Chapter 4: Trouble In Paradise

As the first day of the kids' winter vacation went on and on,they all continued to have themselves some fun out in the snow such as them continuing to skate on the frozen pond,they brought out some ice blocks from their freezers and made ice sculptures with them outside,and they even had some snowball fights and hockey games between the boys and girls,and yes the final score was a tie between the two teams. Eventually however they decided that they needed a little bit of a break as they all decided to head over to the local mall for lunch,it was now around 11:30 in the morning and the sky had now morphed away from the bright yellow void into a mostly clear blue sky with the occasional puffy cloud here and there while little bits of snow continued to slowly fall down.

"Man I am starving. I could really go for a good burger right now." Peppermint Patty stretched out her arms and remarked in a slightly exhausted tone of voice before Marcie added in a much calmer sounding tone "I think I could use a nap after that last hockey game sir. I just hope it won't result in an exhaustion coma."

"Oh believe me I was on the verge of falling into one when I had to do my War And Peace Book report." Charlie Brown chuckled and joked as he remembered how he nearly passed out after finishing his book report on War And Peace as Linus playfully retorted while he sucked on his thumb with his blanket "Well let's hope we can make it to the mall before anything of the sort could happen."

"Well something tells me Snoopy's close to falling victim to one." Rebecca stated out of a sense of irony when she noticed that Snoopy had decided to lay on the top of her head while Amy,Jasper and Woodstock lay down on top of his belly before Scheroder joined in on the conversation while they made their way away from the frozen pond "You know speaking of the mall,I'm gonna see if they got any classical piano records there,sometimes it's nice to have someone else play music throughout the house for once."

"I think I'm gonna get a new pump for my football." Lucy added and stated what she was gonna get during their trip to the mall before Linus rolled his eyes and politely retorted "Well I'm just focusing on getting myself a good meal first. I don't need to be wringing myself out of money before Christmas." to which Charlie Brown quietly whispered to the boy in agreement "You said it Linus,I need to be saving my money for Rebecca's birthday party."

"Well it's good that you're as devoted to it as you say you are Charlie Brown. Speaking of which,has she found out about it yet?" Linus grew a little bit of a smile and happily complimented Charlie Brown for being as devoted to Rebecca's surprise party as he was while the boy nervously sighed and replied "So far no,but I think she's starting to get suspicious-"

"What are you boys talking about?" Rebecca suddenly butted in on the conversation and got in between the toy boys as Charlie Brown got bright red in the face and nervously stammered "N-nothing R-Rebecca. What's there to talk about heh-heh?" before he subtly winked at Linus signifying that he wanted him to play along to which the boy reluctantly obliged with a nervous grin of his own "Yeah it was nothing Rebecca. Nothing worth getting curious over."

Rebecca on the other hand was still just as suspicious about Charlie Brown supposedly having no surprises planned what so over,but like before she merely decided to humor him and played along with the blatant lie as she patted Charlie Brown on the shoulder and stated in a motherly tone of voice "Alright boys,I'll leave you two alone." before Charlie Brown gave a sigh of relief and whispered back to Linus "I cant ruin the surprise for her. That would go against the point of a surprise party."

"Well just make sure it doesn't get to the point where she can't trust you anymore. There's nothing worse than a friend that feels like they don't know you anymore." Linus sighed and bid Charlie Brown a cautious warning about not taking the lying too far as the round headed boy confidently reassured Linus that he wouldn't take it too far "Oh believe me I know a thing or two about that." He was clearly referring to the time when he uncharacteristically snapped at his friends when they tried to bring him home to Sparkyville after they treated him so horribly after losing them yet another baseball game,and as a result of this it was like they didn't even know him anymore.


However as they continued to head away from the frozen pond and the general play area of snow and ice,they would all be suddenly brought to a screeching halt when they heard what sounded like a young boy around their age screaming in a panic to the right of them as Freida asked out of confusion while Snoopy got down from Rebecca's head and raised his right ear up to listen "Hey,what in the world is that?" before Shermy guessed equally as startled "It sounds like someone when they have to get their flu shot at the doctor's office. Should we help him out?"

