"Dishonest" Eagle of Mt. Snippet
By Sharan McQuack, Launchpad's wife.
OK, remember how in "Snippets before and after the ads" (Please read) I strung a few of the "snippets" together to make a story? I'm at it again! I am using the snippet where Mr. McDuck and the Triplets are trying to get treasure from an eagle's nest.
Mr. McDuck received a phone call from the manager of his dude ranch mountain lodge. It seems guests were complaining that small, shiny items were being stolen from their rooms. The weird thing was, the items were often valueless: compacts, lipstick holders, and junk jewelry, anything shiny.
Valuable items had been stolen too, necklaces, rings, bracelets. Always from a room with an open window- but the windows in the lodge were so small Webby could not fit thru them!
"Sounds like the work of a bird to me, . Crows and magpies often steal shiny things." Launchpad said, when Mr. McDuck asked him to fly him to the Mt. Snippet lodge.
"That was the first possibility the police thought of, Launchpad. But the thief has knocked window screens in- the kind you put in a window after you open it and remove before you close it. The thief has stolen heavy, solid gold necklaces with medallions on them." Mr. McDuck replied.
"Crows and magpies aren't strong enough to do that." Mr. McDuck said. "But as this does sound like a petty thief- probably a kleptomaniac. Huey, Dewey and Louie and Webby are coming this time. Kleptomaniacs are rarely dangerous, and a trip to a mountain lodge will be fun to them." Mr. McDuck explained.
So Launchpad took them to the mountain lodge in his copter.
"Why is it called, Mr. Snippet, Unca Scrooge?" Huey asked.
"That, I know. It used to be a much bigger mountain, until they drilled thru part of it to make roads. Then, after a bad, snowy winter, there were rockslides, until all that was left was a mere snippet. It doesn't even qualify as a mountain anymore, but it's called one, anyway." Launchpad said.
"How do you know that?" Mr. McDuck asked.
"I'm a pilot. I had to learn geography, but it's dull. So I got interested in weird place names and why they were named that to make it more interesting." Launchpad replied.
Hardly had they arrived was Mr. McDuck assaulted by angry guests. They were rich and important people who were annoyed to be the target of petty thefts, even when the stolen items were valueless trinkets. Mr. McDuck did his best to calm them down and keep them from all trying to complain at once.
Mr. McDuck was so harassed by complaining guests, he did not have time to talk to the staff of the lodge. But one of the security guards came out to admire Launchpad's copter and the two got to talking.
The security guard, whose name was Rodger Dangerfowl (1), told Launchpad that several staff member had been robbed, too. And that they had seen an eagle flying around before or after the thefts, had even seen the eagle fly off with something shiny in it's talons.
"But eagles don't steal shiny things!" Launchpad said.
"THAT'S what the cops said when we tried to tell them! They thought we were making it up to make ourselves important or something!" Mr. Dangerfowl said.
"Did you see the eagle yourself?" Launchpad asked.
"Sure did. I saw him fly off with my fake "gold" pen." Mr. Dangerfowl replied.
"You better talk to my boss, Mr. McDuck, then. He's seen enough unusual things to believe you. Once we get him to listen." Launchpad said.
Well, it took a little while, but they got Mr. McDuck to listen. He talked with several others on the staff that confirmed seeing an eagle flying around just before or just after the theft. Some had seen it fly off with the stolen item in its talons.
"A kleptomaniac EAGLE?" Mr. McDuck asked. "Well, I suppose we'd better look into it. Did any of you see where the eagle flew off to?"
Several staff members had seen it fly off towards Mt. Snippet.
So Mr. McDuck got Launchpad to fly them in the direction of Mt. Snippet and circle looking for the eagle or it's aerie. (2)There were many eagles nesting in the mountains, but only one on Mt. Snippet. Still, it took a while to find it's aerie and get close enough to see the shiny stuff piled on either side of the nest.
"We better get out of here, Mr. McDuck. If we hang around too long, the eagle that lives here is going to get MAD. Especially if it has young." Launchpad said.
So he landed on the base of Mt. Snippet.
"I'm sorry I can't get closer to the aerie, but it's too small and steep a "mountain" for even me to land on, Mr. McDuck." Launchpad said.
"That's all right, Launchpad. It's small enough for all of us to climb. We'll just need climbing gear." Mr. McDuck said.
"Actually, there's some in the copter. I forgot to take it out the last time we used it." Launchpad said.
So Launchpad unpacked the climbing equipment. Luckily, the kids knew how to use it (you learn that sort of thing when you hang around Mr. McDuck). Up the side of the mountain they went. They could not climb to the aerie itself, but they could get above it and lower themselves down.
Mr. McDuck went first. He saw the nest with the shiny stuff piled on either side of it. He also saw two baby eagles, nearly crushed by a small rockslide. The eaglets were unharmed, but trapped. It was obvious mama and/or papa eagle had TRIED to free them- but could not without trigging off another rockslide that might hurt or kill the chicks.
Mr. McDuck motioned the others to come down. Launchpad helped anchored the rope while the others climbed down, one at a time. Then he hade sure the rope was well tied and well anchored before climbing down himself.
They got to work freeing the chicks, a job that required hands. They built supports to protect the chicks from rockslides. Launchpad even used his scarf to keep dust and dirt off the chicks.
"I can always wash it, later." Launchpad said.
"Oh, yes, I'm sure you be able to get dirt out of silk!" Mr. McDuck said.
"Think I can afford to buy silk scarves on MY salary? Thank goodness for synthetics!" Launchpad replied.
After a good bit of work, they managed to free the eaglets. They were worried when they saw Mom or Dad eagle circling nearby, but strangely, it did not interfere.
"I get it! That's why the eagle was stealing stuff in the first place!" Launchpad said "It noticed people like shiny stuff! It was hoping somebody would come to investigate if it stole stuff! And, hopefully, free it's chicks! The eagle was asking for HELP- the only way it knew how."
The End.
(1)Security guards get no respect. Which may help explain why Gizmoduck did not go over too well.
(2) Proper term for an eagle's nest.