CRASH!
Fifi smashed a chair through the window. It hit the enemy plane, sending it crashing into one of the airship’s big propellers.
The Flying Ace flew back to Fifi, but her eyes were wide with fear. He looked behind him to see the Red Baron coming toward him at superspeed.
The Red Baron fired. The Flying Ace dodged the spray, and the bullets hit the airship instead. The Flying Ace didn’t notice.
He flew away from the dogfight, hoping the Red Baron would follow him. The villain took the bait. He followed the Flying Ace away from the ocean, back to land . . . where another member of the Flying Ace’s team was waiting.
Then Woodstock leaped from the Flying Ace’s plane and landed on a wing of the red plane. He quickly began to unhook the hinged panels on the wings that helped the plane remain steady in the air. The Red Baron’s plane lurched.
BONK!
One of the panels flew up and hit Woodstock, sending him spiraling away. But he righted himself and gave the Flying Ace a thumbs-up before he flew away. The Flying Ace nodded, then dove toward the Red Baron’s damaged plane.
At the same time, Fifi noticed the damage to the airship. The envelope was swiftly deflating, and the broken propeller was sputtering and groaning. The zeppelin wouldn’t stay aloft much longer. She looked for a way out and spotted an escape hatch on the ceiling. She opened it and poked out her head. The wind blew across her face.
She grabbed on to a rope and climbed on top of the carriage, slowly making her way across the top. The damaged propeller broke loose, and she stumbled. She hung on to the rope, dangling over the side of the zeppelin!
Meanwhile, the Flying Ace had the Red Baron in his sights. He closed in on him—and then he heard Fifi’s scream. He looked over just as the carriage detached from the airship, and Fifi plummeted toward the ground.
Finish off the Red Baron forever, or save his one true love? There was only one choice he could make. He sped off after Fifi as the Red Baron escaped.
Fifi flailed her arms and legs as she fell through the clouds. Then suddenly the Flying Ace’s plane was underneath her, and she fell right into his arms. The Flying Ace gazed into her eyes and then looked behind him to see the Red Baron’s plane disappear, a cloud of black smoke trailing behind it.
The Flying Ace and Fifi came in to land, setting down among the squad of Sopwith Camels. The pilots cheered for their hero. The battle was over—for now.
And so, as our hero observed, he was destined to face the Red Baron another day.
After Snoopy typed the last lines of his book, he handed the last page to Lucy. She had been reading along as Snoopy worked. Snoopy and Woodstock watched her, hoping for a good review.
Lucy read the last page and frowned.
“A dog that flies? This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever read!” she said, and then she tossed the manuscript into the air.
Sluuuuurp! Snoopy licked her in the face.
“Aaaaaaagh!” Lucy shrieked, and ran away.
Chapter Twenty-One
The Last Day of School
“Come on, Charlie Brown!” his friends yelled.
Charlie Brown burst out of his front door with a smile on his face. It was the last day of school!
Sally walked out behind him, wearing a graduation cap and gown.
“It’s the last day of school! Well, big brother, can you believe it? My last day of school. No more reading, writing, arithmetic, ever! I can’t believe school is finally over.”
“What are you talking about?” Charlie Brown asked. “This is just the start of summer vacation. You have eight more years of grammar school, four more years of high school, plus four more years of college!”
Sally sighed. “Maybe I’ll just join the circus.”
Everyone was full of energy at school. They couldn’t wait for summer to begin. And as the school day ended, one of his classmates pointed out the window.
“Look at that!” someone cried.
Over by the pond, a carnival had been set up. There were rides and games. Snoopy and Woodstock were taking a ride on the Ferris wheel.
Linus walked to the front of the class.
“Okay, everyone, listen up!” he called out. “I know this is the last day of school—”
“Yay!” everyone shouted.
“—but before we leave, we need to pick our partners for this year’s summer pen pal project. When I draw a name, stand if you want to be their partner.”
Charlie Brown buried his head on his desk. Here we go again, he thought. Nobody will want to be partners with me.