"Well I suggest we high tail it out of here already. My ears are already killing me!" Violet fiercely suggested out of annoyance as she tried to cover her ears with her mitten covered hands before they all suddenly hear a familiar voice call out to them in a panic "MAKE WAY! MAKE WAY!" to which they all turned their heads to the right to see none other than Ed frantically running down the hill that led down to the area where the pond was and coming straight towards them,for he was actually being chased by a giant snowball that had somehow been formed.

"ED!" The kids gasped and greeted the boy out of a mixture of shock and surprise as the boy came dashing right past them and yelled "Hey everyone! Bye everyone! Run!" to which the kids turned their heads to the right again to see that the giant snowball was also coming straight towards them as well and threatening to devour them as they all yelled in fear "OH GOOD GRIEF!" before they ran after Ed and away from the snowball.

"It's nice of you to show up here Ed!" Charlie Brown fearfully greeted the hermit once they had managed to catch up with him as Lucy gasped and fiercely disagreed "Not now it isn't! He brought this giant snowball with him!" before Ed scoffed and retorted "Hey this isn't my fault,I was just walking up and down the hills when suddenly this big boof came after me!" to which Sally angrily groaned "Oh sure blame everyone but yourself!"

"I just got here,what'd I do to deserve this?!" Ed gasped and asked out of shock that he was already being lamented and scolded but before anyone could even answer,the snowball seemed to have finally caught up to them and effectively buried each and every one of them in at least 5 feet of white,fluffy snow under the kite eating tree.

"Ow." Ed groaned and nonchalantly stated in pain as he climbed out the huge pile of snow before he screamed at the top of his lungs in frustration "I HATE WINTER!" only for his screaming to be loud enough to cause all the snow on the kite eating tree to fall right on top of them and make the pile of snow even bigger,and also revealing the leafless branches of the tree. Everyone's muffled gargling and struggling to get out of the snow could be heard for at least 10 seconds before they all managed to finally get out as they burst right through the top layer and tried to catch their breath.

"Hi there mates." Ed once again greeted the gang although in a much more calm and relieved tone of voice as he tried to catch his breath before Freida looked up at her hair and somberly whimpered "I take back what I said about the snow,my hair is a mess now." to which the boy raised an eyebrow and retorted "It don't look that bad,my hair's a mess all the time."

"I think you and Pig-Pen should be roommates with how much you two make messes." Violet angrily stated as she stomped on out of the snow and leaned on the side of the kite eating tree before Pig-Pen crawled out of the dirt stained snow and added in agreement "She's right,me and you should hang out sometime."

Charlie Brown on the other hand was more focused on the fact that Ed had suddenly showed up in town rather than flattened them all with a giant snowball as he brushed that little episode aside and asked out of curiosity while he cleaned some snow off his hat "So Ed,what exactly are you doing here? Granted I was expecting you to show up in some capacity but I thought you'd mainly be spending the holidays with Herman and the rest of your crew?" to which the hermit punched the right side of his head and got some snow out of his ear before he enthusiastically explained himself "Well I decided to cut Herman and the crew a break and let them go on vacation for the holidays,I think they said they were gonna go to Africa. So with nothing better for me to do,I just decided to come and spend the holidays with y'all. I still have no idea where that snowball came from when I got here though."

"Well Ed it's at least nice to know that you're gonna rough it out with us. I've always wanted to see how a hermit such as yourself celebrates the holidays." Peppermint Patty cheerfully remarked as she happily shook Ed's hand before Marcie calmly added while she cleaned some of the snow off her glasses "You know Ed if you need somewhere to stay,perhaps you could go to the homeless shelter in the city. I'm sure they'd be willing to take you in for a while." only for Ed to shake his head and politely refuse the offer "Nah I'm good Marcie,as much as I hate the winter weather,I'm far too used to the outdoors to suddenly try and fit in at a place like that. Don't worry about me,I'll make due with something in the woods."

