Chapter 2: Near, Far, Wherever We Are
"Hey, Barney. What're we ALL doing here?" Charlie Brown asked.
"I was gonna ask the same thing." Linus said.
"I thought you were at day camp, sweetie." Heather said.
"We'll tell you if you tell us." Peppermint Patty said.
"We went to find Snoopy and Woodstock in the storm cellar." Franklin explained, playing with a toy sword before his eyes widened. "Dang it! I should've brought the picture I made, Charlie Brown."
"And you girls?" Schroeder asked, wondering why Lucy and Min were giggling at him. "What's so funny?!"
"You're still in your PJs." Giggled Min.
"Whoops. Must've been a Barney magic malfunction." Barney shrugged.
"So Lucy, how'd you get on the ship?" Schroeder shrugged, not letting what was said sink in until a few seconds later. "WHAT?!"
"A staircase came from my closet!" Lucy exclaimed. Rerun giggled, looking at the waves.
"Well, thanks to Tosha, Min, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Sally and Heather, we're on a sailing adventure to find Imagination Island, where there are LOTS of great surprises." Barney said.
"Wow! What kind of surprises, Barney?" Linus asked.
"Gee, I don't know." Barney confessed.
"We were reading a book about Imagination Island." Min began.
"I always fall asleep during the book though." Marcie shrugged. "So I have NO idea what happens in this book. What surprises are there, girls?"
"It's okay, Marcie. We only heard the part that happens on the ship." Sally said. "We're just as clueless."
"I guess we all will be surprised when we get there." Tosha explained.
"Ahh, but the sun is shining, there's wind in our sails and we'll get there before we know it!" Barney exclaimed.
"Speaking of 'wheel', we'd get there faster IF SOMEBODY STEERS THE SHIP!" Charlie Brown exclaimed.
The kids instantly began to panic. "I got it, gang! I got it! There's nothing to worry about!" Marcie exclaimed, trying to grab the wheel.
"Phew." The kids sighed in relief.
"YIPE!" Marcie cried out. She DIDN'T grab the wheel! The wheel grabbed her instead! "HELP! FRANKLIN! DEREK! SIR!"
"Yup, that's Space Cadet Marcie." Peppermint Patty chuckled. "You should've stuck with rocket ships!" she called out as she, Franklin and Derek ran to the wheel.
Franklin and Derek grabbed onto the wheel as Marcie crashed into Peppermint Patty, her glasses falling off and almost landing in the water. "A great save by Woodstock." Linus praised.
"I can't see." Marcie squinted. "Where're my glasses?"
"It's okay, Marcie. We've got the wheel." Derek explained as Linus ran to the wheel with her glasses and a box that Shawn handed him.
"Good grief…are we there yet?" Marcie asked as she put on her glasses, a bit dizzy.
"NO!" Baby Bop cried out.
"Here's a block you can stand on." Linus explained, pointing at the box.
"Thank you." Marcie smiled, woozily grabbing onto the steering wheel. Just as things looked alright, she groaned, green in the face.
"You feeling alright?" Derek asked.
"THIS is why I hate anything that spins." She sighed.
"Marcie! Get a load of this!" Peppermint Patty exclaimed. "Now I can see the ocean much better."
"Wow!" Marcie smiled.
"And I can go right back to the crow's nest and be a lookout." BJ said.
"What's a lookout?" Tosha asked.
"Well, that's…someone who looks for an island and then yells 'LOOKOUT'!" BJ explained, climbing back to the crow's nest.
"Look at BJ!" Rerun exclaimed.
"I can see really far away." BJ smiled. "This is great! TURN LEFT!"
"This does seem like fun, in fact, I'm getting used to steering a ship's wheel." Marcie realized, not listening to BJ.
"Turn left, Marcie, left!" Peppermint Patty exclaimed as the ship made a right turn. "That was right!"
"That was unexpected!" Baby Bop realized as she and Linus firmly held onto their blankets.
"That was close." Barney said. "We almost hit that iceberg."
"Don't get ideas!" Schroeder scolded.
"Oh come on, Jammies." Lucy teased, poking Schroeder in the stomach.
"No one calls me that, okay, fussbudget?" he hissed.
"I'm not fussbudget Lucy; I'm-"
"Queen Lucy?" Min asked as the ship made a sharp left turn.
"No. I'm Captain Lucy of the SS Imagination." Lucy said.
"Good grief." Everyone else groaned.
"I think it should be Barney." Linus suggested as a fight ensued among the brother and sister.
