Chapter 4: Stakeout Time!
"Sally, what's your idea?" Charlie Brown asked.
"Simple! We'll stay up here and see what the ghost looks like then trap it ourselves!" Sally smiled.
"You mean a stakeout?" Lucy asked, rolling her eyes.
"No. Not a steak out! Just a sleepover to catch the paranormal thief!" Sally smiled.
"That's a stakeout." Charlie Brown corrected.
"Oh. Then that's what we're doing." Sally shrugged.
The kids, dinosaurs and animals looked at her. "What? The trap didn't work and Kristen only caught a hungry beagle!" Sally added.
"Stakeout it is, then!" Chip declared.
"What if it REALLY IS a ghost?" asked BJ.
Sally thought for a minute. "Then we need to find a new treehouse."
"I hope that doesn't happen..." Heather gulped. "I like our treehouse."
"Remember: things aren't always what they seem." Linus explained.
Marcie gave an exhausted groan "There's NO TIME for a sleepover in the treehouse. Bake sale's tomorrow night, we NEED to finish preparations! Everything NEEDS to be PERFECT!" she exclaimed.
"It's not a sleepover, Marcie." Danny corrected.
"It's a stakeout!" Linus added.
"What DO you do at a stakeout?" Baby Bop wondered.
"It means we're gonna take turns making sure there're no ghosts in the treehouse" replied Heather, in a spooky, eerie tone of voice.
Smiling, the redhead continued. "I'll bring nightlights, sleeping bags and pajamas."
That eevening, we see Lucy placing her tray of cupcakes on the table "There we go. Now, if there really is a ghost, we'll catch it!"
"Oooooooooh!" Snoopy and Woodstock smiled.
Miss Etta chirped frantically "Well I sure hope so. I haven't slept a wink since I first saw that...ghost..."
"You must be scared." Lila said.
"I am!" Miss Etta declared. "I haven't been this scared since I came across a great big unit of a falcon!"
Later, after getting permission, the kids, beagle, and dinosaurs all set out their stuff and took shifts sleeping, in order to catch the ghost. Lucy, Kristen, Danny, and Lila sat next to each other, and Lucy was about to fall asleep when...
CRUNCH
"Sorry. Apple." Lila said sheepishly.
"WHY are you eating an apple?! We're supposed to be looking for a ghost!" Lucy whispered loudly.
"I got hungry. And apples are delicious!" Lila simply smiled.
"They sure are." Kristen yawned.
"Well try to crunch quietly. We DON'T want the ghost to know we're here!" Lucy whispered.
"Okay...hey guys?" Lila said, getting spooked.
"Yes?" Lucy asked.
"What is it?" Danny asked.
"What DO we do WITH the ghost, when we catch it?" Lila asked.
"I don't know!" Lucy whispered.
"Let it go out in the forest, I suppose..." Kristen shrugged.
"Well, do you think the ghost's friendly? Like Casper, maybe." Lila smiled.
"How should I know?! I've never befriended a ghost before, Lilianna!" Lucy scoffed.
"Oh, right..." Lila smiled sheepishly.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh..." A mysterious voice moaned.
"Did you say something?" Lucy asked, suddenly getting spooked.
"I didn't say anything. I thought YOU said anything!" Lila said, also getting spooked.
"We didn't say anything either." Kristen explained.
"We thought it was YOU, Lucy!" Danny exclaimed.
"Well I didn't say anything and Lila didn't say anything and Danny didn't say anything and Kristen didn't say anything, so it has to be-" Lucy said, shuddering.
"Scooter's snoring?" Lila giggled.
"No! Wake the others up!" Lucy whispered.
"Okay..." Lila began as Lucy ran over to the table with Danny and Kristen following her.
"Oh no!" Lucy gasped.
"Lila, get here!" Kristen motioned.
The seven year ran over to the table and gasped. "The ghost, it took your cupcakes!"
Lucy groaned and began to pace around while complaining "Again...I CANNOT BELIEVE A GHOST MANAGED TO RAID MY CUPCAKES AGAAAAAAAAAA-"
The fussbudget then slipped and landed on her back.
"Lucy, are you okay?" asked Danny.
"I'm fine, Dan-What did I just trip on?" Lucy wondered.
"Oh, you slipped on Webster." Kristen replied, picking up the stuffed duck.
"Oh..." Lucy seemed unfazed.
"Everything okay?" asked Barney, heading over.
"The ghost took the cupcakes again and Lucy slipped on Webster." Kristen said matter-of-factly.
Lila nodded before realizing something. "Webster?!"
"That's what I said."
