Little Dipper

Fancy Party

"It's almost time..." Pacifica said nervously, looking out the window. "Do I look okay?" She looked at Mabel.

"You look fine. How about me? How do I look?" Mabel asked.

Pacifica looked her over appraisingly. Mabel was dressed in a beautiful floor-length pink dress that had poofy sleeves and gold glitter on the skirt. She was wearing a borrowed heart-shaped necklace that rested just above her bodice. The neckline of her dress stopped just below her collarbone and she was wearing silken white gloves and white shoes.

"It's missing something." Pacifica went to her closet, opening drawers.

"Uhm...what?" Mabel asked.

"Let's see..." Pacifica pulled out a box and opened it. "Ah! Here we go!" She pulled out a glittering tiara and walked over to put it on Mabel's head. "There we are."

"Oh, Pacifica." Mabel blushed a bit. "You should be wearing the tiara, not me."

"I'm not Gideon's princess." Pacifica winked at her.

"Silly." Mabel giggled, then noticed a green dress that was resting on the bed. "What's that?"

"Oh..." Pacifica looked down. "It's a dress I wanted to wear tonight...I was hoping I could talk my parents into it, but it's unlikely..."

"You know what? Wear it." Mabel said firmly. "If your parents have a problem with it, they can take it up with me."

"Are you sure?" Pacifica asked. "They might be really mad..."

"Pacifica, you will look gorgeous in that dress. Go put it on. The party hasn't started yet. You go wear what YOU want to wear." Mabel placed her hand on Pacifica's shoulder. "Do it for yourself. Stop worrying about appearances."

"O-Okay...I'll do it." Pacifica nodded. "But, if they ring the bell..."

"Then I swear I will take it and feed it to the goat." Mabel said firmly.

Pacifica giggled. "Well, okay! I'll go change!" She walked over to her bed to change.

"Do you want to wear any earrings?" Pacifica asked as she changed.

"I notice you're not asking for help." Mabel commented.

"Oh, uh..." Pacifica giggled a bit. "I've been practicing undressing and dressing myself ever since I went into the bunker with Bill. He was kind of annoyed about needing to help me unfasten my dress."

"Well, with some of those dresses, you'd need help unfastening anyway." Mabel smiled.

"That's true. Why do I trap myself so much?" Pacifica asked, letting the purple and pink dress she was wearing slip down her shoulders.

"Ah, the life of a rich girl." Mabel said, nodding in a sagely manner.

–

"Gideon, you still don't look so good." Bill commented.

"Is it the tie?" Gideon asked, looking in the mirror.

"No, I mean health-wise." Bill chuckled. "Your suit looks fine. And thanks for getting one for Pine Tree."

"We still need to find that other ghost." Gideon sighed. "I guess it can wait, though. It's relatively harmless, no curse attached. It's not Native American, the usual signs haven't manifested."

"Usual signs?" Bill asked.

"Oh, bugs, really bad luck, stuff like that. It was probably someone that got buried on their favorite hill, or a criminal that got buried with no headstone. Or maybe someone that was murdered and buried in an unmarked grave to hide the evidence. Either way it was before the mansion was built." Gideon shrugged.