It was sunny out and Hop Pop was steering Bessie as they were going up a hill or at least a valley they've never been to. Anne, Sprig and Polly were inside the caravan while Charlie and Polly were sitting next to Hop Pop in the driver's seat. It looked like Bessie was growing exhausted from going up the hill but Hop Pop was doing his best to help her keep going.
"Hop Pop, maybe we should stop and let Bessie catch her breath. If I've learned anything from going up hills, it's like going up a long staircase, you go on for too long, you'll be more exhausted after someone runs a marathon on foot." Charlie suggested.
"I know but we're almost there." said Hop Pop. "Come on, Bessie. Come on. Almost there."
Anne and Sprig came out from the topside door of the caravan to see what was going on as they managed to reach the top of the hill but they heard a loud snapping sound once they've reached the top. Hop Pop was holding onto the reins that have now snapped off the other end, broken like it was a frail piece of string.
They saw what looked like plenty of sheep with bug like wings all around them and they had bug like antennaes. Hop Pop looked at the now broken reins and he looked frustrated.
"Oh, dang it! The ding‐dang reins snapped." said Hop Pop frustrated.
"That can't be good." said Charlie noticing.
With the reins broken, Bessie's harness was loose and she saw these sheepflies nearby, loudly bleating like a sheep as the excited female snail smiled and looked excited. She let out a few excited chirps and eagerly raced towards some of them sheepflies. Some of them ran from Bessie as she chased them like a sheepdog herding sheep.
"We gotta get these reins fixed or we can't control Bessie." said Hop Pop holding onto the seat.
"Don't worry, Hop Pop. There's a town right down the road. See? Ribbitvale." said Sprig bringing out a map.
Sprig pointed to the spot on the map that he mentioned by name. The town named Ribbitvale on the map shown a golden crest with the picture of a building on the crest with gold vines and leaves around it. Hop Pop appeared to disapprove of the idea.
"Ribbitvale? The most expensive town in all Amphibia? No way!" said Hop Pop dismissing the suggestion.
The caravan came to an abrupt stop as Bessie stopped to snuggle with a sheepfly, letting out relaxed toned purrs.
"Looks like we don't have a choice, HP." Anne stated.
As they saw Bessie snuggling with one of the sheepflies. They knew that there wasn't much of a choice they could choose from at this point.
"I'm with Anne on this one. I've seen dogs on leashes go through the same thing. The leash snaps, the dog runs off and the owner is left chasing the dog around for a while in order to get the dog on a spare leash. With Bessie being as big as she is, chasing her around is something that'll tire us out more than an out of shape man trying to do the five k run." said Charlie in agreement with Anne. Hop Pop let out a sigh.
"You're right. But when we get there, don't get sucked in by the fancy." instructed Hop Pop.
"What fancy?" asked Charlie curiously.
Hop Pop knew the kids didn't know about the nearby town and it's lifestyle.
"Ribbitvale is known as the fanciest town of all Amphibia where the wealthiest people live." explained Hop Pop.
"Hmm. Sounds like Bel-Air." said Charlie remembering a place similar to Ribbitvale.
They all got off the caravan but Polly remained on Bessie's back as the rest of them were steering Bessie by pushing her into the direction of Ribbitvale which took them twenty-five minutes to get there and they reached the city entrance. They saw a gold sign that read "Ribbitvale" with the message underneath it that read "the fanciest town in all of Amphibia" engraved below it. They saw that Charlie was using his strength to help push and steer Bessie which looked like he wasn't struggling at all.
Once they stopped, they looked forwards and saw the town of Ribbitvale. There was a lot of large, fancy looking buildings, other amphibians dressed in fancy clothing with a lot of them looking like their got their hair done at a beauty salon, there was a ten‐tier fountain in the middle of town, people who had solid gold snail carriages. Anne, Sprig and Polly looked like they were mystified by the beautiful sights while Charlie remained stoic as if he's been to a place like this back at home.
"So shiny. So sparkly." said Polly with a sparkling expression in her eyes.
Hop Pop got out a spray bottle of water and sprayed Polly with it to get her attention.
"Hey! Hey! I said look away from the fancy." warned Hop Pop.
Charlie on the other hand saw from a distance that there was an elderly frog woman walking around with a bejeweled cane who appeared to be struggling to make it across one of the streets or to reach a gold snail carriage. His instincts he felt when he was in Wartwood was kicking in.
"If you'll excuse me." said Charlie walking off.
They saw Charlie walked off as they were not sure what he was about to do.
"Charlie! What are doing?" called Hop Pop.
