Tap tap tap tap.
A snore leapt out of Bradford's beak as he turned in the chair, his arms still occupied by a sleeping April.
TAP TAP TAP TAP.
"Mr. Buzzard!" Beakley called out from behind the door. "Mr. Buzzard…..BRADFORD!"
Bradford snorted out of his sleep, slowly blinking his eyes, his sight blurry.
"Where…where am I-"
He looked down and saw the baby.
"Oh, right."
Beakley knocked again. Bradford readjusted his borrowed robes.
"Yes, what is it?" he responded.
Beakley opened the door carefully.
"Bradford, this is your third wake-up call," she said. "I tried in the morning, but you were sound asleep, and I didn't want to disturb the baby."
She reached towards the table and handed Bradford his glasses. He rubbed his eyes, took the pince-nez and placed them on his beak. He adjusted them until he could see more clearly. He didn't remember putting his glasses away, perhaps Beakley did that for him while he was asleep. April's pink headband was also on the table.
"Lunch will be starting soon. I suggest you get a move on," she said sternly.
"Lunch?" Bradford quickly checked the clock. It's almost noon, and April missed her wake-up feeding time. They both overslept. Of all the gall.
"Would you need any assistance?" Mrs. Beakley asked, her eyes landing on April. "Perhaps with…"
Bradford glanced at the snoozing child. "No, Bentina. But thank you. I'll be down in a moment."
She stiffly nodded and turned to leave, but not before gazing at April one more time.
"Mr. McDuck is serving sandwiches, tea, and cutlets," she added.
Bradford heard a rumble come from where April was laying on him. But instead of it coming from her, it was coming from his stomach. He hadn't eaten in a long while.
"Yes, Bentina. That sounds splendid, thank you," Bradford said, trying to get her to leave.
Beakley nodded again, her look hard. "Very well. We'll see you downstairs in the dining room." She finally reached for the door and closed it quietly, her footsteps creaking down the hall.
Bradford let a breath out. He almost felt naked in front of that woman. Clearly, she was suspicious. His theory was correct. Or perhaps she was nervous for April. Either way, he'll keep watch over her.
His stomach growled again. No more time to haste. Bradford gently stroked April's cheek.
"Wake up, wake up now…"
April continued to sleep. Bradford sighed. Then a rancid smell caught his nostrils. He was late in changing her, too.
He sighed again, shaking his head. Too many errors. He shouldn't stay up so late. Now he's behind schedule. But, he must admit, that was the best night's sleep he's had in a long time.
"Lord," he exhaled, bringing April towards the bed and laying a towel underneath her. He got out the baby bag, Sword thankfully not in place, and searched for a new diaper and pair of clothes. Just as he caught a set of pink pajamas, he heard a light coo.
He turned his head and smiled. His daughter was finally awake, looking around sleepily with a yawn. Her eyes found him, and her face brightened.
He chuckled. "Good morning, little bug." He brought his hand towards her tummy and lightly tickled her. "Or should I say, good afternoon?"
She giggled, her arms stretching out clumsily.
Bradford grinned. At least one thing stayed the same.
After changing her and washing his hands, Bradford came down the stairs in Scrooge's robes while holding April in one arm and a bottle in the other as she fed. He yawned again coming down the last step. He gazed down the hall, smacking his tongue sleepily. Scrooge and Beakley were by the entrance, talking to some guests, a duck and two vult-
His eyes became big, and he brought his glasses closer to his eyes, setting the bottle down on a table.
"Bentley, Buford! What are you two doing here?!"
The two vultures turned, looking unimpressed as usual, suitcases settled near them. Pepper, wearing a chauffeur disguise she received from her FOWL Disguise Kit, looked between them all with an embarrassed look.
"Bentina, why didn't you tell me they were coming?" Bradford's voice echoed down the hall shrilly.
Beakley casually shrugged her good shoulder. "They came right after I called for you. Apologies."
Bradford stopped himself from sneering, instead letting out a low hum to indicate his displeasure.
Pepper rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry, uh, Mr. Buzzard (oof, which Mr. Buzzard is which?). I, uh, they were really insistent on knowing where you went and who the baby you were carrying was so uh," she nervously laughed. "They wanted to come by and stay with you. Also, erm, they said they were sick of staying home all day."
Scrooge looked skeptical. "Wait, you didn't tell them?"
