Ford and Dipper didn't get back to the Mystery Museum until dark. That wasn't good: Ford had wanted to go out into the forest today. More so now that Robbie had told them about his encounter with June. Ford's memories of the hamadryad were hazy, as his memories from the early eighties often were, but he had a feeling that she was important. He wanted to find her and talk to her again.

But he wouldn't be able to go out in the dark. The conversation with Wendy had taken longer than expected: Even with Robbie there, the girl had largely refused to listen to them. Robbie had claimed afterward that Wendy was scared, but Ford thought she was just being obstinate.

Ford and Dipper had sent Robbie back to his parents. Ford was worried that the Corduroys would try to keep Robbie away from the Pines, as they had earlier, but Robbie was unwilling to abandon his parents. Even after he found out about Bill and some of the darker parts of the Order, Robbie didn't want to leave Greg and Janice. Ford had to respect that — and he would have to hope that the Corduroys wouldn't get in Robbie's way.

As Ford stepped into the Museum and took off his coat, a sudden weariness overcame him. The day wasn't over, despite the deceiving darkness; yet it had been such an emotionally exhausting day that Ford could hardly think of doing anything besides eating dinner and crawling into bed.

Gideon and Mabel were in the living room — Gideon sitting on the couch, Mabel laying on the floor, each with a Journal in front of them. They looked up when Ford and Dipper entered. "How'd it go?" Mabel asked. "Are they going to join us?"

"Robbie will," Dipper said. "His parents don't like it, but I don't think they'll stop him. Wendy, though. . . well, she didn't like what we had to say. I don't think she wants anything to do with us, much less the Cipher Wheel."

"Robbie said he'd keep trying to convince her," Ford said.

"Why won't the Corduroys try to stop Robbie?" asked Gideon.

"I think they're starting to feel guilty," Dipper said. "I may have, um, yelled at them. For helping Pacifica kidnap Mabel."

"Let's hope they're feeling guilty," Ford said. "Let's hope they start to see reason."

"I don't know about the likelihood of that," Gideon said. "But I'm glad Robbie's with us."

"Is Melody with Fidds?" asked Ford.

Mabel's eyes lit up. "Yeah. He woke up earlier. Melody said he sat up and had a conversation with her before he fell back to sleep."

"He did?" said Dipper. "That's great!"

"Yeah," Mabel said. "He said he wanted to talk to you, Grunkle Ford, when he could. Melody said he seemed really sorry about. . . about what he did to Grunkle Lee."

A knot of anger tightened in Ford's chest. "I see," he said. He knew that they had to nurse Fiddleford back to health so that he could join them in the Cipher Wheel — but otherwise, Ford had no desire to ever see the man again. Just thinking about him made Ford so angry and sad that he could hardly think at all.

"Melody should be out soon to start dinner," Mabel said, trying to change the subject when she saw Ford's expression turn ugly. "Until then, Grunkle Ford, can Gideon and I talk to you? We've been looking through the Journals, and we have some ideas."

Dipper glanced at Gideon. "Is it everything you dreamed of, having all three Journals?" He finished taking off his coat and snow boots and flopped on the ground next to Mabel.

"I guess so," Gideon said. "I really only needed the first."

"Did you find what you were looking for, then?" asked Ford. He came over and sat on the couch next to the Northwest.

Gideon and Mabel shared a glance. "Yeah, I did," Gideon said.

He didn't seem to want to share much else. Ford hadn't gotten a chance to reread the entire first Journal yet, and he wondered what Gideon had found in there. But he let the subject go for the moment. "What ideas did you two have?"

"About the supernatural creatures," Gideon said. "We could use a magical healer for Fiddleford, and we need all the information we can get about how to break Bill's connection with Lincoln. So Mabel and I looked through the Journals to see what creatures we should look for specifically. Melody said that Lincoln suggested the nymphs, and there's this entry in the second Journal — look." Mabel handed Gideon the second Journal, and he flipped through it. "Here," he said. "You wrote an entry about a hamadryad named Juniper."

