The three of them stared at the sparse timeline in silence for several minutes.
"I'm tired of it." Louie got up and paced around the room, much like their great Uncle Scrooge did when they lived with him.
"Tired of what, Lou Lou?" Huey leaned against Dewey's bed, arms folded behind his head.
"I'm tired of the lies, the silence. I mean, we deserve to know what happened. Dad has to be alive somewhere. That envelope was sent with a bill in it just a few weeks ago before Uncle D got a hold of it. Sure, now we only have the envelope but it's proof he's still alive! They can't keep hiding the truth from us."
Huey and Dewey met eyes before looking back at their little brother. "Well, sure, I think we all agree on that. But what do you propose we do? We've asked Uncle D before and he always refuses to answer and changes the subject."
Huey nodded. "And we can't ask Mom. You saw how she acted when that bill came for Sam in the mail. She was on edge for days."
Louie scrubbed his chin, running his finger along the end of his bill. "All good points, fellas. But we've never tried asking Sam himself."
The room grew quiet.
"Think about it, guys. We know where the bill came from. We have the envelope. Follow enough breadcrumbs and they could lead us right to him!" His eyes shone with more excitement than they had in months. "With Dewey leaving for college at the end of the month, I'll have no trouble convincing Mom and Uncle D to let us take the RV for a couple weeks. I mean, after all, we could use a trip together before he goes."
Louie really did look like he already had his heart set on it and it was always hard to get him excited about anything after the time he spent in juvie. Huey rubbed his temple. But what if the trip ends in disappointment? Dewey would have to leave for college with that on his mind and the thought of Louie spending the rest of summer alone in his room while he worked at the burger joint made his skin crawl. "Lou, it sounds fun and all, but what if we don't find Sam or… or he's not what you hope he'll be?
Louie shrugged. "Then at least we'd know we didn't miss out on anything. Right now we have no idea who he is, what he's like, or why he left us. And if his leaving made Mom take the Spear of Selene…" he sighed and sank into a chair, "I don't know about you, but I'd like to know."
Dewey scratched his head. "He has a point, Hue. If we don't at least try to find him, we're always going to wonder what it would have been like… to meet him."
Huey stood up and shook his head. "Knowing the facts doesn't always make it better. Sometimes it makes it worse because you finally know what people are really like. At least now we can imagine he left for a good reason. Once we know the truth, we can't take it back." He went to the window, opening the shades again.
Louie stuffed his hands into his hoodie. "I don't really care. I just hate the idea of us going our own way in a month with no idea where we really came from. We only have half of the puzzle."
Huey leaned against the window sill and watched as a small family walked down the street. It's messy enough knowing the half of the puzzle we have. I can't imagine knowing the other half will fix anything. He tucked his fists under his arms.
Dewey came up behind him and set his hand on his shoulder. "Didn't having mom back bring us some closure?"
Closure? Don't get me wrong, I love having her back but I'm not sure it'd be considered closure. We have twice as many questions as we do answers. Sure, it was nice having their mother around and they never questioned whether she loved them but it didn't fix everything. He still heard Dewey cry from time to time at night and Louie's constant nightmares didn't stop.
"With adulthood chasing after us, I think knowing more about our past could really help us know what we're doing with our future." Dewey smiled as he squeezed his shoulder.
Huey snickered and pressed his back to the window so he could look his brother in the eye. No doubt about it. He literally means me, doesn't he? Trust me, finding Dad will not make me want to pick a college.
"If you're worried about us, you don't have to be," Louie chimed in. "We can take whatever the truth ends up being."
Huey sighed and faced them, smiling a little. "I can tell you both aren't going to give up on this, no matter what I say, so why not? I could definitely use some time away from the house and we haven't taken a trip together in a long time." If he was honest with himself, he really did miss roadtrips. Maybe they'd even let him dig out the old family road trip shirts for a laugh.
"Let's hope we can get the RV. It may take more convincing than I thought. Look." Louie pointed out the window. The three crowded around to see a big, black limousine parked on their curb.
"Aw crap!" Huey grunted. "They called in special forces."
Louie groaned and fell back into his hammock. "He better be here for you. Mom said they'd give me the summer to relax."
Dewey shook his head. "I'm sure he's not here for you, Lou. Not yet at least. Our big brother here keeps ruffling Mom and Uncle D." He nudged Huey with a smirk. "Therrrre's no doubt in my mind that he's here to give you a talk'n to!" He fained a Scottish accent while slapping Huey in the shoulder.
Louie laughed out loud. "Oooh boy! Must be real serious if they're sicking the Scottish cavalry on you." He snorted.
Huey dragged his hand down his face and groaned. "Oh put a sock in it!" He shooed Dewey off of him. "I'll take care of it. Lou-man, get your scheme in the works. I want to get out of his house as soon as possible."