Over in the RV park, Bonnie was crying about Forky.
“Let’s look outside one more time,” said her dad. “But then we have to keep driving, okay?”
As the family exited the RV, Jessie and Dolly ducked back out of sight.
“They’re about to leave!” Jessie announced to the other toys. The group fell into chaos, talking over each other.
“We have to stop them,” said Jessie.
“How?” asked Dolly.
Jessie’s mind raced to come up with a solution.
“We could frame Dad for a crime so he goes to jail,” offered Buttercup.
“Or go back in time and warn Woody about the future,” said Rex.
“That’s crazy,” said Trixie. “Time is a flat circle.”
The toys continued to argue and discuss as Jessie’s eyes brightened. She ran to the window and jumped out. Rex screamed, and they all hurried over to see what she was doing. Puzzled, they watched as she crept toward the front of the RV.
Bonnie’s mom and dad were breaking the news that it was time to get going when—POP!—a loud noise cut through their conversation. Bonnie’s dad looked up, perplexed. The RV slumped as its front tire hissed and went flat.
“Are you kidding me?” he said, hurrying to the front of the vehicle.
“How about we check out some of those cute shops back in town?” offered Bonnie’s mom, thinking she and Bonnie should give him some time to deal with the flat tire.
The toys watched with wonder as Jessie crawled back in through the RV window.
“What’d you do?” asked Dolly.
“We’re not going anywhere!” said Jessie. She smirked and held up a nail. “If you get my point.”
Everyone cheered. “Nice work, Jessie!” said Hamm.
“Way to go! That was genius!” added Buttercup and Slinky.
“I’m sure Buzz and Woody are on their way back right now,” said Dolly.
The toys settled into the RV, hopeful that their friends would be back at any moment.
The gang on the antiques store roof leaned over the edge of the air shaft and stared into the sprawling shop with awe.
“Forky’s in…there?” asked Buzz. They watched as customers roamed the aisles, sifting through various items on tables, in cabinets, and on shelves.
“Now, hold on. I have a question,” said Bunny. “Who will Bonnie love more—Ducky or me? Say me.”
“Say Ducky,” countered Ducky.
“Bunny,” the large plush bunny demanded.
Bo turned to the group, her eyes narrowed.
“Okay, guys,” she said firmly. “Playtime is over. You have to follow my lead. We stay together, and we stay quiet. Are we clear?”
“Absolutely,” said Woody. “Lead the way.”
Carrying her sheep and Giggle on her shoulders, Bo dropped through the air shaft and onto an electrical cable. The sheep hopped onto the rafters. Bo navigated the shadows, leading the group down to the floor and behind some shelving. Ducky and Bunny tried to squeeze through a small opening at the same time, struggling and bickering until Bo’s sheep turned and glared at them.
Ducky gasped and Bunny cried, “Oh, my maker! That sheep has three heads!”
“Oh, no-no-no-no—” repeated Ducky, freaking out.
“All six eyes just looked into my soul,” said Bunny.
Bo reminded everyone to stay quiet and hidden. Then she led them through a jungle of electrical cords along the narrow alleyways between the store’s towering cabinets. She finally stopped and pointed to a large oval glass cabinet in the center of the store and whispered, “That’s most likely where your Forky is being kept.”
The crew took in the sight of it. On top of the cabinet, amid various items, two ventriloquist’s dummies were seated back to back, on watch with a complete view of the store.
“All right, this isn’t so bad,” said Woody. “We just can’t be seen by the dummies.”
Bo explained that the dummies weren’t their only problem. She indicated the wide-open area in front of the cabinet where someone could see them if they approached it.
“Where Dragon roams,” added Giggle.
Bo pointed to a large cat curled up at the base of the cabinet.
“We can handle a cat,” said Buzz.
“No,” said Giggle. “Not this one.”
Dragon stretched and got up, turning toward the toys and revealing a horrifying sight behind him: the shredded bottom half of a stuffed toy zebra. Everyone gasped and cringed.
“Is that what we look like on the inside?” asked Bunny, his lips quivering.
“There’s so much fluff,” spluttered Ducky.
“So how do you propose we get up there?” asked Woody.
