It was sunny outside and Charlie already rested up through out the remainder of the drive. He sat next to Anne on the driver's seat while Hop Pop was driving Bessie. Charlie told Anne about his dream he had when he was asleep from before which Anne actually felt it was a lot more normal than her own dream.
"So you actually dreamed about meeting my mom and that's how you pictured it?" asked Anne. "Sounds like how a married couple meets the in-laws."
"Makes me wonder how it'll turn out when I actually meet your mother." said Charlie.
"I'm sure my mom will allow me to continue dating you. The worst that could happen is she says no." said Anne guessing the worst case in situation.
Charlie let out a loud hiccup and blushed. Anne noticed that the last thing she told him made him feel slightly uneasy.
"Too grim?" asked Anne.
"A little." answered Charlie.
Anne leaned in and kissed Charlie on his cheeks which instantly reassured him.
"I'm sure my mom will allow you to continue dating me. My mom once told me that I was too young to be dating when I was at least ten and she told me that I should at least wait till I'm a teenager." said Anne stating what her mother advised. "And I'm thirteen now, so."
As Anne reached over to take hold of Charlie's hand, both of them grasped each other hands and smiled. Hop Pop inhaled the air as he smelled something very familiar to him.
"Ah, how I miss the swamp air. The aroma of grass, a whisper of manure, and just a pinch of humidity. Do you feel that humidity, Anne?" asked Hop Pop with a peaceful grin.
Charlie and Hop Pop looked and saw Anne was slightly sweating and her hair frizzed up so much that it looked like a really big Afro. Charlie smiled and tried not to laugh while he pulled out a clean rag for Anne to use to wipe herself off from the sweating.
"A pinch." answered Anne.
"Anne, do you notice your hair looks like an Afro right now?" said Charlie blushing.
She looked up and noticed her hair did frizz up and look like a brown ball of cotton. She nodded once and that's when Polly came out of Anne's hair like she was using it as a hiding place.
"Polly, how long have you been in there?" asked Anne curiously.
"Some time after I woke up or at least when your hair frizzed up more than when you and Charlie's hair was sticking up from static discharge that time when we charged both your phone and Charlie's phone." answered Polly.
Anne and Charlie chuckled while Polly looked forwards at the trail and she saw a familiar sight that made her feel excitement pumping through her mind and body.
"I see it! I see it! I can see Wartwood!" cried Polly with a gasp.
Sprig and everyone looked in front of them and they saw the town of Wartwood now far from them. Sprig was so excited that he got out his fiddle and he began to swing a song he just made up as Charlie would look on and see the entrance to the town and the first person he spotted was Mrs. Croaker, she was walking her pet spider, Archie.
Charlie felt his excitement was unable to be contained and he was the first to jump off the driver's seat, bounce off Bessie's shell with one foot and as he jumped several feet above Bessie's head in an aerial flip. Anne was wide eyed at how high he could jump and how athletic he's become by now.
He landed on the ground at least seven feet in front of Anne and the Plantars. He he ran towards the town of Wartwood at a really fast pace like he was a track runner trying to break the land speed record on running.
"Wartwood, here we come!" cried Charlie in excitement.
Mrs. Croaker turned to see that the caravan Anne, Charlie and the Plantars were riding on was approaching. She even saw Charlie running his way to the location which his fast pace was surprising to her. She could hear Sprig's singing in the distance.
"Hey, I know that irritating voice." said Mrs. Croaker with a grin.
The old female frog turned to the entrance of the town's arch and she shot out her long, thick, wide, frog like tongue to hit the bell above the arches, causing the bell to ring loudly.
"The Plantars are back! Get out here, everyone! It's the Plantars!" called Mrs. Croaker.
As she called to the civilians. Everyone in town were all turning around to see and hear what was going on. As they heard Mrs. Croaker announce to them who was coming. The first person to make it through the town's entrance was Charlie after he stopped running and he pushed off the ground hard and jumped into air so high that he actually jumped twelve feet into the air while everyone who saw let out a surprised "Whoa!" and Charlie managed to do at least two flips as he landed on the ground right where the caravan had stopped at. He stood on it's right side.
