"Hi, I'm Webby! And this is my granny."

The bright, enthusiastic girl burst in, smiling at Huey, Dewey, and Louie in turn. Uncle Donald had left for work about an hour ago, trusting that the boys wouldn't burn down the houseboat before their babysitter got there.

"You may call me Mrs. Beakley," the buff older woman said.

"Are you a spy?" Dewey blurted, in awe of the woman who looked like she could probably take over for Atlas.

"That's not important." Dewey's eyes widened and he exchanged a look with Louie, who was likewise mesmerized.

"Huey, a word?" Mrs. Beakley said, and the younger kids dispersed to play, heading straight for their bedroom where all the cool toys were.

"Your house is so cool," Webby said earnestly, looking around the houseboat.

Dewey snorted, "Really? You think so?"

"Yeah! I like your bunk beds."

Dewey had to admit that their bunk beds were pretty cool.

"I don't have anybody to share a room or toys with," Webby confessed, "Which gets kinda lonely…"

"Oh," Dewey frowned, "Well, to be honest, it can get kinda lonely for us, too. Huey has a bunch of friends but me and Louie don't, not really…"

"I can be your friend," Webby offered.

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay," Dewey said, unable to contain his grin.

"Do you want to make friendship bracelets?"

"Yeah! Can we make one for Louie and Huey, too?"

"Definitely," Webby agreed, "unless Louie wants to make his own."

Louie glanced up from his bed, where he'd been rereading the Cinderella book that his tíos had gotten for him.

"No thank you."

"What are you reading?" Webby asked, seeming genuinely interested.

"Don't laugh," Louie said immediately.

"I wouldn't," she promised. He held up the book so she could see the title.

"Oh, I love that one! When I was younger I wanted to be just like Cinderella," Webby said.

Louie looked excited, having found some common ground with this girl, "And marry a prince?'

"And be friends with fairies," she corrected.

"Oh. I guess that's cool too," Louie said with a shrug, going back to his book.

Dewey started making some friendship bracelets for Webby and his brothers as he and Webby chatted casually, stopping halfway through.

"Can I make one for my uncle?"

"Absolutely, I'll make one for my granny too."

"What's she saying to Huey?" Louie asked, checking back into the conversation.

"Oh, I think she just wanted to talk to him to get the lay of the land," Webby said.

"Like a spy," Dewey whispered.

"So Huey isn't in trouble?" Louie asked.

"I don't think so. Unless he did something bad that I don't know about, but he doesn't seem the type."

"He's a good guy," Dewey said, "we're all good kids." He was a bit more defensive than he meant to be.

"Of course you are," Webby said with a smile.

"Some people will say some things about us," Dewey mumbled, "but they're wrong. We're good kids."

"I don't know people," Webby said, "so I haven't heard any bad things about you guys. You're my friends, and that's enough."

"Do you know our uncle?" Louie asked.

"I've heard of him but I don't think I've met him," Webby said thoughtfully.

"How does he even know your granny?"

Webby was about to respond when the door opened and Huey poked his head in.

"Okay guys, Mrs. Beakley is going to help us with our homework."

Dewey groaned, "Are we still doing that?"

"Are we still doing homeschool? Yeah, until you graduate, doofus," Huey said with a grin. He must have been in a good mood, or he wouldn't be playfully teasing Dewey. His playful mood turned to Louie, who was pretending to be asleep.

"Come on, Cinder-Louie, you don't want to be late for the ball." He went over and easily picked Louie up. Louie acted like he was waking up, but both Huey and Dewey saw right through it.

"Can we have soup for lunch?" Louie asked, genuinely a little groggy after his act.

"I don't know, ask Mrs. Beakley," Huey said. Perhaps that was the source of his good mood, just the fact that he didn't have to be the adult in charge while his uncle was away. He could just be fifteen.

"Huey?" Dewey grabbed Huey's sleeve when he set Louie down.

"What's up?"

"I made you a friendship bracelet. Well, actually, it was Webby's idea."

"Oh! Thanks, Dewey. I love it." Huey slipped the red and pink friendship bracelet over his wrist and smiled, causing Dewey to beam with pride.

Webby handed Louie one that she'd made for him, which was green and teal.

"I like it. It matches my hoodie." Right now Louie was wearing a hoodie that looked like a dinosaur.

"Yeah, I thought it would look good with your hoodie." Then she handed a blue and purple friendship to Dewey, who returned the favor with a pink and orange one.

It wasn't until later when Webby was gone for the day and Uncle Donald had put Dewey and Louie to bed, that Dewey's mind went back to the question from before. How did Uncle Donald know all of these interesting people?

Well, Webby would be back tomorrow. There would be time to uncover the mystery then.