When one by one, the Pines family start falling asleep from of a mysterious illness, Ford and Dipper must venture out into the Oregon wilderness to find a cure. But when things take an unexpected and unplanned turn, another Pine must takeover.
A Ma...
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The sun rose as another day dawned. Mabel was up early, ready to go at the first crack of light. From how excited she was, you would not be able to tell she just had a brush with death mere hours earlier.
As for Ford, he did not at all feel like himself. As Mabel was packing things up, he checked his temperature again. It was now 96.8F. It was dropping, fast. As he got up, he felt himself getting slightly dizzy. Another side effect he had been warned about.
"Come on Grunkle Ford, we still have a long way to go," Mabel said as she skipped along into the woods near the mountain.
"Hold up Mabel, I'm coming," Ford said. He wanted to tell Mabel, he honestly did. But even if he didn't know her as well as Dipper and Stan did, he knew her personality well.
If Mabel knew, she would stop at nothing to get him back to the hospital. He knew Mabel would be making the right choice there, focusing on his health first. But they had come so far now that turning around would mean giving up on Dipper and Stan. Returning empty handed and with him infected would be an effective death sentence. Ford hoped he could fight off the virus long enough for them to get to where they were going, but he also knew that if it came to it, two lives saved was better then one. He was going to risk his own to save his family's and no one was going to stop him.
The morning progress went well. Ford managed to fight off the ever-growing dizziness he was feeling. Mabel's excitement and fiery spirit kept him from wanting to stop and take a rest. But often it would get the better of him and they would have to stop. He would tell Mabel stories from his multiverse adventures and even tales from his and Stan's childhood.
"So, you and Grunkle Stan really did see the Jersey Devil," Mabel said fascinated.
"We sure did. I like to think he's still out there. In honesty, I live a better life knowing he's not locked away in a zoo somewhere. He's still out there, haunting the Pine Barrens perhaps," Ford said laughing.
Soon the two got up to continue. Later on, the birds chirping made Mabel show off one of her hidden skills to Ford. Her whistling.
"I didn't know you could whistle like a bird Mabel," Said Ford.
"Oh, I could always do that. My braces just help me do it better I guess. But Dipper and Grunkle Stan never let me. They say it's too annoying and I might crack a window with it," Mabel replied.
Ford smiled as he gave her a pat on the back, "I think it sounded brilliant. Remind me to bring you along the next time I go bird watching. Your whistling sounds better then any bird whistle I've ever used," he said.
"Thanks Grunkle Ford," Mabel said with a smile. She felt deep down that her friendship with Ford really was growing. She was finally getting to bond with her great uncle in the way she always wanted to. Not through fast paced adventures or by force, but in the simplest ways possible doing simple things, like bird calling.
