Strangers in Duckburg

Chapter Four: Ghost

"No, you don't have to wait," Mandie said, pulling her hand out of mine. She took a few steps back, and casually put both her hands in her jacket pockets. I frowned and leaned against the wall. Mandie loved to touch things - there was no way she would just put her hands in her pocket like that unless -

"Mandie," My frown softened a little. One thing that I should mention about my little sister is that she's lactose intolerant. She can't drink a full glass of milk without getting stomach cramps. "Did you have any..." I glanced down the hallway, where Mrs. Beakley was cleaning off the table. Mr. McDuck appeared to be reading a newspaper, both of them out of earshot. "Dairy products?"

"No!" Mandie squicked, and her bill turned red...which I guess is how ducks blush. I gave Mandie one of my 'really' looks. After squirming under my stare for about five seconds, she broke. "Maybe..."

"I knew it," I mumbled, running a hand through my hair. My parents found out Mandie was lactose intolerant when she was little, and they had to feed her formula...as she grew older she wondered why she couldn't have milk, or ice cream, or literally any dairy products. We've all explained it to her, but she still drinks milk or eats yogurt - just to see if she's not allergic anymore. "You know you're not supposed to do that."

"But I thought it was a dream at first!" Mandie protested, standing up a little straighter. "I thought I was dreaming and it wouldn't matter - so I drank a glass of milk, and added milk to my oatmeal, and had yogurt on my toast -"

"Gee wizz, you ate all that??" I asked, a little harsher than I should have. But I wasn't think about my tone of voice - I was thinking that my little sister's stomach was cramping up, and that would totally not happen in a dream. This was way too real...even if everyone here was an anthropomorphic water fowl.

"I didn't know!" Mandie cried, tearing up. She clutched her stomach beneath her jacket, and a wave of guilt consumed me. Why did I have to blow up like that? "I'm sorry and my stomach hurts - and I want Mom and Dad!!!!"

That's when Mandie started crying, hiccuping-burping and holding her stomach. Great. Now I'd made her cry, and it made me feel a whole lot guiltier. Taking a breath, I calmed myself down. Getting upset wasn't going to solve anything - I just had to keep calm and breath.

"I'm sorry, Mandie," I said, bending down and pulling my little sister into a hug. She leaned against me, drenching my shirt with her tears. Belatedly, I realized she and I were wearing the same clothes we'd had on this morning. I was wearing a pair of jeans and my Avengers t-shirt (though all the Avengers were ducks now...except Tony Stark, who looked liked a stork), and Mandie was wearing her purple jacket, gray skort, and, well, since her jacket was zipped up I didn't know what sort of shirt she was wearing. "I shouldn't have raised my voice and -"

My words stuck in my throat as, from the wall in front of me, a grayish-green glowing ghost (say that five times fast!) came shifting through the wall. I hugged Mandie tightly to me, backing up as much as I could until I was pressed up against the otherside of the hall.

The ghost formed into what looked like a dog, with a ring of white hair around his head, and a very bushy pair of white eyebrows. He was also wearing a very fancy suit, which instantly made me think he was either a dead butler, like from that one movie The Haunted Mansion, or the ghost of a very old looking vampire.

"I beg your pardon," The ghost said, his voice very eloquent. I could only stand and stare. Ghosts terrified me. Even if they were people dressed up in sheets - they terrified me. Heck, Casper The Friendly Ghost gave me jitters - and seeing one in real life - that was talking to me - this was just too much. "But I thought I heard someone crying, and thought I could be of assistance."