Everyone was murmuring happily as they arrived and Charlie was the first person to help Anne, Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop off the caravan as he advised them to let him catch them in his arms. The first to jump down was Hop Pop which Charlie caught in his arms. The next was Anne, Polly and finally Sprig.
"Charlie, your getting stronger. But you do know I can climb down on my own, right?" said Hop Pop giggling.
"You know me. Just taking some of the weight off another one's back." Charlie replied.
Many of the residence saw this and heard Charlie's words which had them all smiling as they knew this was just how Charlie is when it came to helping others that need it.
"I see you're still the same gentleman that we remember." chuckled Mrs. Croaker.
"Same as I am no matter where I go. Mrs. Croaker, how's your eye?" asked Charlie.
"I'm able to see out both of them completely fine. That golden apple sure did the trick." answered Mrs. Croaker with a chuckle.
"I take it that means all who used one are showing that the golden miracle all healing apples actually are a permanent cure to any and all afflictions, allergies, injuries, wounds, illnesses of all sorts, physical and mental conditions. No side affects, no negative drawbacks, no negative, allergic reactions. You can eat it any other way you want and it works." said Charlie realizing that these golden apples really are the real deal. "Praise God!"
"Praise God! Praise the Lord!" said everyone in Wartwood.
"Hiya, folks!" greeted Hop Pop.
He was immediately greeted with a hug by Sylvia who gave him a bear hug. She was happy to see him home again.
"Hoppy!" said Sylvia happily.
"Sylvia!" said Hop Pop happily.
"Come here, city boy!" said Sylvia as the two hugged.
"Any luck finding a way back to your world, Anne and Charlie?" asked Leopold.
"Not yet. But we're whittling away at it." said Anne and Charlie in unison.
Leopold let out a blushing chuckle as he whispered "That wood reference was for me." and that's when Wally popped out from the crowd as he walked over to greet them.
"Well, if it isn't the Plantars!" said Wally.
Wally came over to them and did a few front flips forwards till he was at their side.
"Haven't seen you lot for a long time. Uh, definitely didn't see you on your trip." said Wally denying his events in Ribbitvale so the residence of Wartwood didn't know.
Anne, Charlie and the Plantars knew that he didn't want the others to know about where he's from or that he comes from a wealthy family which they understood. Charlie and Anne winked at him as he winked back.
"Whatever you say, "Walliam." chuckled Polly.
Before Wally was about to rejoin the crowd, Charlie pulled him in for a hug which caused him to blush while the crowd uttered and adored "Awww" at the sight of it.
"Your secret is safe with us." Charlie whispered to him.
"Thanks a bunch, Charlie." Wally whispered back.
After they released each others arms. Wally walked back to the crowd and that's when Sprig was looking around as if waiting to see Ivy or checking to see if he was about to walk into an ambush. He walked over to Felicia and wondered if she knew where Ivy was since he didn't see her anywhere.
"Uh, hey, Felicia. Where's Ivy?" asked Sprig.
"Oh, she said she had something more important to do." answered Felicia looking afraid to tell him.
Sprig was met with sadness and frowned. Felicia was about to explain what her daughter was up to but a male frog in yellow skin nearby looked like he took off his skin but turned out the skin was made of nothing but cotton and Sprig saw Ivy. She was wearing a disguise to surprise Sprig.
"Ambush!" cried Ivy.
Ivy jumped forwards and grabbed hold of Sprig. The two frog children rolled around in the ground like they were wrestling. They looked like a can of pinto beans rolling on the ground. They stopped and Ivy was on top of him. As she got up, Sprig's eyes were looking in different directions till he shook his head to get the dizziness out of him. He smiled as he was greeted by Ivy.
"Hi." said Sprig with a grin.
"Hey, you." greeted Ivy.
Ivy pulled Sprig up to his feet when some of the crowd was smiling at the adorable sight of the two kids still romantically involved with each other. The two blushed and looked as though they were pretending to look up and spot a bird in the sky.
"Good thing she was nearby or we would have a lost child situation and would need a search team." said Charlie looking relieved.
"Still looking out for others children." said Ivy.
"Till the day I grow older than the trees." answered Charlie. "Plus the way you two actually rolled around like that was kind of funny."
"Like a runaway can of pinto beans rolling down a hill." joked Sprig and Ivy with a chuckle.
