(Author's notes: I wanted to post this sooner, but I got hit with the mother of all coughs, and I've had so many tests trying to find out just how far the cancer has spread that I only have enough energy to take care of my toddler and make sure nobody in my family dies LOL. Thank you for being patient.)
Chapter 17
Fenton stepped out of the extravagant bathroom after having the most luxurious bath he had ever had. All his life, he had made due with a bar of soap and the cheapest shampoo/conditioner combiner, mostly because they were within his mother's price range. But after experimenting with the different bottles and tins that were around the jetted tub—partly out of curiosity and partly because he knocked some of them into the water—he felt like a whole new man. He was not a vain person, but he couldn't help but relish how shiny and smooth his hair was and how clean and healthy his feathers had become. Even his beak sported a bit of a gloss.
Fenton sought out his host not only for an explanation as to why Mr. McDuck's nephew was acquainted with his mother and willing to hide him for the night, but also to get some questions answered about the McDuck clan and their history with mermaids.
Heading downstairs, Fenton found Gladstone in a room that must have a fancy name but with all of Fenton's experience he would have called it a living room for lack of a better term. Gladstone was wearing a black and wine red silk robe and fuzzy slippers that looked to have been made from some sort of animal fur. He sat on a beautiful couch or loveseat or whatever it is called that did not look comfortable to sit on, but Fenton supposed that looks were more important than comfort for some people. Gladstone swiveled a red wine in a decanter before sipping it from time to time as he stared into a low-burning fire within the stone fireplace. When Fenton entered, Gladestone stood up, his expression more bored than anything else.
"Uh…thank you for putting me up for the night," Fenton said politely, feeling the gap between their classes at that moment. He wore a white T-shirt that he had hastily purchased without looking at it from the shop, one that apparently made a living off of novelty shirts for tourists since it sported the phrase "Son of the Beach."
"Think nothing of it. Although if you could refrain from making a mess or breaking anything, I would be very much appreciated. This isn't my house," Gladstone said.
"Huh?" Fenton worried that his mother put her faith in the wrong man. Gladstone was considered the black-sheep of the McDuck family, and perhaps that had more to do with a penchant of breaking and entering rather than being a rebel.
"It belongs to some friends. They asked me to house-sit for them," Gladstone said, his bored expression melting into a relaxed ease as he sat back down. "Would you like some Bordeaux? It's not the best year but it's not bad."
"Uh…no thanks," Fenton said. He wasn't much of a wine drinker, and what he really wanted was some more coffee or some tea but he fell back on his old habit of not voicing his desires when he was in an unfamiliar environment.
Gladstone sat back down and concentrated on his wine. "So…you have felt the wrath of my uncle? What did you do?"
Fenton hadn't expected such a direct question, but it was justified. "Well…I tried to stop him from capturing a mermaid." He met Gladstone's gaze, watching for any reaction.
Gladstone didn't hide anything. He snapped his head toward Fenton, his pupils dilating slightly in fear. "A mermaid? He caught her? Wait, what did she look like? Did she have black hair and a dark tail with a spikey sail?"
So, there are more mermaids, Fenton thought as he shook his head. "No." Then he described his mermaid.
By Gladstone's reaction, he seemed familiar with the lovebird mermaid and nodded. "That sounds like the mermaid that Fethry was in contact with. That's…this is bad. I had hoped that it had been her, and we could put an end to everything."
Fenton waited to see if Gladstone would clarify what he meant, and when he didn't, he said, "Things are far worse. Duckburg is in danger."
This didn't faze Gladstone at all. "Of course," he said, taking a sip. "Duckburg has always been in danger. It's just that nobody knew why except for the McDuck family."
Fenton took a seat in an arm chair, and while it wasn't the most comfortable, a throw pillow adjusted behind his back made it tolerable. "It sounds as if we have a lot to discuss tonight."
"Indeed," Gladstone agreed. "And forgive me for being so untrusting, but I'm going to ask you to go first and to not dilute the truth or omit anything."
Fenton's brows lowered. "Me? I'm the more untrustworthy of the two of us? You're a McDuck!"
"I'm half a McDuck," Gladstone corrected. "And even my mother's connection to the family is tentative. Our family tree is…a little bizarre. But I will go more into that later. I have been on the outs with the McDucks ever since Fethry's disappearance. We also have a common problem that Uncle Scrooge is after both our necks."
