Forgotten Chapter 3: Magic - Charlie and Snoopy III, a peanuts fanfic

Chapter Three: Magic – Charlie and Snoopy III

POV: Charlie Brown

Snoopy had picked up the first book in the series. The whole series was called It Was a Dark and Stormy Night.

Schroeder grinned, and then rubbed his face. "Ow, sorry… I don't smile often…"

In our universe, I remember thinking that Schroeder never smiled unless it was Beethoven's Birthday… now, he never smiles at all. That's so sad…

"Sorry… I'm smiling back I've figured it out. Because of these books, it narrows the possibilities. In fact, I think we might have our spell…" He briskly walked back to the desk, and opened his Book of Shadows again.

"But how can Snoopy exist, but I don't?! We already established Snoopy doesn't exist, because he came with me!" I attempted to whisper, but it came out as a yell. Some people gave me funny looks.

"That's what we've assumed, Charlie… but, obviously, you adopted Snoopy, yes? Not Sally."

I frowned. "Yes, I adopted him…"

"Well then, if you don't exist, then you could never have adopted Snoopy. I guess he became… an author?" I looked over at Snoopy. He was a pretty fast reader – he only had a couple of pages left and he had only been reading for a couple of minutes.

"At any rate, this means that none of these spells are the right one." Schroeder said, crossing out all the potential sells.

"Then wha-" Snoopy yelped again, and shoved the last page of the book in my face.

"What now, Snoop?" The page was a short biography. I quickly skimmed it.

Snoopy the Beagle was a dog that was never adopted at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm.

He had seven siblings named Spike, Belle, Olaf, Andy, Marbles, Molly and Rover.

As of print, he died four years ago from a disease.

Oh my…

Snoopy looked up at me. "Alright, seriously – what the heck. I'm just…" He couldn't finish his sentence.

Schroeder looked up. "What's wrong?"

"In this world, Snoopy… is dead…" Snoopy went back to the twenty-one books, and chucked them all on our table.

He didn't same fazed. "I'm still alive… I know I'm alive…" Snoopy kept muttering, and started on the second book.

"I just… I just can't comprehend all of this Schroeder…" I said to him.

Schroeder hesitated. "Still, at least we know about Snoopy's existence in this world… and, uh, he's right here as well. The reason we're doing this spell is to get you back to your own world, so I can fix this world, and find out why the heck this happened."

I nodded. "Alright, Schroeder. Do you have the spell for us?" He smiled again. "I think so…"

He showed me one of the pages of the book, entitled Unmaking Spell.

I frowned. "So someone did this spell against me? To unmake what?"

Schroeder shrugged. "We can discuss that later. Read the spell."

"Water, fire, earth and air,

Water, fire, earth and air,

Elements that we all share,

Walk upon this earth again,

Walk upon this earth again!"

"So… this is a spell? I would say it's the lyrics to a rock song… do we need equipment, or anything? And what's the number on the top-right corner for?" I said, pointing at the '14'.

"The information and other is on the opposite page. The number is my handwriting – how long it takes to read the spell averagely."

"That matters?"

"Yeah."

I turned the page, reading the back.

- needs; four elements – water, fire, earth and air

- side-effects; reappearances same time, same day, same place + goes back in time by five days

"It doesn't say what it does?" He shook his head. "None of them do. I, myself was going to use this spell to 'unmake' the accident."

"But how do you know it's this one, of all of them?"

"I think it's a variation of this one."

"…a variation? I'm lost."

He sighed. "You can edit a spell as you like – change the words or whatever, and the outcome will be different depending on the words. You have to be real skilled to at least somewhat know the outcome. Or somewhat smart."

"Can you do that?"

"Eh… in this notebook, I already made a variation of this spell… it was the spell I was going to use…"

"Water, fire, earth and air,

Water, fire, earth and air,

Elements that we all share,

All in a line that's not divine,

Walk upon this earth again,

Walk upon this earth again!"

"Rhyming… helps?"

"Yes, it does. I plan to use this because we'll all be in a line, but not exactly a straight line. And in this one, I'm pretty sure a tornado will appear instead of it just… teleporting us."

"Wait… two questions. One; what do you mean, "we"? And two, how do you know? I mean, how did you know about the activities?"

"One – we refers to the other people with magical properties. I'm hoping at least some will be in my group. And two - I've been there before."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? The other you didn't tell us that." He shrugged. "Maybe I went in this world because of your absence. Again, we can discuss that later."

"So… how can we leave, uh, this world?"

"The thing is, with this spell, you can go back to that same place, same time, and that tornado will appear again. If you go into it, you won't go back to your own universe. You'll go back to five days earlier, in this universe, and we'll all forget you… again.

This spell variation also has side-effects. Of course, I can't tell you all of them. In fact, I hoped there would be none. But apparently, you can talk to Snoopy over there, so that's one I can write down."

I frowned, slightly confused – as usual. "But I went back eight days, not five." He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Man, this would be a lot easier if I had a talisman…"

He scribbled causes ability to talk to animals that went into tornado and may cause an eight day time-back instead of five onto the page of his notebook.

"Another thing, Charlie… and we'll discuss more of this later… but whoever did the spell, was one – in your group, and two – probably didn't mean to direct it against you."

I bit my lip. "My usual bad luck."

"At any rate… whoever goes into the tornado goes to a parallel universe where that human doesn't exist. Which is why Snoopy exists - existed." He caught himself. "But normally, an animal wouldn't go in there in the first place, as the tornado should chase the human, not the animal. Is this hurting your head?"

"Yes." I replied honestly. He laughed.

"Alright, well, now I just need to find a spell that won't target me if I come, and gets you both back home…"

He started flipping the pages of the Book of Shadows. I looked over at Snoopy. He was up to the seventh book of It Was a Dark and Stormy Night.

"You okay, Snoopy?" He nodded, flipping the page. "Are you sure?" He nodded again, and flipped the page again.

