The next day soon came. Daniel woke up, feeling weirded out by the dream he had, but he also felt motivated when he woke up that morning. Winn-Dixie played with Opal for a bit until Animal Control came to take him away which made him come outside only to be taken while Patch ran outside to help Winn-Dixie.
"Don't worry, Winn-Dixie, I won't let Animal Control take you away." Patch told him.
The Animal Control people tried to get Winn-Dixie, much to Opal's misfortune.
"Go away!" Patch growled and barked loudly to make them go away, sounding like his father.
"Now, come on, boy, we just want your friend." One of the Animal Control people said as he reached out for Winn-Dixie.
"No!" Patch barked and growled. "Leave Winn-Dixie alone! This is his home!"
"Sir, I need you to sign this release form, please." Another worker told Daniel as he soon came out.
"No! It's not right, Daddy!" Opal cried out. "You know it isn't! Please, Daddy, he was the first real friend I've ever had! Don't take him away, please!"
"Wait... Don't take him." Daniel soon said after remembering his dream from last night.
Patch smiled as he was happy to hear that.
"What?" One of the workers asked Daniel. "Isn't this the dog?"
"Uh, there's been a mistake," Daniel replied. "This isn't the dog, and neither is this one."
Patch smiled as Winn-Dixie wouldn't get taken away and neither would he. Daniel eventually took a loan out of the church to pay off of his and Opal's rent, but he had to promise Mr. Alfred that he would find Winn-Dixie a home before the end of the summer.
Amber, Annabelle, and Darla began to help Opal out with her pet store job as she began to wash the windows as Otis was walking a goat inside of the shop to be adopted by somebody.
"This sure is fun." Annabelle said.
"Sure... Lots of fun..." Darla muttered as they cleaned up, but she wasn't complaining too much.
"It won't be long now until we're done for the day, Darla, I promise." Opal told her pen pal.
"I hope so." Darla said.
They continued to work until Otis let them go for the day.
Later on, they started to hang out once they were done and Opal was starting to sketch a map of her new home.
"Whatcha drawin'?" Winn-Dixie whined and panted.
Opal smiled to him, even if she didn't understand him, she turned her sketchbook over to show him. "This is our town. See? Kinda lonely, isn't it?"
"I know where we can go." Winn-Dixie barked to her before putting his paw up and he began to run off on his own.
"Where is he going?" Amber asked.
"Wait, Winn-Dixie, wait for us, boy!" Opal told the dog.
Opal soon got on her bike while the girls followed on their own bikes as they followed after Winn-Dixie as he climbed up the front steps to a small building.
"Winn-Dixie, come back here, that's the library!" Opal told her dog. "Winn-Dixie, you can't go in there! It says so on the sign!"
"This is a library?" Annabelle asked. "It looks more like a grandmother's house."
"It sure does." Amber said.
Opal soon came to the door and opened it to go inside and explore with the others, but she shut the door to keep Winn-Dixie outside. There appeared to be an older woman sitting behind her desk, but she appeared to be sleeping. As they explored, they soon heard a yelp which startled them all. They soon went and checked to see it was the librarian.
"Uh, are you all right, ma'am?" Annabelle asked out of concern.
"It's a bear!" The librarian replied nervously.
"A bear?" Darla asked out of confusion.
"It's a bear," The librarian shivered. "He's come back!"
"He has?" Opal asked out of concern.
"Where is he?" Darla added.
"He's right out there." The librarian said, but pointed to Winn-Dixie's shadow from outside.
"Ohh, ma'am, that's not a bear; that's just the shadow of Opal's dog, Winn-Dixie." Darla smiled.
"A dog?" The librarian whispered. "Oh... It's your dog... You sure?"
"Yes, ma'am, I'm positive; I know him anywhere," Opal told her as Winn-Dixie peeked around the windows. "Let me help you up. Come on."
"Who are you?" The librarian then asked once she got up off of the floor once Opal helped her up.
The girls began to introduce themselves.
"Oh, I'm Miss Franny," The librarian replied. "You must think I'm a silly ol' thing mistaking a dog for a bear. Are you sure that is a dog?"
"Yes, ma'am." The girls told her.
"I'm sure," Opal added. "He just don't like to be left alone, that's all. Sorry to bother you, Miss Franny."
