Chapter 4: Up in the Attic
The gang finally arrived at Beth's grandparents' house, and immediately took off their winter gear. "Grandpa! Grandpa! Where are you?" Beth called out.
"Up here, sugar! In the attic." Grandpa Phillips called out.
"Watch your step everybody." Barney said as they made their way upstairs to the attic.
"I just love it when you hold my hand. Makes me feel safer." Janice smiled to which Linus blushed.
"There you are." Beth smiled as they reached the attic.
"Yep! You found me fair and square." Grandpa Phillips smiled as he fooled around with Christmas lights. "Say, that's quite a crowd you got there. Hi everybody!"
"Hi Mister Phillips!" the kids smiled and waved.
"It's good to see you, Mister Phillips." Barney greeted.
"I'd shake your hand, Barney, but I'm a little tied up right here. I think I can wiggle my eyebrows though." Grandpa Phillips joked, doing just that, making the kids giggle.
"Barney doesn't have any eyebrows." Schroeder laughed.
"That's true, so I'll just wave." Barney smiled.
"I was just testing out these lights. I thought I'd decorate the house while your granny is over at the park." Grandpa Phillips explained.
"That's why we're here. The big star is missing from it's box, and granny said it's up here in the attic." Beth explained.
"Yes, yes, it probably is. Let's see...I took the star out of the box awhile ago to shine it up. I must have forgotten to put it back." Grandpa Phillips realized.
"Well, do you know where you might have put it?" Lucy asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Well, I couldn't say where it might be in all this mess. But it shouldn't be too hard to find it. You might come across some other treasures too if you look hard enough." Grandpa Phillips smiled and winked.
"Treasures?!" the kids asked excitedly.
"Yeah. Lots of them are hiding up here." Grandpa Phillips smiled.
"Ooooooh!" Snoopy smiled.
"I'm going downstairs to put up the tree. Call me if I could help." Grandpa Phillips said as he did just that.
"There sure is a lot of stuff here!" Darnell commented.
"There certainly is!" Barney bubbled.
"WOW! Where DO we start?" Charlie Brown gasped.
Franklin shrugged "We'll find it, Charlie Brown."
"We can start with this banjo!" Rerun giggled, motioning at an old washboard.
"Do you like my hat?" Kami cooed, placing a lampshade on her head.
"And what about this giant marble?" asked Darnell.
"YIPE!" Snoopy gasped.
"May I have this dance, madame?" Barney asked a mannequin.
"Oh there's so much here to look through!" Beth smiled.
Barney chuckled "I imagine looking around this attic will be great fun!"
Barney:
Just imagine, just imagine
Just imagine all the things that we could be
Imagine all the places we could go and see
Imagination's fun for you and me
Kevin, Schroeder and Peggy Jean:
We could go to the moon in a great big balloon
Darnell, Franklin and Heather:
Build a castle by playing pretend
Beth, Lucy and Lila:
We might even explore with a big dinosaur
Kami, Sally and Rerun:
Or make rainbows that never end
Barney, Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
Just imagine, just imagine
Just imagine all the things that we could be
Imagine all the places we could go and see
Imagination's fun for you and me
Darnell, Franklin, and Heather:
We can go anywhere
Kevin, Schroeder, and Peggy Jean:
We can be anyone
Kami, Sally, and Lila:
We can do it quite easily too
Beth, Lucy, and Charlie Brown:
We just play 'let's pretend' and we know in the end
That it's so much fun to do
Barney, Barney's Friends and Peanuts Gang:
Just imagine, just imagine
Just imagine all the things that we could be
Imagine all the places we could go and see
Imagination's fun for you and me
Barney:
Imagination's fun for you and me
"We'll figure it out." Beth reassured.
"We just need to look around and not get distracted." Lucy said before gasping. "EVERYONE! There's something shiny and gold in THIS box!"
"Is it the star?!" Barney asked.
Lucy pulled it out: a bowling trophy. "Nope...never mind."
"Oh well; keep looking, everyone." Barney encouraged.
Marcie smiled before noticing boxes and boxes of books. Being a bookworm, she decided to start reading each book. Snoopy glanced at one of the boxes and saw something beside a box. "Ooooh!" he gasped and ran over to show the gang.
"WHOA!" Kevin gasped.
Linus' jaw dropped. "Beth, your grandpa said we might find treasure here!"
"Where'd you find it?" Pigpen asked.
Snoopy just barked something that the kids didn't understand.
"I wonder what's in it." Kami commented.
"Maybe it's something shiny, like the star." Darnell said.
"Maybe it IS the star!" Rerun smiled.
"Or maybe something yummy like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." Barney commented.