However that swift little remark of Ed's and how he would prefer to just stay in the woods instead of going to the homeless shelter would suddenly give Rebecca a splendid idea as her eyes widened and she quietly whispered to herself in excitement "Make due with something in the woods? That's it!" before Ed suddenly noticed how excited and giddy Rebecca looked in his peripheral vision and asked "Hey Rebecca,what's up with you? You look like you just found out you're going to Disneyland."

Instantly the girl's excited and ecstatic demeanor quickly regressed into one of nervousness as she timidly stammered in an attempt to keep her sudden new idea a secret unaware that she was acting just like how Charlie Brown was a little while ago "I-it's nothing Ed. I'm just really excited that you're here,that's all." before Linus nodded his head and cheerfully added in agreement "Same here Rebecca,it's really nice to have you here this holiday season Ed." to which a still woozy Snoopy gave a thumbs up.


However it was then and there that everyone's conversation and reunion with Ed would be suddenly and swiftly interrupted when they heard the voice of a kid with a British sounding accent call out to them from the top of the hill "Excuse me,ladies and gentlemen,may I have your attention please for a brief moment?" to which the kids including the animals looked to the upper right to see a young boy around their age with a black borehat on the top of his head,a grey and black waistcoat around him,a small black and white cane being held in his right hand,a circular eyepiece of glass over his left eye,and a pair of very fancy boots waving down at them.

Everyone was left slightly confused at the sight of this mysterious stranger,not just because of the fact that they had never seen this kid before,but also because he looked a lot more sophisticated and fancy than any other kid they had seen in town as they all raised an eyebrow and looked at each other in confusion before the boy politely called out to them once again "Yes you lot down there. Come up here please I must speak with you."

"Who's asking?" Charlie Brown asked for the boy's name out of curiosity and cautiousness as Lucy added equally as cautious "Yeah tell us who you are first and maybe we'll come up,you look really suspicious with those clothes of yours buddy." only for the boy to merely insist that they come on up and talk to him anyway while he pulled out and looked at a pocket watch "Please,please,please,I must speak with you all urgently and I have no time to daddle." to which Charlie Brown sighed and reluctantly made his way up the hill with the intent to talk to this mysterious stranger,with the others following shortly afterwards.

"Ah thank you fellas,I was worried I'd have to come down there and get my winter boots dirty." The boy faintly laughed and joked when everyone had finally made it to the top of the hill by the street before Sally asked out of curiosity "So who are you mister? I've never seen you before." while Franklin joked and subtly insulted the boy's fashion choices "Yeah one look at you and we'd remember you for life."

"Well since you all asked nicely,I go by the name of a Mister James R Waul." The boy chuckled and politely obliged to introduce himself as he gracefully bowed down and gave Charlie Brown a business card with his name on it before James rose back up and continued "If you're wondering about my accent here,it's because my parents are British and they moved here years ago. I've never been to my home country but,life in America has its benefits if I say so myself."

"Well this is the first time I've ever met a true Brit. Pleasure to meet you James,the name's Ed." Ed happily decided to introduce himself to the Brit as he walked to the front of the group and offered him a handshake,only for James to recoil in disgust due to his general appearance and politely declined one "Ah no thank you Ed. It's a pleasure to meet you too. But anyway who can be considered the leader of this group?"

"That would be me James! Lucy Van Pelt!" Lucy smugly replied in an instant as she shoved her way past the others and got right up at the front of the group which resulted in the others rolling their eyes in disbelief and James jumping back in shock before he regained his posture and calmly replied "Well then Mrs Van Pelt,I have certain matters to discuss with y'all. You see my father runs the bank of Sparkyville and-"

"The bank? That's all the way downtown,mom sometimes takes Rerun there to get her checks." Linus suddenly interrupted James's explanation of who he was in slight confusion while Peppermint Patty added equally as confused "Yeah downtown is pretty far away from here,what's a city boy like you doing all the way in the suburbs?" to which James sighed and continued where he left off "It's because I have urgent matters to discuss with you lot,and since my father is doing the honor of bidding your parents the news,it only fits that I tell you kids the news." before he pointed behind him to show a much taller man wearing the same clothes as he was talking to some people at the front door of one of their houses.