"I think…" He smiled giddily. "Yes, this is perfect!" He showed me the spell, entitled Alternate Spell;

"People from alternate worlds,

People from alternate worlds,

Cannot be here, so a portal works well,

A magical object could direct them back,

To their own land, if they want that,

To their own land, if they want that!"

"…this is what we need?" He smiled. "It takes twenty-six seconds to say, but we should be fine. Tornados last for fifty-nine seconds. It gets better, though. Flip the page."

- needs; two elements – water, and earth + a magical portal (the spell will redirect the portal)

- side-effects; possible chance of forward time travel (from zero days – ten days)

"So… you're earth, and I'm water, and that magical tornado portal will reappear?"

Schroeder nodded. "The place the caster chose was secluded. In fact, I was going to do that."

I looked over at Snoopy. He was reading the last few pages of the last book.

Schroeder slammed the book shut, and put both his book and the Book of Shadows in his bag.

"We can talk in… tomorrow, I guess. I'm almost late for breakfast. Any quick questions?" Snoopy put the last book on the shelf, and sniffed. We started walking out the door.

"Um, just one – where tomorrow?"

"Remember the shack where you found me? Go there at, I dunno, same time you got here."

"Alright… I'll see you around, Schroeder."

"You too, Charlie… Snoopy." He nodded, and walked off, looking back every few seconds.

"Well, Snoop… anything you want to check?" He shook his head. "Are you sure?"

He hesitated, and looked back at the library. Finding out that in this world he was dead must have really gotten to him.

"We need to check something… tonight."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why tonight?"

…….

We were going to break into our own house.

I checked my Blackberry. "11:06pm…" I muttered. I looked up.

"Well, here we are, Snoopy."

The streetlights were on, which made it easier to see, but we also had a couple of candles just in case. There were no lights on in the house either, so that could either be a good thing or a bad thing.

"So… any ideas on how to get up there?" He nodded.

In a matter of seconds, Snoopy wore a green helmet and goggles. I smiled. "No way…"

"Here comes the World War I Flying Ace, about to break into this top-secret base to find his abducted mechanic…"

It was hard to resist the laughter. Where Snoopy had gotten the clothing, I don't know, but it was certainly gave him (and me) confidence. And it was also the first time I could hear Snoopy's commentary outloud… certainly a new experience.

"He has memorised every single trapdoor and creaky floorboard… but today, going over shall be the better choice."

"Going over?" Snoopy jumped onto one of the tree branches. "Oh."

He expertly lunged himself ontop of the rooftop without making a sound.

"Good work, Snoop! Go get Woodstock!"

Snoopy jumped over to the other side of the roof, and accidently made a loud 'creak'. The light in Sally's room turned on. "Quickly, Snoop…" I whispered. I quickly hid behind a rock.

"No nests!" He shouted, as he slid back down. His World War I Flying Ace clothing had gone. "Then where's Woodstock?" I asked. Snoopy landed on the ground.

"I don-" He stopped, shocked. "Actually… I… I think I do know."

"Where?"

"The most logical explanation… I was the one that protected Woodstock from the stupid cat next door… if it wasn't for me, he would've been…"

My eyes widened, again. There were just… too many shocks in this world. "You don't mean…"

"You said it yourself, Charlie Brown. 'When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is the answer.'." He sighed and sniffed, on the brink of tears.

I kneeled, and patted Snoopy. "It'll be okay, Snoop… we're going back soon, remember? We'll see Woodstock there." He sniffed again. "I just can't believe it…"

"HAY!" Yelled a voice from the window. A torchlight narrowly missed us. Snoopy and I quickly ran.

"WHO'S DOWN THERE?!" Sally yelled. We managed to quickly run away before she could flash it down onto us. I shuddered.
"Let's go back to the bunker, Snoop… and let's get some sleep…"

…….

Today was the third day I was stuck in this parallel world. I felt more enlightened, thanks to Schroeder. I'm still shocked that something like magic exists, though – but at least it was an explanation to why we were in this world. It was better that nothing and after all I've been through – of course I believed it.

I walked over to the next field yonder, Snoopy following me from the behind.

Schroeder was sitting at the place where I first found him – behind a rickety old shack.

"Hello, Charlie." He said without turning towards me.

"Um, hello."

"Are you ready to discuss the differences between our world and your world, and find out why they're different?"

"No." I answered honestly. "I just don't understand, Schroeder – I'm just one kid. One kid that, in my world, everyone despised. How could I cause so many differences?"

"That's what we're trying to find out, hey? So, first person. You can choose."

He started flipping pages of his booklet. As he was flicking, I saw one titled Sally Brown.

I frowned. "Did I just see a page called 'Sally Brown?" I asked. "Yes."

"So… you stalk people?"

"Yes."

"Um, alright then…"

"I do it so I can find the magic in these people. It's not like I actually… ugh, you know. So, you want to start with Sally, I guess?"

"Uh, yeah, sure…"

"Alright! What's the same about her? You know, similarities." He had his pen at the ready.

"Uh, she likes Linus…" He scribbled it down. "That's it?"

"She has the same blue dress?" He scrawled it down again. Was that really important?

"Alright, now the differences."

"Um, Linus likes her back…" Schroeder wrote it down. I realized that this Schroeder wrote things down the same way the other Schroeder would play at the piano. However, this Schroeder would twitch a little because he had to stop constantly…

"She has longer hair now, and is more nicer… and obviously, in this world, she isn't my sister… um, and she actually likes to do her homework?"

He wrote it all down. "Is that all?" I nodded.

"Alrighty. Next person, Linus."

We went through every person, and Schroeder never stopped to ask a question – not even when I told him in my world, Lucy was a crabby bossy person, or when I said 'Matt'/Pig-Pen was one of the nicest guys I knew, or even when I talked about him. He just nodded and continued writing,

"I think that's everyone, Charlie… anyone I'm forgetting?"
I thought for a moment. "I guess there's no point writing about Thibault or Joe Agate… um, what about… Shermy?"