"He's after you, too?" Fenton asked, eyes widening. "Why?"
"More on that later," Gladstone said. "Your mother wasn't very forthcoming about your situation, and I'd like to know what put you in the middle of my family's squabble with the mermaids before I throw my cards in with you."
"Can you at least explain why my mother trusts you?" Fenton requested. "The only time I have heard her mention you was to say that you were a jerk and a bully as a child."
Gladstone smiled his first genuine smile. "Yeah, I guess I was. If it wasn't for your mother giving me an old-fashioned whoppin', perhaps I would have continued my ways. And that's not the reason she trusts me." He poured himself some more wine. "A few years back I got in trouble with the Beagle Boys."
"That was stupid," Fenton said. Everyone knew to stay away from the Beagle Boys, who were Duckburg's closest equivalent to a mob family and a poor reproduction at that. But despite their low-quality criminal status, everyone knew not to mess with them.
"Yes, it was. I was stupid back then," Gladstone agreed. "At that time in my life, I was relying on…luck more than good sense. I pushed my luck to its limit and it backfired on me. Your mother just so happened to be passing by at the time and saved my life at the last minute. I owe her big just for that but she even agreed not to report finding me since Uncle Scrooge had a bounty on my head at that time, although she didn't know it. I've been hiding here ever since, and she's the only one who knows I'm here."
"And your friends," Fenton added.
"Yes, my friends," Gladstone said cryptically. "Okay, I'll be honest, this mansion doesn't belong to my friends. It belongs to the Macawbers. But they haven't been back to Duckburg since that argument Uncle Scrooge and Moloculo Macawber had over property lines back in 1998. Out of spite, Uncle Scrooge has forbidden anyone from buying this house even though it's been up for sale since the early 2000s."
"Wha…What? We're squatting?!" Fenton exclaimed.
"Squatting is such a dirty word," Gladstone said with a shrug. "The Macawbers haven't been seen in Duckburg in over a decade, so it's more like finders keepers. Besides, I've been keeping their house clean and in great condition, and I even dress up in a pair of overalls and take care of the yard so that when they do return or manage to sell the place, it'll look perfect. It's a win-win for everyone."
Fenton pressed his beak together in a fine line. He didn't really have any room to complain, especially after breaking into an insane asylum and allowing a mental patient to escape.
Realizing that Gladstone was waiting for him to start his story, Fenton begun with the late night at the lab where he first caught sight of the mermaid and his obsession of learning more about Duckburg history the next day. As he told about how he learned from Huey about Fethry's journals, taking Donald's boat out to the Singing Rocks, and being rescued by the mermaid when he hit his head in the storm, Fenton couldn't believe that so much had happened in less than a week. Gladstone asked no questions, so Fenton continued his story describing the mini-sub adventure back to the Singing Rocks and communicating with the mermaid who was unable to say a single word, then his promise to find Fethry and meet the mermaid at the mangrove trees.
Just as Gladstone requested, he left nothing out, not even his feelings about the mermaid that he wouldn't describe as romantic but having a desire to help her and to meet with her again.
As he got to the part of breaking into the mental hospital and finding Fethry's room completely empty, Gladstone interrupted.
"What?!" he shouted. Gladstone threw his wine glass into the fire, glass shattered and the alcoholic liquid fed the flames for one chaotic second.
Fenton jumped at the vehemence in Gladstone's voice, which was contrary to the easy-going nature he had portrayed before. He waited for the man to calm down before continuing his story.
But Gladstone didn't calm down. He grabbed one of the throw pillows and twisted it in his hands as if he were trying to tear it in two, his teeth grinding together in an expression of hatred. "Uncle Scrooge," he growled. Then he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Fenton hadn't realized he had brought his legs up against his chest, making himself a smaller target in case Gladstone turned his ire his way, and relaxed when the duck was gone. And he waited. He waited for five minutes before he decided to look for Gladstone.
He traveled up and down the halls of the house, looking in all the rooms before continuing his search upstairs. He checked everywhere twice until he came to the conclusion that he was alone in the house. A house he was squatting in. And a pit formed in his stomach at the thought of being caught in this very illegal situation.