"News? What kind of news are we talking about." Rebecca raised an eyebrow and nervously asked for clarification on what James was talking about as the boy grew a slight look of regret on his face and somberly replied "Well unfortunately it ain't pretty my friends. You see the bank has recently been going through some…...trouble to put it lightly. We have recently been losing the funds necessary to provide for our shareholders,our investors and of course our own workers,and as a result of this we need to increase the debt and payment your parents owe us for living here." to which everyone's eyes widened and they gasped out of shock "WHAT?!"

"Hey that's not fair! How come you have to come to us to get your money?" Peppermint Patty angrily asked out of bewilderment as she furiously balled her fists up while James nervously stammered in an attempt to defend himself "Well uh y-you see,a lot of people recently have been leaving town to spend the holidays with family and relatives across the country,and they are selling off their houses for rent while they're gone. But as a result of this,the money for the rent and the house goes to them instead of us for the time being. We simply have no choice in this situation but to increase y'all's debt for the month,and unfortunately if you are unable to pay up by midnight on Christmas Eve,we will have no choice but to take repossession of your homes."

Everyone was left in complete and utter silence after hearing what James had to say,there was no way that this could be real,if their parents couldn't pay off their debt for the month then they would all lose their homes,and on Christmas to make things even worse. After a few more moments of them standing in silence and taking it all in,Ed suddenly grew a huge look of anger and frustration as he stomped towards James and sternly asked "What did you just say mister? I don't think we heard that right." before Lucy added just as angry and fierce "Yeah cause it sounds like you're about to kick us out of our homes during the holidays. Is that what you said?"

James was now starting to feel a great amount of fear and nervousness overwhelm him all at once as he timidly tried to defend himself "Yes but,you all got a little over two weeks to get us the money we need,surely you can find some way to pay up during that time." before he suddenly noticed Snoopy standing behind Charlie Brown with Amy,Woodstock and Jasper,and that seemed to have given James an idea as he walked up to the animals and suggested "I mean,you got yourself that purebred beagle over there,perhaps you could sell him off to someone else and that'd be a perfectly good and nice start-"

"You stop right there mister!" Charlie Brown suddenly snapped and fiercely refused to sell off Snoopy to someone else as everyone else gasped in shock that he would snap like that before he sternly continued "That dog of mine is family here,I am not selling a family member!" to which James nervously backed away and tried to calm him down "H-hold a second pal-"

"Yeah that is low of you mister! You can't just sell a friend like that!" Linus suddenly interrupted James yet again as the others started to angrily walk towards the cowering boy before Ed fiercely added while Snoopy started growling and showing off his teeth at the Brit "You know maybe you could sell those stupid clothes of yours first buddy! Maybe that would get you some worthwhile money!"

"Hold your horses everyone!" James once again tried to get everyone to calm down only for Linus to suddenly start swatting at him with his blanket like a whip as he shouted "Back! Back! Shoo! Shoo!" before James finally caved in and sprinted off to his dad's black car in a panic and frantically yelled while he jumped in through the open window and quickly drove off "I was just trying to help you!" However it seemed that the kids weren't exactly through with all their threats yet as Lucy suddenly pointed at the car and commanded Snoopy in the tone of voice a military general would use "Go get him Snoopy!" to which the beagle got on all fours,ran after after James and started barking up a storm while the boy nervously yelled from the passenger seat window "Call off your dog!" to which all of the kids angrily bid him farewell one last time "And stay out!"


Soon afterwards Snoopy came running back to the group on all fours as the others proudly cheered in his honor for chasing off James while Charlie Brown gave him a hug and happily reassured him "I wouldn't sell you for a thing in the world buddy." before the beagle awed and licked him on the cheek. However once everyone managed to calm themselves down,the fact that there was a high possibility that they wouldn't have their homes anymore during Christmas started to linger over them as Sally timiddly asked "What are we gonna do everyone?" before Charlie Brown sighed and regretfully replied unsure himself "I don't know Sally,I don't know."