“All right,” began Linus. “The first name is . . . Pigpen.”
Patty stood up. “I will.”
Violet looked over at her, annoyed.
“A little dirt never hurt anyone,” Patty whispered to her friend.
Linus picked another name. “Schroeder!” he called out. Lucy grinned.
“I do!” Lucy yelled, and Schroeder cringed. “Uh, I mean, I will.”
Linus called out the next name. “Charlie Brown.”
The room was quiet. Nobody made eye contact with Charlie Brown. Nobody wanted him, just like he thought.
But then . . .
“I will,” a quiet voice piped up.
Charlie Brown raised his head to see the Little Red-Haired Girl standing up at her desk. His mouth dropped open in shock.
“She will?” he asked.
It was real. It wasn’t a daydream. The Little Red-Haired Girl had chosen him to be her pen pal! But why?
The final bell rang just as the last names were chosen. Everyone jumped up and ran out of the classroom. They raced to the carnival.
Charlie Brown followed, walking slowly behind. He leaned against a wall and watched the other kids having fun, playing games and riding rides.
Linus found him.
“Charlie Brown, where have you been?” he asked. “It’s the first day of summer. You should be down there having fun with everyone else.”
“I can’t stop thinking about it, Linus,” Charlie Brown replied. “After all the humiliating disasters she witnessed this year, why would she choose me? Was she feeling sorry for me? I don’t want her to choose me just because she was feeling sorry for me. I have slightly more dignity than that.”
“Well, Charlie Brown, you know my advice has always been for you to simply go up and talk to her,” Linus said.
Charlie Brown nodded. “I know, Linus. I should have listened to you all along. I’m going to go right over there and talk to her.”
Charlie Brown straightened up. He was going to do it, once and for all. He marched toward the Little Red-Haired Girl’s house.
But as soon as he got to his street, he changed direction and ran inside his house instead! Was he giving up after all?
No. He went to his desk and took the pink pencil with the white feather from his desk drawer. Then he marched back outside and walked up to the Little Red-Haired Girl’s front walk.
He took a deep breath. “I’m turning around,” he said, starting to move, but then he stopped himself. “No! Not this time!”
He bravely walked all the way to the front door. He slowly moved his hand and pressed the doorbell. The Little Red-Haired Girl’s mom answered.
“Wa wa wa?” she asked.
“Charles, I mean, Charlie Brown,” he replied.
“Waa waa wa waaa wa waaa wa waa,” she explained.
Charlie Brown’s eyes got wide. “You say she’s on her way to summer camp? I’ve got to catch that bus before she leaves. Thanks!”
He ran as fast as he could, rocketing through the neighborhood. Frieda, Violet, and Patty were playing jump rope, and he ran right into them.
“Hey, watch where you’re going, Charlie Brown!” Violet snapped.
“Yeah, watch it!” added Patty.
Charlie Brown untangled himself from the jump rope and ran toward the pond. The crowd was so thick that he ran through the game booths to get through the carnival. He dodged softballs and plastic rings. He got
blasted with a stream of water at a water gun race.
But Charlie Brown didn’t care. He could see the school in the distance, where he knew the camp buses would be parked.
He dashed through a hall of mirrors, getting lost and confused for a minute. When he made it out the other side, he found himself in front of a wire fence. Beyond the fence was the street leading to the school. He could see the lines of kids boarding the buses. They were getting shorter and shorter.
But there was a hole in the fence! He could squeeze through! He dashed toward it—just as the sound of an ice-cream truck filled the air. It stopped in front of the hole in the fence, and a bunch of kids swarmed around it, blocking the hole.
Defeated, out of breath, and heartbroken, he pounded his head against a tree trunk.
“The whole world seems to be conspiring against me,” he said. Then he looked up at the sky. “I’m just asking for a little help for once in my life.”
As soon as he said the words, a breeze blew up out of nowhere. The leaves in the tree rustled. A kite dropped down and hung next to him. It waved lightly in the wind.
