THWUMP!
The sound of the evening paper hitting the front porch woke Pluto up from a nap. He hadn't seen Mickey in days, and he was getting lonesome for him. He yawned, stretched, and walked over to the porch. He immediately saw the headlines, and his eyes nearly sprung out of his head.
Mickey Mouse Convicted of Murder. Sentenced to Life in Prison
Pluto couldn't believe what he was reading. It was just unthinkable! As the orange dog was staring at the paper, the gate opened, and Minnie came into the yard, carrying a leash.
"Come on, Pluto," she said, clipping the leash to the dog's collar. "You're going to be living with me for awhile."
Pluto whimpered, but went with Minnie anyway, taking the evening paper along with him. Once Minnie got back to her house, she was met by her kitten, Figaro. He jumped up, and began rubbing up against her legs, purring.
"Not now, Figaro," Minnie said, absently, and she pushed the kitten away. Figaro looked at her, confused, and then noticed Pluto was there, but without Mickey.
"Meow?" Figaro asked, looking up at Pluto. Pluto whimpered, and dropped the newspaper so Figaro could see the headline.
"Meow?!" Figaro mewed, as if he was saying "this is a joke, right?" Pluto sniffled, and shook his head. Then he whimpered, and began moaning.
Though Pluto and Figaro weren't crazy about each other, Figaro decided to put any hard feelings aside, and he began rubbing against the orange canine, as if he were comforting him. He also figured Minnie didn't need to deal with a cat-and-dog-fight right now.
Minnie was walking around her house, taking every picture she had of Mickey, and throwing them to the floor.
"Mickey Mouse, you're not a mouse, you're a rat!" she shouted, slamming a photo from her night stand to the floor. The frame shattered to pieces.
Minnie did this a couple more times, and then flung herself on the bed, and began sobbing hysterically. Pluto then started howling mournfully. Figaro jumped onto the living room couch, and buried his head under a cushion. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
Things weren't any better at the McDuck mansion, either. The boys were still pretty upset, and Scrooge certainly didn't blame them.
"Would you like me to make some dinner, Mr. McDuck?" Mrs. Beakly suggested.
"No, Mrs. Beakly," Scrooge said. "I'm not very hungry."
"Us neither," Huey said, sniffling.
"I can't believe Unca Donald's really gone," Louie said, and he started to cry all over again.
"I know, lads," Scrooge said, giving his grandnephews a hug. "I know. I can't believe it, either."
"What's gonna happen to us now that Unca Donald's gone, Unca Scrooge?" Dewey asked.
"Why, you lads will stay here with me, of course," Scrooge said. "Just like you did when your Uncle Donald joined the Navy."
"Yeah," Huey sniffled. "But it's just not the same."
"It's never gonna be the same, is it, Unca Scrooge?" Dewey said.
"I know, lads," Scrooge said. "I know.
"Shall I make arrangements for the funeral, sir?" Duckworth asked. Upon hearing that, Huey, Dewey, and Louie lost it. Scrooge sighed, and started to head upstairs with the boys.
"I'll take care of it later, Duckworth," he said. "I have a feeling it's going to be a long couple of days."
"Very good, sir," Duckworth said.
Half an hour later, just as Scrooge had gotten the boys to settle down a little, the doorbell rang.
"Who could that be at a time like this?" Scrooge asked, sounding a little perturbed.
"It's Miss Daisy, sir," Duckworth said, after he opened the door.
"Daisy, what are you doing here?" Scrooge asked. Daisy didn't answer. Her beak began quivering, and she suddenly burst into hysterical tears, and latched onto Scrooge, crying into his shoulder.
"There, there, lassie," Scrooge said, wrapping his arms around her. "I know. It's all right."
"No it isn't!" Daisy wailed. "It's not all right! It's never going to be all right again! Donald's gone forever! I'll never see him again!"
"Please, Daisy, try to get a hold of yourself. You're breaking me heart! That, and you're getting my coat soggy."
Daisy's response was a long wail that would rival a fire engine's siren. Scrooge sighed, and just let Daisy cry into his shoulder. He didn't have the heart to send her home. It was obvious Daisy needed family, and, even though it wasn't official, Scrooge did consider her part of his family.
"Mrs. Beakly!" he called. "Show Daisy to one of the spare bedrooms. She's going to be staying with us for awhile."
"Right away, Mr. McDuck," Mrs. Beakly said. Daisy's sobs died down a bit, and she finally managed to let go of Scrooge, and allowed Mrs. Beakly to lead her upstairs.
"There, there, dear," Mrs. Beakly said. "You just have yourself a good, long cry. We're here for you."
Once Daisy and Mrs. Beakly disappeared upstairs, Scrooge went into his study. He opened a drawer in his desk, where he kept a photo album. He turned to a page that had a photo of him and Donald, when Donald was just a baby. There were also photos of Donald with Huey, Dewey, and Louie, as well as a family portrait. Scrooge put the photo album back in the drawer. He saw a framed photo of Donald he kept on his desk. He sighed, and placed the picture face down. Scrooge couldn't bear to look at it.