"Is he important in your world?" I shook my head. "Not really, he left our gang after a while, I guess…"

"Alright, I don't have a file on Shermy, but I can quickly write that down as a similarity… and now, after just a quick observation, I think I've figured it all out."

I nearly fell over. "You have?! You haven't even read over it once!"

He grinned. "As I said, I'm very observant. I'll get straight into it. First, Linus. In this world, he's pretty much you, Charlie." I nodded, skeptical. "But in your world, he was the one that always helped you with his problems. And he had a best friend. In this world, he didn't really have any main friends, besides Lucy, who told him false information about the world."

"Oh yeah! I remember that. I was there every time Lucy said a wrong fact."

"That proves my theory, then. You were there to help Linus see Lucy might be lying. Here, he listened to her, and bad things came out of that. The reason why he likes your sister in this world? I can get to that later.

Pig-Pen next. I just have one question: did you ever compliment Ma- er, Pig-Pen, I mean, on his, ah, dirtiness?"

I nodded, confused. "Yes? One day, he was down in the dumps because how everyone was so rude to him about him being dirty, so I told him that he might have the dirt that someone famous walked on, like Genghis Khan, and…" My eyes lit up. "You don't mean to say…"

Schroeder scribbled in his book. "Yes, I do. That sentence changed everything, Charlie. Pig-Pen was probably about to attempt to get rid of his dirt forever, but you came along and made him calmer."

"But-"

"We'll move onto Violet and Patty." I sighed.

"It's clear that in this world, Violet admires you," I blushed. ", however, in your world, she only likes you… less than occasionally. Same with Patty. As you became more depressed, I guess at one point Violet thought that it would be a good idea to tease you, and since Patty is her best friend, did the same. However, in this world, Violet and Patty stayed nice – more so with Linus… well, I'll get to that.

Next, Frieda. You said she was nice to you? In return, I'm assuming that you put up with her talk about her 'naturally curly hair'. In this world, no-one listened to her. Not even one. So she took a new look for the better – she's now less of a snob

Now, Sally – you probably were an influence to her, as you were her big brother. The reason she looks different and has a different personality – that was probably because of your – as you said – "wishy-washiness". In your world, she had an opportunity to complain to someone about many things, like homework, but here she didn't so from that spurt out a completely different personality – a better one."

I looked down. "So basically, by existing, I've made the world a worse place."

Schroeder glared. "Charlie, you're joking."

"Why would I be?"

Schroeder sighed. "Pig-Pen became a bully, Linus became unconfident… the list goes on."

"Those are just two examples."

He sighed. "Alright. I'll continue, then. I guess… I'll go to me. According to you, which I guess I have to believe, I'm a musical genius – a piano prodigy that celebrates Beethoven's Birthday. That's got to have been an influence by you. Try to think."

I tried to think. "Well, I guess I was the one that showed you how to play the toy piano… and… wow! I also read you Beethoven's Biography every night!"

Schroeder nodded. "See? Now, in this world, I was just some normal kid that no-one except Lucy paid attention too…" He heaved a sigh.

"I guess we have to go onto Lucy now. From what you told me about Lucy, she was always angry, since she was a child, and always let out that anger on you." I nodded, uncomfortable. "And that was good…?"

"Yes. In this world, Lucy could at times fire up abruptly and become really angry. With you, you were like her big brother. She could vent her frustrations out on you. And this leads to Lucy's incident.

You said that Lucy always comes to lean on my piano, and does the same things she does in this world.

I nodded again. "Every time she said something you disliked, you just continued playing the piano."

Schroeder looked uncomfortable, and looked down. "So… I guess it's obvious now… but I'll say it anyway. Lucy had just 'fired up abruptly' as I said. I had nothing to stop myself… and I lashed out. I really hurt Lucy that day… I somehow managed to break every bone in her body, besides the ones that would kill her, while leaving her arms and legs intact. I don't know how I did it, I just… I was really insane that day."

"I have a question about that… you went to jail for that, right? And you said you visited her. Why would they let you visit her?"

Schroeder looked up, his eyes glistening with tears "In truth, no-one is allowed to visit her. According to the doctors, it's better for her healing. Her family can once a year, Christmastime, and only family can go. The doctors say that she needs to be talked to, otherwise she would go insane. At first they were surprised that once a year was enough, but just went with it – but they're wrong.

I figured out a simple way to visit her. I jumped through the window in the middle of the night. There's a large tree that is surprisingly easy to climb right outside her window. I visited her a few days after I was released. I've visited her every day since. If you don't believe me, we can go see her tonight. I'm going, anyway."

"I would like to see her anyway…" I said. "Would she let me?"

"Of course – in fact, I've talked to her about you. She said that she'd like to see you before you leave."

"Wait - you've told her about the undo plan as well?"

"Well… yeah, of course. But now we need to get into the next few people.

You've probably visited the other neighborhood, and are probably wondering why it's, uh, in that state. Well,-"

Snoopy perked up. "There's something going on in the other neighborhood?" He asked.

Schroeder looked over at Snoopy, befuddled. "Wait… you guys haven't visited the other neighborhood?"

I shook my head. "No, I can't say I have… why? Is something wrong? Does… this have to do with Peppermint Patty's suicide?"

He hesitated. "More like the other way around."

"What?"

He looked through his bag, and brought out some photos.

"Here's the other neighborhood two years ago."

I looked through the photos. The luscious green place with more builders than our neighborhood was pictured perfectly.

"Just how I remembered it…"

"Anddd… here it is three months ago."

He brought up the photos hesitantly. I stared at them, shocked. The luscious green shrubs looked like as if they had all been slashed by various cats. There were yellow weeds growing out from everywhere, and nearly every building had graffiti on it.

"What… what happened?" I whispered, mortified.