There she was again. It was as if the universe were screaming at Ford to go find her. "Robbie met Juniper just yesterday," Ford said. "She told him that the barrier at the edge of town goes around the whole forest. It's a big dome."

"So we're really trapped in here?" Mabel asked. She sounded unsurprised but still scared.

"I'm afraid so," Ford said.

"We have time," Gideon assured her. "You said your school doesn't start again until the fourteenth, right?"

"Yeah, our winter break is a whole month," Dipper said. "It means we have a shorter summer, though."

"We're supposed to leave town on the twelfth," Mabel said. "That's only six days from now. Do you think we can form the Wheel by then, Grunkle Ford?"

"I. . . I don't know," he admitted. "But we'll keep working for it. We officially have seven Symbols on our side. We just have to convince Wendy, Fiddleford, and Pacifica. And figure out a way for Lee to join us."

Mabel lowered her head onto her arms. "That's so much," she said, her voice muffled.

"It'll be okay," Dipper said. "It sounds like the next step is to go see Juniper the hamadryad."

"Agreed," Ford said. "We'll go tomorrow."

"All of us?" asked Mabel.

"Sure," Ford said.

"Can we go see the minotaurs, too?" said Dipper. "Andrew seemed like he knew stuff about the Cipher Wheel."

Mabel raised her head to look at her brother. "You just want to see Andrew again."

"Well, yeah. He's cool."

"Let's start with June," Ford said. "It might be a good idea to see the minotaurs, too. I think. . ." He frowned as a memory flashed through his mind. A feeling of acceleration. Glimpses of colors. Dizziness. "I think I remember traveling through the trees with June," he said. As soon as he said the words, he felt that they were right. "The hamadryads share a network of trees, and they can transport humans through them. June might be able to get us to the minotaurs quickly."

"Perfect!" said Dipper.

Ford smiled absently at Dipper, but his thoughts were still trying to parse out his memories of June. Why was he still having trouble remembering his past? He had all three Journals back, even if he hadn't read through all of them yet. He'd found Stanley and Fiddleford, too. Surely his memories should come back to him easily now.

His smile slipped into a frown. There was still a major hole in his memories, though. He may not want to see Fiddleford again, but Ford had to find out what exactly had happened all those years ago. He needed to know how Fiddleford had ended up in Bill's dimension and Stanley had ended up at the Order.

Stanley. What was he doing now? Was he talking to Pacifica about the Cipher Wheel? Had Bill left his body for the day? What had they found in the Order library?

"Grunkle Ford?" asked Mabel, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," he said. "I'm trying to remember exactly how I knew June. I wrote about her in the second Journal, but there was something else that happened later. Something big. I can't quite remember."

"You still have holes?" Dipper sounded as disappointed as Ford felt.

"Unfortunately, yes," Ford said. "I think I've remembered most everything up until 1982. That entire year is fuzzy, but something important happened with June partway through."

"What would help you remember?" Gideon asked.

"There's usually a trigger," Ford said. "I'll have to ask Fidds exactly how he made me forget, but I was probably shot by some kind of prototype of the memory gun that didn't destroy anything, just covered it up. Seeing something from the past — like my Journals, or the portal — brings back some memories."

"Would going to see June work as a trigger?" Mabel asked.

"Definitely," Ford said. "She could probably tell me herself, too."

"Then we'll go tomorrow," Dipper declared. "Family trip!"

Gideon quietly took the first Journal, which was between him and the arm of the couch, and opened it on his lap. He started flipping through it.

"What are you looking for?" Ford asked.

Gideon glanced up at him. "Um. . . there's somewhere else I want to try to visit tomorrow. I'm just checking if it's anywhere near June's tree."

"Maybe I can help. What is it?"