"I can't believe this,here we were having ourselves a nice winter vacation and then these jokers show up to practically try and kick us out of our houses." Peppermint Patty angrily remarked as she picked up a nearby rock and threw it down the hill before Linus rolled his eyes and tried to look on the bright side of things "Well,at least we do have two weeks to try and figure something out,cause I doubt our parents can pay off the debt by themselves. They already have to spend so much just for Christmas,and now they got this debt to take care of."

Lucy on the other hand was skeptical to think that they could get the money required to pay off the debt as she scoffed and asked in bewilderment "But what exactly can we do? Where are we gonna find the money to pay off the debt at this time of year and in only two weeks?" before Linus regretfully replied "I don't know how we'll get it Lucy but,come on we have to at least try to have faith that something will show up." while Rebecca somberly whimpered "It hasn't even been a year yet and I'm already about to get kicked out of my home. It's that summer all over again."

"Hey don't say that!" Charlie Brown softly gasped and tried to calm Rebecca down before he continued in a much more uplifted tone of voice "I mean Linus is right,we do have two weeks to pay up,so we can easily find some way to make some money." only for that optimism to be quickly washed away when a sudden burst of cold wind came brushing by and made everyone shiver.

"It looks like it's about to get real cold out. Maybe we should save the mall for another day." Marcie calmly stated and suggested that they go on ahead and head back home while she put on the hood on her jacket before Pig-Pen added in agreement when he saw some particles from his dust cloud start to freeze up and drop to the ground like ice cubes "You said it Marcie,my dust cloud's starting to freeze up." to which he,Violet,Patty,Scheroder,Shermy,Lucy,Linus and Freida started to make their way back home.

"Y-you guys wanna come over for a while? We can get a fire going." Charlie Brown meekly stammered and offered the others a chance to come over to his house for a while as Marcie smiled and happily took him up on it "That would be very nice,that's very thoughtful of you Charles." only for Ed to shake his head and politely decline "No thank you fellers,I can get my own fire going out here. I'll be down in Monte Woods if you need me." before he quickly ran off to the woods.

"Come on let's get inside before we become ice statues." Sally firmly suggested that they go on inside before Rebecca politely declined the offer as well "I'm good but thanks for the offer Charlie Brown. I'm gonna head back to my place." Charlie Brown was a little confused by the fact that Rebecca hadn't taken him up on his offer,but he didn't really feel the need to question it as he merely smiled and replied "Oh,okay. You better be careful out here,it's getting real chilly." to which Rebecca nodded her head and reassured him while she begun to walk back to her place "Don't worry I will." before the others headed over to Charlie Brown's place.


As Rebecca continued to slowly but surely walk down the freezing up sidewalk,she began to have more and more thoughts about how they could all possibly lose their homes enter her mind as she somberly said to herself "I can't believe this,it hasn't even been a year yet and I'm already about to be kicked out of my home. Why can't I catch a break!" before she suddenly slipped on a puddle of frozen water and landed right on her back with a loud thud. Rebecca on the other hand didn't seem to show any signs of pain or anguish on her face as she merely looked up at the increasingly getting cloudy sky and meekly asked herself as little bits of snow continued to slowly fall from the sky "What am I gonna do? Where will I go? Will we all move to different places? Will I see any of them again? before she slowly rose up and continued her track back home.

Rebecca: The earth is cold,the fields are bare,the branches fall against the wind that's everywhere. The birds move on so they survive,when snow's so deep,the bears all sleep to keep themselves alive.

They do what they must for now and trust in their plan,if I trust in mine somehow I might find who I am.

But where do I go from here? So many voices ringing in my ear. Which is the voice that I was meant to hear,how will I know,where do I go from here?

My world has changed and so have I,I've learned to choose and even learned to say goodbye. The path ahead's so hard to see,it winds and bends,but where it ends depends on only me.

In my heart I don't feel part of so much I've known,now it seems it's time to start a new life on my own!

But where do I go from here?! So many voices ringing in my ear. Which is the voice that I was meant to hear,how will I know,where do I go…...from here?

"Where Do I Go From Here?" Copyright Of Walt Disney Records.