"There's no simple way to say this, Charlie Brown. In your world, from what you've said, Peppermint Patty was one of your best friends. In this world, Peppermint Patty was much like how you described… until the day she committed suicide. Marcie was the only witness – Patty revealed it was all an act – nobody truly loved her, she wasn't pretty, she never thought she was good enough…"

I was horrified. Was my Patty hiding these feelings as well?

"Patty also said that she didn't want to stop Thibault or Joe Agate from hurting anyone anymore. She thought that by dying, they might leave everyone alone. How wrong she was. They both took over that neighborhood – starting gangs and other shit. It was vicious."

"Just… one question… how do you know what Marcie said?"

"She was forced to tell the police what she said. I, uh, heard her."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you did. But… how could I have an affect over a whole neighborhood? I mean, this is me we're talking about. Me."

Snoopy put his hand up, and barked to Schroeder to stop him from speaking.

"Charlie, every person in our world would agree you're a blockhead – a wishy-washy blockhead. However, you are also loyal to everything – you don't ever give up. You stick by your friends, no matter how mean they are- we are too you. You technically didn't have an influence over the neighborhood – you had a connection to the person who did."

"Wow… I never thought I would receive a moving speech from my dog…"

"Um… er, whatever he said was… uh, probably right. Hopefully.

Also, thank you for your help, Charlie. You probably know where the closest hospital is. Can you meet me there at maybe 11pm?"

"Yeah, of course… as long as Snoopy can come. His ears are superior to ours, and can hear anyone coming. And, um, before I leave, one more question, Schroeder… why did you need all that information?"

"It's another magic thing, Charlie. In every universe, you're the same element. Sometimes, it's hard to discern from one description. Two is better. For example, I would've original assumed Matt was fire, but I forgot all about how he originally was, so he might be earth."
"Oh… alright, then." He smiled, and shook my hand. His hand was as cold as ice.

"I'll… see you around, Schroeder."

He waved as I walked off. "You too, Charlie…"

We walked towards the baseball field, but once we were out of sight, veered off into the footpath.

"Um, Charlie, where are we going?"

I checked my pockets, making sure I still had some money. "Going to the toy shop."

Snoopy looked alarmed. "At a time like this?! What could we possibly be-… oh…

…….

I checked my phone. "10:36pm, Snoop… you know how to climb a tree?"

"Of course." Why would I be surprised?

We climbed the large tree that stood outside the hospital. Snoopy held the toy piano in his mouth, somehow, while I had the sheet music crumpled in my pocket. We managed to make it to a large branch that veered off right outside a window, only slipping a couple of times. It was the only window with the window actually open.

"This must be it, Snoopy." I jumped inside, and immediately heard a familiar, yet very fragile, voice.

"Schroeder! You're ear-"

"I'm not Schroeder." I whispered. Lucy fell silent.

"Who are you then?"

"I'm Charlie. Schroeder said he told you about me?"

Lucy turned on the lamp. She looked horrible. Scars and bandages were all over her face, along with other machinery crowding around her.

"So, you're the Charlie Schroeder said were from a different universe… it's a pleasure to meet you."

She smiled. "I'm quite relieved to talk to a new voice. Schroeder's was getting a bit boring!" She laughed silently, and I wasn't sure whether to join in or not. This Lucy was more different than any other person I had met, in this universe, and I have only been in her presence for a couple of seconds.

I had no time to be confused - I had to get used to it quick.

Another loud thump came from behind me.

"Is that Sch- oh, that's a cute beagle! That must be Snoopy! What's in his mouth?"

"A toy piano." I said blankly. She looked confused – why wouldn't she?

"A-a toy piano? Why?"

I brought out sheet music, and tossed it to her. "Yo-you can play the piano? And Beethoven, no less! I haven't heard music in ages – and I love Beethoven!"

I shook my head, but smiled. "Schroeder can play it."

She gasped. "What?!"

"At least, in my universe he can." She looked confused. I realized she hadn't frowned yet, but just looked confused or gasped.

"But… even if he did, didn't it take practice?"

"Nope. I remember just showing him a few notes, and he started playing Beethoven. He could probably do the same here. And, uh, in our universe, you don't like Beethoven."

She laughed. "And I guess I'm crabby and bossy as well?"

I scratched my head. "Uh…"

"It's fine, Charlie. I used to be crabby and bossy. I guess if it wasn't for… all this, I would still be a fussbudget."

Another thud came from the window.

"Hey Luce, I've got a-" He stopped when he saw us. "A visitor coming…"

"We came early." I said.

"That's fine, I guess, but…" He gestured to the piano. "What's this?"

"Schroeder remember how I said you were a piano prodigy in our world?"

"Yeah, so? It's not like I can learn in a few minutes… plus, this is a toy piano!"

I smiled, and turned the volume on the piano to low, but audible.

"Alright, I do know something…" I placed the sheet music down. "This is Beethoven. Come and sit, or kneel, or whatever."

He sighed. "Why would this even work?"

"Do it for me, Schroeder." Said Lucy with joy. "I love Beethoven!"

Schroeder immediately sat down, but then tried to hesitate.

"Alright, so…" I pointed to Middle C on the music sheet, and then played the note on the piano. Plink!

"That's that note. The rest is just up and down. The ones with a hashtag and a 'b' are sharps and flats, which are the black notes, and the top one is for your right hand, and the bottom one is for your left hand." Plink! Plink!

"You try!" I said, as if I were talking to three-year-old Schroeder.

He sighed. "I can't believe I'm about to try this… but I guess… I can try…"

He looked at the notes, and then aligned his fingers on the piano. He started playing Beethoven's Fur Elise perfectly.

"E, D sharp, E, D sharp, E, B, D, C, A…" He muttered in concentration. Lucy sighed dreamily. Charlie smiled. Snoopy's ears flew up and down with the beat

As he finished the song, he smiled. "Wow… that was pretty decent. I felt like I was writing in my notebook, but it felt better without the constant stopping…"

"Decent!?" Lucy yelled. "More than decent! It was amazing!"

