Truth & Lie

Chapter 31

An awkward silence filled the void between Dewey and Louie as the treaded through the forsaken hallways of FOWL. Dewey watched his brother from his peripheral. Louie had his eyes fixed on the path ahead of them. Dewey bit his beak. He wanted to say something, anything to break the silence between them. But he was still angry at what his younger brother had said. Their fight on the island had left them split, and Dewey couldn't find the words to fix it. He was some weird mix of mad and sad he couldn't describe. Smad. He was smad.

And underlying that, Dewey was filled with an excited disbelief. If everything went smoothly, he would see his bother again. He would see Huey for the first time in almost a month. And they would finally get things sorted out amongst the brothers. He would finally know what really happened that made Huey leave and join this horrible place. Dewey hoped Louie wasn't right in saying Huey had on purpose turned against them. They would save him and then they would go back to the happy family they once were. Dewey would find his voice again and all would be right with the world.

"Where do you think they would keep him?" Louie's vice broke the silence.

Dewey shrugged.

Louie sighed. "Right, you're not talking. Since we don't exactly know if he's a prisoner or an agent, he could be in a cell just as well as a room." Side glancing at Dewey, the green triplet gave a half smile. "Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and check the prison cells first?"

A smile crept on Dewey's face with the gesture.

"Now, where would those be..." Louie put a finger to his beak, deep in though. He followed along the wall, the small pat pat pat of his feet filling the void.

Dewey thought he saw a figure move around the corner. He narrowed his eyes, but no more movement came. Maybe it was a trick of the light. But, the figure moved again, their eye just taking a peak. The figure's eyes met his, and they flinched, ducking back around the corner. He heard a small, short, "Yip!" for a scream.

Nudging Louie, Dewey watched the corner. Louie followed his gaze, then the brothers exchanged a look. They moved slowly, staring intently. Maybe they could catch their watcher off guard.

Once they reached the end of the hall, Louie jumped around the corner with a, "Ha!" Dewey moved to stand behind him. Louie pointed his fingers at the figure like a gun. The figure jumped back, falling to the floor with another high yelp. Dewey made a confused expression when he saw the person more clearly. "Get back, you- you- kid?" Louie tilted his eyes at the girl.

The young robin put her hands out in front of her. "Please don't hurt me!"

Louie put his hand gun down. "Uh, we're not going to hurt you. Who are you? What's a little girl like you doing in FOWL?"

The girl got to her feet, dusting herself off. "I'm Katie. Bradford's my grandpa." The boys took a step back. Katie caught their cautious stepped back and shook her head. "Wait, don't worry! I'm not gonna tell him you're here. I'm on your side. I think. I don't know." Her voice escalated in pitch as she spoke. "I'm kind of going through an existential crisis right now, I think!" She shook herself. "Anyways, you're Huey's brothers, right?"

Dewey flinched at the mention of the red triplet's name. "How did you know that?" Louie asked.

"You guys look like him. Are you triplets? Triplets are so neat, because there's like, three yous!"

Louie stopped her, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Do you know where he is!" His voice was eager and cracked a little.

"Um, yes..." Katie bit her lip.

"Can you tell us?"

Katie's face was overcome with a worried expression. "I- uh- I..." She clenched her fists, bouncing up and down on her knees. "If I do tell you, I'm going to be in so much trouble, but if I don't tell you, Huey will be in trouble!" She tugged at her hair.