CHAPTER 5: A CHANGE IN PLANS
Sally's running away made a decision Mr. Brown had to make easier. What he didn't tell his kids was that he wasn't liking the new barber shop and he often complained to Mrs. Brown about how impersonal and cold the place was. When he tried to plan get-togethers for his employees, they always had something else going on and couldn't do it, which wasn't the case at his old barber shop. What the kids also didn't know was that he never sold the other barber shop and held on to it, letting his top barber run it in his absence in case they decided to come back. He also didn't sell the Sparkyville home, letting his brother watch over the property and care for it so if they decided to move back, everything would still be intact. He was torn between making the new shop work and going back to where everyone knew him and was always looking forward to a haircut from him.
One day, Charlie Brown was looking depressed. He hadn't felt that way in a while, so for him to feel like that in Kansas City meant something was up. Abigail spotted him walking down the street looking rather sad. She decided to see what was up.
"Hey, baby," she greeted, kissing him on the cheek. "What's the matter?"
"My father gave us some news," he said sadly. "I don't know what to think of it."
"Well, let your Abigail hear this news and let's see if we can fix it,."
"I don't think this can be fixed, Abigail. And you won't like it, either."
"Whatever it is, we can work through it."
"Well, my dad isn't liking the new barber shop and says the employees are far different than the one's in our old town."
"Okay?"
"He wants to sell the place to his top barber there."
"That's doesn't seem like anything to be sad about."
"It's actually the reason why he wants to sell it that's got me worried. Just like Sally, he wants to move back to Sparkyville."
"Uh oh!"
"That's right! And when the parent wants to go back, that means the kids have to go with them."
"Oh no! And that means…"
"That's right, Abigail. I have to go back to Sparkyville, too!"
"How long until you have to leave?"
"Well dad has to take care of all loose ends here. Plus with our house they only rented it and didn't buy it outright. Plus he kept ownership of our house in Sparkyville and his old barbershop in case something like this happened. So at the very least it won't be for a while still."
"So we still have time to do plenty of things together. While I will definitely miss you, we can still do some things together while you're still here."
"Really?"
"Absolutely! Now let's turn that frown upside down and go to the malt shop. I think our friends are there already." And Charlie Brown and Abigail headed for the malt shop. And she was right; he still had plenty of time to do things with her and the others before he and his family returned to Sparkyville.
END OF PART 6