"All right," Gideon said, "I should go."

Dipper patted Marigold's neck. "Marigold, will you take me up to Mabel's moon with Gideon?"

The peryton was hesitant. There was bad magic up there, she said. She didn't know if it would be safe for any of them.

"I know, but I want to go with Gideon to save my sister," Dipper said. "Please?"

Marigold and Rowan shared a look. Okay, the peryton agreed. She would go, but she would leave if it got dangerous.

"Thank you."

"Rowan. . . ," Gideon began. He hesitated for a moment. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you for everything. Please take Ford and my mother to the hamadryads and ask them to heal him. Once he's been healed, take them to the Mystery Museum, and make sure the servants there don't see you."

The buck agreed. They said their goodbyes; then Rowan banked, turning to a particular spot in the forest, as Gideon and Marigold flew up to Mabel's moon.

Dipper had almost forgotten about the servants at the Museum. Together, the boys had fought seven servants and won, and somehow that felt like all of them. But it wasn't, Dipper knew. They still had to deal with the servants and the Order members back at the Museum. He wondered if the Corduroys had convinced anyone to switch sides while he was gone.

With a start, he realized they hadn't been gone for very long. They'd left that morning, and it was evening now, since Gideon had first gone to visit Ford around dinnertime. Dipper had no idea what time it was, but they'd been in the Manor for less than a day.

With that thought, he started to feel tired. He almost suggested to Gideon that they find a place to sleep for the night and then go after Mabel in the morning. But right after he had the thought, he realized how stupid it was. They had no idea how much longer Mabel had before. . . before it was too late. They couldn't rest while she still needed them.

Gideon seemed to be thinking the same thoughts, for he looked tired but determined.

Mabel's moon loomed above them as they flew towards it. It was big and blue, and Dipper could feel the evil emanating from the bright cracks in its surface. Marigold's thoughts got more and more worried as they got closer.

Soon, the wind picked up. At first, Dipper thought it just happened to be windy, but the wind kept getting stronger and stronger, until Marigold was buffeted back and forth in its strong gales. The wind didn't seem to affect Gideon (who didn't rely on aerodynamics for his flight) nearly as much as it did Marigold. Her wings beat the air; she surged forward, but then a strong wind knocked her back. She tried again and again but didn't seem to get anywhere.

"Fall back!" Gideon called over the wind. He flew down, away from the moon, and Marigold gratefully followed.

Dipper gently rubbed Marigold's neck. I can't do it, she told him. I'm sorry, but I can't. She flapped her wings to stay in the air, but she looked tired.

"Please," Dipper said. "Please try."

"Dipper," said Gideon, who was hovering nearby, "I don't think she can make it. The wind is too strong. I have to go on my own."

"No, please, one more try! I have to get up there!"

"Dipper. . ."

Marigold tossed her head. One more try, she said. One more.

"Okay," Gideon said to her. "If you want to."

Dipper felt Marigold gathering her strength. She nodded, and she and Gideon started ascending again.

The wind beat at them once more. Dipper leaned down as far as he could against Marigold, and her powerful wings beat the wind right back. Gideon purposefully slowed down to wait for Marigold; he looked battered, but the amulet seemed to be shielding him from the worst of the wind. Not Marigold: She had to fight for every inch of progress.

Dipper silently encouraged her on. But it wasn't too long before Marigold's slow progress became no progress at all, and the most powerful strokes of her wings couldn't get her any closer to Mabel's moon. It was all she could do to stay in the air.

She let out a bleating call of distress — the first actual sound Dipper had heard from her — and fell back.

Dipper's heart sank as they dove away from the moon — away from the wind. When the wind had died to a breeze, Marigold stopped and hovered in the air.

Gideon followed them down and hovered beside them. "I'm sorry, Dipper," he said. "I really have to go alone."

In the sky above, the stars disappeared and reappeared.

Dipper squeezed his eyes shut as tears — from the harsh winds and from his own sadness — dribbled down his cheeks. "I don't—"

"What?" Gideon asked when Dipper didn't finish.

Dipper knew that Marigold was tired, that she wanted to land. If he wanted to say something to Gideon, he had to do it now. "I don't want Mabel to be hurt like Ford," he said. "I — I want her to be okay."

"She'll be okay," Gideon promised. "It's hard to wait for someone else to save her, I know. And I. . . I'll admit, I'm scared that I won't be able to help her." He took a deep breath. "But I'm going to try. If it's possible to save Mabel, then I'm going to save Mabel."

Dipper believed him. He believed that Gideon would do his best to help her. But it still would be agony to wait for them.

"Here," Dipper said. "Take this." He pulled his pack around and rummaged in it until he pulled out Mabel's sketchbook. He held it out to Gideon. "Take this to her. Give it back to her."

Gideon took the sketchbook and put it in his pack. "All right," he said.

Dipper drew in a deep breath.

"Go. Go save my sister," he said. He stared hard at Gideon through his blurry tears, as if he could send him success through nothing but his gaze.