"Well, I-I had a bad experience with a bear coming into Herman W. Block Memorial Library, and I've never quite gotten over it." Miss Franny clarified.
"A bear came into the library?" Opal asked.
"Oh, yes," Miss Franny nodded. "It's quite a story."
"Care to share with us?" Amber asked.
"It sounds nice, but... Winn-Dixie gets lonely without me..." Opal frowned softly.
"Well... Maybe we could make an exception." Miss Franny suggested.
Once Winn-Dixie came in, it was time to hear Miss Franny's story.
"Now, one hot Thursday, way back then, I was sittin' here in the library, and all the doors and windows were wide open," Miss Franny began to tell her story. "And I had my nose in a book until I noticed a very peculiar smell. A very strong smell. And I raised my eyes up slowly and standing right in front of me was a bear."
"Whoa." Darla whispered.
"A very large bear!" Miss Franny continued.
"How large was it?" Opal wondered.
"At least four times the size of your dog." Miss Franny replied.
"Whoa." Amber said.
"Then what happened?" Opal asked.
"I very slowly, and very carefully raised up the book I was reading." Miss Franny said as she demonstrated with a book beside her.
"What book was that?" Annabelle asked.
"War & Peace," Miss Franny replied. "And I carefully aimed it, and I threw it right at him! Be gone!"
Winn-Dixie soon barked once.
"Good dog, thank you." Miss Franny smiled to that.
"You're welcome." Winn-Dixie barked again, but of course, it wouldn't be properly understood.
"And do you know what?" Miss Franny then asked.
"No," Opal said. "What?"
"This is why I will never forget," Miss Franny replied. "He took the book with him."
"Nuh-uh!" The girls replied in disbelief.
"Yes, ma'am, he snatched it up and ran off!" Miss Franny replied.
"So, weird, what would a bear want to take a book?" Annabelle asked.
"You got me." Darla shrugged herself.
"Did he ever come back?" Opal then asked.
"No. I never saw him again," Miss Franny replied. "Well, the men in town, they used to tease me about it. They used to say, 'Miss Franny, we saw that bear of yours out in the woods today. He was reading War & Peace, and said it sure was good, and he'd like to check it out again'. Ah, I imagine I'm the only one who even recalls that bear."
"You don't have a husband or children?" Darla frowned at Miss Franny.
"No... I've never married." Miss Franny replied.
Winn-Dixie came towards Miss Franny as that sounded a bit sad.
"Why not?" Darla asked.
"I didn't have the need." Miss Franny said as she pet the dog.
"But you don't have anyone." Amber said.
"I have these books," Miss Franny smiled softly. "Now, look at that... That dog's smilin' at me."
"He must like you." Darla said softly about that with a small smile.
"Would you like to be friends?" Opal asked Miss Franny. "You me, Darla, Amber, Annabelle, and Winn-Dixie? Would you wanna be friends?"
"Why... That would be fine..." Miss Franny smiled to that. "That would be grand. Just grand."
Darla was happy to hear that.
Later on, Opal and Winn-Dixie were alone together, and she talked with him about things that were on her mind, and he was a good listener. Opal had to admit that everything great that happened this summer happened because of Winn-Dixie, but that night would be a bit of a challenge. The girls decided to sleep over that night and Patch agreed to it as Cherry suggested it, but not because she wanted to get rid of them, but because it would be good for Winn-Dixie, and where she was right to suggest it as that night was going to be a stormy night.
"Feels weird that Cherry suggested a sleepover..." Darla said. "I guess you're right about her being a good friend, Atticus."
"See? She has her moments." Atticus smiled.
"Yeah, I guess she does," Darla replied. "We made a new friend too. Her name's Miss Franny, she's the librarian."
"I like her already." Atticus smiled about the girls befriending a librarian.
"This is going to be fun." Darla smiled.
"We got popcorn, we got candy, we got soda, we got pizza." Amber smiled back.
"I've never had a slumber party before." Opal said to her new friends.
"We'll teach you everything you need to know about slumber parties." Annabelle smiled.
"Wow... Thanks..." Opal smiled back.
Thunder lightly rumbled outside which would begin the storm and Winn-Dixie began to whimper.
"Calm down, it's just a storm, it'll blow over." Patch soothed Winn-Dixie.
"I-I guess so..." Winn-Dixie shivered.