But he had nowhere else to go, and he might as well make good use of the situation. He went to the kitchen and started brewing a pot of coffee. The kitchen was large with fancy, stylish appliances that were all at least ten years old—but still nicer than anything Fenton was used to. The Macawbers also seemed to be connoisseurs of coffee and had several different blends of beans from all around the world, and Fenton picked a Brazilian brand that had an interesting scent as he ground the beans and put it in the coffee maker.
Over an hour after his outburst, Gladstone returned through the kitchen back door as Fenton was drinking his second cup and enjoying some canned caviar on crackers—the caviar was still good but the crackers were stale. His hair and feathers were ruffled and there were several snags in the silk bathrobe, but at least he was back to his cool self.
"Sorry about that," Gladstone said with an apologetic smile. He lifted a steak knife up to show Fenton. "I just had to go slash my uncle's tires. Boy, did that feel good. Is there more of that coffee? Oh, Baluga cavier. Good choice."
Fenton tried not to let that twist affect him as Gladstone tossed the knife into the dishwasher and helped himself to the snack.
"I think I've been hiding out for far too long," Gladstone said as he took a sip of the coffee before adding cream and cinnamon to his cup. "Living in luxury isn't so bad, but occasionally my anger gets so terrible that I can't control myself. When that happens, I end up sneaking up to Uncle Scrooge's mansion and doing something that would tick him off. He's never suspected me, so he's never had cause to change any of his locks or codes." Gladstone chuckled.
"Why are you hiding? What happened between you and your uncle?" Fenton asked, deciding he had enough of sharing information and wanted a few of his questions answered for once.
Gladstone sighed. "It was all because of Fethry. When Uncle Scrooge had him committed, I greatly protested. I even offered to take Fethry away, far away from Duckburg, but nobody tells Uncle Scrooge what to do. But even I admitted that Fethry could have used some help. Something weird was going on with him and he snapped."
"And that's when he tried to bomb the lighthouse," Fenton added.
"You know about that?" Gladstone asked, surprised.
"Della mentioned it when she had my arms behind my back," Fenton said.
"Ugh, yeah, we've all been there," Gladstone muttered. "If the cat's out of the bag, then there's no point in being coy. Yeah, Fethry tried to bomb the lighthouse, and when they took him away, he was muttering about witches and magic and mermaids. The biggest problem is that Fethry was a cry baby when we were young and a whimp all his life. No, that's mean. He just wasn't violent. Sensitive. Sweet. A little weird in the head, but he wouldn't have hurt a soul. There was something hinky about him trying to destroy the lighthouse. He loved that thing and his rescue center in the basement was everything to him. Something was up. So Donald and I tried to visit him at the mental hospital not long after he was dragged there, and they wouldn't let us see him."
"But you're family. Why wouldn't they let you in?" Fenton asked.
"My guess is because he was never there in the first place," Gladstone said. "But I was told only immediate family was allowed, which meant Aunty Matilda and Uncle Scrooge, who were listed as his legal guardians. And because Aunty Matilda hadn't been in the scene for the longest of times and Uncle Scrooge left us "cousins" to raise ourselves, Fethry's closest family was me, Donald and Della. Of course Della lived as if Scrooge's word was law, so it was up to me and Donald to confront Uncle Scrooge.
"And that's when the schism started in the McDucks. We had a big fight and Donald walked out after yelling himself blue in the face. He still won't speak to Uncle Scrooge, but at least he's still part of the family."
"And you?" Fenton urged.
"I took things too far," Gladstone said. "I was determined that if Uncle Scrooge was going to keep me from Fethry, I was going to make him regret it. And I leaked the disappearance of Fethry to one of the local papers."
Fenton made the connection. "The newspaper reporter that disappeared."
"Wow, you've really done your research," Gladstone said. "Yeah, I asked an old school buddy to look into things, and Uncle Scrooge shut him down. Don't worry. He's fine. I wired him enough money that he was able to move to another country, which was a dream of his. He's married to a bar tender and they milk drunk tourists out of all their money. But that didn't mean I was off the hook.
"Uncle Scrooge saw my actions as a betrayal to the family. If you think you've seen him mad, then you don't know anything yet. He threatened financial ruin on me, which was a pretty good threat. So I decided to cut all ties from the family before Uncle Scrooge could follow through with his threats."
"And that was enough for you to go into hiding?" Fenton asked.
