Forest of Riddles (Reverse Falls, S1)

CC: Part Eight

Mabel Marvelous shivered in the spring breeze.

She pulled her sky-blue shawl around her tighter, glaring at the piece of paper in her hands. Stanley had refused to start the show until Mabel had met her new employees - something she hadn't wanted to do.

Nevertheless, here she was, standing in front of a funeral home. Apparently one of her employees was the daughter of . . . Mabel squinted at the paper . . . a 'Dan Valentino'?

This wasn't the first employee she had met. The first one knew Stanley by some vague detail - Soos, was that his name? - and he was much too awkward for Mabel, but she had to work with what she got.

With a frustrated mutter about something to do with Stanley, Mabel reached up and adjusted the big bow that pulled her hair back - and then knocked on the door.

The door soon opened to reveal a red-headed teenager, dressed in a green crop top and jean capris, and her hair was a striking red. Her gaze settled on Mabel, and her eyes narrowed.

"We don't want anything," the teen said before starting to close the door.

"No, wai -" Mabel straightened herself, dusting off her black dress and blue shawl and making sure her amulet was correctly pinning her shawl together. "Excuse me," she said primly. "I'm looking for a Wendy Valentino."

The teen paused, opened the door, and frowned. "That's me. What do you want?"

"I'm Mabel Marvelous, the star of the new Tent of Telepathy. My - um - manager told me you were to work there."

"Cut the polite already," Wendy snapped. "I already got a call about that."

"Right." Mabel stopped, pursing her lips. After a second or two of silence, she added, "Well, I'm not the only star. You must know my co-star, Mason Gleeful, since you live here."

Wendy paused. Then she raised an eyebrow. "Mason Gleeful?"

"You know," Mabel said, vaguely gesturing to nothing in particular. "Mason? Son of the Gleefuls?"

Realization struck the teen's face, and then she let out a snort. "You mean Dipper?" she sniggered.

Mabel blinked. So he went by Dipper now? Perhaps she had been gone for longer than she thought.

"Well?" she prompted. "Do you know him?"

"Duh." Wendy tugged at a strand of her red hair. "I'm his best friend."

". . . Oh." Mabel swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat. "Okay, then."

"Look," Wendy began. "I appreciate you coming to meet me and all, but I really need to get back to painting. When do I have to be there or whatever?"

"Tomorrow morning at eight, sharp," Mabel ordered.

Wendy's gaze settled onto the amulet pinning Mabel's shawl together.

Mabel glanced at her amulet and fingered it. "My amulet?" she said, answering Wendy's unspoken question. "Old family heirloom. Don't you like it?"

"Looks exactly like Dipper's," Wendy grumbled. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Mabel put on her most dazzling show smile and twirled around for effect. "See you then!"

~

The next time Dipper hung out with Wendy, he received some shocking news.

He'd been hanging around in the forests of Gravity Falls, leaning against a tree as he sat on a branch, when a rock hit him square in the arm.

"Ow!" he yelped, rubbing his shoulder.

Dipper heard someone snort. "Just me, Dip."

He glanced down to see Wendy already climbing up the tree with her backpack on.

Dipper scooted over to make room. Wendy hoisted herself onto the branch beside him, and she faced him with a sour expression, one leg over the thick branch and the other dangling off the other side. The branch went up, so now Dipper was nearly as tall as Wendy is both sat up straight. Wendy, however, slumped forward, making her now smaller than Dipper.

"Let me guess," Dipper said. "Graffiti is gone."

"Yep," Wendy muttered. "Didn't even last three days."

Then, after a moment of silence, she turned to him with an amused expression. "You didn't tell me your name was Mason."

Dipper flushed pink. "Who told you that?" he demanded.

"My new employee." Wendy shrugged, holding onto one of her backpack straps. "I apparently work for a 'Tent of Telepathy' now. Some girl came up to me and asked for a 'Mason Gleeful'."

"Who was it? The Chiu girl?"

"Nah, some girl who looked like you."

Dipper's heart skipped a beat.

"Say that again," he ordered.

Wendy looked at him with an odd expression. "A girl who looked like you?" she repeated, sounding confused.

Dipper stared at Wendy with a wild expression. "Tell me one thing you noticed about her."

Wendy gestured to Dipper's amulet. "She had an amulet like you."

Dipper's hands gripped the branch tightly.

"What color were her eyes?" he demanded. "Brown? Pink?"

"Yeesh, they were brown." Wendy glanced at her friend. "What's with you?"

"They weren't supposed to be back for another week!" Dipper cried, slamming a fist into his stiff hand. "And now she's suddenly back?! Did my parents KNOW about that?"

"Dude, calm down," Wendy said, sounding alarmed. "Who's back?"

But Dipper had already jumped down from the branch and had started to run. "Later!" he shouted over his shoulder.

They couldn't be back already. How long had they been back? How long had they been living right under his nose?

Dipper ran down a street with few houses, looking for a particular small cottage. He skidded to a stop.

In the driveway of a small white house, a red car stood on the hardened cement, gleaming in the afternoon sun.

Dipper's jaw dropped.

Wendy hadn't been lying. They really were here - here a week ahead of schedule.

Dipper stared at the car with wide, shocked eyes. His sister was here, back in Gravity Falls.

He couldn't believe it. It was too much of a coincidence - first his father made him wear his amulet again and now his sister was back in town. And his father hadn't even told him about Mabel's arrival.

But amidst all the confusion, Dipper still couldn't wrap his head around it.

Around the fact that, indeed, his sister was about to make her grand entrance.

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