Episode 11: Guarded Secrets
July 3rd, one day before the Independence Day celebration, and the people of Anaheim were making last-minute preparations for the festivities.
On a bus, Wildwing was heading to Anaheim Hills, somewhat concerned about Pearl and why she needed help.
"What do you think Phil's house will be like?" Nosedive asked his brother.
Wildwing, however, wasn't paying any attention to him; he was daydreaming about Pearl and what he had in mind for the evening.
"Yo bro! Are you listening to me?" Nosedive snapped at him and Wildwing jumped.
"What did you say?" he quickly asked.
"Oh I see what you're thinking about, or in this case who," Nosedive joked, but Wildwing immediately went defensive.
"I am not thinking about Pearl, I'm just worried about what she needs help on," the mallard answered, but Nosedive continued to tease him.
"You're nervous about seeing her, admit it," he replied, but Wildwing gave a growl.
"You like her, don't you?" Nosedive asked and that was the last straw for Wildwing.
"Say it one more time, I dare you!" the mallard angrily bellowed.
"Pearl and Wildwing sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Nosedive sang, making Wildwing's face turn red.
He then grabbed the scuff of his brother's shirt, about to yell at him, when they noticed that the people on the bus were staring at them.
Both the brothers gave nervous chuckles and calmed themselves in their seats, but Nosedive gave one last tease, "You like her."
Wildwing shook his head and was eager to jump off the bus at Anaheim Hills.
The bus finally arrived at Anaheim Hills and the two mallards jumped off, much to their relief.
Wildwing went around finding the address Pearl mentioned on the paper and realized that they were on Palm Tree Drive.
"It should be around here," he said to Nosedive.
"Let me take a look," the young mallard replied and climbed up on a street lamp.
He turned his head around and gave a gasp when he looked to the left.
"What is it?" Wildwing asked.
"I found it, but you're not going to believe this," his brother answered, grabbing onto Wildwing's collar and hoisting him up.
"What do you think you're doing?!" the older brother shouted, but Nosedive shouts out, "Look over there!"
In front of them was a large mansion surrounded by a gate that had a bright green lawn and garden. The mansion was white with a bronze colored roof. There was a single garage next to the mansion.
"All of this?! And Phil never told us?!" Wildwing said with surprise.
They calmed down and found the entrance gate and rang the bell.
"Hello?" Pearl's voice said over the intercom.
"Hey Pearl, it's me Wildwing, I hope you don't mind if I brought Nosedive," the mallard replied.
"Hold on a minute," the princess said and buzzed the gate open.
The two Ducks entered inside the gate and were amazed by the flower beds beside the walk-way that contained daises, tulips, and daffodils.
"No roses?" Wildwing asked himself.
"Roses?" Nosedive said in confusion.
"They're Pearl's favorite flower," his brother answered and they walked up to the house.
"Hey guys, I'm glad you came," Pearl replied upon opening the door.
The two brothers entered inside the house and looked around the place, truly amazed by how beautiful the mansion was kept. The walls were painted a light green, there was a stairway and the wood was neatly polished. In the living room, there were three leather cushion couches with an oriental rug underneath them. There was a glass coffee table that had a vase of tulips.
"I don't understand, why didn't Phil say he owned this much?" Wildwing asked.
"It's because he's ashamed," Pearl answered and adds more, "Do you know why he wants you in social events and all those promotional gimmicks?"
The two mallards shook their heads and the princess replies, "The people who run the events pay big money and Phil is still paying off the mortgage on this place and he paid a lot on restoring his old car collection. Plus, he wears that goofy tie because he barely has enough for fashion tips."
"But how can he afford on food? He is big as a whale," Nosedive joked.
"Fast food, it's cheap he says, but Subria and I despise that disgusting stuff. So, we're taking cooking classes at the rec center and we find it to be very rewarding," Pearl answered, "Which reminds me, I hope you didn't eat lunch yet."
"Nope, we're as hungry as a…a hippo!" Wildwing replied and Pearl gave a chuckle.
"I hope you like soup, French onion that is," the princess said.
"We like trying new things," the white mallard replied.
"But first, I want to show you something," she said, again and lead them upstairs.
"Hi guys," Subria said upon seeing them at the top.
Nosedive's face slumped, like a man who met the love of his life, "Hi Subria," he managed to say.
