CHAPTER 4: "LUCY'S LUCK RUNS OUT" or "GOING TO EXTREMES"

Saturday had arrived, and I was with Linus heading to Schroeder's place. Linus knew why I was there, so it wasn't a big deal with him. He told me no harm would come to Schroeder. Even though he was plotting revenge on Lucy, he assured me no serious harm would come to anyone. As we got to Schroeder's home, Linus filled me in on his revenge plot.

"I'm going to burn her comic book collection, Charlie Brown!" he told me.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Linus?" I asked. "You know how protective of her comics she is."

"Just like I was with my blanket!" Linus retorted. "I know I'm risking a beat-down from her, but I don't care! That's the reason why I'm targeting her comics in the first place. She hates it when myself or Rerun reads them. She's protective of them, as much as I was with my blanket! Once I burn those comics, THEN we will be even!"

I shook my head. Even with assurances from Linus, I had a bad feeling that something terrible would happen. I wasn't sure what, but I felt it.

Lucy followed Linus and Charlie Brown from a distance, but close enough to keep up with them. They had no idea she was tailing them. While Linus knew that Lucy had Charlie Brown go with him, neither one of them knew she would be following behind. She saw them arrive at Schroeder's house. Linus knocked on the door, and Schroeder answered it, inviting both boys inside.

"I need to see what's happening!" she said to herself. She snuck up to a window to peek inside and see what was going on inside the house. She saw the boys sitting at the kitchen table, as Schroeder's mother served them lunch. Innocent enough, she figured, but kept watch.

"So what brings you over, Charlie Brown?" asked Schroeder.

"Lucy," I said with a sigh. "She wants me to keep an eye on Linus so he doesn't kill you."

Schroeder laughed at that statement, but not at me. He knew how crazy Lucy was. "She thinks that's Linus's big revenge plot against her?! To do me in?! She's not only mean and cruel, but delusional and insane! Well I already knew she was delusional due to her constant trying to date me and all."

"This was not my idea at all, Schroeder," I said.

"Don't worry, Charlie Brown," assured Schroeder. "You know I'm fine with you coming over. Though Linus and I need to start our science project. You can watch TV in the den, if you want. There's a good space movie coming on, on channel 6."

"Thanks, Schroeder," I said. And I headed for the den to watch some TV, while Linus and Schroeder got started on their project.

Lucy saw Charlie Brown leave the room. She got nervous.

"Where's that blockhead going?" she asked herself. "Is he… is he going into the den?! He needs to stay with Linus and Schroeder. Well, if you want to protect the man you love, you got to do it yourself." And she kept watch of her brother and crush from outside.

As I watched TV, Linus and Schroeder got to work on their project. What they were doing was making a model town complete with mountains. Schroeder had gotten some modeling clay. Linus had brought the utensils to mold the clay into what they wanted. What the project was going to be was about how mountainous land affects weather patterns. They were also going to use charts, graphs, and other data collected. But first they were going to start the most difficult portion of the project: building the small town and mountains.

"You have the clay, Schroeder?" asked Linus.

"Right here, partner," Schroeder replied. I watched them, even though I wasn't involved with the project. Though I was in the den, I could still see them working. Linus began shaping the mountains with wire mesh and Styrofoam. It was messy, but they would clean up the mess after they were done. Then he placed the mesh on the foam. Both of them rubbed the clay on the mesh-covered foam to make the mountain.

"I need to make some lines in the clay to make it look more mountain-like," said Linus. He grabbed a scalpel to start making lines in the clay.

Lucy watched Linus grab a scalpel. She gasped as she saw him hold the scalpel.

"He's going to slice my Schroeder!" she said to herself. "I need to stop him!" And Lucy started to run into the house.

All of the sudden, I saw Lucy burst into the house making a beeline towards Linus and Schroeder. Before I knew it she shoved Linus out of the way. He hit his head on the corner of the table and fell to the floor. Lucy stood over him.

"I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU KILL MY SCHROEDER!" she yelled. "BROTHER OR NO BROTHER, YOU ARE PSYCHO!"

"Talk about the pot calling the tea kettle black!" Schroeder retorted. "Lucy, Linus was NOT going to kill me!"

"He's right, Lucy," I responded. "Linus's revenge plot against you was to take your comic book collection and burn them like you burned his blanket."

"So, he wasn't going to kill Schroeder?" Lucy asked, meekly. Schroeder and I shook our heads. "I feel like you, Charlie Brown; a dummy."

"Thanks a heap!" I said, rolling my eyes. Then my attention went from Lucy to Linus. He had a nasty gash on his head and still was unconscious.

"Linus doesn't look so good," observed Schroeder. Lucy immediately went over to him to try to wake him up.

"Linus!" she began. "Linus, speak to me!" he was still unconscious. Lucy began to tear up. "I-I KILLED MY OWN BROTHER!"

"We don't know that, Lucy!" assured Schroeder.

"HE'S N-N-NOT AWAKENING!" Lucy said over racking sobs. Before we could say anything else, she fled out the house. At that moment, Linus started groaning.

"He regaining consciousness," I said. "Schroeder, see if you can catch Lucy!" And Schroeder ran outside.

Schroeder ran trying to catch Lucy, but she wasn't paying attention in her crying and flailing.

"Lucy, wait!" Schroeder called out to her. "Linus is okay! He's waking up!"

"I'M A TERRIBLE SISTER!" she wailed as she ran out into the street. "I DESERVE TO DIE! NOT HIM!"

"Lucy, you're not listening to me!"

And, to Schroeder's horror, a pickup truck was heading Lucy's way. He ran as fast as he could to help her.

"LUCY LOOK OUT!"

Schroeder managed to shove Lucy out of the path of the truck, but couldn't save himself.

I heard some tires screeching and someone scream. I ran outside to see what happened. To my horror, I saw Schroeder laying in the street. Lucy must've been in the road and he saved her by shoving her out of the way. Schroeder's mom ran out and was in hysterics. A groggy Linus stumbled out behind her.

"W-W-What happened, Charlie Brown?" he asked me.

"SCHROEDER GO THIT BY A TRUCK!" I yelled.

"WHAT?!"

When she regained her bearings, Lucy was also horrified by what she saw.

"S-S-Schroeder? OH NO, SCHROEDER!" And she cried some more. We heard an ambulance coming to the scene in the distance. Soon everyone would know what happened. Sadly, Schroeder died in route to the hospital. His wounds were severe that he didn't survive at all. All of us were devastated, but no one more so than Lucy.

NEXT CHAPTER: AFTERMATH