"No. But all the stuff that I stole from him was," Gladstone said with a fox-like grin. "Including this." He reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a gold necklace. On the end was a single, white pearl, a very large one.
"Is that…" Fenton started, his eyes widening. "It's a mermaid's pearl."
"That's right," Gladstone said. "Uncle Scrooge has only two, so you can imagine how anxious he is to get this one back, especially since it has quite the unique spell upon it."
"How is the spell activated?" Fenton asked, taking the pearl from Gladstone and looking over the chain. "Where is it written? What symbols did you use?"
"There's some carvings directly on the pearl if that's what you're meaning?" Gladstone said, straining his neck as the gold chain was pulled away from him. "As for the symbols, I have no idea what they mean. Uncle Scrooge found the pearl as is with the spell intact, so it must be in the language of the mermaids."
Squinting, Fenton was able to make out a few scratches on the surface of the pearl. Because of the pearl's sheen and coloring, the scratches were almost invisible unless you were looking for them.
"The spell can be written onto the pearl. Why didn't I think of that?" Fenton said, letting go of the pearl and slapping his forehead. "Then the pearl might actually have a spell written on it. I didn't look."
"You're talking about the pearl that the mermaid gave you," Gladstone said, tucking his necklace back under his robes.
Fenton nodded. "It makes sense now. If the mermaid put the spell on the pearl, then it does have magic in it. But I don't understand why she was trying to put it inside my mouth."
Gladstone shrugged. "Beats me. But how did you figure out the magic and spells on the pearls without figuring all this out?"
Fenton launched back into his story from where it was interrupted, describing his escape from the mental hospital and the accidental release of Pepper, then Huey's unexpected visit which revealed the electronic trackers and bugs that he had been carrying. That's when he got into his idea for the underwater breathing apparatus and his accidental find of the pearl in Fethry's filtering system.
Gladstone gave out an "Ahhhh" at that point, now understanding where Fenton attained his knowledge of the magical pearls.
Wrapping up his story, Fenton described meeting with the mermaid at the mangrove trees where he was given Fethry's journals right before the mermaid was captured by Scrooge McDuck, Della and Gyro.
"I was wondering where he had squirreled those books away," Gladstone said. "He gave me some old journals, those that he kept before he started recording what he learned from the mermaids. I think he hoped I would be a decoy for Uncle Scrooge, but it never came to that. Fethry was a lot smarter than anyone gave him credit."
"Little good it does us or the mermaid," Fenton said. "It's written in another language, probably the phonetical spelling of whatever the mermaids speak."
Gladstone shook his head. "Fethry didn't tell me a lot, but from my understanding, the mermaids speak perfectly good English. And the old stories are all the same."
"The old story where your ancestor stole the gold coin from the mermaid?" Fenton asked, recalling what he learned at the museum.
"Ah...so you haven't found all the secrets of the McDuck clan," Gladstone with a smile. "Come on. Let's go sit back down because I have a tale to tell you."
They went back to the room with the fireplace in which the flames had died down to coals. Gladstone threw on a few logs and used the poker to stoke up the fire. Even though it was summer, it was nice to have the extra warmth.
"You know the story of how Scrooge McDuck and his family first came over the Atlantic Ocean from Scotland to settle in what is now called Duckburg," Gladstone began, his tone taking the rhythm of a story-teller.
"You mean Scrooge McDuck's ancestor. They have the same name," Fenton clarified.
"Uncle Scrooge did always dislike that he couldn't always keep his old name, but every once in a while, he was able to go by Scrooge for a few decades before changing it," Gladstone said with a smirk.
Fenton frowned, his eyes widening. "You don't mean to insinuate that the Scrooge McDuck from the story, from the 1600s, is your uncle?"
"I certainly do," Gladstone confirmed. "Please, hold all your other questions until after I'm done talking. Now, the McDuck clan came over from Scotland which included Scrooge, his two sisters, Hortense and Matilda, their parents, Downy and Fergus, and Downy's brother and his wife, although I forgot their names. While the family had almost next to nothing, they had high hopes to make a living. Among their possessions was an old, Viking gold coin that had been in the family for generations, and they, being stubborn Scots, refused to sell it even though they were close to destitute traveling to the new world."
"But I thought that the coin belonged to the mermaid?" Fenton said.