"I will," Gideon said.

And he rose once more towards Mabel's moon.

Dipper wanted to watch him, but Marigold was exhausted, and she needed to land as soon as possible. So Dipper turned away from the moon as Marigold flew to the forest.

He closed his eyes, unable to bear the blue light of the moon he couldn't reach. But closing his eyes wasn't much better, for whenever he did, he saw Ford again, lying on the cold concrete floor of the disciplinary. Eventually, the image of Ford morphed into the image of Mabel, lying broken on the same bare floor.

Dipper made a pitiful noise and buried his face in Marigold's fur. No. No, Mabel wouldn't be like that. She would be okay. And Ford was with the nymphs by now, getting healed. He would be okay, too.

Marigold felt Dipper's thoughts and sent back feelings of comfort and peace. He leaned against her gratefully, trying to banish the nightmarish images from his mind.

"Do you know where to find Rowan and the others?" he asked her. Yes, she told him. He would be back with their herd, near Ivy's tree.

They soon arrived. Marigold landed on her feet, but quickly fell to her knees, right in the deep snow. Dipper climbed off of her and stroked her wing. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you. I'm sorry I tired you out so much."

Marigold looked up at him with her clear black eyes. She wanted to help, she told him. She didn't regret it.

Dipper threw his arms around her neck. "Thank you," he said again.

"Dipper?" said a voice.

Dipper turned from Marigold to see Geneva, standing a few yards away and looking a bit lost. "Hey, Geneva," Dipper said. He got to his feet, patted Marigold one more time, and then went over to her. "Where's Ford? Are the nymphs healing him?"

Geneva nodded slowly. "The nymph took him into that tree," she said, pointing. "Is that, um, normal?"

"Yeah, that's how they heal you. I hope his metal plate doesn't get in the way," he said as an afterthought. But it shouldn't be a problem, right?

"How long will he be in there?" Geneva asked.

"Um, no idea," Dipper said. "A nymph healed me this morning, and it only took a few minutes, but I just had some scratches and bruises, not broken bones." He swallowed as the unwanted image of Ford came back into his mind. "Where's Rowan?" he asked Geneva, trying to think about something else.

Before Geneva could answer, Rowan appeared, stepping between the trees. He sent a warm greeting to Dipper, but his mood changed in an instant when he saw Marigold lying in the snow. He hurried over to her, kneeling beside her and nuzzling her gently.

Dipper gasped. "They're mates," he said in a soft voice. Of course they were. Dipper grinned at them and, for a moment, forgot his worries about his own family.

Dipper and Geneva watched the two perytons. At Rowan's encouragement, Marigold got to her feet, and the two of them walked slowly past the humans.

"Rowan?" said Dipper as he passed. An idea had just occurred to him.

The peryton glanced at him. Dipper and Geneva were welcome to follow, but Rowan had to take Marigold someplace warm and dry where she could rest.

"Warm and dry sounds good; could we wait for Ford with her?" Dipper asked, following the perytons. Geneva trailed behind. Rowan agreed that they could wait with Marigold. He took them to a copse of pine trees, and Marigold ducked under the branches. Dipper moved the branches aside and watched her curl herself around a tree trunk and put her head down on the snowless dirt.

Dipper smiled at her, then turned back to Rowan. "How long do you think Ford will be?" he asked.

Rowan wasn't sure, but his best guess was two to three hours.

"Will you or another peryton take me to the minotaurs? They're going to want an update on everything that happened today." Dipper glanced at Geneva. "You can come, too, if you want."

"Oh, no, I'll stay here with this peryton," she said. She seemed nervous at the thought of minotaurs. She smiled at Dipper, then followed Marigold under the pine trees.

I can take you, Rowan said. How long will you want to be there?

"Probably about an hour," Dipper said. He had to tell Andrew his story, and tell him what they were planning to do about the Cipher Wheel, and Andrew might have something to tell Dipper, too. An hour seemed like a good estimate.

Dipper mounted Rowan, who was bigger and stronger than Marigold. Rowan took off and, after about ten minutes of flight, landed again outside the minotaur village. They were outside the boundary of invisibility, but Dipper recognized the trees and nearby cliffs.

"Andrew?" he called as he and Rowan walked toward the village. "If anybody can hear me, I need to talk to Andrew."

He stepped forward, and the village appeared, but no minotaurs were nearby. Dipper led Rowan deeper into the village, calling for Andrew.

After a minute, Andrew exited one of the huts. "Dipper," he said in surprise. "I thought you were at the Museum."

"I was, but a lot happened today," Dipper said. He patted Rowan's neck. "Rowan flew me here so I could tell you about it."

"Come in, then," Andrew said, gesturing inside the hut.

Rowan stayed outside, and Dipper went into the small hut. To his delight, it was full of minotaurs: Moira, Andrew's wife; Ásham, her nephew; and Enoch, Naomi, Drew, and Timmy, Andrew's four calves. After a few minutes of introductions, Dipper sat at the table with little Timmy in his arms and told Andrew the whole story of what happened today.

