Mrs. Beakley and Webby had spent the entire day in downtown Duckburg, so by the time they headed home it was just around sunset. Initially they had planned just to have a shopping trip, but it was such a nice day that it had turned into an unexpected holiday between grandmother and granddaughter at the beach. She hoped that Mr. McDuck wouldn't mind, but they hadn't used the car, meaning that they'd saved money on gasoline, and and in addition they had saved five dollars that they hadn't needed for the shopping after all; that should make him positively euphoric.
"We're home!" Webby cried as they stepped inside, hurrying to the kitchen with her own little bag of groceries.
When nobody responded, she set them on the counter and went rushing further into the house.
"Unca Scrooge? Louie? Duckworth? Anyone?"
No answer.
Mrs. Beakley put her things on the counter as well, and followed her granddaughter.
"Where do you think they've gone?" A trace of concern trickled into the little duck's voice.
"Perhaps they've heard about some new ancient treasure and are off looking for it," Mrs. Beakley reassured her.
"Well, they could at least have left a note-oh!"
Webby had opened the door to the library, and her bill dropped open in a gasp.
"Webby?"
"Grammy, look!" she whispered suddenly.
Mrs. Beakley looked inside-and had to gasp herself.
Scrooge was settled in his biggest, most comfortable easy chair, with the boys curled up around him as close as they could get, his arms tucked around them.
All four of them were sound asleep.
Doofus was spread out on a nearby sofa, also asleep, his chubby hand partially digging into a bag of chips. And even Duckworth was there, leaning against one of the bookcases, head bent. It might have been Mrs. Beakley's imagination, but they all looked absolutely exhausted.
Quietly she and Webby crept into the library, and tiptoed over to Duckworth. Webby tugged on his coat, and he startled awake.
"Wha-!"
"Ssh!" Webby put a finger to her bill, and pointed at the others.
The butler silenced himself, and then began brushing himself down, looking embarrassed.
"Good evening, Mrs. Beakley, Miss Webigail," he whispered in his typical formal tone. "I apologize-how very unprofessional of me-"
"It's all right," said Mrs. Beakley kindly. Then she looked back at the little family with a concerned frown. "Are they all right, though?"
Duckworth grimaced. "It has merely been...a very emotionally draining day for all of us."
"What happened?" asked Webby, as she maneuvered the footrest until she was able to tuck it under Scrooge's feet.
"There was another spot of trouble with Magica deSpell."
Mrs. Beakley's frown turned from concerned to belligerent. "What has that woman done now?" she growled.
The butler was somewhat startled...but at the same time touched by her protectiveness. "She cast a spell on us that forced us to see our worst fears, in an attempt to make Mr. McDuck give up his lucky dime."
"Why, that-!" A glance at Webby forced the nanny to stop herself from whatever she was about to say.
Duckworth gave a faint nod. "It was most distressing. Her magic affected Mr. McDuck and the boys the strongest, most likely because they were her primary targets, but myself and Master Doofus also received a dose."
Webby looked up at him in concern. "Are you okay?"
He smiled at her gently. "Yes, thank you, Miss Webigail."
Mrs. Beakley didn't know what kind of horrors had been inflicted on them, but she could make a few educated guesses. She knew that initially Scrooge hadn't wanted the boys to live with him at all; she also knew that part of his fanatical desire to constantly have more money revolved around insecurity about not being able to support himself and his family. And her blood boiled, knowing that that witch had probably dragged those respective fears out into the open.
It was a little reassuring that knowing them, and the number of wild adventures they went through on a weekly basis, they would be able to rebound from this one fairly quickly, especially seeing how affectionate they were being at the moment.
For now, though, she was thinking about what to do to offer them some sort of additional comfort.
Somehow, it didn't seem right to disturb them. So eventually she went to a storage closet and produced a comfortable woolen blanket; when she returned, she draped it over the foursome and tucked them in.
None of them woke up, though Scrooge did mutter something that sounded a little like "bill collectors," and wrapped his arm more protectively around Dewey.
Webby got another blanket for Doofus, while Duckworth retrieved the bag of chips and used a clean cloth to wipe off their chubby neighbor's greasy feathers so they wouldn't stain the carpet.
"May I help you with the groceries?" he asked once they had finished settling everyone in.
"That would be lovely, thank you," said Mrs. Beakley. "Then we can start dinner for whenever they wake up."
"I should be delighted, Mrs. Beakley."
With Webby in tow, they carefully closed the door to the library behind them and headed for the kitchen.
What can I say; I'm a sucker for this sort of thing. And I've read about people wondering where Mrs. Beakley and Webby were during this episode, so I decided to provide an explanation. I apologize for inconsistencies, OOC, etc.