Many of those who heard the joke laughed as they found it humorous. It wasn't long till Toadstool came over from the crowd and was using his cane to ring a bell while Toadie accompanied him. He walked over towards Anne, Charlie and the Plantars.
"Just simmer down now! Come on, simmer down. Market stops for no one. Y'all can welcome back the Plantars after business hours." announced Toadstool.
Toadstool was about to walk off till he saw Charlie and froze for a moment. He felt a bit awkward for a moment as he was still remembering what Charlie did for him and even though both Toadstool and Charlie somehow made peace with one another. Toadstool was still getting used to trying to be a better person. He almost dropped the bell he was holding and nervously cleared his throat.
"Charlie." said Toadstool nervously.
"Everything alright?" asked Charlie curiously.
Toadstool stood there for a moment and took off running faster than he ever could run.
"Got to use the little toad's room!" lied Toadstool.
Toadie followed after him which Charlie was suspecting that Toadstool was new to being kinder. That's when Stumpy spoke.
"Oh! How about we all meet at my restaurant tonight? Have a town dinner for the Plantars." Stumpy suggested.
"We're in. I can't wait for some authentic swamp cooking!" Hop Pop chimed in.
Stumpy pulled out what looked like a parchment with what looked like random items on there. Stumpy was pointing at one of the pictures that shown what looked like a pink coral ornament.
"And I can't wait for that Newtopian coral hand fitment. Thanks for pickin' it up for me." said Stumpy with a grin. "I know I'm still getting used to having me limbs back and using them like everything else. So you could say the fitment collecting turned into a hobby. I got so used to using them that I, well, you could say I just keep them around like something that has sentimental value like me first toque hat when I first started to learn how to become a chef. I nearly lost a finger or two, you know them big, sharp knives."
Hop Pop and Polly both looked visibly alarmed which Charlie was the first to notice this. He had no recollection of Hop Pop shopping for souvenirs for anyone back in Wartwood. He remembered Sprig was getting a staff for Ivy but it got destroyed back in Newtopia during the derby.
"Say, if we're all gonna be together anyway, why not bring all the gifts from our wish list!" Mrs. Croaker advised.
The crowd was chattering in excitement. Anne, Sprig and Charlie were looking confused and curious now when they heard Mrs. Croaker bring up something about gifts and a wish list. Charlie turned to Hop Pop with a curious look and he was at a loss for words.
Hop Pop agreed to what Mrs. Croaker suggested and that's when Polly bounced off his head and yawned which her yawn wasn't very convincing. When he saw Polly putting on the big, adorable eyes and mentioned about wanting to go home to take a nap. Hop Pop chimed in and shown the big eyes as well as he was showing to be adorably attentive towards her which Charlie never saw him do before.
"Have a talk with Hop Pop and Polly?" asked Charlie.
"Big time." said Anne and Sprig in unison.
"Okay, here we go! Come on, kids!" said Hop Pop quickly.
Hop Pop immediately picked up Polly and marched towards Anne, Sprig and Charlie as he pushed them along over towards the caravan in a hurry. He used his huge frog like tongue to lash out and open the front door to the caravan and hurriedly got both Anne, Charlie, Sprig, Polly and himself inside. Everyone outside brushed it off, thinking that their hasty exit was just them going off to take a nap after a long journey.
Inside the caravan. Hop Pop and Polly were crawling around the floor of the caravan, tapping on parts of the floor as if looking for a loose floor board to see if there was a secret compartment they forgotten about. Anne, Charlie and Sprig looked on in curious confusion.
"Do you want this one?" asked Anne.
"No, no, all yours." answered Sprig.
"Guys, I'll take this one." Charlie chimed in.
"Rock, paper, scissors for it?" Anne suggested.
There was a pause and both Anne and Charlie came to a decision both would agree on.
"We'll both take this one." said the two humans in unison.
The two humans turned to see Hop Pop now tapped on the floor board that made a different sound when tapped, he opened it up and pulled out a parchment of paper.
"Hop Pop, what the heck is going on?" asked Anne and Charlie in unison.
Polly and Hop Pop both started to explain that around the time that they were picking up the caravan. Mrs. Croaker asked them about picking up a new romance novel while they were in Newtopia. Than that's when it resulted in others hearing about Mrs. Croaker's request and they started asking about similar requests which Hop Pop knew if it was more than one person. He had to write it all down and both Hop Pop and Polly made a wish list in order to keep track of what others requested since they knew that if they didn't write it down, they'd probably would've forgotten.
