CHAPTER 30: FLYING THE COOP
"You mean to tell us that it was a setup the whole time?!" Charlie Brown asked in shock and disbelief after he and the others were told almost everything by Mrs Hampton before Linus bitterly scolded himself in anger "I should have known that those plane tickets were too good to be true,how did we not see the warning signs from there?" to which Mrs Hampton lightly chuckled and smugly guessed a reason for them "Because Ed was so desperate to have anything resembling a family that he took the chance the second he saw the possibility of his mother still being alive,and that led to his untimely demise." only for Rebecca to angrily disagree with the lady's whole notion "No! You're lying! Ed is still alive! I know it!" which prompted the rest of the kids to nod their heads in support.
"Yeah,it's gonna take a lot more than a measly crook like you to take that boy down." Franklin looked up at Mrs Hampton and fiercely added in agreement before Peppermint Patty angrily threatened in response while she yet again tried to loosen her ropes "And even if you did manage to off him,that'd only make the beat down you're gonna get even worse!" only for the woman to shake her head and politely disagree as she slowly started to make her way toward the front door "Still so blind children,soon enough you'll see that I was telling the truth all along. Well it's been a positively lovely experience getting to meet all of you,but I seem to have a train to catch." before she more sternly commanded the man who had entered the shack with her "Gibson,take care of them and catch up to the train when you're done."
"My pleasure miss." Gibson evilly chuckled and happily agreed to do so in a Mafia style accent after Mrs Hampton had left the shack and began to make her way towards her getaway train before the man took out what looked like a bomb from his pocket,planted it on the floor and set up a timer on it to which the kids fearfully gasped and the beagles started whining at the realization that they were about to die as Claudia, Gracie and Skylar huddled up together as well as Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock, Sally and Freida, Andy and Olaf, and lastly Roger and Rebecca,all the while Peppermint Patty and Lucy tried endlessly to break out of their ropes.
"I love you Charlie Brown." Freida fearfully whimpered as tears began to form in her and Sally's eyes only for the round headed boy to be unable to bring himself to say anything in response before Marcie suddenly whispered in an attempt to not alert Gibson "Don't give up everyone,I think I got an idea that can get us out of this,but we gotta be really quick." to which everyone lifted their heads up and looked over at the brunette with slightly more uplifted spirits while Peppermint Patty and Lucy stopped fussing around with their ropes.
"What's the plan Marcie?" Franklin sighed and cautiously asked for the details regarding Marcie's escape plan to which the girl glanced over at the beagles and stated "Snoopy, Andy, Olaf, Gracie, Roger,you guys try using your teeth to bite through your ropes,then four of y'all will distract Gibson while one you will unite our ropes. Then we'll all take out Gibson and toss the bomb outside before it explodes." and with seemingly no other options available combined with the quickly ticking clock of impending death,the beagles instantly went along with the idea and started using their teeth to bite through their ropes before anyone could even object,and thankfully their sharp teeth went right through the ropes like it was nothing as their hands and legs were quickly set free,much to their relief.
"Nice going you guys!" Peppermint Patty smiled and happily whispered after seeing the beagles easily break through their ropes before Snoopy, Andy, Olaf and Gracie started to slowly sneak up behind Gibson,who was blissfully looking out a now opened window up ahead and being completely unaware of their escape plan,all while Roger began to carefully untie everyone else's rope,and once Lucy was free of her bounds,she started to quickly look around the shack in the hopes of finding something she could use to knock out Gibson.
"You know,it ain't anything personal,I'm just following orders." Gibson sighed and calmly tried to make some small talk with the kids before he suddenly felt an incredibly sharp pain on both of his legs as he instantly screamed at the top of his lungs before he quickly looked down to see Snoopy and Gracie biting his left leg and Olaf and Andy biting his left leg to which the man frantically started trying to kick them off while Peppermint Patty quickly tossed the bomb outside into the lake and everyone else started cheering in determination,and as the man tried to continually pry the dogs off his legs,he ended up tripping on himself and falling on the floor with a loud thud like a klutz because it was clear that they had a very tight grip on him.
"Why you little cretins!" Gibson angrily exclaimed on the verge of turning bright red in the face due to humiliation as the beagles finally let go of his legs before Lucy suddenly called out to the man "Hey mister!" which prompted him to slowly lift his head up to see what was going on only for him to be swiftly knocked out when Lucy smacked him across the chops with an old baseball bat that shattered into a million pieces on impact,all before the kids heard a loud booming sound out of nowhere that shook the cabin and caused them all to tense up.
"What was that?!" Claudia gasped and frantically wondered after she had nearly lost her balance due to the shaking to which Lucy nonchalantly guessed when she looked out the window to see the lake uncontrollably splashing around "I think that was the bomb Claudia." all before the couples in the room hugged and kissed each other out of relief,even Snoopy couldn't help but share some love towards his brothers, Gracie, Woodstock and even his owner,they were all finally safe again and out of the frying pan.
Meanwhile back outside,Ed and Tyrone had both gotten considerably closer to the shack due to them carefully sneaking around in the tall grass that lay in the yard,only for them to also be caught off guard and blown back by the bomb suddenly exploding in the lake as the hermit meekly wondered while he and Tyrone regained their posture "What the heck was that all about?" to which the older man glanced over at the lake and confidently guessed "Considering the power of the shockwave and blowback we felt along with the manor that the water is splashing around,I can only guess that that was a bomb,and seeing as how we just saw Mrs Hampton walk out of the shack and head towards her train,that can only mean that the rest of your friends busted themselves out. Come on,let's say hi to them."
NEXT CHAPTER: REUNION