Mickey, Figaro, and Pluto walked right into No Man's Land, nervously. It was a creepy place. The tree branches looked like hands that were ready to reach out and grab someone. There was hardly any grass, and who knew what the heck was lurking around in woods here.
"Gosh . . . . ." Mickey said, nervously. "Sure is creepy in here. I'm glad you and Figaro are with me, Pluto. I'd be pretty scared if I were in here by myself."
Pluto barked in agreement, and stayed close to his master. Figaro stayed close to Pluto. Mickey was doing his best not to fall apart, but it wasn't easy. Pluto began sniffing around, trying to locate Donald's scent, but it wasn't easy. Figaro also sniffed around, trying to help. As he was investigating, he heard a loud crack, and a huge tree branch fell, nearly right on top of the black and white kitten.
"Reeeeooowwwww!" Figaro shrieked in terror, his fur standing on end, and he raced right into Mickey, managing to knock the mouse into Pluto, and they all hit the ground. Figaro began shaking nervously.
"Figaro!" Mickey shouted. "What's the matter?"
Figaro looked toward that huge tree branch, and curled himself deeper into Mickey's arms. Mickey pet the kitten gently.
"Aw, poor little fella," he said. "Did that almost fall on you?"
Figaro nodded. Mickey pet him a little more, and decided to carry him, since he was so small. He also clipped Pluto's leash to his collar.
"There," he said. "This way, we won't get separated."
Pluto barked and nodded his head. Then he continued sniffing around. The trio went deeper and deeper into the forest, until they reached the center of it. They found themselves in the middle of a circle of trees. Pluto sniffed around the whole thing.
"Which way do we go, boy?" Mickey asked. Pluto sniffed around, then sat up, shrugged, and whimpered.
"Gosh," Mickey said, holding Figaro a little closer. "Maybe we should find our way back to the river. But which way is back?"
"You'd be better off going home entirely," a ghostly voice said.
"Yeah, I know, but . . . . ." Mickey started, but then he realized something. "Wh-who said that?"
"You're taking a great risk coming into our forest, mouse," the ghostly voice said. "Nobody enters our forest, and comes out alive."
"Oh, I know, b-b-but . . . . ."
"We don't like strangers in our forest."
"Really? Well, uhh, then . . . . . so long!"
Mickey and Pluto ran off down a path as fast as they could.
"Stop them!" the ghostly voice shouted. "Don't let them escape! Don't let them get away!"
The trees seem to come alive then, reaching down to grab Mickey, Pluto, and Figaro with their branches. They even looked like they had faces in their trunks, and glowing eyes. Our heroes began running as fast as they could, ducking and dodging the branches. As if that weren't bad enough, bats began swooping down on the trio.
"Run, Pluto, run!" Mickey shouted.
Pluto whimpered, and raced after his master. Figaro dug his claws into Mickey's chest, and held on for dear life. Mickey was too panicked to notice. Both Mickey and Pluto dove to the ground when a flock of bats dive-bombed them. The bats flew back up, and Mickey and Pluto kept right on running. Finally, they eluded the bats, and the trees, and stopped running for a moment.
"Wow," Mickey said, breathlessly. "That was close! The only thing missing is a headless horseman!"
A demonic laugh filled the air. Mickey looked over his shoulder, and saw what looked like a glowing jack-o-lantern face floating toward him, and heard hoofbeats in the distance. When the jack-o-lantern got closer, Mickey could make out a figure on a horse, carrying a jack-o-lantern in his hand. Upon further inspection, Mickey noticed that the rider didn't have a head.
"Yeow!" he shouted, taking off like a shot. "Me and my big mouth!"
"Yipe!" Pluto yelped. Figaro gave a screech, and dug his claws further into Mickey's chest.
"Ouch!" Mickey shouted. "Hey, easy with those claws, Figaro."
The Headless Horseman laughed, and drew his sword, swiping at Mickey and Pluto with it. They both ran as fast as they could. They knew the old story. The Headless Horseman wouldn't rest until he found a head to replace his own. As Mickey was running, he spotted a covered bridge in the distance.
"If I remember the song lyrics from that Sleepy Hollow movie," he said, "if I pass the bridge, the Headless Horseman can't follow. Come on, Pluto!"