Sweat came down Bradford's brow. He tried to unsuccessfully hide April under his robes, entangling himself instead. "Well, I was uh…rushing…"
The two vultures stepped forward to him with stern eyes, examining him and the child.
Bradford sighed in annoyance, untangling himself and holding April in front of him. She was wide awake now and staring at the other two birds.
"Bentley, Buford…this is…your new niece, April," he said through gritted teeth. "Treat her nicely."
April cooed and reached up to their faces.
Bradford's "brothers" smiled, and their faces brightened. The two of them brought their arms around Bradford and April, hugging them both tightly.
Bradford was surprised.
"Well yes, I um," he cleared his throat as Scrooge and Beakley watched smugly. He couldn't hide the smile that was forming. "Yes, I'm glad you both love her already."
Scrooge groaned. "Oh great, now I do have to put up with all of them here." Scrooge massaged his temples and returned to the safety of his kitchen.
Pepper quietly came over to Bradford and whispered, "I need to talk to you after this." She had a serious look in her eyes. Bradford may have only known her for a day, but she's proved herself reliable so far, if not just inexperienced and quick to please. This must be important.
He nodded. "After lunch, Miss Pepper, after lunch," Bradford said, rubbing his face. With Beakley here, everything must be taken with caution. They must look as casual as possible. "Would you all like to join us? If that is permissible with our host, of course."
He looked at Beakley, who was quietly watching by the door, who waved her hand nonchalantly. "Oh, I'm sure Mr. McDuck wouldn't mind."
"Oh, yes I would, Bentina!" Scrooge called from the kitchen. Mrs. Beakley lightly smirked. "All three of them, here? Under my roof? Are ye daft?!"
"He'd love to have you here," Beakley said.
Baked beans, salads, ham sandwiches and fresh fruit. One bite of the toasted bread, and Bradford felt better than he had in days. He also realized how hungry he was and started to take more food to fill his plate.
He watched over April carefully as Buford handled her, lifting her up from under her arms, trying to make funny faces at her. After some teaching from Bradford, the two seem to have gotten the hang of it. April giggled loudly, enlivening the table chatter.
After gobbling up two sandwiches and a slab of beef, Bradford declared himself moderately full, and wanted to stretch his legs outside with Pepper to discuss "plans" for the house and transportation. Pepper readily hopped up from her chair and messy plate to join him, her enthusiasm gaining stares. Bradford internally cringed. He gave one last look to Scrooge and Bentina, both of them in a deep cheery conversation.
As they stepped out and closed the door behind them, Bradford let down his mask and gave Pepper a sharp look.
"Really? They were that hard to tame?"
Pepper groaned and lifted her hands up. "I trieeeddd Direc- I mean uh, Mr. Buzzard," she caught herself, looking around. "But-but they wouldn't listen to me! It was morning, I was exhausted from last night, they woke me up, already packed, telling me I had 5 minutes to put on something reasonable and drive them, or they'd call you themselves and I knew that would be a bad idea."
Bradford felt in his pocket his emergency radio receiver. She'd be right about that.
He closed his eyes and sighed slowly. He opened them and lightly tapped Pepper's arm towards the direction he wanted to go, far from the dining room windows. "Come, walk with me."
They went past the golden water fountain and headed towards the backyard.
"You mentioned you have updates for me, Miss Pepper?"
"Huh?" She looked confusingly at him, but then her face lit up. "Oh yes!"
She lowered her voice and whispered in his ear, "It's about the Stoooooone."
Bradford lifted an eyebrow. "Yeeeeeeees?" he matched her tone.
She passed him a business card. "I found someone who could transport the Stone back to your archivessssss."
Bradford took the card and saw a bear giving him a thumbs up.
"'Higher for…Hire?'" he asked skeptically.
Pepper smiled and nodded, looking proud of herself. "Mhm! He said he was discreet and cheap! And he guaranteed to bring any cargo we need in one piece, or our money back." She said as if she were repeating a company slogan.
He stared at the card, unconvinced. "Am I supposed to know who this?"
Pepper pointed to the card. "Ace pilot Baloo von Bruinwald."
Now that sounded familiar. "Oh yes, now I remember."
"The company is now being run by his old sidekick, Kit Cloudkicker."
"Hmm…to me, this isn't a matter of money. I'll pay as much as I need, as long as there are no questions asked and the job is done."
He flipped the card for the number. He got out his cell phone and dialed.
