CHAPTER FIVE
Walking to Uncle Scrooge's hotel was interesting. There were a lot of things to see in the city at night. Even though it was late, there were a lot of people still awake and walking around. There were also a lot of people who looked as mean as Ratmeat, so I was careful to avoid them and pretended I didn't hear when they called out to me.
At first I walked by myself on the sidewalk, since that's what everyone else was doing. After crossing the street when it was clear and getting yanked back by people a few times-they kept saying "it's red" for some reason, and I think they were talking about the red and green decorated lamps-I starting walking close to people who looked nice and crossing the street at the same time they did. Many of these people didn't notice me, even though I was close enough to steal their wallets if I wanted. I guess people in the city don't look around them as much as people in the mountains.
After walking for a while, I made it to Uncle Scrooge's hotel. I almost decided to turn around and go back without saying hi to him, just in case he was asleep, but decided against it and tried opening the door.
It was locked.
That's when I realized why people were always knocking on doors in Crazyhair's shows-people in the city must lock their doors just like Uncle Donald locked his car. And here I thought Ratmeat was the only one who ever locked doors.
So, I started knocking and didn't stop. I wasn't sure who would open it, but since this was a hotel there should be someone around.
I was really surprised when Uncle Scrooge opened it himself, and he looked surprised too for some reason. He was wearing a white shirt and some kind of weird light blue hat.
"Huey? What are you doing here? Where's yer Uncle Donald?"
"Back at the houseboat," I said, "I couldn't sleep, so I came to see if you were awake."
I was really glad that he was, because if not I would have woken him up.
"Ugh," Uncle Scrooge said, rubbing his eyes.
Uh oh. Maybe he was tired after all.
"Ya cannae leave the houseboat without Donald," he said, "A ten year old cannot go around the city alone, it's too dangerous!"
It didn't really seem that bad...
"Come inside and warm up," Uncle Scrooge said, opening the front door wider, "I'll let Donald know yer here, and bring you home. He's probably worried sick by now."
"I don't think so, he was asleep when I left." I pointed out.
"That doesn't mean anything, he's probably woken up fifty times already." Uncle Scrooge said, walking over to a telephone sitting on a table in the hallway. "And why did ye go out in yer night clothes?"
"Night clothes?" I asked.
"Pajamas." Uncle Scrooge said cryptically, but before I could ask what he meant by that he started speaking into the phone. "Hello, Donald?...Yes yes, I know. He's here...What?...Walked. I'll bring him round as soon as I start the car...We'll be right there."
He hung up the phone and turned back to me.
"What did I tell you? Donald was so worried even I could barely understand him! Now you wait here for a spell, I need ta grab me hat and we can head out. Don't move!"
So, I stood by the door for a while admiring the ceiling. When Uncle Scrooge came back, he had not only his hat but his whole outfit that he wore during the day.
"Now, let's get going." He said, walking out the door. As soon as I was out too he locked it behind me. "This way." He said, walking around the hotel. "It's too early for Duckworth ta punch in yet, so it looks like I'll be doing the driving."
He pressed some buttons on the side of the building, and it opened the garage. There was just one car in it, the limo from earlier. Briefly, I wondered where everyone else who stayed at the hotel parked their cars.
"Right, don't forget ta buckle up." Uncle Scrooge said, getting in the driver's seat. I got into the seat next to him. As soon as I was buckled, the limo shot forward.
"Whaa!" I shouted, hanging onto the seat for dear life.
"Hang tight, lad. I havenae driven in a while, but I can race with the best of 'em!"
We shot down the street, twisting and turning, and when I opened my eyes we were parked next to Uncle Donald's car.
"What did I tell ye? Yer Uncle was worried sick!" Uncle Scrooge said, pointing.
Uncle Donald was racing towards the car, sobbing, with arms outstretched.
I...hadn't realized I would get in this much trouble for going out. Uncle Donald was clearly upset. I must have broken a really big rule this time.
I stepped out of the car, hoping that Uncle Donald's punishments weren't as bad as Ratmeat's.
"HUEY!" Uncle Donald said, throwing himself on top of me, "HUEY!"
And then, crying so much in between words that I could actually understand him for once, "I...thought...you were...gone!"
W-what was this? Why was he holding me?
I stood there, frozen, until Uncle Donald pulled himself off of me, still sniffling.
"Come on," he said, speaking so slowly that I could hear every word, "Let's go inside. I'll make you some hot chocolate."
...What?
He pulled me into the houseboat, and only let go of my hand to start going through the cupboards, still sniffling. Uncle Scrooge followed us inside and sat down at the table, so I sat down next to him.
"Uncle Scrooge," I whispered, "Is he broken?"
Uncle Scrooge pat me on the head, and whispered back, "No lad. Just worried."
Pooof! The gas stove turned on, and Uncle Donald put a pot of water over it. Then he turned around.
"Scrooge?" He asked, "Awqawqawqkaqwewqaqw?"