Snoopy growled. Lucy covered her hands over her mouth.

"It was great meeting you, Snoopy and Charlie! Just slide the piano under the bed!"

Schroeder pushed the piano and the sheet music, and grabbed Snoopy and I. We jumped out of the window before a doctor could come.

We ran to Schroeder's house, and panted.

"I hope the doctors didn't see us…" Schroeder muttered.

"It'll be fine, Schroe. I hope." 'Schroe'? Really? I thought, but he just nodded.

"I better go to bed quickly. See you around, Charlie. And… thank you, again."

"You're welcome… goodnight." And Schroeder disappeared in the dark.

…….

I remember Violet stating that they went to Sally's house every second day, and Linus' every other day. They must've went to Sally's house the other day.

I knocked on the door, waited a bit, and Sally opened it.

"Oh, Charlie! How are you?" She laughed, and hugged me again. I forgot to ask Schroeder why in this universe, my sister likes hugging people.

I walked inside, and looked at the analog clock. 10:34am.

Snoopy and I 'met' Franklin, Roy and Eudora, who looked more or less like the originals – maybe Roy looked a bit scrawnier. When I introduced myself to them, I was scared Violet was going to stand up and say 'But you said you've already met them!' – but luckily, she didn't say a word. The rest of the Peanuts gang were there.

Linus greeted me. "So you did come again… thank you, Charlie." I sat down next to Linus and Violet (who blushed).

They all started talking about various things, like how each of the neighborhood was going. I really had nothing to say, so I just listened, like how I normally do in the other world. At least it felt familiar.

Whenever they mentioned the other neighborhood, I perked up, as all I knew about it was Schroeder told me. I learned that Joe Agate and Thibault used to be in separate gangs, but recently joined forces. I also learned that Marcie, Franklin and Roy had to take a bus to their neighborhood, so they wouldn't get beaten up. (Especially Marcie – the gangs were sexist.)

"...and, um, onto some worse news..." Said Sally slowly. I looked up. Another surprise? What could be worse than Joe Agate and Thibault joining forces?

"…Violet said she encountered Schroeder yesterday." I raised an eyebrow, while the rest of the 'gang' gasped, and flooded her with questions.

"What did he say?"

"Did he apologise?"

"Did he hurt you?"

"Guys, I'll tell you what happened if you all shut up…" Everyone hushed down.

"All right, so I was walking along… alone…" She glanced at me quickly, scared, and then continued.

"…and, well, Schroeder came up to me. I immediately went into fighting stance, just in case he'd – you know – punch me. He said that he had… visited Lucy. And…" Violet hesitated. "…he said that she has forgiven him."
The Peanuts gang went into uproar.

"HE'S LYING!" Yelled Rerun, fuming.

"THAT CAN'T BE! HE'S NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO VISIT HIM!" Screamed Linus, furious. His eyes were red in anger.

Violet stopped him. "At any rate, I think it's time that… we talked to Schroeder."

Roy nodded. "We definitely need to. That's the first time anyone have talked to him since the accident, really… but how would we talk to him? Who would?"

Everyone slowly looked towards me.

"Um, me?" I asked.

"Yes, of course!" Smiled Patty. "You're probably the bravest of all the people in this gang!" Me? Brave? I thought.

"You defended me from Matt, Charlie… I think you can talk to Schroeder – I mean, he didn't beat Violet up!" Linus grinned, his anger departuring for a bit.

Violet looked uncomfortable. "Um, guys, I don't think Charlie is a suitable candidate."

I nodded. "She's right. I don't know him well enough."

Franklin pursed his lips. "They're both right. I doubt you even know what Schroeder looks like, do you, Charlie?"

I hesitated, which was a bad move. I forgot not to hesitate… crap. I looked down at Snoopy. "Half-lie." He said.

"I-I've seen a kid with messy blonde hair and a black-and-purple striped shirt…"
"That's Schroeder." Linus said venomously, his anger returning.

"Still, we can't let Charlie talk to Schroeder. He just moved here and I don't think it's a good idea, to be honest." Said Violet.

"Alright, fine, but then who'll talk to Schroeder?" Asked Sally.

"I'll do it." Came a gruff voice from the corridor. Everyone turned around, and gasped.

Standing there, leaning on the doorframe, was the boy himself, Schroeder.

…….

Linus was staring at the boy with the most hated I've ever seen – more than when Violet or Lucy looks at me in the other world.. He stood up, shaking, and clutched his blanket like a weapon – which in a way, was comforting.

"I-I-I-I-I-I…" He stuttered, attempting to sound vicious. His face had become pale.

"Linus, I came here for a simple reason. To apologise."

"How'd you get in?!" Yelled Sally. This sounded more like the Sally I knew. I guess a little bit of them is still in everyone…

"The door was open. I can leave if you want, but you did just say that you should talk to me, so now is better than never I would think."
He stepped into the room. "Would you like me to leave, or may I sit?"

Sally looked over at Linus, who were still staring at Schroeder intently. Was Linus sweating?

"S-s-s-s-s-s…sit." He muttered, sitting down himself. Schroeder nodded, and simply sat down on the floor.

"The first thing I have to talk to you about… is… Lucy." He choked up a bit. I wasn't really surprised that, in the end, he cared about Lucy.

"If you're wondering how I visited her, I jumped through the window in the middle of the night. There's a large tree that is surprisingly easy to climb right outside her window.

I visited her a few days after I was released. I've visited her every day since. If you don't believe me, we can go see her today. I'm going, anyway." I noticed Schroeder said the exact same thing he said to me yesterday. I wondered if that was on purpose.

In the end… I really just… want to apologise. To all of you. Can you… you please all forgive me?" It looked like he was about to start crying.

I watched the gang. They all stared at Schroeder. He stared back, all hope in his eyes gone.