"Then they'd be stale." Lucy reminded.
"One way to find out what IS inside." Schroeder reminded and the kids opened the chest.
"Ooooooh!" Snoopy gasped.
"This is better than that, Barney!" Kevin said.
Franklin smiled. "They're toys!"
"Toys ARE a treasure of fun!" Barney chuckled.
"What a cute little teddy bear!" Heather gasped and hugged it. "Beth, do you think-"
"We'd have to ask Grandpa and Grandma." Beth replied.
"AN AIRPLANE!" Rerun gasped.
Linus smiled "A model of the Red Baron's plane!"
"You once had a model plane like that." Charlie Brown reminded. "Until I accidentally set it loose in the classroom..."
"Look! A pretty ragdoll!" Beth smiled.
"That's a vintage Raggedy Ann." Lila commented. "Our friend Hannah has a Raggedy Ann, but it's not vintage like that one."
"Here's a drummer boy!" Peppermint Patty announced. "And another one!"
"How many are there?" Peggy Jean wondered.
"Three..." Peppermint Patty kept looking in the box. "Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine..." she stopped. "Ten!"
Just then, the kids heard a strange sound. "Hey! Listen! What's that noise?" Franklin asked.
"I don't know. We better check it out." Barney said.
The noise was actually Baby Bop and BJ trying to work a victrola. "How does it work, BJ?" Baby Bop asked her big brother.
"I don't know, Sissy. I'm not even sure what it does." BJ shrugged as the kids, animals, and Barney approached them.
"Baby Bop! BJ!" the kids happily exclaimed.
"Oh hi!" Baby Bop giggled.
"Hi guys! What's up?" BJ asked.
"We were just looking through an old toy chest and found some neat stuff." Peppermint Patty smiled.
"Like these drummer boys!" Kevin smiled.
"Drummer boys? Cool!" BJ smiled.
"And what are you two up to?" Heather asked.
"Well, BJ was trying to make this thing work." Baby Bop said.
"That's my grandpa's old victrola." Beth explained.
"A what?" Sally asked.
"A victrola. It plays music." Schroeder explained. "All you have to do is wind it up, BJ."
"Like this?" BJ asked, winding it up.
"JUST like that." Schroeder said. "You can release, now."
And as the dinosaur did that, the Victrola began to play music.
Barney chuckled "That's one of my favorite holiday songs: March of the Toys!"
"I prefer Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, but to each their own." Heather shrugged.
Lila giggled. "Toys! Attention!"
With that, the kids set down the little drummer boys and began to imagine themselves as the toys. "Toys...march!" Charlie Brown shouted and with that, everyone began to march along to the music.
"Hup two, three, four! Hup two, three, four!" Lila smiled.
"This is good!" Peppermint Patty smiled as they continued on marching.
"March, march, march!" Baby Bop smiled.
"Very good!" Barney smiled. "I love marching."
After awhile, the music stopped. "Can we play some more now?" asked Baby Bop.
"We're trying not to play too much, Baby Bop." Peggy said.
"We're looking for the star that goes on top of the big tree in the park." Beth said.
"Looking for a star buried underneath all this cool stuff? Can Sissy and I help?" BJ asked.
"Yeah! Can we please?" asked Baby Bop.
"Sure you can! Let's keep looking everyone." Barney smiled.
"Here, little star!" Baby Bop called out.
"Pepper! Check it out! A basketball!" BJ gasped.
Kevin and Charlie Brown gasped "BASEBALL CARDS!"
"Do you think there's a Joe Shlabotnik in this box?" Kevin asked.
"Let's check it out." Charlie Brown said and picked up a card. "Mickey Mantle. 1952."
"These are OLD baseball cards..." Kevin sighed.
"What's this?" Pigpen gasped. "It can't be!" he picked it up and smiled happily.
"I FOUND IT! I FOUND THE STAR!"
"Let's see!" BJ exclaimed.
"Way to go, Pigpen!" Beth cheered.
"Where's the box?" Kevin asked.
"Here it is!" Peggy Jean smiled as Snoopy got out the star's box. Snoopy then barked something.
"The box does look big, but we DO have the star." Lila explained.
Snoopy opened the box and put the star in it before looking at the gang. Something seemed...off.
"I think this star is a little small." Barney commented.
Darnell nodded. "Yeah. I DON'T think it's for the big tree in the park."
"That must be the tree my grandpa puts on his tree, downstairs." Beth realized.
"I was so certain!" Pigpen smiled shyly.
"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find the right star, soon." Charlie Brown said.
"Exactly! We cannot give up!" Heather commented.
Baby Bop nodded. "Let's keep looking!"