Charlie ignored him and reached the elderly female frog as he saw the female frog looking back at him with curiosity.
"Ma'am, do you need a hand or two?" asked Charlie curiously.
The elderly frog woman saw Charlie's beautifully long, fully head of flowing hair, his perfectly chiseled face and could tell he's got a muscular body type which was the first three things about his appearance she noticed.
"I say, your a tall and huge male individual." she said as she had a British accent.
"We got a lot of people like that back where I'm from. Maybe you need someone to give you lift to where your headed?" suggested Charlie.
"What would you suggest?" she asked.
Charlie bent down and scooped up the elderly frog woman into his arms and the frog woman started to laugh as he did so. He carried her over across the street like he was carrying a baby as he reached the other side of the street and opened the door to the snail carriage as he carefully placed her inside the seat.
"Thank you, my fine strong man." said the elderly frog woman with a grin.
"It's a pleasure. My the lord bless you and everyone." said Charlie.
That's when Charlie reached inside a pocket of his and pulled out a small bag that he gave to the elderly frog woman and he whispered to her what she should do with it. She looked inside the bag and saw it was a golden apple.
"The all miracle healing apple?" she said looking wide eyed.
"There's more in there. One of them is for you. But the rest of them, maybe you could suggest to the town leaders that they can be planted and grown around here. It'll be very useful for any and all residence around here." explained Charlie.
"Good idea, young man. Good thing one of my siblings is one of the town leaders." the elderly frog lady said.
"May the lord bless you." Charlie told her.
As he closed the door to the carriage. The driver of the snail carriage came over to them and he too was surprised at Charlie's appearance.
"Sir, we got a lady that needs a ride. And careful on the street. She's an elder." Charlie instructed.
"Understood, my fine..uhhhh..." the driver paused.
"We're called humans where I'm from, sir. But we're people just like everyone else you see here." Charlie assisted.
"Righto, sir." the driver replied.
The driver was a male frog dressed in a black suit and silver tie as he jumped up onto the snail and spoke into what looked like a microphone that was connected to the carriage.
"Where to, madame?" he spoke into the microphone.
"Frog Square." came the frog lady's voice from the microphone.
"Sure thing, milady." he spoke back. "Onward!"
The driver gently moved the reins to signal the snail to go forwards and drove off. Charlie walked back over towards Anne and the Plantars as he popped his neck. Both Anne and the Plantars saw what he was doing.
"Just like back at Wartwood." said Hop Pop with a grin.
"You know it." said Charlie.
Sprig spotted someone from a distance and it was a young male frog with one of his eyes closed, but in fancy looking clothes, his hair done. He was a turquoise male frog with a small beard, long dark turquoise hair, he had a bejeweled cane with him and was standing next to an older male frog who bears a resemblance similar to him. He was a cyan blue frog with a lighter underbelly with slick back white hair. He has yellow eyes with a monocle over one. He also worn an upper-class styled clothing which consists of a brown shirt and white pants fastened with a black belt, along with black boots with golden buckles. He carried curved cane around. They all saw who it was.
Oh, no. They couldn't‐‐"Wally!" they all said in unison. "One-Eyed Wally!"
The male frog turned to see them coming over to him and he dropped his cane in shock.
"You didn't tell me you were leaving the valley, you scamp." said Anne greeting him with a grin.
"Wally, you never told me that you...do you happen to reside here in this swank place?" said Charlie looking a bit surprised.
"Oh, um‐‐" Wally started looking a bit fearful.
The older male frog next to Wally turned to see Anne, Charlie and the Plantars along with Bessie. He had a thick grey mustache and worn a grey top hat.
"Walliam, you know these pungent common folk, do you?" asked the older male frog who spoke in a British accent as well.
"Uh, yes, Father. I met them on my business travels." Wally said telling half a lie and half the truth.
Wally looked Anne, Charlie and the Plantars when his dad wasn't looking and he mouthed to them "I'm so sorry" which this confused them.
"These must be your servants from Wartwood then." said Wally's dad.
"Servants?" said Hop Pop appalled.
"Pungent?" said Charlie looking appalled.
"Yes. That's right, Father. These are my servants." lied Wally.
Again, Wally looked at them and silently mouthed to them "I'm really, really sorry" which left them further into confusion. The older male frog turned out to be Wally's father. Polly grabbed hold of Wally's wrist and firmly squeezed it enough to make a cracking sound, causing Wally to groan in pain and Polly removed her hand from his wrist. Wally's father walked towards Anne and Charlie and looked them over.
