"What if they catch me?"
"As long as you keep your mouth shut about aliens, I think you'll be just fine." Louie undid the loose knot in the rope around his hands.
Philbert stood just outside the car, rubbing his wrists from the rope burn. He glanced across the parking lot. The task now looked especially daunting. "How many people did you say there'd be again?"
"At least three but if you go now, you won't have to dodge Dewey, and while he is the least observant of the bunch, he's the most unpredictable. I'm hoping Huey is too preoccupied with me being gone to notice you. Webby? She'll be the hardest to hide from. She's a trained spy so if she suspects you're in the RV, she'll find you."
Phil cringed, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's a lot of names that end with -y and I don't think I can keep track." He squeezed his eyes shut.You have to keep track. This is your moment. Your time to show everyone what Philbert Duck is made of.Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he opened his eyes and looked up at Louie.Of course he's smiling, he gets to sit here while I be his errand boy.Phil crossed his arms and huffed.
"Hey, you can do it. Take one guess where I keep my violin." Louie's brow lifted.
Phil rolled his eyes and smirked slightly. "Duh! The candy stash,Llewellyn."
Louie gave him a playful swat to the cheek. "Watch it, Cheesesteak. Last I checked,Philbertwas at the very bottom of every baby naming list there is."
Phil ran his knuckles under his bill and laughed. "That's only because Llewellyn's probably a popular girl name." He stuck his tongue out and took off towards the RV before Louie could get his hands on him.
"Oh, you're lucky I'm cuffed to this car, kid!" he called after him.
Phil glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Gus shove him back down in his seat and close the door. He slowed down and ducked behind a few cars as he got closer to the back of Louie's RV. He slid down the cement base of a lamp post and onto the ground, taking a few deep breaths.Come on, Philbert, this is easy peasy. Besides, you're not really stealing. It's Louie's violin. He just wants you to grab it without any of his large, super spy…Peeking around the corner of the post, he spotted who he assumed was one of the brothers in the passenger seat. He shivered.… eerily identical family knowing about it.
"Simple as that. Heh." He ran his hands down his face. "Aw, phooey, what am I doing? This is ridiculous!"Gus said that Louie's been to prison and he didn't deny it. Prison! That means I'm with two criminals."I liked it more when I thought they were aliens."
He hugged his knees as his mind raced through the possibilities.What to do… what to do…Closing his eyes, he did what his dad always taught him to do… weigh the options.On one hand, I could get that violin, take it back to Louie and Gus and get paid. I've never had more than five dollars in my hand at once. With the kind of money they're talking about… Dad and I could hop in the Moonlander and travel the world together. He wouldn't have to work at DASA anymore and I wouldn't have to wait inside the Moonlander all day, by myself.Just the thought of spending every moment with Dad made his heart soar.It's all I've ever wanted… but what if something goes wrong? It also means I have to leave Dad for longer. He's probably worried sick.
"On the other hand…"I could run into that RV and tell them everything. I'd be safe and they could take me back to Dad. But… Gus would drive off with Louie and who knows what would happen to him.He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets.Why do I care? It's not like we're friends.Phil stared at his feet and blinked. The definition of a friend was always kind of fuzzy to him. Growing up, Phil's friendships were fleeting and one-sided. But the back and forth he had with Louie felt different. For how much Louie lied to Gus, Phil could just tell, nothing was fake between the two of them.What am I saying? Louie is the closest thing I have to a friend. It's only been a day but I know it's not just me this time. He really likes me.Philbert lifted his chin and smiled.So, I guess that's it. Dad can't blame me for not weighing my options.
Getting back on his feet, he crouched and watched for his moment. As soon as the duck in the passenger seat looked away, Phil ran to the back of the RV and climbed up the ladder. He slid across the roof, like he had a million times on Moonlander when Dad was sleeping and he wanted to watch the skies for extraterrestrials or to map the stars.
Pulling out his pocket knife, he jimmied the hatch on the roof until he heard the familiarpop!Sound.Same manufacturing defect as the Moonlander.He smirked a little and ran his fingers under the hatch to pry it open. He lowered his ear to the crack.
He could hear a girl's voice.That must be… Webby, is it?"For some reason my tracking system keeps glitching and bouncing around. Now it says Louie's here with us but clearly that's wrong. He was miles ahead of us not that long ago. Maybe if I power it down and back up again."
"What if he doesn't even want to come back with us? For all we know, he willingly went with Gus."
That must be Louie's brother from the passenger seat.
"Would you stop being so cynical? Just because he went to prison once, doesn't mean he'll always be on the crooked path right back to the slammer. Have a little faith."
"Webby, hestoleVon Drake's serum. What more can I say? He can't control his impulses any better than when he was eleven."
"Okay, granted, it's not good. That doesn't change the fact that he's your brother and you know he cares about the family."
Phil waited until Webby was the one talking before he opened the hatch all the way and ninja-scaled his way down to the floor. The curtain between the front of the RV and the back was perfect cover, just as long as he didn't make a sound. He got down on his stomach and gently pried at the baseboard covering the "candy stash".
"It doesn't stop him from putting himself and the entire family at risk, though, does it? I don't know. Let's just find him and deal with it then."
The baseboard squeaked as Philbert shimmied out of place. He froze. To his relief, he heard a window open in the front and another voice drew their attention outside of the RV.
"CHILI DOGS ALL AROUND!" … a veryloudvoice. "You get a chili dog and you get a chili dog, and you-"
"Nuhuh, you couldn't pay me to eat a gas station chili dog."
"What happened to you, Webby? You used to be my junk-food junkie compadre."
"Let's just say, SHUSH put me through a veryrigoroushealth food class. I can't even look at hot dogs anymore."
Phil finally got the board out. He reached his arm through and felt around until he grasped a large case that barely fit in the hole, pulling it out inch by inch, watching the front of the RV like a hawk.
"Hey, that's your choice. Am I eating the world's best chili dog? Uh-YEAH!"
Just the sound of one of those chili dogs being devoured outside made Phil's stomach turn.Bleh. Call me picky all you want but I'm with Webby.
"Herm-herf-nermph-Hue, here's yours-"
"Behhh, thanks, Dew."
"What are you waiting for? You said you'd eat one."
"For some reason, both Webby's hate for it and your love for it combined has sorta made my stomach undecided."
"Just eat it already! You gotta eat something to improve your mood."
"I can't see thisimprovinganything."
Phil let out a sigh when he finally got the violin out of the crevice. He quietly stuck the board back in its place and made his way towards the hatch, when he spotted a glimpse of yellow sticking out of one of the seats.My hat!
"Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!"
Hiding his presence behind the veil of cheering, Phil dove for the seat and grabbed his hat. He made sure all of its contents were safely inside before fixing it back on his head and climbing up onto the kitchen cabinets.
"It's actually not as bad as it looks."
Philbert nearly coughed. He reached up and grabbed the edge of the hatch to keep himself from falling off the cabinets. Between the window blinds, he spotted a familiar figure. His stomach dropped.Aw phooey!