It's Time for Counting, Charlie Brown
Chapter 1: A Treasure Hunt
It was a peaceful afternoon at the Peanuts Gang's school, and Charlie Brown, Linus, Robert, Curtis, Heather, Lucy, Patty Swanson, Kim, Ashley, Kristen, Snoopy, and Woodstock all entered the treehouse, ready to play. Once there, Charlie Brown noticed something. "Hey! Look what's on the table." Charlie Brown pointed out. Linus then picked up a piece of paper.
"What is it, Linus?" Ashley asked as Linus studied it carefully.
"It looks like a list of things for a treasure hunt." Linus smiled, exciting his friends. "This list says we should find two yellow things, three things that are squared, four fruits, and five round things."
"That sounds really fun, Linus. But who wrote that list?" Heather asked, curiously.
"I don't really know. It doesn't say." Linus said.
"Snoopy, did you wrote that?" Charlie Brown asked his beagle, to which he just shook his head and shrugged.
"Well, why don't we give it a try? This should be fun." Kim smiled.
"Okay, great. Me, Kim, Ashley, Heather, Curtis, Charlie Brown, and Snoopy will look up here. Linus, you, Woodstock, Robert, Kristen, and Patty Swanson will look on the playground. Once we have everything, we'll come back up here." Lucy said politely before bellowing out, "NOW GET TO WORK!"
With that, everyone started to look for the things on the list. "Doesn't Lucy ever get tired of yelling?" Curtis asked Heather and Charlie Brown.
"Nope." Both Heather and Charlie Brown said in unison. Snoopy then came up to his master with his supper dish with a baseball in it.
"Hey! Good work, Snoopy!" Charlie Brown smiled. "You found two things that are round: your supper dish and a baseball." The beagle then placed the items on the table. Heather then smiled as she found a round, red hat.
"This hat is pretty, and it is round." Heather said.
"Great. We still need to find two more things that are round." Lucy said. "SO GET THE LEAD OUT OF YOUR SHOES!" As they continued to look through the treehouse, they began to sing a song.
Kim, Ashley, Curtis, Lucy, Heather, and Charlie Brown:
A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go
We're going on a treasure hunt
A hunting we will go
"I found a round ball." Ashley said.
"And a round button." Curtis added.
"Good, now we need to find three things that are squared." Lucy said as everyone continued to look for the items.
Kim, Ashley, Curtis, Lucy, Heather, and Charlie Brown:
A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go
We're going on a treasure hunt
A hunting we will go
On the playground, Linus, Patty Swanson, Kristen, Woodstock, and Robert were able to find four fruits. "I found an apple and orange." Kristen said.
"I found a pear in my lunch bag." Patty Swanson added.
"And I found a green apple in mine." Robert said. "What else is there?"
"I believe the list said we need to find two things that are yellow." Linus said. They then found a rubber duck and a familiar yellow blanket in the basket.
Kristen, Robert, Linus, and Patty Swanson:
A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go
We're going on a treasure hunt
A hunting we will go
Back up in the treehouse, Lucy held up a squared block. "I found a squared block. Only two more to go." Lucy said.
Kim, Ashley, Curtis, Lucy, Heather, and Charlie Brown:
A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go
We're going on a treasure hunt
A hunting we will go
As they finished the song, Ashley found a square piece of fabric, and Snoopy found a squared frame. "I found something that's squared, and so did Snoopy." Ashley said as Patty Swanson, Linus, Kristen, Robert, and Woodstock came up to the treehouse.
"We found four fruits." Patty Swanson smiled.
"And something that's yellow." Kristen said.
"And you'll never guess what I found lying in the basket." Linus said, holding up Baby Bop's blanket.
"That's Baby Bop's blankie! She always carries that with her." Heather said.
"I haven't seen her today though." Kim pointed out.
"We'll find her later." Charlie Brown said as everyone organized everything they found so far.
"Okay, let's see if collected everything that's on the list." Lucy said.
"We found two yellow things: one, two." Patty Swanson said, counting the things they found.
"Three squared things: one, two three." Curtis counted.
"Four fruits: one, two three, four." Linus counted.
"And five round things: one, two, three, four, and five." Kristen counted.
"Great! Looks like we have everything." Heather smiled before Lucy took another look at the list.
"Wait! Not quite yet. It says we need to find something big and purple." Lucy said.