"Nosedive that's rude," Wildwing informed, but he realized that his brother was ignoring him.
Pearl opened a door to a bedroom and Wildwing was awe-struck by it.
The walls were painted a light-purple, a canopy bed with white drapes stood at the south wall and another bed was across from it.
There was also stain glass windows hanging from the windows, filling the room with color.
"Amazing," Wildwing whispered under his breath.
"Why are there two beds in here?" Nosedive asked and Subria answers, "I sleep in that bed over there, to protect Her Highness from any nighttime invaders."
"I told her that she could have her own room, but no, she prefers to stay here," Pearl replied.
"She does take her bodyguard duties seriously," Wildwing said and then, a beeping sound was heard.
"Oh, lunch is ready, Subria can you take them outside, I'll go get the food," Pearl said, turning off the alarm watch on her wrist.
"Do you need any help?" Wildwing asked and Pearl thought about it.
"Actually, I am not as strong as I look and one soup bowl is pretty heavy, plus I have some other things," she replied and they left the room.
Wildwing, however, stopped in his tracks as his senses went haywire.
'There's definitely something in that room,' he thought and Pearl seemed to notice as well and the two of them went to the kitchen.
()()()()()()
Wildwing found that the kitchen was pretty big; complete with an enormous refrigerator, a stove with electric burners, and a whole wall of cabinets. Copper pots and pans hung from the ceiling and the countertops were made of dark granite.
"I feel sorry for Phil, he has this big kitchen and he never uses it?" Wildwing said to Pearl.
"He says that there are some things in life that must be sacrificed," the princess said, handing him a big soup bowl filled with French onion soup.
He took a whiff of the lovely smell, "Wow, this smells good," he commented.
"I hope you like sweet potato fries," Pearl said, holding up two baskets full of orange-colored fries.
"I never had sweet potatoes before, but they sound delicious," the mallard replied and Pearl gave a smile.
'Man, she has the prettiest smile,' Wildwing thought, dreamily.
He followed her to the outside patio, where Nosedive and Subria were waiting. The patio was made of stone and there was a round glass and iron table in the middle with iron chairs.
"Next week, we're going start on desserts," Subria informed the two mallards.
"Desserts? Oh boy!" Nosedive exclaimed.
"I should've warned you, he gets really excited about sweets," Wildwing said, calming his brother down.
Pearl poured the four smaller soup bowls with the French onion and gave each plate a hand full of sweet potato fries.
"I asked the teacher why it's called French onion, because we didn't use onions from France, but she said the name stuck when it was first called that, but I don't believe her," Pearl informed and they began to chow down.
After a few slurps, Wildwing's taste buds went haywire, "This is incredible," he commented and he ate a sweet potato fry, "Wow, and these are really good."
"Pearl likes to enlighten things like food, even back home," Subria replied.
"Oh you're just making me feel good," the princess blushed and she began to eat her lunch.
"Did Philip tell you that we're going to sing the national anthem tomorrow?" Subria asked, but the two mallards shook their heads.
"Actually, Pearl is going to ice skate around the arena with the flag and I'm going to sing the anthem," the African princess corrected herself.
"No way, you never told me that you can ice skate," Wildwing said to Pearl.
"I love to ice skate, especially during the winter time when the lake back home freezes, and I volunteered to do the act because no one else would," she answered, offering more soup to him.
"Around here we say 'break a leg', so break a leg tomorrow," Nosedive replied, but that confused the two girls.
"It's a way of saying good luck, because saying that actually brings bad luck. I don't get that either," Wildwing informed, finishing his second bowl of soup.
When they finished eating, Pearl and Wildwing cleaned up the dishes.
"I know you'll do great, I feel it in my gut," he said, but Pearl had to blush.
"You're just saying that so I won't be nervous," she replied.
"No I'm very serious, you'll do great," he said, again.
Just then, they heard the front gate buzz and Pearl gave a gasp of shock.
"But Philip said he won't be back till tonight," she said and was struggling to think.
"Why, what's the matter?" Wildwing asked.
"I didn't tell him that you were coming and I thought you would help me before he came home. Oh, what am I going to tell him?" Pearl panicked.
"Calm down, I'm sure he'll understand if you tell him," the mallard answered.
