4CHAPTER 2: THE BEAGLES OF THE ROUND TABLE
It was a cloudy and windy day down in the countryside of medieval Europe,and six brave knights were riding throughout the grassy fields in pursuit of the nefarious Black Rider,an evil and intimidating figure that threatens to overthrow the reign of King Arthur as he rode on a pitch black horse and wore a horrifying suit of sharp armor. These knights that chased after the rider were none other than Sir Snoopy, Lady Gracie, Sir Andy, Sir Olaf, Sir Roger and Sir Herman,while Sir Snoopy's squire Woodstock rode on top of his head,however it turned out that in reality they were just in Charlie Brown's backyard one lovely afternoon and riding on rocking horses while wearing cardboard instead of armor.
"Fear not gentlemen,we'll capture this dastardly ruffian and head on down to the tavern for drinks in no time." encouraged Snoopy with a heroic and determined tone of voice before Gracie suddenly shouted when she spotted the Black Rider shooting a barrage of arrows towards them "Incoming!" to which the knights all swiftly dodged the arrows almost immediately which was followed by a fearful Olaf whimpering as he tried to catch his breath "This guy doesn't let up,he really wants to keep that crown of Arthur's."
"As long as he wields the Holy Grail and Arthur's sword from the stone he'll continue to have that crown,we have to stop him and return the stolen items." firmly announced Andy as he and his companions tried to speed up and catch up to the rider before Roger wondered out of curiosity "I'm just wondering how did he even steal them,wasn't Olaf supposed to be watching them?" to which the fat beagle meekly tried to explain and defend himself in response "They were having a banquet down in the hall."
"Ugh,bring a packed lunch next time." suggested a dumbfounded Herman as he rolled his eyes at Olaf's reasoning for leaving the items unguarded before Gracie sternly demanded when she noticed that the rider was managing to get away from them "Put a sock in it you two,he's getting away!" to which Snoopy gritted his teeth and frustratingly lamented at the sight "Yikes! Speed it up knights!"
"Right!" agreed the beagles and wolf while they all nodded their heads in determination before the Black Rider suddenly halted dead in his tracks,pulled out Arthur's sword from it's scabbard and stuck it deep in the ground with so much force that it split the fields apart and created a gorge that separated him and the knights pursuing him as the villain maniacally laughed behind his helmet and rode off into the country.
"Oh man! He got away!" lamented Andy in frustration as he and the rest of the knights stopped at the edge of the newly formed gorge before Snoopy shook his fists in the air and yelled into the heavens "CURSE YOU BLACK RIDER!" only for the beagle's sulking to suddenly be halted when a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind "Roger,there you are."
Almost immediately the beagles all snapped out of their fantasy and returned to reality as they turned around to see Rebecca walking towards Roger to which the girl's dog ran towards her and licked her on the cheek before she laughed and happily stated "I've been looking for you,you got a letter in the mail." which caused Roger to raise an eyebrow as he took off his "armor" alongside the rest of the beagles.
"Letter? For me?" Roger thought to himself in confusion as Snoopy, Gracie, Andy, Olaf and Herman walked up to them along with Woodstock before Rebecca handed her dog the letter to which he reluctantly opened it up and took a look,and as he started to read it he soon started to grow a very wide smile on his face before he suddenly started jumping in the air and laughing with joy.
"What is it?" wondered Rebecca out of curiosity and confusion as she watched her dog be unable to control himself before Roger handed her the letter which indicated that he wanted her to read it to which she did "Dear Roger,I don't know how long it's been since we last saw each other,and I've been feeling quite lonely as of late due to me not having an owner or home to call my own. So I've decided to take a trip down to Sparkyville in the hopes of seeing my little brother again,if you're even still in town of course. Can't wait to see you again. Your brother,Kevin." which was followed by a paw print at the bottom.
"Oh my gosh Roger,your brother's coming for a visit!" exclaimed Rebecca in excitement as she tightly hugged her dog while Snoopy, Gracie, Andy, Olaf and Herman started happily cheering and dancing with Woodstock,and it was at this point where Charlie Brown noticed the commotion from his window as he came outside and wondered "What's going on out here? Why are y'all so excited?" to which Rebecca promptly explained while she handed Charlie Brown the letter and allowed him to read it "It's Roger's brother Kevin,you know how I told y'all about him when Gracie's family came over? Well it turns out HE's coming over for a visit!"
"Oh good grief,how many beagles can exist in this town." groaned Charlie Brown in disbelief after reading the letter himself to which the beagles laughed at the remark while Herman and Woodstock smirked at the display before Roger happily stated as Charlie Brown handed him back the letter "I can't believe Kevin's coming over,you guys are gonna love him. I just wonder where he is right now and how he's getting over here."
"If he's anything like Spike,then I'm guessing he's traveling on foot." shrugged Andy with a light chuckle while he and the rest of the animals headed inside Snoopy's doghouse to talk about Roger's brother,and it turned out that Olaf was 100% right because Kevin was indeed walking through the blistering hot deserts of Needles as he wandered the country in the hopes of making it to Sparkyville.
NEXT CHAPTER: HOMEWARD BOUND