All seven minotaurs listened with rapt attention, and Dipper quickly got into his captivating storytelling mode. When he told about Ford's rescue and how he used his grappling hook to swing down the stairs and kick a servant in the face, Naomi gasped and started clapping.

Dipper told them that Bill was in Lee's body all the time now, which meant that they couldn't rescue Lee, but also meant that Bill couldn't spy on them. He told them how Ford was getting healed by the nymphs, and Lee was at the Museum as a spirit, trying to talk to Pacifica about possessing someone. Andrew had met Pacifica on the day she'd stolen the dagger, and he doubted she would help Lee at all. "I know," Dipper said. "I. . . I really hate her right now for what she did to Mabel. But until Gideon gets back, Lee can't talk to anyone else."

Once Dipper finished telling his long story, Andrew told him what he had been doing: readying spells. The minotaurs were too large to ride flying creatures like perytons, and Andrew struggled to find a spell that would temporarily grant them flight; but he had been trying, and he and his son Enoch had gathered together the offensive and defensive spells they knew and taught them to other minotaurs. "When we come to the Museum," Andrew said, "we'll be able to help fight Cipher's servants and give you time to form the Cipher Wheel. We weren't prepared last time, and Pacifica got past us with dark magic we weren't ready to counter. But we will be ready soon."

"Awesome," Dipper said. "Once Gideon comes back with Mabel, he might be able to levitate you guys across the rifts."

Speaking of dark magic, Dipper wanted to know how Pacifica had gotten the dagger. With heavy voices, Andrew and Enoch took turns telling the story: how Andrew's brother, Caleb, had betrayed them all and given the dagger to Pacifica.

"He has a human wife and child I never knew about," Andrew said. "Yingtai and Mei Xing Chiu."

Dipper's eyes widened. "Chiu? Like, Candy Chiu?"

Andrew wasn't sure, but Dipper didn't know any other Chius. "Candy is part minotaur?" he exclaimed. "That's awesome!"

The minotaurs all flinched.

Dipper realized he was being insensitive and winced. "Sorry," he said. "He shouldn't have hidden that from you."

Andrew took a deep breath. "It sounds like this Candy is your friend."

"Yeah, she is. I hope she's okay."

"She's with her papa now," Enoch said quietly. "That's good, at least."

After that, the hut felt subdued, but Dipper stayed a few more minutes. They talked for a little longer, and then Dipper figured it had been about an hour. "Well, I'm going to go with Rowan and wait for Ford to be healed," he said. "It was so great to meet you all."

Andrew nodded. "Thank you for visiting and telling us everything. Stay safe."

"You too," Dipper said. He turned to go.

"Dipper."

He looked over his shoulder. Ásham was staring at him intently.

"Yeah?" Dipper asked. Ásham had hardly said anything the entire time Dipper had been here.

"Defeat Bill Cipher," Ásham said. "My. . . my wife. . ."

Moira put a hand on his shoulder, and he ran a hand over his blue-grey head with a shaky breath. "My wife died fighting him," Ásham said. "You have to defeat him."

Dipper's eyes widened. He wanted to ask what happened. Was Ásham's wife that nice minotaur who had been guarding Lee last week? Had she died when the servants kidnapped Ford and Lee?

But he didn't say any of that. "We will," he said simply.

He left the minotaur hut, and Rowan flew him back to Ivy's tree. They went to the copse of trees where they'd left Marigold, and to Dipper's surprise, Ford was there, leaning against Marigold's wing and resting. Geneva explained that Ivy had brought him out of the tree a few minutes ago, but he likely wouldn't be fully healed for some hours yet.

"Then maybe we should stay the night here," Dipper said. He was exhausted, but he'd managed to ignore it until now. "Rowan, can Geneva, Ford, and I stay with you and Marigold under those trees?"

Rowan agreed, and they all got situated. Dipper gave Geneva some heat mushrooms from his pack and got some out for himself. Geneva curled up against Rowan, and Dipper leaned against Marigold, sitting beside Ford.

Ford seemed to be asleep, but Dipper whispered to him, "I'm here now, Grunkle Ford. We're going to sleep here while you heal. Then we'll go back to the Mystery Museum."

Ford wasn't asleep, as it turned out. With his eyes closed, he said, "Sounds like a plan. Thank you, Dipper."

"Of course."

Ford gave a little chuckle. "Interesting timing, isn't it? I'd just healed from the Order beating me up at the UFO. Good thing Ivy was willing to heal me this time."

"Yeah," Dipper said. Then he found tears in his eyes. "I'm so glad you're okay, Grunkle Ford. I was. . . I was so scared. When I saw you in that room. . ."

Ford reached out and took Dipper's hand. "I'm okay now," he said softly.

He was. He was okay.

Dipper snuggled against Marigold. Still holding his grunkle's hand, he finally allowed himself to sleep.

Keyword cipher, code word: Mabel