Chapter 5: Stormy Warning

The day of the raft race was finally here, and the bullies approached their raft, hoping to get a head start, only to go wide eyed when they saw the boys and girls rafts still had air. "How?! I thought we stole all of their air!" the fat bully asked.

Charlie Brown then smiled and winked at Barney.

"No problem." Barney whispered.

"Let's get rafting!" cooed Baby Bop.

The boys began to man their raft. "I do wanna be a good leader. But I'm worried it's just gonna lead to more failure for me." Charlie frowned.

"Don't despair, Charlie Brown." Linus smiled. "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."

Snoopy and Woodstock then approached Barney, not even looking at Brutus as they walked by him. "Good luck, Snoopy!" Lila smiled before blowing a kiss at him.

Snoopy blushed under his smile. "Hey Lucy, you ready?" Min asked, but Lucy was busy with her CD player. Min rolled her eyes before yanking Lucy's headphones.

"Hey! You stopped the music!" Lucy protested. "And Rhianna was getting great!"

"The race is about to start." Min said.

"Sorry. I had a dream last night about Schroeder and Carlos fighting over me." Lucy said as she stepped into the raft.

"I wonder why..." Min snarked.

"The two were holding a joust for my honor. In my queendom!" Lucy described. "I don't know whether I'm scared, excited, or both of those emotions all together."

"That's a fury of emotions." Marcie explained, nose-down in a book.

"You HAD to read Gatsby before bed?" Lucy shouted.

"Sorry."

"But why did you bring Rhianna?" Julie asked. "We thought you liked Hannah Montana."

"I love her too!" Sally smiled. "But I still can't tell if she's real or really Miley Stewart."

"Sorry, my autograph Hannah Montana CD was..." Lucy said before noticing Peppermint Patty. "Never mind about it."

"All racers, man your rafts!" The camp announcer boomed out.

"How come he doesn't say, 'Gentlemen start your engines'?" Sally smiled.

"That's a NASCAR term!" Juan pointed out. "Even I know that, and I'm almost 7!"

"And it's Miley Cyrus, Sally." Lucy explained.

"Alright boys! Let's do this!" Charlie Brown smiled.

"Troops! Let's do this!" Peppermint Patty smiled.

"Ready...set...go!" With that, everyone started to float. The bullies started their motor boat, almost knocking Snoopy, Woodstock, and Barney out of the race. Barney then raised a sail, making the raft float better. The bullies motor boat then stopped and sputtered.

"Ahh...I love to sail." Barney smiled as they floated with ease.

"I think...I think..." the lead bully muttered, tinkering with the engine before it finally roared back to life. "I got it! Let's go!" Their motor boat then speeded past the boys and girls rafts.

"See you suckers later!" the shorter bully shouted before their engine stopped, again.

"Serves you right!" Kenneth giggled.

Boys:

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Peppermint Patty asked

Girls:

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream

"Everything in this race will be decided in a democratic fashion." Peppermint Patty said. "Like directions? You see that rock." The girls nodded at that. "Marcie, prepare the ballots. The vote is whether we go right or left."

"What do we write?" asked Lila.

"Our opinions." Peppermint Patty said. "That means our thoughts."

"I don't think I can participate in this vote. I can't even write 'right' or 'left'." Baby Bop said. "So, I say we go straight."

The girls then marked their votes and passed them to Marcie. "One vote we go left, one vote we go right, one vote we go left, one vote we go right, one vote we go left, one vote we go right, one vote we go left, one vote we go right, one vote we go left. I know my vote. I voted we go right." Marcie said.

"Good grief. That's a tie vote." Peppermint Patty said.

"Uh, Patty?" Julie tried to get her friend's attention.

"You know, even in 2000, they didn't have a tie vote for the president." Peppermint Patty ranted.

"Turn backwards!" Baby Bop exclaimed.

"Why?" Peppermint Patty asked before they crashed into the reef.

"That's why." Julie grinned.

"Look at this! How can we have a tie vote?!" Peppermint Patty yelled. "Marcie, Julie, prepare new ballots! The vote is whether we get off the reef or not!"