BJ sighed, ignoring the yelling of Lucy and Linus. "Hey Marcie, steer left."
"Okay!" Marcie exclaimed, steering the wheel right, at a very sharp angle. A little water got on the boat deck. "Whoops."
"Left, Marcie, left." Peppermint Patty complained.
"Cleanup time!" Barney exclaimed as he, Shawn, Schroeder and Rerun cleaned the deck. "That's better." He added as the boat rocked left.
"Now we're on track." BJ smiled, looking out of his telescope. "LAND HO! I see Imagination Island! It's straight ahead!"
"YAY!" the kids cheered.
"Stupendous!" Barney smiled.
"There it is!" Derek yelled happily.
"It won't be long now!" Barney explained.
"That's a relief." Tosha smiled.
"What's a relief, Tosh?" Peppermint Patty asked.
"That we're getting to the island, safe and sound." Tosha explained.
"This is wonderful! We're almost there! Nothing bad has happened! This calls for a celebration!" Marcie smiled, running to hug Peppermint Patty. The tomboy sighed.
"LOOK OUT! THE DECK'S STILL-" began Peppermint Patty as Marcie crashed into Linus, who crashed into Tosha, who crashed into Schroeder, who crashed into Lucy, who crashed into Barney, all of which fell over. "Wet…"
"Ouch…" Marcie whimpered.
"MARCIE! THE WHEEL!" Derek exclaimed. "IT'S IN A FRENZY AGAIN!"
"Oh dear!" she exclaimed, running back to the wheel and trying to grab ahold of it. The wheel grabbed a hold of her and spun her around and around and around, more than before. "HELP!"
"Here we go again." Tosha sighed as she, Min and Peppermint Patty headed back to the wheel. "Gotcha, Marcie."
"Are we still in Kansas, aunt Em?" a dizzy Marcie asked as the girls giggled. She was way out of it.
"At least it's still sunny out. Remember the book?" Tosha shrugged.
"Now I remember." Min smiled.
"What happened in the book?" Linus asked.
"Yeah, what happened?" Schroeder inquired.
"Well, boys, just as everyone was getting to the island, there was a really big-" Min began, but was cut off by lightning and thunder.
"STORM!" the rest of the kids exclaimed as Peppermint Patty scooped up Marcie.
"Are we in trouble, Barney?" Rerun cried.
"I'm sure everything is gonna be just fine." Barney promised.
"Ooh, it's time for my nap!" Baby Bop exclaimed as she, Linus and Rerun hid in the trap door.
"My blanket!" Linus exclaimed, yanking his blanket in the door.
"This is fun!" Shawn exclaimed.
"Fun?!" Lucy wailed.
"This is like a rollercoaster ride!" Linus agreed with Shawn.
"It sure is! I'm not scared!" Tosha exclaimed as Marcie snapped out of her dizzy spell.
"My pajamas are stuck to my skin!" Schroeder realized. "I'm cold, wet, and Lucy is the 'captain'. What can go wrong?" he sarcastically said.
"That's the spirit!" Barney smiled. "This is a good, strong ship, so there's not one thing we got to worry about!"
"We also have no one steering the ship." Derek commented.
"I think I got it-third time's the charm." Marcie declared as Peppermint Patty held onto her while she steered the ship. "I don't need supervision, Sir."
"Just making sure." Peppermint Patty said.
"Drive that boat, Marcie!" Rerun exclaimed. "You got this!"
"I hope so." Peppermint Patty called out.
"Why do all the bad things happen to me?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Not this time!" Marcie exclaimed, steering the ship as Peppermint Patty guided her. "What did I say, Sir? I've got this under control or my name isn't Marceline Johnson."
"Your name IS Marceline Johnson." Derek commented.
"It is." The tomboy said. "But still."
"Almost there...NOTHING can stop us now!" Marcie declared happily. "Besides, what's the worse that can happen?"
"HEY BARNEY!" BJ exclaimed.
"YES?" Barney replied.
"THERE'S A SUPER GIANT WAVE COMING BEHIND US!" the six-year-old shouted.
"SUPER GIANT WAVE?! BEHIND US?!" Marcie repeated, fainting as Peppermint Patty caught her.
"Good grief." Peppermint Patty sighed. "Good thing I caught her."
"Okay…maybe there's just one thing we need to worry about. Two if you count no one steering the ship." Barney gulped as the kids panicked. "HOLD ON, EVERYBODY!" he added as the wave scooped up their ship.