The machine played a message:
Hi, I'm Kit Cloudkicker, Owner and Ace-Pilot! And I'd like to welcome you to Higher for-
Bradford dialed zero.
Wait as we transfer your call.
A ring later, someone picked up.
"Hello, Higher for Hire, where we take you higher! Kit Cloudkicker speaking."
Bradford cleared his throat as they came into McDuck's backyard.
"Ah yes, hello. My assistant called in earlier asking about transferring some cargo I have?"
"Oh yeah, we spoke! Pepper, was it? And you must be Mr. Buzzard?"
"Ah yes, speaking. I need a large crate transferred to a discrete location across the country. It is of the utmost importance. Inside is a family heirloom statue, and my assistant will fax over the picture for estimates. I am looking for a dependable ace pilot."
"Oh, yes sir!" Bradford heard Kit's enthusiastic voice and some papers being ruffled across a desk. No wonder Pepper took a liking to him. "We at Higher for Hire pride ourselves in our dependability and our 100% money back guarantee!"
That only made Bradford more skeptical, but he knew of von Bruinwald's pursuits well as Finch would often relay stories about him in her later days. If this Kit was part of his exploits, then ideally…
Also, he didn't have much of a choice. He must have this done promptly to rouse off any suspicions.
"Okay. How much would the estimate be? Will you be able to pick up tonight…okay, I'll give you the location of the drop off point…"
As he relayed the directions, Pepper checked around them for any eavesdroppers either outside in the backyard or near the windows. There seemed to be none. The two of them passed by the large pool.
"Yes, that is fine with me. Tonight then, we'll meet at your location. See you then, thank you."
He hung up. "Perhaps my brothers will have some use after all. They can watch April while we bring the package. I'll need Kit to sign off some personal paperwork to ensure delivery. Sky pirates can be quite notorious. I'll have to teach them how to use the bottle first. The rest…well, I'll leave Bentina to do the rest for now." He looked at Pepper, his mouth making a thin line.
Pepper attempted a reassuring smile. "Ahh, I'm sure they'll be fine. If they're anything like you, they'll learn lickity-split!"
"Mmm…perhaps." He looked at the business card again and handed it back to Pepper. "Burn this as soon as we get to my home. We leave in an hour. We'll ride in my personal helicopter."
Pepper gasped in awe. They turned and started toward the front again. "You have a helicopter?"
"Why of course. One marked, and one unmarked for personal matters."
"But- but I don't know how to drive a helicopter, sir."
"It is fine, I know how. I'll show you how, it's not as difficult as it looks. I taught Heron how to do it years ago."
"Wow…"
"It is nothing too extraordinary." He waved off. "Oh and, thank you Pepper for this information. It has been very valuable."
Pepper blinked, as if she wasn't expecting a compliment from him for this.
"Th-thank you sir." She stuttered, blushing in embarrassment.
Bradford smiled slightly.
They reached the front door. Bradford opened it to find it fairly quiet. He wondered where the others were.
Pepper tapped on his shoulder and pointed towards one of the rooms where the television was on.
Coming inside the room, Bradford was once again surprised, seeing his brothers sitting on the couch, lazily watching a show about foot stools with April sleeping in Bentley's lap. Beakley and Scrooge were nowhere to be seen.
"Ha!" Pepper chuckled. "Look at you two boys, already being uncles and watching the ol' TV."
The buzzards gave a quick thumbs up, eyes still glued to the screen.
"Where are the others?" Bradford asked.
Buford answered. "I believe Mr. McDuck and Mrs. Beakley went into their respective rooms to speak privately."
Bradford's mouth went into a flat line again. He wished he had another spy-fly this time.
"Well, when you see them, tell them Miss Pepper and I will be returning to the manor post-haste to deal with the business of April living with us from now on. We will be spending the night there. You two will take care of her while I'm gone. All needed items-"
"All needed items are in your guest room," Bentley finished for him. "Yes, we know. We checked."
Bradford slightly deflated. "Oh…and if there's something you need help with-"
"Ask Mrs. Beakley," Buford continued. "Yes, we know that too."
Bradford blinked. He spotted an empty baby bottle on the table. "So…do you want me to…show you how to take care of her?"
Bentley took a sip of Pep! Soda. "No, no, we understand how. It wasn't too hard."
"Really?" Bradford asked, his fists on his hips. "So, changing a diaper?"
"Done," Buford replied.