"What do I write?" Baby Bop asked.

"A smiley face or a frowny face." Lucy reassured.

Baby Bop nodded as the girls cast their votes and Marcie tallied them. "One vote we get off, two votes we get off, three votes we get off, four votes we get off, five votes we get off, six votes we get off, seven votes we get off, eight votes we get off, nine votes we get off, ten votes we get off, and eleven votes we get off." Marcie said.

"Well, at least it's an unanimous vote." Julie shrugged and smiled.

"Good. But which direction do we travel?" asked Peppermint Patty.

"Why don't we just flip a coin?" Lila smiled, pulling one out of her pocket.

"Okay, heads we go left, tails we go right." Heather smiled.

Lila then flipped the coin. "Tails. We go right." Tosha smiled.

"That's not a tail, Lila. That's a bird." Baby Bop said.

Lila giggled. "You're so silly, Baby Bop!" she smiled.

After awhile, it began to get dark, and Snoopy, Woodstock, and Barney were now setting up camp.

"We'll stay here tonight and keep rafting, bright and early in the morning." Barney explained, as Snoopy got out marshmallows. "Good thinking."


On the girls side, Lila held onto Bugs Jr, a little scared as the girls began to eat dinner around the fire. "What's the matter, Lila?" Julie asked.

"I'm kind of scared." Lila squeaked. "I hope the lions, tigers, and bears don't come after us."

"Lions and tigers and bears?" asked Sally.

"Oh my..." gulped Baby Bop, clutching her blankie.

Heather giggled. "There's no lions or tigers in the woods. Just bears." Heather smiled before shuddering and holding onto Velvet.

"Don't you worry kids! Everything will be fine." Peppermint Patty smiled. "You know team, I have a good feeling about this race. I can taste the victory and ice cream!"

"I think I saw Schroeder get into Carlos's face." Lucy said, looking at the other side through a telescope. "He's clearly jealous. This is great!"

"I wanna see!" Baby Bop declared.

"No. It's nearing your bedtime. Go get ready for bed." Lucy explained.

"Did anyone bring a watch?"

Lucy looked at her own watch. "6:30. You've got half an hour left. Go play with Sally and Lila, but don't get lost."

"I don't wanna do anything! I want Linus to hold me! I'm scared!" Sally whined.

"Sally, there's nothing to be scared of." Tosha reassured.

"I don't care! I just want to be with Linus." Sally said. "Don't forget about me Linus! If we get in trouble, I'm depending on you!"

"Do you think he heard you?" Tosha asked.

"No. Better yell louder." Sally grinned.

"NO! I HEARD YOU!" Linus yelled.

"Goody!" Sally smiled.

"Good grief." Linus sighed.

"I think you're doing a great job of leading us, Charlie Brown." Jason smiled.

"Thanks." Charlie Brown signed.

"You don't have to sign."

"I know. Just practicing. How am I doing?"

"You just signed 'I am a dragon'."

Charlie Brown gulped.

After everyone has gone to sleep, the bullies, who had their motor boat fixed, then snuck to the next leg, and switched the signs from a construction site. "This'll slow them down." the fat bully snickered.


The next morning, the air was a little bit cold. Lila was the first to wake up, only to shriek when she spotted a calendar on the tree and a note. "Heather!" Lila shook Heather awake. The little red haired girl shrieked too when she spotted the calendar and note too. "'How many days until hibernation?' Please tell me that Velvet or Carmel did that."

"I don't know." Lila said. "Who put that there?"

"I have no idea."

"Wow. This is gonna be one of those mornings."

"I'll make enough hot cocoa to wake everyone up. Wanna help?"

"Sure."

"Okay, cocoa powder? Check. Marshmallows? Check. Warm water? Check!" Heather smiled, looking over the ingredients. "Hot cocoa for all."

The girls smiled and approached their friends, then took some hot chocolate. "This is so good." Julie smiled.

"Does anyone have an idea as to who put a calendar and note to that tree?" Min asked.