"I forgive you." Squeaked a small voice. Everyone turned to Rerun Van Pelt. "I think that if someone asks for forgiveness, and is genuine about it, they deserve that forgiveness. You believe that too, don't you Linus?"

Everyone turned to Linus now. "I… I will forgive you, Schroeder."

Schroeder's eyes glistened with tears. "Th-th…" He stuttered.

Franklin nodded. "They're right." Roy agreed as well.

Patty sighed. "I think we should apologise, too. Whenever we passed your house, we used to give it distasteful looks…"

Violet nodded. "We forgive you, Schroeder." Schroeder nearly started crying. "Thank you so much, guys…" He wiped his tears away.

"I… I don't know what else to say… I mean, would one or two of you like to come tonight? The first time we nearly got caught was yesterday…"

Linus nearly put up his hand, but Rerun cut in. "Linus, we visit Lucy once a year, so we have talked to her. Besides us, she hasn't talked to anyone but Schroeder… if what we assume is true. Which I do, because I've seen the tree." In this world, Rerun seemed a lot more stable than Linus.

"I think we should let Violet and Patty go with Schroeder, as they were Lucy's two best friends."

Patty and Violet smiled. "I-if Linus is okay with that…"

Linus nodded sadly, and sighed. "Rerun's right. You two can go with… Schroeder. Thank you for this opportunity, Schroeder, by the way." Linus' speech seemed choppy.

"It's alright. I mean, we've only got a few more days until… how long until camp starts again?"

Eudora frowned. "Um, camp starts the day after tomorrow, Schroeder…"

"WHAT?!" Schroeder and I yelled, and Snoopy barked. How did we forget?!

Everyone looked baffled. "Um, is there something wrong with that?" Asked Violet, skeptical. Of course – she had seen me talk to Schroeder earlier.

"Y-y-n-no…" Schroeder coughed. Linus frowned.

"What's wrong with camp, Schroeder? And you, Charlie… you can't even go, Charlie… you don't even go to school yet!" Oh man! He was right! I still had loads of things to discuss with Schroeder.

Schroeder gripped his scarf tightly. "I… guess I think I should tell you guys now…"

"Tell us what?" Asked Franklin, gritting his teeth.

"I don't know how to say this slowly…" Schroeder said, grabbing his scarf and his backpack's strap.

"...I think I can undo not only Lucy's accident, but Peppermint Patty's incident as well."

They all stared at him. They were probably about to kick him out, so I quickly spoke up.

"He's right. He can do it."

They all turned to me. Crap. Was I meant to talk now?! I can't do this! I'm wishy-washy! But that can't be an excuse… in this universe, I'm not wishy-washy.

"I'm… I haven't actually moved here. I've only been here since… the day I met all of you."
"But… how?" Asked Sally.

"I know you guys keep track of all the people that move in." Said Schroeder. He knew a lot of things. "You didn't see a moving van, did you?"

Sally frowned. "Well… we assumed we must've missed it."

"Alright, I'm going to skip all the wishy-washy stuff." Linus and I winced. Wait, Linus winced? Of course, I forgot… in this universe, he considered himself wishy-washy…

"There's this thing called magic. Don't laugh." None of them looked like they were on the verge of giggling.

"Each of you have magical potential. I have a book here, in my bag, about magic, called the Book of Shadows. It has many spells like Unmaking and Undoing, which can obviously undo accidents, like the two I mentioned."

Schroeder was met with silence. Roy was the first to speak up. "You're joking, right?"

Schroeder sighed. "I guess… it's time to explain magic.

…….

"But that defies science!" Said Marcie for the fifth time, as Schroeder had finally finished his explanation on magic.

"Maybe… maybe magic is just a type of science that hasn't been explained yet." Said Schroeder, exasperated. "We've already figured out how to get Charlie back home. I can attempt to fix my mistakes involving Lucy afterwards – and Patty too of course.

"Wait… 'Charlie back home'?' Asked Violet.

"Charlie and Snoopy are obviously not from here. As I said, there was no moving fan. They're… from another universe."

Everything became still.

"I'm surprised the rest of you are taking this so calmly." Spoke up Charlie.

Violet smiled. "What, would we be psycho?" Charlie shrugged. I guess the movies hype it up too much.

"You might be psycho after you hear this…" Charlie muttered.

"So, wait, if Charlie is from another universe, does that mean he's like an alien or something?" Asked Rerun.

Schroeder shook his head, trying to take out his notebook. "No, he's from this neighborhood, just one where he was born – one where he exists. You could call that World #1, and this one World #2."

"Why can't this one be #1?" Asked Rerun, perplexed.

"This world has one less person, that being Charlie. His world has one more person, that being Charlie. So his is one more ahead of ours." He finally pulled his notebook out of his bag, and took out a pen.

"So… we need to get Charlie back to his universe, right? How do we do that?" Asked Franklin.

"We've got that covered. We plan to do that at camp… which I forgot started in two days." Muttered Schroeder.

He flipped to a page in his book that said 'Sally Brown'.

"You stalk us?" Asked Sally. Schroeder sighed.

"Again, I'll give it to you straight. Yes, in a sense, I stalk you. Trying to figure out your elements. I've gotten some. Sally, you're a fire from what I've figured out."

"A fire…" She whispered, mystified.

"You all have an element. I've nearly figured out most of you. Of course, that's because Charlie helped. You're the same element in all universes – two different descriptions of the same people are better than one."

"So… in the other universe, we exist as well?" Asked Roy.

"Yes, but I rather not say the descriptions. Some are… less and more than pleasant."

At this point, everyone had to silently listen to Schroeder, and believe him.

"Alright…" Sighed Violet, even though it sounded like she longed to hear more about herself. "But how are we going to Charlie to camp? It'll take about an hour to-"

"Seventy-five minutes." I cut in.