Bo scanned the top of the cabinet and the surrounding booths, considering their options. “We could go straight across,” she said confidently.
“How?” asked Woody.
“That’s quite a jump,” added Buzz.
“We know the perfect toy to help,” said Bo.
They heard the jingling of the store’s door opening.
“Oh, Bonnie! Check it out,” said a familiar voice. “Look at all this cool stuff.”
Woody gasped. “Bonnie?”
The toys looked toward the door to see Bonnie and her mother entering.
“Bonnie!” said Woody. “We gotta get Forky now!” He darted out of hiding.
Bo tried to stop him, but he sprinted toward the cabinet. She turned to Giggle and said, “Stay here.”
“Ten-four,” said Giggle, hopping down from Bo’s shoulder.
Woody’s breath quickened as he raced up to the knob on the cabinet door. He tried to open it, but it was locked. He spied Gabby Gabby on a shelf above. Forky was brushing her hair.
“Such pretty hair,” he heard the spork say.
Just then, Woody was pulled down into the shadows.
“Hey!” he whispered, and then he saw it was Bo. Above them, one of the dummies turned toward the sound.
“What are you doing?” said Bo. “You need to stick to the plan.”
“But it’s Bonnie,” replied Woody. “She’s right”—they heard the bells on the door again as Bonnie and her mom left—“there.”
Suddenly, the two dummies hopped down in front of them. Benson scooped up Woody and took off. As the dummy ran, Bo’s sheep chomped down on his rear end, causing him to yelp. Bo used her staff to knock over a stack of croquet mallets, tripping Benson and sending Woody flying. The cowboy landed on an antique telephone in the aisle, hitting the phone’s bell and drawing the attention of a nearby customer.
The customer turned to see Woody in toy mode, posed as if he were part of the old telephone. Benson hid on the opposite side of the aisle, the sheep still clamped down on the seat of his pants.
After the customer left, Bo looked up to find Benson and her sheep gone!
“My sheep!” she shouted. Livid, she turned to Woody. “What did I say to you? I lead. You follow.”
“Bo, I’m so sorry. Really,” Woody said in a rush. “Just tell me how to help.”
She stared at Woody for a moment, furious. “You really wanna help?” she asked. “Then stay out of my way. I’m getting my sheep back.”
“What about the others?” asked Woody.
“Giggle knows what to do,” Bo replied sharply before storming off.
Bo headed deeper into the antiques store while Woody watched her go.
Inside the cabinet, Benson leaned over and whispered to Gabby Gabby.
She gasped. “You’re kidding! Really? Woody’s back?”
“Woody’s back?” Forky said excitedly.
Benson nodded.
“And you’re sure it’s Bo Peep who’s with him?” Gabby Gabby asked.
Benson turned to reveal Bo’s sheep still attached to his pants, bleating through clenched teeth.
“Thank you, Benson,” she said. “Make sure the others are ready.”
Benson nodded and exited, taking the sheep along
with him.
Forky ran toward the glass. “Woody’s back!” he said, thrilled. “I’m coming, Bonnie!”
Gabby Gabby walked over to Forky. “First we must prepare for his arrival,” she said.
Forky wondered what she meant.
“Have you ever played hide-and-seek?” she asked.
“No. But it sounds complicated,” said Forky.
“Oh, it’s easy,” said Gabby Gabby. “I’ll teach you, okay?”
“Okay!” said Forky.
A little while later, Margaret was opening Gabby Gabby’s cabinet to show a customer an item.
“Here you go,” she said. “I believe this piece is from South America.”
Giggle eyed the key as Margaret returned it to a pocket in her vest.
“There’s our objective,” Giggle said. “We have to get that key. It’s the only way inside the cabinet.”
“You can’t be serious,” said Buzz. “How are we supposed to do that?”
Ducky and Bunny chuckled. “Leave that to us,” said Ducky.
“We know exactly what to do,” agreed Bunny.
In another part of the store, Woody followed Bo. She scaled the front of an old pinball machine until she reached its double coin slots.
“What are we doing?” asked Woody.
Bo ordered him to be quiet and pushed the coin-return button several times, punching in a secret code. She shot Woody a glare of warning that let him know she would do the talking.