The next morning, Pluto woke up at Minnie's house, looking like a train wreck. He had been howling all night. Due to this, Figaro hadn't gotten any sleep, either, but he knew Pluto was upset. Instead of getting mad at the dog, the little kitten just snuggled up against him, and purred.
Minnie didn't look like a million bucks herself that morning, either. Her ears were drooping, a couple of curlers she was wearing were coming loose, her tail was twisted, and she looked like she had only gotten an hour of sleep (which she probably had). She shuffled into the kitchen, and filled her coffee machine, turned it on, and went to the refrigerator. She pulled out a carton of cream, and poured it a bowl.
"I need more cream," she said, sleepily, making a note on her shopping list. Then she put the bowl on the floor, and went back to her coffee machine.
"You and Pluto will have to share breakfast today, Figaro," she said. "I don't have enough cream, and I definitely don't have any dog food."
Pluto came into the kitchen, but just let out a whine, and slumped onto the ground on his stomach in front of the bowl. Figaro began lapping up the cream, and noticed Pluto wasn't eating. He nudged the bowl toward Pluto, but the dog just sighed, and turned away. Figaro meowed, and nudged the bowl a little closer. But Pluto ignored it. Figaro sighed, and sat down in front of the bowl. Somehow, he wasn't very hungry, either. He then jumped up onto the table, and began rubbing his head against Minnie's hand, purring like an outboard motor.
"Mew," he said.
"Not now, Figaro," Minnie sighed, picking the kitten up, and putting him back on the floor. Figaro pouted, and then walked out of the kitchen. It was about all he could do.
After breakfast, Minnie went to take a shower, and get dressed. Pluto continued to lay on the floor, looking forlorn. Figaro looked at him, and then decided to try to cheer him up. The first thing he did was dig his favorite squeaky catnip mouse out of his bed, and he ran over to Pluto, placing it at the dog's feet. Pluto just looked at it. Figaro nudged it closer, and pressed on it with his paw, making it squeak. Pluto sighed, and turned away. But Figaro wasn't licked yet. He found a ball of yarn, and batted it at Pluto, expecting him to bat it back, but he didn't. Figaro then pulled out all the stops. He found every single one of his cat toys, and gave them to Pluto, trying to entice him to play, but Pluto just turned away from them all. Frustrated, Figaro gave up, and went to the couch for a cat nap.
About an hour later, the doorbell rang. Figaro woke up from his catnap, and looked up. Minnie answered the door, and found Mortimer standing there.
"Hiya, Minnie!" he shouted.
"What is it, Mortimer?" Minnie asked, heaving a frustrated sounding sigh.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing. Who knew Mickey would turn out to be a criminal?"
"Yes, I know."
"I know it's gotta be rough on you. But good ol' Mortimer is here for you if you ever want to talk."
Figaro looked at Mortimer as if he were crazy. Then he arched his back, puffed out his fur, and began hissing at him. Neither Minnie nor Mortimer seemed to notice.
"I'll be here for you," Mortimer continued. "You can tell me all about it, and . . . . . yeouch!"
Mortimer stopped in mid-sentence when he felt something sharp swipe him in the leg. It was Figaro, glaring up at the tall mouse, growling and hissing.
"Figaro, that wasn't very nice!" Minnie scolded. "What's gotten into you? I'm sorry, Mortimer, Figaro's never done that before!"
"Heh," Mortimer said, gritting his teeth to maintain his control. "Kittens will be kittens, after all."
Hearing the commotion, Pluto came into the room. Once he saw Mortimer, he began growling.
"I think you'd better go, Mortimer," Minnie said.
"Yeah, good idea," Mortimer said, getting a nervous feeling from the look on Pluto's face. "Remember, Minnie! If you need someone to talk to . . . . ."
Pluto lunged before Mortimer could finish. Minnie had to grab him by the collar to keep him from ripping off Mortimer's leg, but that didn't keep Pluto from barking at the tall mouse. Once Mortimer was gone, Minnie closed the door, and glared at the two.
"What's the matter with you two?" she asked. "I know you don't like Mortimer, but that's no reason to attack him!"
Pluto and Figaro both hung their heads, as if they were saying they were sorry. Then they looked at each other. They weren't sure why they wanted to take a chunk out of Mortimer's hide all of a sudden. They had seen him before, but never once did they want to rip him to shreds. Both Pluto and Figaro went back to the evening paper from the day before, and studied the headlines. The two of them just couldn't believe Mickey was a murderer. Something was rotten in Toon Town. Immediately, they began barking and meowing at each other, and decided to take action. That night, they went outside, via Figaro's kitty door (though it was a bit of a tight squeeze for Pluto), jumped Minnie's fence, and ran down the street.