"What movie are we gonna watch?" Opal asked.
"My Aunt Anita recommended this to me," Amber said. "It's called Wishbone."
"Ooh, nice." Annabelle smiled.
"I don't know much about it, but it must be nice if Aunt Anita and Uncle Roger like it." Amber replied.
"What's it about?" Darla asked her best friend.
"This dog basically has dreams of becoming like famous literary characters like facing Robin Hood." Amber replied as she put the video in.
"Cool." Annabelle smiled.
"I hope that it is." Amber smiled back to Annabelle and Darla as they got settled in to watch the video about an imaginative Jack Russel Terrier.
"This is going to be fun." Opal smiled back.
The girls smiled to each other as they began to enjoy their little slumber party while Winn-Dixie felt nervous from the rain outside. Patch began to do his best to keep Winn-Dixie calm. The movie proved to be entertaining and Patch smiled as he began to imagine having an adventure with Wishbone while comforting Winn-Dixie as he wasn't as scared around thunderstorms anymore as the scruffy dog was soon slowly calming down because of the movie. It was a good slumber party for everyone.
The next day seemed to come quickly with the girls going into work at the pet store, but when they came inside, the animals seemed relaxed and quiet for a change.
"They seem relaxed and quiet." Darla whispered.
"What's going on in here today?" Annabelle wondered.
They soon heard music and began to follow it and they saw that it was Otis, playing a guitar.
'Otis can play a guitar?' Amber thought to herself.
Otis continued to play. Eventually, Gertrude saw Winn-Dixie and began to squawk at him which made the other animals cause a ruckus.
"Oh, Otis!" Opal yelped. "The animals!"
"Oh, God... Help me here!" Otis panicked as he sprung into action.
"We'll help with them!" Darla, Amber, and Annabelle told him.
"Hurry!" Otis replied.
"Come here, little piglet," Amber told the squealing piglet. "Ooh, you remind me of Dumpling."
This was indeed a challenge for the group.
"I'll get the rabbits!" Opal decided.
Sweetie Pie was shown out the pet store window, watching what was going on as she sucked on her knuckle like a baby.
"Hey, I know!" Darla said. "Otis, play some music!"
"Yeah, the animals seemed so quiet and at peace when you were playing your guitar." Amber added.
"Play some more music, Otis!" Opal cried out.
Otis soon sat down, reaching for his guitar and began to play his music again to settle down the animals. Eventually, the animals began to quiet and settle down from the music.
"Far out! Do it again!" Gertrude squawked.
"Well, it seems to be working." Opal said once they saw all of the animals calmed down.
"Thank goodness." Annabelle sighed in relief.
The girls soon decided to sit down as Otis smiled while playing his music, and eventually, a customer came inside, and it was Sweetie Pie.
"I'm gonna tell my ma about what I seen," Sweetie Pie said as she pointed at Otis. "That man's magic. He's a magic man!" she then began to leave. "Bye, Magic Man! Bye, Opal! Bye, Darla, Amber, and Annabelle!"
Even after Sweetie Pie left, Otis kept on playing his guitar.
"Well, that was nice." Amber commented as Sweetie Pie seemed like a nice girl.
Opal soon looked at Otis, quite curiously. "Are you really a magic man?" she then asked him.
"I was just playin' for the animals," Otis replied. "They seem to... They seem to like it."
"They sure do." Annabelle said.
"Yes, sir..." Opal added. "Did they escape from their cages?"
"No, I left the cages open." Otis replied.
"So then the animals could have plenty of room to move around?" Darla guessed.
"I dunno..." Otis sighed. "It's no good bein' locked up."
"Locked up!" Gertrude squawked.
"Shut up." Otis glared at her.
"Shut up, idiot!" Gertrude continued.
The girls became curious as to why Otis would let the animals roam around out of their cages.
"Shouldn't one of you be sweeping up?" Otis muttered out as he soon got up and left before grabbing a broom and holding out his guitar by accident. "Why don't you sweep up?"
"With your guitar?" Opal asked.
"Just sweep up the place, and clean it up a little bit, this mess." Otis then muttered, giving Opal the broom before he went to sit back down with his guitar.
Darla frowned as she had a feeling something was bothering Otis. Opal began to sweep up the floor while Otis played his guitar.