"And these two must be some kind of exotic beasts you tamed. Yet one of them has such gorgeous hair like you do Walliam, his muscles though, make me wonder if he was used to pull along a carriage. Though I sooner would have had them stuffed." said Wally's dad.
Wally's dad let out a chuckle and both Anne and Charlie looked at Wally with an expression of anger but Wally again mouthed to them "I'm so sorry" when his father wasn't looking. Wally's dad was about to jokingly poke Anne with his cane but Charlie grabbed hold of the cane before he did so. He shot the older well dressed male frog a stern expression which this left the older male frog a bit surprised and speechless.
"Keep your opinions, your hands and your cane to yourself. We're humans, not beasts, we're all Wally's friends who lend him a hand from time to time." Charlie said in a growl.
The smile on Wally's dad's face faded instantly as if afraid to cross Charlie. Charlie let go of the cane and the older male frog placed it back on the ground. Wally's dad shown to be visibly shaken.
"I guess this means you and the female...uhhhh...human if that's your species name. If you're friends of Walliam, than I..." Wally's dad began feebly.
"Behave!" Charlie warned.
He paused for a moment before speaking. Anne and the Plantars seem to see that Charlie was sticking up for them and himself which at the same time they're proud of him but also hoping he doesn't go any into any extreme measures. Wally's dad had his shaken expression fade as he started to obey.
"He's quite commanding. Reminds me of a bloke who used to work as a game warden. Both their voices commanded attention." said Wally's dad starting to behave.
Wally looked at Charlie not only with a brief smile and wink, winking both his eyes though, but he mouthed to Charlie "It's a long story" they still didn't know what was going on and why Wally was acting strange, or stranger than usual.
"Sounds like someone familiar." said Anne with a grin.
"So you're Wally's father? Identify yourself, please." said Charlie appearing stoic.
The older male frog cleared his throat.
"Anyhow, I am Wigbert Ribbiton." the older male frog introduced himself.
Hop Pop was wide eyed with a sparkling thrill in his eyes.
"Ribbiton? As in Ribbiton's Ribbons? The finest web crusty floss in all of Amphibia?" Hop Pop described.
Hop Pop pulled out a small brown bag that had neon blue ribbons in them with a picture of a green male frog laying back as if relaxing while the words "Pleasure Your Toes" was sewn in gold lettering.
"That's us. And when I retire, Walliam here will be head of the Ribbiton family empire. Right, Walliam?" said Wigbert looking at Wally.
"Right, Father. Can't wait for that." said Wally with a fake smile and later sighed looking saddened.
Anne and Charlie looked at Wally as they could see he wasn't all too thrilled at what his father said. It was as if Wally wasn't happy with the life he's living in Ribbitvale. Charlie immediately knew what this meant and what was going on as he remembered going through something similar to this with his biological father, not having a good relationship with his dad and it appeared that Wally was going through similar events. Wigbert went to look at Bessie which he noticed the reins were broken.
"Hello. Looks like someone needs repairs. My mechanics will make her right as rain in no time." said Wigbert with a snap of his fingers.
They saw a dozen small but strong male frogs coming over to lift both Bessie and the caravan off the ground and carried them both away to give repairs while they uttered the word "Hup" as they did so. They saw this and knew this was some good news.
"Oh, mighty kind of ya." said Hop Pop looking relieved.
"You'll be joining us back at the mansion, of course?" said Wigbert.
"Mansion." they said in wide eyed unison.
"No joke!" said Charlie barely reacting.
"Oh, no. They couldn't‐‐" began Wally feebly with a nervous expression.
"Oh, yes, we could!" said Anne and the Plantars in excited unison.
"Follow me." instructed Wigbert.
As Wigbert led the way. They all walked with him and Charlie saw that Wally was looking saddened again but Wally looked up at Charlie and mouthed "Forgive me but please help me" to him. Charlie saw what this meant and looked at Wigbert.
"Wigbert. Is everything between you and your son alright. He looks a bit depressed." said Charlie looking concerned.
"Everything is peachy keen between me and Walliam. I love my son with all my heart like every other parent should." said Wigbert unfazed.
"Dad, do you think we could-" Wally began.
"Not now, Walliam. It'll have to wait." Wigbert interrupted.
"But dad, I-." Wally spoke.
"Later Walliam." said Wigbert.
Wally's depressed expression intensified a bit and sighed while hanging his head a bit.
"Yes dad." said Wally sadly.
Charlie instantly knew this meant Wally also has dad issues just like him. He suddenly had an idea pop into his head but he knew the idea was going to take a bit of work.
"Light bulb." Charlie whispered to Anne.