An idea hit Linus as he said "That sounds like Pepeprmint Patty's nickname for-" just then, the Barney doll sitting on a step came to amazing life.
"Am I big enough?" Barney chuckled, gaining the kids attention.
"BARNEY!" The kids all exclaimed as they, Snoopy, and Woodstock ran up to hug their purple dino friend.
"Hi everybody." Barney smiled. "What're you playing?"
"We've been on a treasure hunt." Ashley beamed.
"And it's really fun…Big Purple." Charlie Brown said as he addressed the dinosaur with the nickname usually reserved for the tomboy.
"We have to find different numbers of things that someone put on a list." Heather added. "Like two yellow things, three square things, four fruits and five things that are round."
"Sounds like you have to do LOTS of counting on a treasure hunt, Heather." Barney noticed. "And a sunny day's a great day for counting, so let's go!"
As they did so, they all spotted Franklin practicing some touchdowns. "Wanna play?" asked Linus.
"Sure!" Franklin replied.
Barney, Barney's friends and Peanuts Gang:
Playing outside, it's a beautiful day.
The sun is shining in a beautiful way.
I look down, and what do I see?
Three little daffodils waving at me.
Barney's friends:
One, two, three,
Peanuts Gang:
One, two, three,
Barney, Barney's friends and Peanuts Gang:
Three little daffodils waving at me.
Kim:
They're so pretty, me-oh-my.
But something else just caught my eye.
Move a little closer, what do I see?
Six little ladybugs smiling at me.
Barney, Barney's friends and Peanuts Gang:
One, two, three,
Four, five, six,
Six little ladybugs smiling at me.
It's a great day for counting!
Come on let's practice - one, two, three.
It's a great day for counting,
You can always count on me!
Playing outside is so much fun
on a beautiful day out in the sun.
But I look up and what do I see?
Nine little clouds drifting over me.
One, two, three.
Four, five, six
Seven, eight, nine
Nine little clouds drifting over me.
A few raindrops began to fall as everyone went running for shelter. Barney, Linus and Snoopy stayed behind.
Barney:
Everybody's running, where did they go?
Do they know something I don't know?
Drip, drop, drip. Well, what I do I see?
Ten little raindrops falling on me.
Barney, Barney's friends and Peanuts Gang:
One, two, three,
Four, five, six,
Seven, eight, nine, ten.
"Rain, rain, go away!" Linus exclaimed as the rain stopped.
Ten little raindrops falling on me.
It's a great day for counting!
A super day to be with friends.
It's a great day for counting,
Barney:
And now let's count to ten once again!
Barney's friends and Peanuts Gang:
One, two, three,
Four, five, six
Seven, eight, nine, ten.
"That was fun!" Franklin exclaimed.
"It sure was." Linus said before a voice caught them off guard.
"Here, Blankey!" everyone knew that voice. "Here, Blankey, Blankey!"
"Hi, Baby Bop." The kids smiled.
"Hi Barney, hi Snoopy." Baby Bop replied, a bit frustrated.
"Hi Baby bop, we've been looking for you." Barney smiled.
"Oh, well I've been looking for my Blankey." Baby Bop said. "Has anyone seen it?"
"It's in the treehouse, Baby Bop." Kristen responded.
"Oh goodie! It's not lost." Baby Bop smiled.
"We found it while we were looking for the things on our treasure hunt list." Linus added.
"So, who wrote the list for the treasure hunt anyways?" asked Barney.
"We don't know, Charlie Brown found it on the table." Robert said.
"Oh, well, may I see the list?" asked Barney.
"Sure." Charlie Brown answered. "Here it is."
"Yup. Maybe this riddle will tell us who wrote the list." Barney suggested as everyone became perplexed. "Well, it says 'Find the items on this list, making sure nothing's missed. Then at the stroke of eleven, round up three groups of seven. And meet me over by the clock, with the little bird that goes tick tock'. You're in for such a special surprise, that you won't barely believe your eyes."
"Sounds nice." Linus replied.
"In for a surprise? I love surprises." Ashley smiled.
"But, Barney, we have TWO groups of seven, unlike the riddle says: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen…" Kim began.
"And me!" Baby Bop smiled.
"That's right, Baby Bop." Barney responded.
"…Fourteen…we need seven more people; six if you exclude Franklin." Kim said, looking over at Franklin before six birds walked towards him. "Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty and twenty-one."
"Three groups of seven." Linus replied.
"It is?" Patty Swanson asked.
