Ghost in the Falls

Chapter 4

They all crammed into the kitchen, with the adults standing with their meals, and the children (even Jazz, who refused to admit that she was a child) sat down at the table.

"Did you find any ghosts?" Dipper asked the adults, silently praying that they had.

Maddie shook her head: "Unfortunately not."

"There are ghosts there, I promise. They must have been hiding," Dipper insisted, as plateful of pasta was placed in front of him by Stan.

"We believe you," said Jack, waving his fork around. "Those pesky ghosts are everywhere, infesting our world, causing trouble all over the place."

Danny and Jazz meanwhile, were keeping their heads down as they ate, trying to keep out of the conversation.

"Not all ghosts are bad. I think Ma and Pa just want to be left alone," said Dipper. "They're just angry because they died because of teenagers."

Maddie was quick to shut down this idea: "Don't be silly, all ghosts are bad. They don't have feelings like humans do."

"But-" Dipper started to protest, before being cut off by Danny and Jazz. "You might as well give up, we've already tried to change their views on ghosts," said Jazz.

"Yeah, I don't want another argument about Phantom," Danny whispered.

Unfortunately for Danny and Jazz, Maddie overheard Danny's statement, and snapped back: "I've told you before and I'll tell you again, Phantom is not a good ghost. Sure, he might seem like it at times, but under that nice facade is another evil ghost."

"I've got to say, even though you've told me that Phantom's bad, I did some research of my own online, and he's done some pretty good stuff. Like he stopped a bus from falling off a cliff, and he-" said Ford calmly.

"And he ruined Christmas, remember that," shouted Jack.

"I'm pretty sure you two ruined Christmas with your constant arguments about whether Santa's real or not," Danny muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Dipper, Mabel and Jazz to hear. Jazz simply responded by putting her hand on Danny's shoulder, and giving him a comforting look.

It wasn't long before everyone finished their lunch, and the children left the shack to escape the argument about ghosts that was still going on in the kitchen.

As they left the shack a tall, red haired older teenage girl wearing a flannel shirt and a white and blue cap with a pine tree silhouette on called out to them: "Hey, Dipper, Mabel, wanna hang out?"

"Yeah!" shouted Dipper and Mabel at the same time.

Wendy noticed that Danny and Jazz were also there, and quite obviously didn't know who she was. "Oh, hey, I haven't been introduced," she said, gesturing to Danny and Jazz. "I saw you guys in the shack yesterday, are you getting along with the Pines?"

Danny nodded, and quickly introduced himself: "Uh, I'm Danny, and this is my older sister Jazz."

"I'm Wendy," said the girl wearing the cap. "So, how long are you staying here?"

Danny just shrugged. "A few weeks...I guess. Probably until my parents get bored and decide to go back to ghost hunting in Amity Park."

"Dipper must've had a lot of fun asking them about ghosts," she chuckled, and Dipper became visibly embarrassed. "Wanna mess around by the dump, you two can meet the rest of our friends," she said, directing the second half of her sentence towards Danny and Jazz.

And so the group set out to go to the dump, walking past the army of trees along the edge of the town, making jokes and small talk to pass the time, as they walked towards a heap of assorted rubbish, a couple of sofas and armchairs with mouldy cushions and a stack of mismatching tires were piled up in a dangerous looking tower. A group of teenagers were waiting there for them, most were texting, while one was precariously balanced atop one of the armchairs, looking out at the view, his long blond hair blowing in the gentle breeze that made the stack sway slightly.