Gladstone waved his hand. "Wait until the end. So this coin was basically all that the family owned aside from the necessities. Once the family claimed the land as their own, they began tilling the soil and growing crops. Soon other families joined them and the town of Duckburg was beginning to grow. But then disaster struck, and its name was the Beagle Boys.
"The Beagle Boys were only a band of robbers back then who would ride into town and steal food and valuables before riding off, hiding in the mountains. Because the nation hadn't yet formed, there was no law enforcement other than what could be supplied from the town, and at that point, they were just farmers and fishermen. The town had no choice but to be under the thumb of the Beagle Boys."
This was a familiar scenario to Fenton. He knew it from Duckburg's history as well as seeing it in many westerns.
"It was after one of these raids that Scrooge went to the coast to catch some fish with the hopes of getting enough to feed his family while they wait for their crops to grow. He was having no luck, and neither were any of the fishermen who had boats and nets. Just when Scrooge was about to pack up and head home empty-handed, he heard the most beautiful voice singing. Mesmerized he went in search of the voice, needing to know who it belonged to. After traveling along the coast for a while, he found a cave. Inside he was a mermaid whose inky black hair was as dark as a moonless night.
"At first the mermaid was afraid of him but once he persuaded her that he meant her no harm, she approached him. She told him how she had swam into the cave during high tide to look for plants and urchins that clung to the cave walls but some men discovered her and used nets and rocks to trap her. Scrooge, being a noble and honorable man, found the damn of nets and rocks and tore it down, then carried the mermaid back to the ocean.
"She thanked him for his help and promised that she would grant one boon to him. At that point, Scrooge knew nothing of magic but he thought that the mermaid could help him catch some fish, so he asked for enough fish to feed his family. However, he was given more than he asked as the mermaid gave him a small pearl that would help him catch as many fish as he wanted as long as he carried it with him. From that point on, whenever he cast his pole in the ocean, he always had a fish on the other end in minutes."
Fenton paid attention to the story and he couldn't help but compare it to a few other stories about mermaids he had heard, particularly the one from Della.
"Every day, Scrooge went to the ocean to fish, and every day he caught enough for his family. And with him being Scrooge, he soon used the pearl to his advantage and caught more fish than he needed and bartered them to other families. Everyone in town had enough to eat, and more families came to the area and settled, giving Scrooge more opportunities to sell his fish. He was collecting quite the nest egg for his family. But good things never last long.
"The Beagle Boys raided the McDuck homestead, taking all of their money and possessions that Scrooge had bartered, destroying all their crops, and taking the pearl that the mermaid had given him. The only thing that the Beagle Boys didn't get their hands on was the gold coin, which had been buried long ago as a precaution against the thieves. Scrooge's family decided to take the coin to a bigger city up the coast to sell it, but Scrooge was against this. He was seeing farther into the future than surviving. He knew that even if they sold the coin, the Beagle Boys would be back to steal from them again. Their only option was to abandon their farm and seek a living elsewhere.
"But as I said, the McDucks were a stubborn lot, and Scrooge wasn't willing to give up his land or the gold coin. Desperate, he returned to the ocean, hoping to find the mermaid once again. If she helped him once, she might be willing to do it again.
"He had been right. The mermaid had been visiting the shore to watch Scrooge ever since he had saved her, and when she saw him looking so forlorn, she approached him. Scrooge told the mermaid about losing the pearl and the town's problems with the Beagle Boys. He asked her for help one more time.
"She said she would help him but only for something in return. All magic comes at a cost, and the cost of her getting rid of the Beagle Boys for good would be Scrooge's gold coin. It was a heavy price to pay, but Scrooge was willing to pay it if it meant the safety of his family and the town. If there were no Beagle Boys to steal from them, he was certain he could provide for his family until they could grow more crops the next year.
"Scrooge and the mermaid planned to meet the next day to exchange the old, Viking coin, and they departed company. On his travels home, Scrooge spotted one of the Beagle Boys traveling through a glade. The Beagle Boy hadn't seen Scrooge, and on a whim, he decided to follow the thief with the hopes of discovering the Beagle Boys' hideout and taking back some of his family's possessions, especially the pearl. Then he wouldn't have to give up the gold coin.
