Schroeder was all too aware of Charlie Brown glaring at him while Lucy relished in her impending victory. But there was one thing that Schroeder hadn't counted on.
Lucy was mere feet from home plate when the unthinkable happened. Snoopy appeared out of nowhere, barking wildly at Lucy as she fought her way to the base.
"Get out of my way you stupid beagle!" She yelled, holding up her fist.
"Woof! Woof!" Snoopy barked, startling even Schroeder with his sudden uncharacteristic ferociousness. Lucy (who was usually unaffected by Snoopy's barking-and sometimes barked back) froze in place, slowly backing away as though terrified when Snoopy began to snarl and show his teeth.
"Snoopy, stop that right now!" Schroeder ordered, annoyed when the beagle annoyed him. "Do you hear me? I said stop it!"
In disgust, Charlie Brown tossed his baseball mitt on the ground and stormed over to Schroeder. "All right, what's going on here?" He demanded. "You're holding up the game!"
"But Snoopy-."
"Is just doing what I told him to do!" Charlie Brown finished. "Go on Snoopy! Keep barking!"
"But that's cheating!" Schroeder protested. "Lucy was almost at home plate! Snoopy scared her!"
Charlie Brown fumed. "SHE'S ON THE OPPOSING TEAM!" He yelled.
Just then Peppermint Patty appeared. With her hands on her hips, she didn't look happy at all.
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE, CHUCK? Lucy was about to score!"
"I-I know!" Charlie Brown said hesitantly. "But Schroeder-."
"Look Chuck, I like you and all but sometimes you can be such a blockhead!" Peppermint Patty yelled. "I know this is going against the rules of baseball but Schroeder's right. Sending the kid with the big nose to bark at our player is cheating! So I say that we let her try it again! And Chuck? KEEP THAT KID AWAY FROM MY PLAYERS!"
With that, she stormed back to the bench. "PLAY BALL!" She yelled.
"TIME!" Charlie Brown yelled, causing Peppermint Patty to throw up her hands in frustration.
"What now, Chuck?"
"Can I have a word with my catcher, please?"
"Fine Chuck! Just hurry up!" She yelled.
Charlie Brown walked over to Schroeder. "All right, we've got one more chance! Now just keep your eye on the ball and catch it this time! Lucy's a terrible player! There's no way she's going to hit another home run!"
Schroeder sighed, hiding his anger toward his friend. He liked Charlie Brown a lot but he didn't like Charlie Brown saying bad things about Lucy. He was strangely nervous about the possibility of Lucy striking out. She was bound to be upset... or at least very angry.
He pulled his catcher's mask over his face and crouched down, watching as Lucy skipped to home plate again, her black hair shining from the sun. She looked almost... pretty. And he couldn't ignore the funny feeling he had in the pit of his stomach.
Charlie Brown stood poised on the pitcher's mound, ready to throw the ball as hard as he could. As before the ball sailed toward Lucy's bat and to everyone's surprise, she swung as the sound of a crack was heard and the ball went flying past Charlie Brown. The force knocked him over, along with his clothes. Fortunately he quickly dressed again, saving him any embarrassment.
But all eyes were on Lucy and the way she was running around the bases again. But to Schroeder's horror, Snoopy appeared at third base barking even louder and more wildly than before. Poor Lucy was so terrified that she turned around screaming as she ran toward home. Her real home.
And once again Schroeder had missed his chance to make amends. Worse, he felt responsible for Snoopy's rudeness. The nerve of that beagle! Darn that Snoopy!
If only there was some way to make it up to her.