"WEBSTER'S the ghost!"
Barney gulped a little.
Lucy however took it the hardest. "WEBSTER'S THE GHOST?! CALL A PRIEST! CALL A PASTOR! CALL AN EXORCIST! CALL LINDA BLAIR!" she declared as most of the gang ran over.
"Calm down..." gulped Charlie Brown.
"Why's Lucy panicking?" Linus asked. Danny was about to speak when Lucy interrupted him.
"Where's Marcie? Her stuffed duck is possessed by a cupcake stealing ghost!" Lucy explained.
Peppermint Patty looked around "She's probably still asleep. I told her not to wear her headphones to bed."
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." the mysterious voice moaned again.
"Did you guys catch the ghost?" BJ asked.
"I'm scared." Baby Bop shuddered.
"We didn't catch the ghost in the act..." Kristen whispered.
"Awww man." Peppermint Patty huffed. The kids then gasped over hearing some munching noises.
"IT'S THE GHOST!" Sally gasped.
Exhausted, Scooter poked his head out of the table hole "What's going on?" he yawned.
"WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA SEE A GHOST!" Lucy shouted.
Hannah then gasped "AND IT'S IN THE READING CORNER!" she said.
"Are you sure?" BJ asked.
Hannah pointed at a blanket in the reading corner. "Well what do you call THAT?"
"Aha! The culprit is under this blanket!" Lucy grinned as they tiptoed towards the reading corner.
"One...two...three..." Lucy, Lila, Chip and Danny counted, then removed the blanket
"HOLY MACARONI AND CHEESE!" Peppermint Patty exclaimed as they saw Marcie was the ghost the whole time!
"Marcie? You're the ghost?" Heather asked, completely surprised. But Marcie didn't even respond. "Hello? Marcie?"
"I think she's asleep." BJ explained.
"But if she's asleep, how did she get Lucy's cupcakes?" Baby Bop asked.
"I think she's sleepwalking." Lila explained.
"She was probably so overworked from helping with the bake sale, that she unknowingly raided the cupcakes without even waking up." Chip figured.
"That explains her lack of appetite in the morning." Peppermint Patty realized.
"And why the treehouse has been so...eerily clean." Lucy added.
"I told you," Linus explained "Things aren't always as they seem."
"My dears, have you caught the ghost yet?" Miss Etta inquired.
"She's right here." Peppermint Patty motioned over.
Miss Etta gasped "Oh my goodness!"
"Don't worry, it's just Marcie" Charlie Brown reassured as she saw Snoopy sneak the half-eaten tray of cupcakes to Lucy "Snoopy! You saved the cupcakes! Well, half of them, but still!"
"You're a hero!" Lila added.
Snoopy smiled. "I think you deserve a reward for that." Lucy said, tossing the beagle a cupcake.
Happily, Snoopy caught the cupcake and began to eat it "WHOOOO HOOOOO!" he hollered.
"At least the treehouse isn't really haunted by a ghost." Peppermint Patty laughed to herself and nudged her best friend a little.
Marcie murmured sleepily as she began to wake up "Sir?" she asked.
"Hey kid." Peppermint Patty smiled back.
Marcie looked around, confused "What's going on?"
"We caught the ghost." Peppermint Patty announced, hugging her best friend.
"You did?"
"And it really wasn't a ghost, after all." Chip added.
Lila nodded "And thank goodness."
Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
Oh, I used to be afraid
But not anymore
Hannah:
Thunder used to scare me
Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
But that was before
Barney taught me that
The things that used to bother me
Really aren't so scary at all
Barney, Baby Bop, BJ, Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
No, they're not so scary, at all
Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
Oh, I used to be afraid
But not anymore
Baby Bop:
Vampires used to scare me
Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
But that was before
Barney taught me that
The things that used to bother me
Really aren't so scary at all
Barney, Baby Bop, BJ, Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
No, they're not so scary, at all
Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
Oh, I used to be afraid
But not anymore
Lucy:
Ghosts used to scare me
Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
But that was before
Barney taught me that
The things that used to bother me
Really aren't so scary at all
Barney, Baby Bop, BJ, Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
No, they're not so scary, at all
No, they're not so scary, at all
"So, if it wasn't a ghost, what was it?" Marcie asked.
"You." Heather giggled.
"WHAT?!" Marcie exclaimed, shocked.
"It wasn't really your fault." Lila explained. "You were stressed out over the bake sale."
"I should have known...I'm sorry, Lucille." Marcie apologized.
"It's cool, Marcie. You didn't know what you were doing." Lucy grinned. "I'm just glad we got this mess straightened out before Halloween night."