Chapter 3

(Flynn-Fletcher house, 4:15am)

Inside her room, Candace and Stacy were sleeping peacefully. Once again, thoughts of Jeremy holding her in her arms filled her head.

"Oh, Jeremy! You're so big and strong..." Candace said in her sleep.

All of a sudden, she heard the sound of 500 bees right outside her house at full volume. The vibrations of the sound reached Candace's ears and woke up.

Candace opened her eyes to that frightful sound and gasped.

"Stacy...did you hear that?"

Stacy rubbed her eyes open, "Uhh...what is it, Candace?"

"There's a hive of KILLER BEES out there, Stacy! We gotta run!" Candace screamed at the top of her lungs.

Both Candace and Stacy screamed and ran in circles across the room.

The creaking of the opening door stopped them in their tracks.

"Oh no!" Stacy exclaimed, "The bees are going to get us!"

Once the door was fully open, however, it was none other than Linda.

"Mom! What are you doing here?!" Candace shouted. "And save yourself from the killer bees!"

"What do you mean...killer bees?" Linda asked.

"I heard a lot of buzzing outside of my room!" Candace described the sound.

"Oh that!" Linda understood, "I had to wake you up, dear. So I put a CD of annoying sounds in a radio right outside your room. I put it on the track of '70,000 People Blowing Vuvuzelas At One Time' at full volume!"

Candace was peeved by this and wanted an explanation. "Mom...why did you wake us up at 4:15 in the morning?"

Linda explained her reason, "Today's the day of the awesome and exciting journey that is ... quilting! We're going up to Tunica today!"

However, Candace didn't share her mom's entusiasm, "Can't this quiling class be rescheduled? Or, at the very least, be somewhere that's nearer and at a later time?"

"Sorry, Candace. I looked all over the Internet for any upcoming quilting classes for your Betty Jo's 80th birthday. I tried to find something in Danville, the Coast, Mobile, and New Orleans. Nothing came up!" Linda explained "I widened my search up north around Memphis until I found an open spot of a quilting class in Tunica."

"But, Mom!" Candace whined, "It's a six-hour drive to Tunica! And the Independence Day Fair in Danville is tonight!"

"Come on, Candace! It's not like it's going to be the end of the world for you!" Linda replied calmly.

"But it is!" Candace panicked, "Jeremy is going to perform a song about me at the concert tonight! I read the pamphlet for it that he's going be on stage at 9:45! I have to be there or else he'll stop liking me!" She was on the verge of breaking down.

To appease Candace, Linda replied in a calm manner, "Okay, Candace! Don't get all tied up in a knot over this! The quilting class will be over at 3:00. And since the concert begins at 9:00, we'll make it just in time! I can drop you off so that you and Jeremy can have a fun time together! Cool beans?"

Now in a more composed manner, Candace smiled and said, "Fine, Mom! Cool beans!"

"Good! Now get ready, 'cause we leave in about 45 minutes!" Linda said as she exited the room. But before she could leave the room, she also added. "Oh and also, I stumbled upon a Tom Sawyer Festival for the boys! I bought them costumes for the event!"

"Ohh…" Candace snickered, "I can't wait to see what they look like!" Stacy joined in on the giggles.

"And don't forget that I signed you two up for the hour-long 'Southern Accent' seminar!" Linda reminded them. She left the room and closed the door behind them.

"Stacy, we don't have a moment to lose!" Candace yelled, flinging Stacy's clothes on her bed.

"This is going to be one of those days…" Stacy muttered to herself.

(30 minutes later)

The Flynn-Fletchers were in the driveway, about to board. Candace and Stacy were in their usual outfits.

"Ohh….you two look so adorable!" Linda cooed over her sons.

"And quite fitting for the period, I'd say!" Lawrence chuckled a little.

Phineas was dressed as Tom Sawyer, and Ferb was dressed as Huck Finn, complete with period-era straw hats. Phineas himself was fully concentrated on reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Perry was dressed as a from to look like Tom Sawyer's frog, Rebel.

Candace and Stacy chuckled at their costumes.

"OMG! Those are so totally lame!" Candace laughed "They look like complete dorks!"

"I wouldn't be caught dead wearing those hillbilly clothes!" Stacy snickered.

"No way! They are totally not in fashion!" Candace scoffed.

"Anyways…" Linda interrupted them, "I told Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro, Mrs. Tjinder and Mrs. Van Stomm about the Mark Twain festival being held at Tunica!"

"The same place as the quilting class?" Candace uttered.

"The very same, dear." Linda said, "They're also holding a small auction, including a very rare autographed copy from Mark Twain himself from 1889! I think I can swing by there once the quilting class is over with!"

"I'll be at that auction too!" Lawrence chimed in.

"And I can be with Jeremy that night!" Candace squealed with excitement. "We'll be dancing to the song that he planned just for me, even though I don't know the lyrics yet!"

"We're going to meet up with the other parents for breakfast up in Batesville." Linda explained.

She then saw a car pulling into the driveway.

Linda recognized it immediately. "Oh, hello, Mr. Carter!"

"Hey, Mrs. Flynn. I'm just droppin' off Kim and Ron in the backseat." Mr. Carter said, pointing to the two teens half-asleep in the back.

"Kim?! Why did you stay up so late?" Linda questioned, going up to them.

"Uhh…" Kim groaned, rubbing her eyes. "I had a late-night investigation at Chez Couteaux… got the call at three in the morning…"

Ron was asleep, resting on Kim's head while Rufus was curled up in a ball on his owner's lap.

"Oh, poor thing!" Linda gasped with compassion in her voice. She glanced at Lawrence and said, "Can you get the extra-strength coffee?"

"No problem, luv! It's a good thing we brewed some!" Lawrence replied, heading back into the house.

Five minutes later, Kim and Ron were awake, cups of coffee in their hand.

"Thanks, Mrs. Flynn!" she smiled.

"No problem, Kim! We're going to be gone for most of the day for a family outing." Linda said about her day's plans. "Think you, Ron, and Monique can manage here for a few hours?"

"Of course, Mrs. Flynn! We'll just, in Ron's words, chillax around here!" Kim replied, taking a sip of the coffee.

"We have some frozen dinners in the fridge, so hopefully that'll tide you over for both lunch and dinner." Linda said, pointing to the refrigerator. She looked at the time on her watch.

"Whoops! I gotta leave right now, Kim! See you three this evening!"

"See you, Mrs. Flynn!" Kim said, waving to Linda before she headed on out with her family.