Truth & Lie

Chapter 2

Dewey, Louie, and Webby stared in shock after the oldest triplet. The tile that had fallen from underneath Huey now replaced itself and the ground was whole again. "Huey!" they called in unison.

Webby walked over to the tile and stomped on it a few times. It didn't budge. She frowned at it. She looked to the boys. Dewey had a look of guilt, and Louie looked worried for his brother.

"Aye! What ye lads and lassie doing? Where's Huey?" Scrooge asked, walking into the temple tunnels. The kids looked to him.

"It was an accident!" Dewey shouted.

Louie glared at him. "No way! You seriously just pressed that button to get on his nerves!"

Scrooge looked between the boys. He tapped his cane on the ground. "Where's Huey?" he asked again in a more stern tone.

"Dewey triggered a trap and Huey fell down a tunnel," Louie said angrily. Scrooge turned his gaze to Dewey. The boy in blue tucked in his tail and looked down.

"Which way?" Scrooge asked. He wasn't too worried. He knew Huey could handle himself and they had fallen into traps a million times. What he needed to do was find him quickly. No use losing their heads over it. Webby walked over to the tile he had fallen down.

"Here, uncle Scrooge," she said.

He examined it a bit. "Dewey, trigger the trap again," Scrooge instructed. Dewey pressed the button again. The floor opened up. Webby almost slipped and fell in, but Scrooge caught her with his cane. They looked down the hole.

There was a waterfall that dumped into a raging stream.

Louie and Dewey gazed down the hole. "Do you think he..." Louie was choked up by fear.

Scrooge shrugged. "I doubt it. Your brother's a lot stronger than you give him credit for." Dewey held his breath in tight without knowing it.

"Well, no use standing here gawking at this hole. Our best option is to continue through the temple and try to find a way to reach him," Scrooge said, taking control of the situation.

He marched forward and Webby followed. Dewey and Louie lingered a bit, still looking down after their brother. "Oy! Come on laddies!" Scrooge called them. The two boys hurried after their uncle.

...

Gandra knocked on the door to Bradford's office. She walked in, impatient for his response. "Sir, I just thought I'd let you know, Black Heron is building a-"

Bradford shushed her. She was a bit offended but regained her cool. On the monitor was a moving image of a young duckling in red. She sighed. "Sir, are we spying on the ducks again? I thought we had already decided that that was useless?" she asked.

Without looking at her, Bradford shook his head. "No, we do have something to gain from this," he said. She set a hand on her hip and watched the boy. He tripped over a few rocks. A bit bruised, he picked himself up and dusted off.

Gandra remembered meeting that boy once, but she didn't remember his name. "And what's that?" she wondered.

Bradford pointed at the monitor. "That boy is what! He could be a powerful asset."

Gandra rolled her eyes, not really believing him. "Sir, he's on their side. How do you expect to convince him to work for you?" she asked.

The camera zoomed into the boy's face. The kid in red smacked the camera away. "Gah! Stupid bug!" he said over the raspy audio.

Bradford turned to two eggheads controlling the camera. "Quit it, eggheads! I don't want a close up of his face! Where did you learn to steer!" he shouted at them.