"Yeah, seventy-five minutes to walk to the actual camp. How is he going to get there? It's not like he can stow away on the bus… especially if he goes along with Snoopy!"

Snoopy's ears shot up. "What is it?" I asked.

"Remember how the library let us in?"

…….

We spent the whole of yesterday just talking.

Talking with the Peanuts, talking with Schroeder… I nearly bumped into Matt, but managed to avoid him.

We decided to leave everything except the rations in the bunker. I had no money, since I had bought the toy piano, but Schroeder gave me some. I wanted to protest, but I couldn't. I needed it for the taxi.

Violet and Patty went to see Lucy two nights ago. Snoopy went with them, (as a guard dog), and Schroeder played the piano. Lucy was overjoyed to see them.

Yesterday, Linus and Rerun went last night. Again, Snoopy went with them, and Schroeder played the piano. Linus wasn't afraid to admit he cried when he saw her.

Now, we were ready to leave for the bus.

Snoopy had his Beagle Scout uniform, and his backpack seemed heavy, but he was carrying it as if it were a feather. I didn't know what was in the backpack – he left after he returned from the hospital, and I was asleep by the time he came back with whatever was in the backpack.

We jumped onto the bus, but we have agreed with Schroeder to stay away from the Peanuts gang for now, so the other bullies wouldn't see us.

Just as Snoopy had predicted, the bus had no "No Dogs Allowed" sign.

After five minutes, the bus screeched to a stop. We quickly ran off first, into the camp grounds.

I looked over at Snoopy as we ran. "Do you happen to know a place where we can sleep?"

Snoopy grinned. "I know just the place."

…….

As if it were pure coincidence, Schroeder said that the whole Peanuts gang were in Group #3, not including Sally and Eudora, as last time. Roy, Marcie and Franklin were replacing the slots of Pig-Pen/Matt, Peppermint Patty and Lucy.

I obviously thought that was suspicious – how would the groups work out now, with the boy-and-girl partners? - but Schroeder told me not to worry about it. Another mystery unsolved.

He had to leave for canoeing, so I followed Snoopy to the place where he said we could sleep.

We went behind a small cabin, and he started digging. When he thought he had made a big enough hole, he told me to climb in.

"Is this… a mineshaft, Snoopy? The abandoned mineshaft?"

"Yes. This place is a dead end, which is good for us. Hopefully we don't run into gravel or spiders."

I sighed, and clambered down. "How are we going to get food?" Asked Snoopy.

"Schroeder's going to give us some, Snoopy. We just have to wait it out until night."

He nodded, and fell asleep. Of course.

……

This was it. Tonight was the night.

We had survived off Schroeder's cold bacon and eggs the other days – now it was time to emerge, and hopefully get back home.

We clambered up the dirt. It was 8:08pm, according to my phone.

"It's 8:08pm, Snoop… just on time." He yelped.

"No we're not! Your group was ten minutes late because of my Beagle Scouts!"

My eyes widened. "You're right!" We ran to the edge of the camp as quick as we could. We managed to just see Schroeder and Violet going in, who were both looking around anxiously.

We ran around the tents, and ducked inside the forest, dodging sticks, twigs. "Look! There they are!" I pointed. They were at the end of the dirt path.

"Violet! Schroeder!" I yelled. They turned around, and both smiled.

"Charlie! You're here!" Violet ran up and hugged me. I blushed again.

"We're going to walk with Violet until the edge of the map place." I nodded. "Fine with me."

"Thibault and Joe Agate were causing some trouble before - they nearly made us start late. Sadly, they didn't get caught."

I shrugged. "Would've been better for us - we were late because in World #1, Sno- some people made all the groups start late."

As we walked, one thing came to my mind which I hadn't asked Schroeder about.

"Schroeder… who did the spell?"

"Um… you mean the one in your world?"

"Yes."

Schroeder hesitated. "As I said, Charlie, the person who did the spell… the caster… probably wasn't aiming at you. Of course, they might've… but that's unlikely."
"That wasn't the question, Schroeder." Interjected Violet.

He sighed. "Of course. I can't tell you who did it, Charlie, as I only know one person in that group of ten that knows magic – and that person is me. However, I don't see any reason why I would use an unmaking spell in that world…" He mused.

"I guess I'll have to figure it out when I get there." I said.

I sighed, as I thought about all the people that I would hopefully meet. Our Pig-Pen, our Schroeder, my Peppermint Patty, our Linus… had they sent a search party for us? We probably wouldn't time travel… but what if it happened anyway? Would they have sent a search party, or would it be like it never happened? With my luck, we would be gone for ten days…

Snoopy barked. We stopped, and looked up. The path ahead looked clear.

"What's wrong, Snoopy?"

"Look at the map." He said.

"Uh, he says to look at the map." I translated.

Schroeder looked down, and raised an eyebrow. "Huh. He's right. This path isn't the right way. We have to turn right to turn to that mountain you said. That's weird… we didn't go there last time I was here…"

"We thought that was weird too. The mountain is pretty dangerous."

We continued walking in silence. This part of the forest was especially creeper – the branches looked like long, scary hands, trying to grasp us.

Violet gulped, and held my hand.

At last, we finally arrived to the mountain. The large teardrop rock was there, along with the blueberry bush.

"Alright… if we want to meet the tornado, Schroeder, we should through this bush. There's a ramp that leads down." He nodded, and got ready.

"Well… I guess this is goodbye, Violet."

She nodded sadly. "Will you return?"

I looked over at Schroeder. He shrugged.

"I might." I decided.

"In that case…" She pulled me close to her, and kissed me.

On the lips.

I was dumbfounded. We kissed for maybe a full minute, before Snoopy barked and Schroeder coughed.

We pulled away, blushing.

Schroeder was smirking, but Snoopy gestured to continue. Of course, the one time he's serious…

"Go… g-goodbye, Charlie…" She said, blushing. She was about to walk along the mountain, when she yelped, and ran back.