Then, Phil entered in the kitchen and dropped his business suitcase on the floor.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked in shock.
"Now Uncle Philip…" Pearl began to say, but Phil held up a hand.
"Why did you tell him to come? I said none of the Ducks can come here till the place is ready!" Phil replied.
"Ready? This place is perfect," Nosedive said and then adds, "Or maybe you just don't want us to know about this mansion."
"Uncle Philip, I'm sorry, but I asked them to come to help me with something," Pearl informed.
"So my secret is out," Phil said, "Oh well, it was bound to come out sooner or later."
"Don't worry about it, we won't tell the others about this place, unless otherwise," Wildwing grinned.
"Okay, okay, you guys go help with Pearl and her problem," Phil demanded and the two mallards and two princesses left the kitchen.
()()()()()
"What did he mean 'problem'?" Wildwing asked Pearl when they came back to her room.
"Right here," the princess said, pointing to a wooden-craved box, "There's something really strange about this box; I can't seem to open it."
Wildwing looked at the box, he felt an unusual presence around it. "Do you have a key?" he asked.
"Yes, but watch this," Pearl replied, holding up the key and it almost touched the lock, when suddenly, an invisible force made the key jump out of her hand.
"Whoa, that's weird," the mallard said, but stared at the box.
"Do you think it's a spell page?" he asked.
"Yes, most definitely, but I need a name," Pearl replied and the two began to think.
"It looked like the box repealed the key, as if it was protecting itself," Wildwing said and Pearl's face lit up.
"Protecting, yes of course, it's the 'Shield'," she said and explains, "It protects things that are precious to someone."
"No time to waste," Wildwing informed and Pearl nodded.
The princess stood in front of the box and summoned the spell book, "'Shield', I command you to return to the spell book from where you came!" she shouted and then, the 'Shield' appeared in front of them.
It had the features of a knight's shield, but with the engravings of dragons, horses, and symbols.
The 'Shield' then swirled into a vacant page and everything grew calm.
"Before I forget, the spell is yours, too," the princess said and Wildwing signed his name on the 'Shield' page.
"Let's see if it worked," Pearl replied, slowly putting the key into the lock.
She turned it and the lock clicked opened, "I wonder what the 'Shield' was protecting?" Wildwing asked and they looked inside.
There were a few letters and a picture of a woman with blond hair and dazzling green eyes and she had an enchanting smile.
"Hey!" a voice cried out and the two turned to see Phil in the doorway.
"You got the box opened? But how?" he asked and Pearl showed him the 'Shield' spell page.
"Phil, who is this woman?" Wildwing asked, holding up the picture.
"That would be Melissa Moorcroft, the love of my life," Phil answered, cradling the picture to his cheek.
"You never said you had a girlfriend," Nosedive said from behind.
"Fiancée actually, but she died before we got our wedding plans off the ground. I really wish she was still here, she would've liked you guys," Phil answered, struggling to hold back tears.
"We're very sorry," Wildwing replied and asks, "What was she like?"
"Very sweet, funny, she had a good sense of humor, and she loved writing poems, those letters were from her and I held onto them, unable to part with them. Whenever I read them, it feels like she's here," Phil explained and began to read one of the letters.
My darling Phil,
You brought me sunshine when I saw rain,
You brought me laughter when I felt pain,
Are we romantics at heart?
Was it love at first sight?
Have I known you before?
Another time, another life?
I want you to know,
That nothing can tear us apart.
Ever yours,
Melissa
"Beautiful," Nosedive cried and started to sob.
"Hey, it's almost dusk, how about you guys hang out or something?" Phil said to them.
Wildwing immediately remembered what he planned for the evening. "Pearl, there's a pre-Independence Day party downtown, want to join us?" he asked.
"That sounds like loads of fun, yes, I'll join you," she answered.
"How about it, Nosedive, you and me?" Subria asked the tear-chocking mallard.
"You…you mean…us?" he asked and the African princess nodded.
"Oh yes! I finally got a date with the prettiest girl in the world!" Nosedive exclaimed, but Wildwing rolled his eyes.
"Have fun you guys," Phil said as they left and headed downtown.
Phil returned to the box, looking into the letters and pictures of Melissa, "As I said, money can never replace you," he said to one of the pictures.
He then gently locked the box and placed back onto his side-table in his room, finally feeling at peace.