Forest of Riddles (Reverse Falls, S1)

CC: Part Five

A breeze swept through Gravity Falls as a shiny red car drove into the town. It moved past the town, past the gym, past the Greasy Diner - until it finally stopped in front of a simple white cottage.

The cottage stood on a lonely street, a street with only a few houses littered amongst it. Right behind and beside the white cottage was a huge amount of land, and one would wonder what anyone would do with that amount of ground.

But that amount of ground was normal for any Gleeful to possess.

The car drove into the cottage's driveway and stopped, the motor shuddering before coming to a halt.

Stanley Gleeful got out of the driver's seat, dusting off his light-blue suit and then shutting his car door. Two other people helped themselves out of the car - one perhaps a little upset that no one opened the car door for her - and admired the view.

Mabel Marvelous was one of those people.

She had been away from Gravity Falls since the beginning of last year, travelling the country with her great-uncle and her aunt, performing shows with her faulty amulet. As soon as the car had crossed the line into Gravity Falls, however, Mabel's amulet started to glow a bright pink.

A brighter, more colorful pink than it had in any other town.

Now she ran her slender fingers over her amulet, which had been tied under her jacket's collar with the strings hidden.

"It's working," she announced happily. "Better than it did last time."

"Good to know," Stanley mused, throwing open the car's trunk. "Sadie, help me with the things."

Sadie Gleeful, who had been standing next to Mabel with a distracted gaze on her face, turned around and at once began to help her uncle. Mabel, however, stood in place, staring at the vast backyard that seemed too empty.

She didn't notice Stanley and Sadie lugging two giant suitcases into the white cottage. (Of course, they were both Mabel's suitcases; Mabel never left for a trip unless she was absolutely sure she had at least ten different-colored outfits.) 

She whirled around, feeling happy. Her amulet was working, she was back in Gravity Falls, and now she had a show to perform.

~

Much to Pacifica's dismay (but not to her surprise in the least), TV did nothing to alleviate her spirits.

It turned out that trying to take a break on a mystery by watching a show that solved a mystery wasn't helpful if one tried to take said break. Pacifica's mind kept wandering to the journal that was, as of now, currently hidden under her bed, just waiting to be opened and read once more . . .

Pacifica suddenly stood up, startling Gideon. "I'm going upstairs," she announced.

"M'kay." Gideon settled back into the sofa. "See you later."

Pacifica trudged upstairs, itching to breathe in the smell of old paper and ink. The reason for using ink baffled her - what had Ford been thinking (if the journal was at all his)? Pens had definitely been invented by the time he'd had the journal, right?

She shook off this thought as she swung her door open. Pacifica immediately hurried over to her bed, dropped to her knees, and peered under her bed.

Aha! There was the journal!

Satisfied, Pacifica pulled the journal out from under her bed and hoisted it into her lap.

She opened the book, breathing in the old-timey-book scent, and flipped to the first page.