The coin door opened, revealing a tin windup toy named Tinny. The old toy was a one-man band with an accordion, horns, and drums. Tinny spoke using his many sounds to communicate. He was very excited to see Bo.
“Hi, Tinny!” said Bo. “Nice to see you, too.”
They entered the cramped space to find an odd assortment of vintage toys from different eras hanging out, chatting, and having fun. Bo scanned the crowd as she made her way through. When the toys noticed her, they shouted her name, welcoming her back.
“Couldn’t take it out there, huh?” said a torn plush zebra toy named Doug.
“Hey, Doug—saw your better half at the front of the store,” said Bo.
“Yeah, you mess with the cat, you get the claws, huh?” Doug replied.
Woody tried to maneuver through the crowd. “Excuse me, sorry,” he said. He pulled his string. “We got to get this wagon train a-movin’,” said his voice box.
“Agreed,” Bo said. She approached a toy monster and asked, “Have you seen Duke?”
“He’s in the back,” replied the toy.
She scanned the crowd, and her eyes finally landed on Duke Caboom, sitting on his stunt cycle and smoothing his mustache with his fingers. He was wearing a white jumpsuit and a cape that featured a red maple leaf emblem.
“Look who jumped forty school buses and landed back into my life,” he said, gazing into Bo’s eyes.
“Hi, Duke,” said Bo.
“Who’s the cowboy?” asked Duke, looking up at Woody. His height only reached Woody’s waist.
“Duke, meet Woody,” said Bo. “Woody, meet—” but Duke interrupted, happy to do the honors.
“Duke Caboom,” he said. “Canada’s greatest stuntman.” He struck a series of poses against his cycle while cheering himself on. “Huh. Oh, yeah! Ha. Huh. Yes!”
“Huh?” Woody asked, confused. He looked at Bo.
“He’s posing,” she explained. “Duke. Duke, we need to—”
“Hold on,” said Duke. “One more.” He struck another pose and said, “Oh, yeah!” He held it, freezing in place, letting the sight wash over his audience. When he’d had enough, he settled onto his bike. “What brings you back, Peep?”
“We need your help. Gabby Gabby has his toy,” Bo explained, gesturing to Woody, “and my sheep.”
“No. Billy, Goat, and Gruff? Those are my girls,” said Duke, concerned. “What were you doing getting tangled up with Gabby Gabby? You know better.”
“Yeah, some toy thought it would be a good idea to wander into the aisle,” said Bo.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Duke.
“It doesn’t, does it?” said Bo, giving Woody a look.
“Everybody knows the best route is behind the shelves,” said Duke.
“That would have been a better route, wouldn’t it?” said Bo.
“Wow, this toy sounds like a complete idiot,” said Duke.
“He does,” said Bo.
Woody couldn’t stand it any longer and let out a frustrated groan. Bo smirked and turned her attention back to the task at hand.
“So here’s the plan,” she said. “We need to jump over the aisle to Gabby’s cabinet. And you are the toy to do it.”
“No,” said Duke.
“Duke—”
The stuntman turned his back to them and started posing again, rejecting Bo with each one.
She continued to plead with him, but whenever she tried to speak, he refused, punctuating each “no” with a different pose.
“Please, Mr. Caboom,” blurted Woody, “this is really important. My kid—”
Duke stopped posing and stared at the cowboy. “You have a kid?”
“Ahhhh…ha, ha, hey, Duke, show us some more poses—whaddaya say?” said Bo, trying to distract him.
But Duke didn’t hear her. He had a faraway look in his eyes. “I had a kid,” he said. “Rejean.”
“Oh, no,” Bo said under her breath, glaring at Woody.
Duke’s mustache quivered as he began sharing his painful memory. “Rejean was so excited when he got me after Christmas. It was the happiest Boxing Day of my life….”
Duke explained how Rejean had pulled him from his package next to the Christmas tree. Then he watched a TV commercial in which Duke went up a ramp and jumped through a flaming hoop. “Duke Caboom,” said the commercial announcer. “Riding the amazing Caboom stunt cycle. Ca-BOOOOOOM!”