"Alright, let's see." Robert began. "Lots of clocks go tick tock."
"But what kind has a bird on it?" asked Kristen.
"A CUCKOO CLOCK!" everyone exclaimed in unison.
"That's coming from the treehouse! Let's go!" Curtis exclaimed.
"Well, there are twenty-one of us." Kim said as they all entered the treehouse.
"And we're at the right place." Robert added. "With a clock with a bird."
"And we're at the right time: eleven." Ashley added as Heather picked up a paper.
"Where's the person who wrote the riddle?" Curtis asked.
"There she is!" Franklin exclaimed as a red door spun around and around. "Round and round her red door goes, where she came from, nobody knows."
"It's Stella!" the kids exclaimed as Stella exited the door.
"Guten Tag meine Damen und Herren. That's German for 'Good day ladies and gentlemen'." Stella said.
"I love your dress." Lucy stated.
"Why thank you, Lucy." Stella smiled. "Sometimes, ladies in Germany wear these dresses on special occasions. I was just telling stories to children at a sausage festival in Frankfurt, Germany."
"It's ALWAYS fun to see you, Stella." Charlie Brown said.
"So it was you who wrote the riddle." Curtis noticed. "But WHY did you want us here EXACTLY at eleven o clock?"
"Well, I wanted you all here to tell you about a surprise I planned." Stella said, exciting the kids. "At twelve o clock, some friends will come, and I want all of you to meet them. And I brought a special clock to tell us when it's time for them to come."
When she pulled out the clock, ten of the numbers were missing. "This alarm clock keeps me on time when it's time to tell stories to all the kids around the world, when the little hand and big hand both reach the number twelve." Stella added.
"Uh oh." Curtis realized.
"What's wrong?" Stella asked before realizing the problem. "Oh no. Most of the numbers are missing. The four and the five are left and this is a special clock. It WON'T ring unless ALL of the numbers are there. Where could the others be?"
"Maybe they fell off in your suitcase, Stella." Barney suggested.
"Good idea, good idea, Barney. I'll just look down here on the bottom." Stella replied, looking in the suitcase before pulling out the eight. "I only found one more number."
"That's an eight." Baby Bop noticed. "I know my numbers."
"Very good, Baby Bop." Stella replied, placing the eight on the clock. "I just wish you knew where the rest of the numbers were."
"Oh, I just know what they look like, I don't know where they are." Baby Bop sighed.
"Where'd you see them last, Stella?" Franklin asked.
"Let me think." Stella replied. "I remember seeing all the numbers on Monday in Maui, or maybe it was Tuesday in Tahiti. Or maybe it was Friday in France. Then there was that little trip to the library to find new stories to tell children. Oh, I can't remember WHERE I lost them. I'll just have to go back over my travels and see if I can find them. See you soon. Toodles."
Once Stella left in the door, Ashley sighed. "I wish there was some way we can help Stella."
"We don't have our passports." Robert reasoned.
"And we wouldn't know where in the world to start looking." Kristen agreed.
"She travels EVERYWHERE in that door." Lucy said. "How do we catch a door like that?"
"Maybe there IS a way we can help." Barney noticed.
"Stella did say she went to the library to look for some new stories to tell." Franklin's eyes widened.
"Maybe she lost some of the numbers there." Kim realized.
"Let's go." Patty Swanson said.
"Wait!" Ashley halted them. "What if Stella comes back? She won't know WHERE we are."
"I'll stay and play and you can go on your way." Baby Bop replied, rhyming. "I made a rhyme! I'll stay and play and you go on your way!"
"Maybe we can help by looking in the library after all. How does that sound, Heather?" Charlie Brown asked happily.
Heather however, was looking over the note she found. "Guys, listen to this." Heather suggested. "Two friends, four eyes, six dots on one face. We're usually seen together, having fun at every place."
"Hmm…" everyone thought about it.
"Is that another of Stella's riddles?" Curtis asked.
"No, it's signed M.J and P.R…oh. I think I know who sent THIS riddle." Heather smiled.
"Staying behind is very nice of you, Baby Bop." Charlie Brown smiled as the rest of the bunch headed to the library.
"Oh you're welcome." Baby Bop replied.
"We'll be back as soon as we can!" Linus called out.
"Okay. Isn't he dreamy?" the triceratops asked the blockhead.
"Yup." Charlie Brown replied as Baby Bop continued reciting her rhyme.