Ed stretched out his arms and happily stated as he pulled out and took a look at his letter before Lucy firmly suggested while she straightened out the boy's slightly crooked hat "Well the first thing we can do is get ourselves a car,and there's someone right up ahead where we can get one from." to which Claudia tightly held Skylar's hand and encouragingly stated "Y-your cue S-Skylar."
"You go speak that French!" Freida supportively added while Skylar took the lead and they followed behind him before the boy cleared his throat,slowly walked up to the dealer and calmly stated "Bonjour,nous aimerions louer une voiture monsieur." to which the man looked down at the kids and politely requested in response while he handed Skylar a piece of paper requiring a signature "Quelqu'un devra signer ce document prouvant qu'il peut conduire de manière responsable la voiture." which prompted the boy to turn around and explain to the others "He said that someone needs to sign this so it can say that they can responsibly drive."
"Well we know just who to call then." Charlie Brown lightly chuckled and happily reported as Snoopy and the other dogs came walking by along with Herman and Woodstock,with the abnormal beagle in question now wearing a blue beret as he grabbed the document and immediately signed it with his paw before he handed it over to the man to which he promptly stated "C'est le SUV blanc dans le parking."
"He says it's the white SUV in the parking lot." Skylar calmly relayed the information to the others before they promptly headed outside with their luggage and searched for their car in the parking lot as Marcie smiled and happily complimented Skylar "You're pretty good with the language Skylar,I was worried I'd have to step in and help you out." to which Freida added equally as impressed "Me too,that was great back there."
"Thanks for the compliments." Skylar got a little red in the face and showed his gratitude while Claudia briefly kissed him on the cheek before the group spotted their car right up ahead as Charlie Brown gave a sigh of relief and gratefully lamented while they began putting their luggage in the trunk "Thank the lord that it's not a crank car,my hands shrivel in pain everytime I see one." to which Lucy scoffed and firmly requested as she and the others quickly piled into the car "Charlie Brown stop having PTSD and get in here."
"I'm coming!" Charlie Brown rolled his eyes and mockingly retorted as he closed the trunk and got into the front seat before Eudora whistled and remarked out of surprise "Wow,I'm surprised that all of us could even fit in this thing." to which Linus nodded his head and added in agreement "I know,I think if this car didn't have a back trunk then we'd be in some trouble,either that or one of us would need to sit with the luggage." which resulted in Sally playfully joking as she pointed at her brother "If we had to do that,my first vote would be my brother."
"Gee thanks for the vote of consideration." Charlie Brown rolled his eyes once again and sarcastically retorted before Claudia asked out of curiosity "S-so where are we going n-now?" to which Peppermint Patty perked up and added equally as curious "Yeah you bring up a good point Claude. We don't exactly have a place to go other than Paris for that concert of Tervor's,and that ain't even till the end of the week." which prompted Franco to politely suggest in response "Perhaps we could begin making our way to Paris then."
"I'm looking at this GPS here and it says that Paris is a little over a day's ride from here,and it also looks like Pierre's farm and Violette's chateau are in that direction. Y'all wanna do a quick visit on the way?" Linus calmly wondered in response as he lifted his head up from his phone and handed it to Charlie Brown to which the round headed boy shrugged his arms and nonchalantly agreed "I don't see why not,we got plenty of time anyway." before Marcie nodded her head and added in agreement as well "And Pierre does seem to know a lot about chateaus around here,maybe he knows something about the one Ed's mom is at."
"I don't know who this Pierre is,but if he can help with the search then I'm down for it." Ed smiled and happily obliged to go along with the idea before Peppermint Patty sighed and politely retorted "It is a long story Ed that I think he'll just need to tell you himself,but enough of that. Let's get this show on the road already!" to which Snoopy promptly saluted and started the car while he began to develop an evil look of malice on his face before he slammed his foot on the gas pedal and blasted the car off into the road.
"WOOOHOOOO!" Snoopy gleefully laughed and exclaimed in utter excitement as he drove past numerous other cars and drivers at an incredible speed while the kids tightly held onto their seats for dear life in response before Snoopy suddenly stopped the car at a stop sign,nearly causing the others and their luggage to fly up to the windshield in a flash if not for their seatbelts.
"Snoopy's driving this thing like it's a game of Crazy Taxi. Good lord." A woozy and dizzy Skylar remarked out of a slight sense of fear before another car suddenly slammed into them from behind and caused all of Andy's fuzzy fur to stick straight up and become a garbled mess along with Olaf and Ed's hats to fly off their heads at the seams to which Snoopy growled out of pure frustration as he peeped his head out of the window and began cursing at the now furious drivers that had stopped as well before Marcie and Skylar joined him shortly afterwards,all in French of course.
"Oh for goodness sake put a sock in it you too!" Lucy groaned and fiercely demanded as she pulled down the two kids back into their seats before she glanced over at Snoopy and suggested in determination "Snoopy just leave these jokers in the dust,make them eat yours!" to which the beagle immediately crawled back into his seat and blasted off with the car once again,causing numerous pebbles and clouds of dirt to fog up the windshields behind them as the beagle began laughing again in triumph.
"Who would've thought that Lucy of all people would be the voice of reason in this situation?" Linus raised an eyebrow and questioned in bewilderment as Lucy surprisingly retorted with a smile "Because I'm in a good mood due to the novelty of being in France and leaving those clowns in the dust,I'm not gonna pound you little brother for asking that." before Olaf meekly whispered to Andy while he tightly held onto his seat "Sometimes our brother's driving makes me wonder how he managed to get a license to drive." which prompted the fuzzy beagle to add equally as confused "I think it's time he got another driving test then." all the while Charlie Brown sighed in indifference as he looked out at the window and glanced at the beautiful French countryside while Snoopy's driving speed began to come to a more reasonable crawl and Freida leaned up ahead to look out the window with him.
When the night has come.
And the land is dark.
And the moon is the only light we'll see.
No,I won't be afraid.
Oh,I won't be afraid.
Just as long as you stand.
Stand by me.
So darling,darling stand by me.
Oh,stand by me.
Oh,stand now.
Stand by me.
Stand by me.
If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall.
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea.
I won't cry.
I won't cry.
No,I won't shed a tear.
Just as long as you stand.
Stand by me.
And darling,darling stand by me.
Oh,stand by me.
Oh,stand now.
Stand by me.
Stand by me.
And darling,darling stand by me.
Oh,stand by me.
Oh,stand.
Stand by me.
Stand by me.
Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me?
Oh,stand by me.
Oh,stand now.
Stand by me.
(Stand!)
Darling,darling stand by me.
Oh,stand by me.
Oh,stand now.
Stand by me.
Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me.
Oh,stand by me.
Oh,stand now.
Stand by me.
Stand by me.
NEXT CHAPTER: CHARLIE BROWN 1- BREAD 0
"Stand By Me." Written By Benjamin Nelson,Jerry Lieber and Mike Stroller.
Performed By Florence + The Machine.
©️Island Records. Universal Music.