As they continued to explain about the situation. Hop Pop informed them about placing the wish list in a special place so they wouldn't forget about it. Which Hop Pop told them and even shown them he placed the wish list in the compartment that he found it in. The loose floor board from earlier. But he admitted that both him and Polly forgotten all about it during their journey to Newtopia. Anne, Sprig and Charlie gave them a wide eyed face than a stern expression. They knew that as a result, they forgotten to inform them about it.
"What?" said Anne sternly.
"This is my fourth grade's class school field trip all over again and it was a disaster." said Charlie lightly pounding his fist to his head.
They looked at him with surprise when he mentioned something disastrous happening on his fourth grade class's school field trip. They were curious at first.
"You don't wanna know." warned Charlie.
"I'm so sorry, you guys. Please don't get mad." said Polly giving them the big, teary eyes.
Anne went to pick her up from the floor to comfort her.
"Oh, no, no, no. It's okay, Polly. You're just a baby." said Anne sweetly showing her the big adorable eyes.
While Sprig looked at the wish list. That's when Anne and Charlie looked at Hop Pop with a disapproving look.
"But you! I cannot believe you forgot about something so important, Hop Pop!" said Anne sharply.
"Look, I'm sure we can find a way to bury this so no one finds out." Hop Pop suggested.
Anne and Charlie both looked like they were not liking this idea at all. Even Charlie was finding it harder to hold back his temptation to say a swear word in frustration but somehow held back.
"Nope. Lying will only make it worse. I feel like we've learned that lesson by now." said Anne putting her foot down.
"Hopediah Plantar, I already feel weird enough as it is saying how your on thin ice right now. The adult's usually say that to their kids when they act up or keep pushing their luck to the limit. I really hate saying this but your on thin ice right now. I don't even like lying to my mom, my aunt, or the ladies of the house let alone the people of Wartwood." said Charlie already feeling a mix of dread and awkwardness.
Sprig lowered the wish list down to face them all as he saw something on the parchment that caught his attention and had him realizing something that might remember.
"Well, one thing's for sure. We have to lie." Sprig blurted out.
"Preach! Wait, what?" said Anne caught off guard.
"It's spreading like wildfire." said Charlie shaking his head.
"Ivy asked for a red sunshell from the Newtopian coast. To match my blue moonshell." said Sprig pointing to the object.
The picture of the item that Sprig pointed to was looking like a red clam shell with Ivy's face drawn next to it. Below that in the list was a picture of Sprig's face next to the blue moonshell that he pointed out as well. Both Anne and Charlie shown an adored expression while uttering an adored "Oh!" and Sprig jumped up to Anne and held onto her from her shoulders while she held onto him but the sides.
"She can't find out, Anne. What if she gets mad? What if she thinks I don't like her? The relationship will be over before it starts!" said Sprig ranting in a panic.
Anne shown an annoyed expression as she gave in and peeled Sprig off her face as his fingers slightly dug into her face but not enough to pull on her. Charlie knew that he felt the same feeling she did and it wasn't a good feeling either.
"Fine! I'll do it for Sprivy. No way I'm letting that ship sink." said an annoyed Anne.
"Sprig, just take a breath and breathe." Charlie advised.
Anne placed Sprig on his feet to the floor and he breathed calmly in and out to relax his body and mind from the panicked stress.
"Great. Now, let's put our heads together and come up with a plan." Hop Pop chimed in.
"Oh, yeah, and we'd better hurry, or you might forget." said Anne sarcastically.
"It was one time, Anne!" said Hop Pop annoyed.
"Chinmoku!" said Charlie loudly. "We should probably continue this inside the house and not the Fwagon."
"Probably for the best." said Hop Pop in agreement.
As they walked out of the caravan and walked towards the direction that led to the Plantars home. Both Anne and Charlie were filled with regret and dread at this point as they both knew from personal experience that lying only makes a situation much worse.
"Who do you think will be the first to burn for this if something leads to chaos?" said Charlie in sarcasm.
"I'll let you know if one of our pants burst into flames." Anne replied.