“I was ready to finally do what I was made to do,” said Duke, seeing the memory play out in his mind. Rejean had revved Duke’s bike and sent him up the ramp, eager to see his incredible stunt. Instead, Duke fell to the floor. “But when Rejean realized I couldn’t jump as far as the toy in the commercial—It’s a commercial! It’s not real!—Rejean threw me away! It’s not fair. Why, Rejean? Why!” Duke sobbed.
“Okay, okay,” said Bo. “Calm down, Duke. That was a long time ago. Right now we need the only toy who can crash us onto Gabby’s cabinet.”
“Crash?” said Woody, confused.
“Crash?” asked Duke.
“Any Duke Caboom toy can land, but you are the only one who can crash the way you do.”
“I am?” asked Duke.
“Yes! Forget Rejean. Forget your commercial. Be the Duke you are right now—the one who jumps and crashes.”
“Be who I am…,” Duke said dreamily.
“Who’s the Canuck with all the luck?” said Bo.
“Caboom?” said Duke, starting to feel a bit better.
“Who’s the greatest of the Great White North?” said Bo.
“Caboom!” said Duke, his confidence building.
“Who’s the most spectacular daredevil Canada has ever seen?” sang Bo.
“Duke Caboom!” he chanted.
“Can you do the jump?” asked Bo.
“Yes, I Can-ada!” cheered Duke. Then he went into a series of triumphant poses, feeling unbeatable again.
Bo smiled at Woody. “We’ve got our ride.”
“YEE-HAW!” said Woody’s voice box.
Moments later, Giggle approached with Ducky, Bunny, and Buzz. Buzz held up the key to the cabinet, and Bo smiled.
“Good work,” she said.
“How’d you get it?” asked Woody.
“It was hard,” Bunny answered. The other toys nodded in agreement.
“Very difficult,” said Buzz.
“Barely made it out alive,” added Ducky.
The four toys exchanged glances. They didn’t want to reveal what had really happened. While the toys had
been arguing about how to get the key, Margaret had approached and they all dropped into toy mode. To their surprise, she had set the key on the shelf right beside them and walked away. It couldn’t have been easier.
Now that they had the key to Gabby Gabby’s cabinet, they were ready for action. Bo turned to Woody and said, “Okay. Let’s do this.”
Margaret carried a vase as she led a customer to the checkout counter for a purchase. They passed a booth full of toys and objects from the 1950s, where Bo, Woody, and Giggle were hiding. Buzz, Ducky, and Bunny were there, too, holding Duke’s cycle launcher.
“Good,” whispered Bo. “That sale buys us some time.”
Woody stepped forward, ready to go, but Bo stopped him. She pointed out the pair of dummies watching from the top of Gabby Gabby’s cabinet.
“Wait for it,” she said.
The dummies’ heads rotated away like lighthouse beacons.
“All right, let’s go!” said Bo. She and Woody raced up to a movie projector sitting on a shelf above the gang and unspooled one end of the film from its reel.
Buzz, Ducky, and Bunny wrapped the film around Duke’s launcher. When it was secure, Bo and Woody reversed the projector reels, raising the launcher toward them.
Woody and Bo worked well together, hiding in place whenever a customer passed and raising the launcher bit by bit.
“So, how long were you in this store?” asked Woody in a hushed voice.
“I don’t know…a couple years,” said Bo, matching his whisper. “I didn’t want to sit on a shelf waiting for my life to happen. So I left.”
“You know,” said Woody, looking over at Bo, “you’ve handled this lost-toy life better than I could.”
“Aww, Sheriff,” said Bo, hopping to the front of the shelf and grabbing the launcher. “You’re selling yourself short.” She worked to get it across a gap and over to the next cabinet. “I think you’d make a great lost toy.”
Woody helped her by giving it a little push, but he slipped in the process. He stopped himself from falling by wedging his body between two shelves. Scrambling up, he followed Bo to a stack of books that led to the top of the cabinet. They used the books as a ramp to get the launcher up even higher.
“You really don’t think you’ll ever be in a kid’s room again, huh?” said Woody.
Toy Story 4 Junior Novel Page 5