"What am I doin' here? Ya mean ta say you expected me ta leave right after dropping off me nephew?" Uncle Scrooge asked, but even though his words were angry, he sounded more tired than upset.
Uncle Donald sighed. "Qawfee?"
"Sure, why not."
I had no idea what they were talking about, but Uncle Donald turned on the coffee maker. A few minutes later, he set down some hot drink in front of me, and a cup of coffee in front of himself and Uncle Scrooge.
I had never had whatever this was before, and to be honest I kind of wanted some coffee instead. But as soon as I tried the drink in front of me, I decided it was much better than any cup of coffee I'd ever had.
"How's yer hot chocolate?" Uncle Scrooge asked. I nodded my approval.
"Well," Uncle Donald began, and then he started some extremely long speech that I couldn't understand. I wish he'd talk slowly again.
At least it didn't seem like he was talking to me, since Uncle Scrooge was the one who answered him. They were talking about how I had walked over to see him, apparently. It seemed like they were just going to discuss this for a while, so I tuned them out.
"He can't understand ye," Uncle Scrooge said at the end, when Uncle Donald was looking at me expectedly. I hadn't even noticed that I was supposed to be listening-I was too busy drinking the delicious new drink.
"Sorry." I said.
"Huey, don't ever do that again." Uncle Scrooge said. "Yer Uncle Donald says he's not going ta punish you this time, but you'll get inta big trouble if you leave the house without telling anyone."
I nodded. It was practically a miracle that I got into trouble and wasn't getting punished, and they even gave me this really tasty drink.
I definitely didn't want to get in trouble for real. Besides, Uncle Donald...I didn't want to see him make that face again.
"You have ta promise." Uncle Scrooge said.
"I promise."
"Good," said Uncle Scrooge.
I think Uncle Donald said the same thing, and then the two of them started talking again. But even though I perked up when Uncle Scrooge mentioned Ratmeat once, I wasn't really listening to them anymore.
The sky was getting brighter. I could see it through the houseboat's kitchen windows.
"Good morning, Uncle Donald! Ahh! Uncle Scrooge, what are you doing here?"
I sat up straight thinking I was in trouble, but that wasn't Ratmeat's voice, and it definitely wasn't Crazyhair.
Of course it wasn't them. Why would I even think that? It was Dewey.
"Just having a talk with yer uncle," Uncle Scrooge said as the twins joined us at the table. They ended up sharing the same seat though, because there weren't enough chairs. It didn't look very comfortable to be squashed like that.
"You never come to visit, so why are you here so early?" Louie asked, pushing Dewey a little to make more room.
"Morning Huey," Dewey said to me, pushing back at his brother.
"Yes it is," I said.
"Huh?"
Uncle Scrooge spoke up.
"Yer Uncle and I were talking about an opportunity for an adventure." He said.
They were? What did I miss out on while I was looking out the window?
"Oh, the usual." Dewey said, "Uncle Donald, can I have some hot chocolate for breakfast like Huey?"
"Me too, make me some too!" Louie shouted.
"Fine," Uncle Donald said slowly, moving towards the cupboards.
"Whoohoo!" Dewey and Louie cheered, and Louie moved over to the chair Donald had just left.
"Anyway," Uncle Scrooge said, "Donald said yes."
The twins froze.
"Wait, what?" Dewey asked.
"Uncle Donald, are you serious?" Louie asked, "You actually agreed to go on a trip with him?"
"Hey! I'm still here, ya know." Uncle Scrooge said.
Uncle Donald nodded and started to say something, but just then the stove caught on fire.
Uncle Donald quacked and tried putting it out, but he accidentally knocked over a whole rack of oven mitts and those caught on fire too. His quacking got louder. He pulled out a red fire extinguisher like the kind you see give people amnesia on Crazyhair's shows, and it fell on his foot. When he couldn't open it, it slipped upwards out of his hands and crashed into a whole stack of plates sitting next to the sink.
Then, Uncle Donald...Donald...got upset.
He suddenly in a frenzy, pulling things off the shelves and slamming them onto the fiery stove, moving insanely fast the entire time.
He was madder than Ratmeat.
I couldn't stay in the kitchen any longer. What if Donald was still mad when he turned around, especially since I had broken a rule earlier by leaving the boat? If he was still mad...
I jumped out of my chair and ran. I heard Uncle Scrooge call out after me, so he was probably mad too for some reason, but it's better to let people cool off when they're mad so I ignored him. I can't leave the houseboat since I don't want to break a rule again and get into even more trouble, so I ran to the twins' bedroom and closed the door.
The first time I had walked in, I noticed that you couldn't see the top of the bunk bed, not even if you were Ratmeat's height.
So that's where I went. I clambered up the ladder and huddled in the far corner, lying as close to the bed as I could. If I stayed here long enough, things would cool off and I could avoid the worst of the punishment.
Five seconds after I was settled, the bedroom door opened.