Pluto barked, and he and Mickey began running as fast as their legs could carry them. They had to reach the bridge before the Headless Horseman could chop off their heads with that sword he was swinging. With every inch, the bridge got closer, but unfortunately, so did the Headless Horseman. Luckily, Mickey ran across the bridge as fast as he could. Pluto barely made it, just as the Headless Horseman made one last swipe, nearly taking the dog's tail off in the process. Then, the Headless Horseman took his flaming pumpkin, and threw it into the bridge.
"Hit the deck!" Mickey shouted, and he and Pluto dove to the ground once they were out of the covered bridge. The pumpkin hit the ground and smashed to pieces. Mickey stood up, and looked around. All he could see was pumpkin pieces all over the ground.
"Whew," he sighed, petting Figaro. "We made it."
Pluto whimpered, and opened one eye, through his paws. Once he saw the coast was clear, he stood up, and heaved a huge sigh of relief. Our heroes continued on their way, but none of them knew which way to go, and to top it off, it was starting to get dark.
"Boy, am I tired," Mickey said, yawning. "We'd better hit the sack, fellas."
"Meow!" Figaro shouted in protest. Pluto began whimpering himself. They didn't want to spend the entire night sleeping outside in this creepy place.
"Aw, come on, you two," he said. "I'm sure the worst is behind us now."
Just as Mickey said that, there was a rumble of thunder, and then it started to rain.
"Boy, I've really gotta learn to keep my big mouth shut," Mickey said. "Come on, fellas. We'd better see if we can find some shelter."
Mickey, Pluto, and Figaro walked around, looking for anything they could find to wait out the storm. After searching for what seemed like hours, Mickey finally found a cave in the distance, and he, Pluto, and Figaro ran inside.
"Here we are," Mickey said. "It should be nice and dry in here. Now, let's get some shut eye. We'll resume the search for Donald first thing tomorrow morning."
That sounded good to Pluto and Figaro. Figaro yawned, stretched, and walked around toward Pluto. Then he started to knead Pluto's side, and finally curled himself into a ball and went to sleep. Pluto yawned as well, and curled himself up and went to sleep himself.
The storm was hitting Duckburg pretty hard that night as well. Thunder practically crashed like cannons, and lightning flashed almost immediately after each rumble of thunder. After one particularly loud thunder crash, Huey woke up screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
"Huh?! Wha?!" Dewey shouted, suddenly waking up.
"What's going on?" Louie asked. Before Huey could answer the door flew open, and in ran Scrooge, followed by Duckworth, Mrs. Beakly, Webby, and Daisy.
"We heard a scream," Webby said.
"Is everything all right in here, lads?" Scrooge asked. "What happened?"
"It was awful, Unca Scrooge!" Huey shouted. He jumped off the top bunk, and latched onto Scrooge as if there were no tomorrow.
"Unca Donald came back," he went on, "and Dewey and Louie and I went to go see him, and then Mickey showed up, and he was huge! He looked like King Kong, only ten times scarier! Then he . . . . he grabbed Unca Donald, and swallowed him whole! And then . . . . and then he said he was gonna wipe out all of duck kind, and he was gonna start with us, and then he squished Dewey and Louie with his foot, and then he came after me, and . . . . and . . . ."
Huey burst into tears before he could go on.
"Take it easy, lad," Scrooge said, holding his nephew close. "It was just a nightmare, that's all."
"I wish Unca Donald was here," Huey said, sniffling.
"Yeah," Dewey said, getting down from his bunk, and patting his brother's shoulder.
"Me too," Louie said.
"Me three," Daisy said, sitting down next to Louie, and putting her arm around his shoulders.
"Do you really think Mickey Mouse would wipe out all of duck kind, Unca Scrooge?" Webby asked, looking scared.
"Of course not, darlin'," Scrooge said, putting his arm around Webby's shoulders. "Mickey Mouse is in prison. He won't be able to hurt anyone from there. Come on, now, let's all go back to bed."
"Can we sleep in your room tonight, Unca Scrooge?" Huey asked.
"Please?" Dewey asked.
"Pretty please?" Louie asked.
"All right, boys," Scrooge said. "But just for tonight."
Huey, Dewey, and Louie grabbed their pillows and blankets and followed their uncle into his bedroom. Somehow, they felt safer this way.