"Changing her clothes?"
Bentley presented April's new set of purple pajamas she was wearing. "Done."
"Rocking her to sleep - done," Buford continued the chain.
"I wasn't going to-"
"Read her stimulating books and engaging in play, done." Bentley finished. "Like I said, not too hard."
Bradford was dumbfounded. It took him weeks to learn the basics compared to what they learned in half an hour or less. He thought they would be perplexed by an infant, that they would be brain dead without him. Did Bentina help them, or did two of his own heads really work better than one?
"Ah. Very…well then. I'll go and…pack up my things. We'll be back tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good," the two echoed in deadpan.
A moment of awkward silence passed.
"O…kay then," Bradford muttered before turning towards the grand staircase.
As they left, he overheard Bentley whisper, "He really is so needy." "Tell me about it."
Bradford rolled his eyes. As they went up the stairs, Bradford said to Pepper, "I wouldn't have thought they'd catch on so fast."
Pepper chuckled. "Well, they are your brothers. Don't discredit them so easily!"
"Hmm. If you will be working with us closely, there are some matters that we need to discuss once we're off the grounds."
They got off on the second floor as Pepper oooed at the words.
"Clones! Clones! I can't believe it!"
"Yes, Pepper, you've said that thirty-three times already," Bradford muttered as Pepper pushed the loaded cart on the tarmac. The crate sat on the cart, labeled with the words "Fragile" and "FOWL". Heron was not discrete when she packed it. Thankfully to anyone outside SHUSH, the word FOWL shouldn't mean anything to them. Plus, it was pitch black besides for the lights littered around the tarmac.
A large plane sat across the platform, presumably Kit's. But in the darkness, he couldn't tell.
Bradford tried to adjust his glasses as best he could. "Are you sure that's his?"
"Yep! I see a large guy out there, and I bet that's Kit!"
"Herm…"
They walked in silence for a few moments.
"Wait so-," Pepper started, "does that mean you and your clones have the same brain?"
Bradford sighed at the endless questions. "No, Pepper, they are their own individuals. We share the same genome, but not the same physical attributes."
"Oooh, so you can't read each other's minds and stuff?"
"Thankfully, no."
"Oh oh, and April, does she have the same brain as Mr. McDuck? If she's a clone, why is she a girl? Does that mean Scrooge-"
A booming, excited voice stopped them. "Hey hey hey, look who it is!"
Kit Cloudkicker stepped out of the shadows, grinning. "If it isn't my two favorite clients!"
Pepper waved crazily. "Hi Kit! Great to finally meetchya in person!"
Bradford cleared his throat, gathering his documents onto his clipboard. "Yes, Mr. Cloudkicker, a pleasure meeting you. You've received the image of our cargo via fax, yes?"
He nodded. "Oh yep. Priceless family heirloom, absolutely. You're in good hands, Mr. Buzzard."
"Well, be that as it may, I know we both have some forms to fill out." He presented the clipboard to Kit. "I need you to sign here, here, here, initials here, sign here, print your name here, and date here."
"Got it!" Kit took the board and started to sign rapidly. Bradford was sure he wasn't reading any of it. What sort of pilot was he? He tried to examine the plane, but it was too dark for him.
"Miss Pepper, how does the plane look to you?"
"Right as rain, sir!"
Of course she'd say that…
Kit handed the board back to him. "Here you go! Your turn to sign."
Bradford muttered a noise under his breath. He had already read the fine print on these beforehand when he asked Kit to fax them over, now he just needed to sign them. When he was done, he gave them to Kit, and Kit gave Bradford's own papers back to him. He clipped them on the board and shook hands with the large bear.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Bradford said. "Call me when it's delivered. My men will be waiting for you at the drop-off."
"Will do! Thank you, Mr. Buzzard." He then stretched his hand out to Pepper. "And thank you Miss Pepper for connecting us."
Pepper giggled, her curly ginger hair flying everywhere. "Oh, it's nothing, it's nothing. Just an ad in a paper, is all."
Kit grabbed the bars of the cart and started over to the plane. "You'll be hearing from me soon! Safe travels!"
"Safe travels!" Pepper called back as she and Bradford retreated back to their helicopter.
"Oh, wasn't he just the sweetest, Mr. Buzzard?"
Bradford hummed, unsure. He looked back to see the cargo bay of the plane opening. Why did he hear chickens clucking? Something inside him tells him this was a mistake.