"Maybe it was that bear who woke tried to talk me earlier." Lila shuddered.

"Bears don't talk!" Lucy pointed out. "I think it's those villains who tried to mess with us."

"Changing subjects, can I please listen to your Rhianna CD before we go back out on the water?" Lila asked with a smile.

"Sure." Lucy huffed a little.

Marcie giggled. "Lucy, maybe bears DO talk. I mean, Baby Bop, BJ and Barney are dinosaurs-and not Jurassic Park styled dinosaurs."

"We know, nerd." Lucy huffed some more.

"Morning, girls." Baby Bop giggled. "Which way do we go?"

"First, let's get you in your life vest. We don't need drowning victims." Peppermint Patty warned.

"I love Pond de Replay!" Lila smiled. "Mister DJ, turn the music up!"

Heather giggled before Lila stopped and helped her friends out. "Sweetie, it's time to wake up!" Heather happily yelled to the other side.

"Must we?" Charlie Brown yawned loudly, a bit cranky.

"Couldn't sleep, huh?"

"Juan's snoring. Kept me up all night. I JUST fell asleep."

"Oh goodness."

"Yeah. How're you guys?"

"Just peachy."

"Good for you." Charlie Brown smiled before finally getting up. "Good luck on the next leg honey."

"Good luck to you too, sweetie!" Heather smiled.

Meanwhile, Snoopy was still asleep when Woodstock, pretending to be a mountain climber, climbed on top of Snoopy, pretending he was Everest.

"Doing great, Woodstock." Barney acknowledged, noticing what the bird was up to. "Nice using your imagination."

Woodstock smiled at that before building a nice little cabin on Snoopy's face. "I AM NOT A MOUNTAIN!" Snoopy barked, finally waking up and knocking Woodstock off.

"Uh oh! Avalanche!" Barney joked.

"Good one." Woodstock thought. "And so worth it."

"What's the big idea?" asked Snoopy.

"Just a little pretending." Barney giggled. Snoopy frowned for a bit before finally laughing.


After awhile, everyone was back in their rafts and floated on the water. Barney, Snoopy, and Woodstock then approached the signs, but luckily, the purple and green dinosaur knew something was off. "Hmmm..." Barney muttered before switching the signs back to their right place.

"Phew." Snoopy said to himself.

The kids then made their way to the next turn, much to the shock of the bullies, who thought that a little demolition would at least slow them down. "How is this possible?!" The shorter bully yelled.

"Nice going, doofus!" the fat bully snarled.

"But..." the lead bully stammered before noticing Barney and quickly put two and two together. "It's that dinosaur! The big one!"

"Which one?"

"The big one."

"The big yellow one?"

"No, you jerk!"

"The green one?"

"No! The purple one!"

"Who? Me?" Barney thought, playing innocent. "I never even touched the signs."

"Maybe we forgot to change the signs?" the fat bully realized.

"No! It has to be him!" the lead bully shouted before noticing a storm picking up, then smiled evilly. "We just need to get rid of him. And this storm will help us."

"The water is getting rough!" Lila exclaimed.

"Yeah, more rough than our trip to Imagination Island." Sally concurred.

"Whoa!" Baby Bop exclaimed.

"Just imagine we're steering the ship to safety." Peppermint Patty suggested, before seeing Marcie, Lila and Sally green in the face. "Stop overreacting!"

"We're not overreacting!" Heather exclaimed. "This storm is getting bad!"

"Whoa!" BJ exclaimed. "I don't feel soo good..."

"Neither do I." Kenneth concurred.

"Just think happy thoughts." Charlie Brown suggested. "Ice cream, air hockey, me and Heather's future wedding."

"WHAT?!" the boys asked.

"Ignore the last one."

The bullies pulled their motor raft next to Barney, Snoopy, and Woodstock's raft, and when no one was looking, the lead bully pushed Barney off and into the water. "WHOA! HELP!" Barney exclaimed.

"Oh no! BARNEY!" Snoopy and Woodstock exclaimed before falling into the water themselves.


Author's Note: It gets more intense from here, folks! (Trust me)