Family and Fortune

Chapter 3: Unsettling Realizations

...

As used to adventures as Louie was, he had to admit that two hours of trailing behind Uncle Gladstone's quick, somewhat panicky, steps was slowly starting to exhaust him.

His uncle didn't so much as pause, weaving in and out of people and ducking in and out of stores like he was on some Mission Impossible man hunt. For the life of him Louie couldn't figure out what the rush was. The rest of the family couldn't have gone too far, right? They wouldn't just LEAVE Louie here...

Right?

Well, not that Louie would be heartbroken if they did leave him here. After all, Gladstone was the cool uncle! Louie could honestly say he'd get used to the perks that followed the lucky Gander around. The prizes, the wealth, the leisure, it was everything the little duck had ever dreamed of! Sure, he would miss his brothers maybe, but then he would be sipping soda on a yacht somewhere off the coast of Cape Suzette with at least two transformers fanning him and all would be forgotten.

A kid could dream.

"Hey, Uncle Gladstone! Wait up!"

Holy ketchup, that guy could speed walk.

Was he that worried about the others? He was acting like they were in danger or something; It was weird and kinda unnerving...

Come to think of it, a LOT of things about his cool uncle were a bit off this trip. He'd always known the guy as slick and smooth, cool and calm. The uncle that Louie was seeing now was a bit more- No, A LOT more jumpy than Louie remembered him being. Gladstone was constantly peeking over his shoulder, constantly pulling at his collar, sweating and shaking and-

Okay, yes. Now that Louie really stopped and looked at his uncle, he could see that something was definitely off with the usually calm, collected, and confident charmer. Had he been like this the whole time and Louie had just been too self-centered to notice? Was he suffering from some sort of panic attack?

Somehow, the thought of Gladstone panicking over losing Uncle Donald didn't sound quite right. It was so out of character for him to stress- well, about ANYTHING really.

He nervously followed Gladstone onto the third floor's elevator and quickly obeyed when his uncle tiredly requested that he hit the first floor.

"First floor it is!" The boy said cheerfully, desperately trying to lighten the mood. "Are we gonna ask the front desk?"

"... something like that."

Louie watched his uncle warily, noting the way he swayed a bit on his feet the second the elevator touched ground.

"Come on, Louie." He ushered his nephew out and made a b-line for one of the desks; specifically, the desk that had that big, green, weirdo toad behind it.

There was another customer at the desk when they got there, but Gladstone didn't seem to care. He stepped right in front of them and leaned over the counter.

"Where's the others?" His uncle growled with a hatred Louie had never seen. The green hotel owner lifted his head. A tight smile was already plastered on the toad's face. He didn't seem at all bothered by Gladstone's sharp demand.

"Mr. Gander,"

Louie frowned at the way the toad said his uncle's name. It reminded him of the way Evildoers would taunt the heroes in the R-rated action flicks Donald didn't know he watched. The owner's smile grew. He opened his mouth to say something more, but then froze when his yellow eyes caught sight of a small blob of green and white, practically blending in with Gladstone's hip.

"Ahhhh. And your sweet little nephew... I almost didn't see him there-"

"I said- Where are they." His uncle repeated with a touch more malice. The toad's right eye twitched, shifting back and forth between the two birds before him.

"They checked into their room for the night." The villain answered between gritted teeth. "The little ones were just so drained."

Gladstone briefly glanced down to Louie. The expression on his face was stern and... maybe a bit anxious. His fingers drummed on the counter when he looked back up, matching the toad's level of irritation with his own hiss- "What's the room number?"

"Let me check." Green fingers tapped lazily on a touch screen. "It looks like they've been situated on the highest floor of the tower-"

"How convenient."

"I could take you there myself?" Gladstone pressed Louie against his side as the toad leaned over, looking down at the little duck like he was dinner. "I would love to get more acquainted with your young nephew."

Oh, heck no.

Louie clutched the back of the elder's green coat, face brushing the fabric like a three-year-old would do to their mother when confronted by a stranger.

"Yeah, hard pass." The kid shouted. He felt his uncle tense and, for a brief moment, he feared his uncle would yell at him for being rude.

Gladstone only chuckled.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Louie. And I think I know my way around this dump by now, eh Liu Hai?" The look of the toad's face was murderous. "Let's see, five guests on the highest floor? I know exactly where to find them. Thanks a bunch."

His hands didn't leave the saftey of his uncle's green jacket until they were back on the elevator.

"What a weirdo! What was WITH that guy?"

"Yeah, he's a strange one. I don't know what to make of him, really." Gladstone sagged, leaning heavily against the wall as the doors closed. "He's got an attitude problem and not the good kind."

Louie stood silently observing him. Taking in and trying to absorb everything he had just seen. That Liu Hai weirdo was a bad guy, no if, ands, or buts. Whatever was going on between him and his uncle wasn't good. He'd never seen Gladstone act like that in his whole life! Granted, he only really saw the guy once every year or so, but to see the lucky Gander hissing and red-faced like Uncle Donald...

It was really unsettling.

"You go on, Green Bean. Tell your uncles I'll see them tomorrow."

His uncle gave him a tired smile when the elevator reached the top. The expression didn't quite cover his distress though. Louie doubted Gladstone had much practice covering any emotion let alone all of the unfavorable ones he was experiencing now.

And the poor guy looked terrible.

Louie halted in between the elevator's double doors. Would Gladstone be okay walking back to his room by himself? He hated to leave him like this.

"Are you gonna be okay?" The kid reached out and pressed his hand to the adult's forehead. "You feel kinda warm. I can find my own way back if you'd like some help-"

"No." Gladstone brushed him off and straightened his back. "I'm right as rain, kiddo. Never been better."

Louie wasn't convinced, but if he didn't want help there wasn't much he could do.

"Erm. Okay, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"You bet."

He saw Gladstone wink at him as the doors closed, but it still did nothing to help the uneasy feeling he had. All of the adults in his family were the same. They lived by the saying "grin and bear it". Even Uncle Donald lived by it, minus the grin. Louie often wondered if he was actually part of the Duck family sometimes. He was a complainer by nature. He wouldn't call himself clingy or whiny, but when he was sick he was down and out for the count. If he didn't feel well, he wanted everyone to know it and feel bad for him and fall over him-

The exact opposite, it seemed, of what an average member of the Duck family was supposed to do.

Hopefully, Uncle Scrooge and Uncle Donald would be able to help Gladstone if he needed it. No matter how independent his uncle seemed to want to be, Louie wouldn't bear to see the guy suffer alone if he was truly in trouble.

Gladstone Gander was family, right? Family was supposed to help family when they were sick or in trouble.