Charlie Brown stared at it, bewildered. The Kite-Eating Tree was giving him back a kite! But why? To taunt him? What good was a kite to him now?
Then the wind kicked up again. The kite string wrapped around Charlie Brown’s leg. It pulled Charlie Brown closer and closer to the fence.
Whoosh! The strongest gust yet blew up, lifting Charlie Brown over the fence and over the kids waiting for ice cream! Then he crashed back down to the ground and the kite came untied from his leg. It floated in the breeze next to Charlie Brown.
“I hope there is still time!” Charlie Brown said, and he raced toward the school. The wind blew the kite along with him.
Lucy spotted Charlie Brown and the kite from a few blocks away. It looked like he was flying the kite. Finally! He was doing it!
“Charlie Brown is flying a kite!” she yelled, and chased after him.
Peppermint Patty and Marcie were in the middle of a potato sack race, when Peppermint Patty spotted Charlie Brown.
“Wow! Chuck’s got a kite in the air!” she yelled.
“Way to go, Charles!” cheered Marcie.
They hopped after Charlie Brown. More kids joined the throng. Everyone wanted to see Charlie Brown fly the kite. Snoopy saw the crowd and joined in too.
Finally, Charlie Brown reached the buses. He quickly scanned the lines of kids and saw the top of a head of red hair. He ran up to the Little Red-Haired Girl.
“Oh, hi, Charlie Brown,” she said.
“You remembered my name?” he asked.
“Of course I did,” she replied.
The other kids gathered around to see what was happening.
“Before I leave, there’s something I really need to know,” Charlie Brown said. “Why, out of all the kids in our class, would you want to be partners with me?”
The Little Red-Haired Girl smiled. “That’s easy. It’s because I admire the type of person you are.”
Charlie Brown was confused. “An insecure, wishy-washy boy?”
She laughed. “That’s not who you are at all. You showed compassion for your sister at the talent show. Honesty at the assembly. And at the dance, you were brave yet funny. And what you did for me, doing the book report while I was away, was so sweet of you.”
The neighborhood kids were all moved by her words. Even Lucy started to tear up.
“So you see,” continued the Little Red-Haired Girl, “when I look at you, I don’t see an insecure, wishy-washy boy at all.”
Charlie Brown smiled. Then the bus honked its horn.
“Sorry, I have to go now,” said the Little Red-Haired Girl.
“Wait,” said Charlie Brown. He took the pink pencil from his pocket. “I think this belongs to you.”
She took it from him. “Oh, thank you. I’ve been looking everywhere for this,” she said. Then she climbed onto the bus. “I’ll write to you, pen pal!”
The door closed, and Charlie Brown watched the bus pull away. The Little Red-Haired Girl went to the back window of the bus and waved.
Everyone looked at Charlie Brown.
“Is he okay?” Patty whispered to Violet.
Charlie Brown smiled. He was definitely okay.
Linus walked up to him, and the other kids followed, surrounding him.
“It must feel pretty great being Charlie Brown right about now,” Linus said.
“You did it!” cheered Pigpen.
“Nice job, Chuck!” said Peppermint Patty.
“Good job, Charles,” added Marcie.
“Hey, big brother!” Sally said. She took a balloon from her pocket and blew it up. It had Charlie Brown’s face on it. She skipped over to him. “I’m proud to be your little sister.”
Lucy pushed her way through the crowd. She faced Charlie Brown with her hands on her hips.
“This time you’ve really gone and done it, you blockhead!” she said, in her usual crabby way. But then her frown turned into a smile. “You’ve shown a whole new side to yourself. Good ol’ Charlie Brown.”
The kids lifted Charlie Brown into the air.
“Good ol’ Charlie Brown!” they cheered.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Simon Spotlight paperback edition September 2015
© 2015 Peanuts Worldwide LLC © 2015 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].
Designed by Nicholas Sciacca
ISBN 978-1-4814-6044-6 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-4136-0 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-4137-7 (eBook)
The Peanuts Movie Page 7