"Charlie… can you do me a favour… please?"

I nodded, uncomfortable. "Uh, alright…?"

"When you see the other Violet… can you just tell her to… to be nice again? Please?"

A week or two ago, I would be scared. I wouldn't even try to talk to Violet. But now… I had to do it. For… for Violet herself.

I nodded. "Alright, I'll try."

"Thank you… thank you so much, Charlie…" She gave me another peck, and quickly jogged off.

I turned around to Schroeder who were laughing. I blushed again.

"Let's just go, guys…"

We walked into the prickly blueberry bush, Snoopy in the lead.

"You sure this is right?" Asked Schroeder. I nodded. "Of course. We went up here earlier. By the way, what time does the tornado appear, Schroeder?"

"Hm… the best time to cast it is in the middle of the night, 12am. So that's probably wh-"

"AUGH!" Snoopy yelled.

"Snoopy!" He was clawing at the ground – he must've thought he was about to go on the plane, but nearly fell off the cliff instead. I grabbed him just as he fell down.

He started whimpering, and I slid along the dirt, the prickles from the bush tingling me.

"Schroeder, a little he-"

He grabbed onto my legs, but it was too late. Snoopy, Schroeder and I fell down the cliff. The last thing I saw was my head heading head-first for a jagged rock.

……

"Eugh…" I moaned. I looked around. It was nearly pitch black darkness, but I managed to see the bodies of Schroeder and Snoopy. They seemed unconscious.

I shook them awoke.

"Ack…" Schroeder looked around, and pulled out his torch.

"No injuries… just a little bit of scratches." He said, looking at me and Snoopy. "Do I have any?"

"Nope…" I looked up. The blueberry bush was up there.

"I fell onto a jagged rock…" Snoopy whimpered. "Sorry, guys… my bad footing…"

"Snoopy apologises." I said. Schroeder patted him on the back. "It's fine… Snoopy… what's the time, Charlie?"

I took out my phone, rubbing my head, and turned it on.

11:51pm.

"GOOD GRIEF!" I yelled, leaping up. Schroeder and Snoopy leapt up.

"Uh, 'Good grief!'? What does that even mean?" Asked Schroeder.

"W-what's wrong?" Snoopy asked.

I looked up, pure fear in my eyes.

"We have nine minutes."

We ran – sprinted – as fast as we could. We followed across the mountain, avoiding the rocks jagging out of it, and we jumped over the logs.

Too add insult to injury, it started raining. Heavily.

I scurried along the twigs and the large leaves, jumping over rocks and boulders, Snoopy next to me and Schroeder right behind me.

The rain was thumping, wetting me to the core. I checked my Blackberry. 11:59pm.

"You're joking…" I muttered.

We continued sprinting. The rain became louder, and lightning crashed.

"YOU SURE YOU GOT THIS, CHARLIE?!" Yelled Schroeder over the wind.

"I HOPE SO!" I yelled back. Snoopy pointed to go deeper into the forest. I obliged.

Schroder checked his watch "THIRTEEN SECONDS!"

Snoopy yelped in excited, and pointed to the forest. I squinted, and saw… "IT'S THE TREE!" I shrieked, and nearly laughed. Thank goodness for that distinctive sharp point!

Schroder nodded. "STRAIGHT TO THE MOUNTAIN!" He glanced at his watch. "TWO SECONDS!"

Two… one… whirr…

"I HEAR IT!" Barked Snoopy.

"WE HAVE FIFTY-NINE SECONDS!" Screeched Schroeder.

We ran, jumping over logs and darting past trees. I climbed on top of one of the particularly larger boulders (which we had used to make our shelter in the other World #1), and as soon as I stood up, the tornado fell from the sky – literally, like a nail being pushed into wood. I fell down, yet stayed on the rock.

I helped Schroeder and Snoopy up. "D-Do you have the spell?" I said, shaking. "Of course." Schroeder pulled out two crumpled pieces of paper from his pocket, and passed one to me. I clutched it the way Linus would hold his blanket.

"You ready?" Asked Schroeder. I nodded, more frightened than I have ever been in my whole life – again. But, I put away my wishy-washiness, and stood up on the rock.

He checked his watch. His eyes widened. "Twenty-one seconds!"

We looked down at the paper, and repeated the spell instantaneously.

"People from alternate worlds,

People from alternate worlds,

Cannot be here, so a portal works well,

A magical object could direct them back,

To their own land, if they want that,

To their own land, if they want that!" We said, as fast as we could.

The tornado started flashing… purple?

"GOODBYE, CHARLIE AND SNOOPY!" Yelled Schroeder. He hopped off the rock, and ran a couple of feet away.

"JUMP ON THREE!" He yelled. We nodded.

"Ready?" I asked Snoopy.

He nodded.

"Three, two, one… JUMP!" Yelled Schroeder.

We leapt of the rock, and jumped through the air. The flashing portal came towards us, and we were about to be swallowed-

"OOF!" I grunted. A figure had pushed into Snoopy and I. The purple tornado flashed and disappeared.

"NO!" Schroeder screamed. Our only chance! Gone! What had happened?!

The figure that had pushed into Snoopy and I… where did it come from? I shook my head, shaking the leaves out. The figure was lying in the twigs.

"Where did it come from?" Asked Snoopy, getting up.

Schroeder ran over to us, and helped us up.

"What-what is that?"

The figured moaned. We stepped back, shocked.

|… said a voice.

Snoopy's ears perked up. "What?" He whispered.

No… it couldn't be him. The figure was far too big for that. And how would he get here?

He, she or it stood up, and groaned again, and then it spoke.

"Ugh… Woodstock, are we here?"

I gasped, the familiar voice flowing through my head.

No way.

No freaking way.

Schroeder turned the torchlight on, his hand shaking.

The figure looked up, and the grinned when he saw us.c

There, with Woodstock perched on his shoulder, was someone I would never expect to see here.

Linus Van Pelt.