"The Beagle Boy did indeed lead Scrooge to his secret hideout, which held more secrets than what they stole. As Scrooge crept inside the hideout, he witnessed to his horror a magical communication between the Beagle Boy leader and the mermaid who had been using the band of robbers to find the gold coin. She had sensed the gold coin's presence since the McDucks had settled in the land, and she wanted it to cast a very powerful spell. A spell that would grant the one who possessed it eternal life and ultimate power.
"Scrooge, stunned that he had been tricked, crept away without being detected and went home. At that point, Scrooge could have refused to meet with the mermaid and taken his family away from the town to find some other way to survive. It was only because of his family's gold coin that had brought the Beagle Boys to the town, and if they left, the rest of the town might be left alone. But Scrooge was never one to say die, nor would he let an opportunity slip from his fingers. That night, he made his own plans.
"The next day, he met with the mermaid just as he said he would, pretending that he knew nothing about her being in cahoots with the Beagle Boys. He showed her the gold coin, but instead of handing it over right away, he asked her questions about why she wanted the old coin.
"She explained that mermaid magic comes from within the body but cannot be used unless it was stored in a proper vessel. The vessel must be made of sturdy, long-lasting materials, and the older the materials are, the more potent the spell would be."
Fenton had listened the story with intense focus, but he couldn't help but interrupt at this point. "Of course. There are very few materials in the ocean that last long. Even hard objects like rocks, shells and bones can be broken down by salt. But pearls were made to last in such an environment. It makes sense. But it only takes a few months to a few years for oysters to make pearls, and even they aren't permeable to corroding. But a metal coin could last much longer, and who knows how old that Viking coin was already."
"Yes, you're very smart. Now shut up," Gladstone in a perfect imitation of a grandfather from an old movie Fenton had seen a few times. "Back to the story. The mermaid explained that once she put her magic in a vessel, she could write a spell on it or near it for the magic to work. The pearl she gave to Scrooge before had a symbol of a fish with an arrow pointing to a man, and that was all it took for the spell to work. But the beauty of the gold coin was that the symbol for eternal life was already on the coin, molded on by metal, which would make the spell much more powerful.
"Scrooge then asked how she was going to take care of the Beagle Boys. While he hated the robber and wanted them gone, he did not want to be a murderer or even associated with murder. The mermaid took out a pearl and showed him how she scratched symbols into the pearl, explaining that it would repel enemies rather than kill them. Once the pearl was finished and in Scrooge's hands, the Beagle Boys wouldn't be able to come within a mile of it.
"The mermaid finished the spell and held the pearl out to Scrooge, asking for the gold coin in exchange. Scrooge explained that the gold coin meant a lot for his family and asked the mermaid if he could hold it while she cast her spell, promising that it would be hers afterward. She agreed only if she held it as well. Together, they held the coin as she transferred her magic into it. The second she was done, she pulled it away, leaving behind the pearl with a dark smile on her beak.
"But Scrooge McDuck wasn't done with the mermaid. Before she could swim out to sea, he put his fingers to his beak and blew a sharp whistle. From where they were hiding behind rocks and in a boat out of sight, the rest of clan McDuck and their friends from town closed in on the mermaid with fishing nets and rope. They caught the mermaid and bound her. With the mermaid caught, Scrooge was able to retrieve the gold coin as well as a large, black pearl the size of a fist.
"They had nowhere to hold the mermaid and Scrooge was against killing her, so the McDucks had no choice but to let her go, threatening her to never come back. But their threats meant nothing to the dark mermaid. She, in return, put a curse on the McDuck clan. From that moment, the mermaid vowed vengeance, promising to tear down everything that the McDucks built, to destroy every last McDuck, and to steal away the future of Clan McDuck for her to drown in the darkest depths."
Gladstone went silent, lowering his head to indicate the end of the story.
Fenton was certain he was now allowed to ask questions. "What happened to the mermaid's pearl?" He was exceptionally curious about this aspect of the story. All the mermaid pearls he had seen so far were white, and the fact that a black pearl existed made him very nervous. Not to mention if the strength of a magic spell depended upon the size of a pearl, then one that big must have a lot of magic.
Gladstone shrugged. "I have no idea. I've never seen it, and if anyone asks, Uncle Scrooge gets grumpy. I know Fethry search the McDuck mansion from top to bottom and everywhere he could think of, and as far as I know, he never found it. Other than Scrooge, the only person who might know is Della, and she's about as likely as to spill her guts as a snail winning the Kentucky Derby. And before you ask, I don't know what spell is on the black pearl."
"What about the one that repels enemies?" Fenton asked. "If Mr. McDuck still has that one, why are there still Beagle Boys around?"
"It only repelled them within a mile radius," Gladstone said. "Duckburg is bigger than that. Uncle Scrooge keeps it locked in a vault in the mansion along with the gold coin."
"So the gold coin keeps Scrooge McDuck immortal?"
Gladstone beat him to the punch, explaining, "As long as he is in possession of it. If he ever loses it or gets rid of it, good-bye immortality."
"What is on the coin that makes the spell possible?" Fenton asked.
"On one side is that one tree from Viking myth, can't remember the name. On the other side is Hel, the daughter of Loki and goddess of the Dead. You can guess what side of the coin causes immortality," Gladstone said.
"And the other side?" Fenton wondered.
Gladston shrugged. "We're still unsure. Although Uncle Scrooge has made a guess that it only applies to magic so it would have only applied to the mermaid. Her magic does seem to be getting stronger with time."
"So he's not really your uncle?" Fenton continued, wondering about that aspect of the story.
"I think you're asking if he's really Della and Donald's uncle. I'm a whole different matter," Gladstone said. "Della and Donald are, indeed, Uncle Scrooge's neice and nephew and not great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-something-relatives. They are the children of Scrooge's sister, Hortense."
"But that would mean—"
"Yes, Hortense is also immortal, as well as Matilda and their parents," Gladstone finished. "You see, the gold coin belonged to the whole family, to Clan McDuck, which made them all immortal. We assume that it will also apply to Della and Donald and Della's sons, although they aren't old enough for us to be certain. Della and Donald were the first to be born since the incident with the mermaid."
"How did they keep this secret?" Fenton asked. "Didn't someone notice?"
"Well, before photographs were invented, it wasn't that hard. It was just a matter of using a little make-up and acting for the McDucks to pretend to age before faking a death here and there, then appearing as some lost relative or estranged, illegitimate child, then things were back to the usual. After a few generations, Fergus and Downy returned to Scotland. I think that the gold coin's influence wasn't able to reach that far, and they died not long after that. As for Hortense and Matilda, they felt trapped in Duckburg since unmarried women back then were treated differently, and they were reliant on Scrooge for everything. But after the feminist movement, they started traveling.
"That's about the time that Aunt Hortense had a fling or something, and Donald and Della were born soon after. Aunt Hortense doesn't talk about it, so don't ask. Apparently Aunty Matilda was a bit jealous of Hortense's motherhood and adopted Fethry, although they both left the kids behind to continue traveling. They drop by on holidays, but it's best for immortals to keep moving so nobody guesses their age."
"And you? Are you immortal?" Fenton asked, trying to figure out just how old Gladstone was.
"Nope. You remember that I mentioned that Downy brought her brother and sister-in-law along?" Gladstone smile was small. "They weren't considered part of Clan McDuck. But they had children and a long family tree, and at the bottom is me. I'm sure I have cousins galore all over the globe, but my mom was one of the few who knew of the McDuck secret, and when she and my father died, I was raised alongside Della, Donald and Fethry. Does that answer all your questions?"
Fenton's head was spinning with all the details. It was a lot to take in, and aside from the obvious questions he had asked, he couldn't think of any more. "I may have more in the morning." He looked to the grandfather clock that stood against the wall between two book cases. It showed that it was past two in the morning. "Is it really that time?"
"A good night's sleep would be good for both of us," Gladstone said, stretching and standing up. "I sleep in a lot, so don't go planning anything big without me, okay?"
"Planning?" Fenton asked and groaned. The lateness of the night and his mind reminding him of the burdens that had fallen on his shoulders hit him all at once. He hoped that he could sleep and not toss and turn with anxiety for the mermaid. But there was one good thing he could count on; it sounded as if Gladstone planned on helping him, so he had gained another alley.
Then he was reminded of one question he hadn't asked before. "Oh, your pearl. The one you stole from your uncle," Fenton brought up.
"Yes?" Gladstone asked, pausing before exiting the room.
"What spell is written on it?" Fenton asked.
Gladstone's beak split in the biggest grin. "Luck. Did you really think I'm able to evade Uncle Scrooge this long without it?"
Chapter 18