Ford could tell that Gideon was hesitant to share. Finally, the boy sighed and turned pages until he stopped on a page with a map, a block of text, and a detailed sketch of a flower. "The Northwest's Relief," read the title.

"Here," Gideon said. "This was what I was looking for. There's a note about it in your second Journal, and I wanted to read about it in the first."

Ford skimmed the entry. The memories came back as he read. "Right. I remember the Northwest's Relief."

"The what?" Dipper said.

"The Northwest's Relief," Mabel said. "It's a flower. Gideon was looking for it when we overheard him talking to the fairies, remember?"

Dipper thought about it. "Wow. That seems so long ago."

"It was, in our perspective," Ford said. He still hadn't quite wrapped his brain around the idea of the time bubble — the magic that had crammed weeks and months into the space of January fifth. The time bubble had popped — it was now January sixth — yet to those in Gravity Rises, it felt like it should be February or March, based on how much time had passed within the bubble.

"Is this location anywhere near Juniper's tree?" Gideon asked, pointing to the map on the Journal page. "Do you know?"

"Hand me the second Journal," Ford instructed. Gideon complied, and Ford opened the Journal to the page with directions to June's tree. He looked between the two Journals, trying to form a picture in his head of where the two different locations were. "I don't think they're near each other," he finally said. "We can ask June, though."

"No, it's okay," Gideon said, though he sounded disappointed. "It's a personal project. We shouldn't let it get in the way of forming the Cipher Wheel."

"Maybe if we have time," Ford said. Now that he'd seen the entry on the Northwest's Relief, he remembered his old desire to harvest the flowers and use them in medicinal developments. He wondered if that would be a feasible goal.

But, as Gideon said, the Cipher Wheel was more important. They could worry about personal projects later.

Ford glanced down at the first Journal again. "Do you know why it's called the Northwest's Relief?" he asked Gideon. "I never figured that out."

Gideon glanced at Mabel. "I can guess," he said, "but I'd rather not share."

Ford frowned. Well, he wouldn't push. What was it that Gideon didn't want to share, though? Why had he looked to Mabel?

Footsteps sounded in the hall, and Melody stepped into the entryway. "Welcome back, boys," she said. "How'd it go?"

"Robbie's with us," Dipper said. "Wendy needs a bit more time, but hopefully Robbie can bring her around."

Melody nodded. "Were Greg and Janice there when you went?" she asked.

"They were," Ford said. "Robbie managed to diffuse the situation before things got too heated. And he somehow convinced them not to stop him from helping us."

"It's so confusing," Dipper said. "The Corduroys seem like good people, but they're helping Bill. I don't get it."

Melody nodded again, this time sadly. "Even good people can do bad things if they're misinformed," she said.

Dipper glanced to Mabel. "I did get an apology from Greg, though," he said. "For kidnapping you back at the Northwest party."

Mabel looked startled. "Oh. Um, that's good, I guess."

"Yeah, I didn't really know how to react either."

"Well, I'll get dinner on," Melody said. "Ford, did Mabel and Gideon tell you about Fidds waking up?"

"They did," Ford said. "Was it just the one time?"

"So far," Melody said. "But he seemed a lot healthier than I expected. I think he'll recover." Her tone was optimistic.

"The kids and I are going to go see a hamadryad friend of mine tomorrow," Ford said. "We'll ask her about Fidds."

Melody put her hands together. "Oh, good. I'll make a list of questions for you to take." With that, she disappeared into the kitchen to start on dinner.

Ford watched her go, then leaned his head against the back of the couch. "I'm so tired," he said. "I hope I make it through dinner."

"If you fall asleep, I'll make sure you don't drown in your mashed potatoes," Dipper said solemnly.

"Is Melody making mashed potatoes tonight?"

"I dunno, that was just the first thing I thought of."

A knock sounded at the door.

The Pines and Gideon exchanged confused glances. "I'll go check who it is," Dipper said.

"Okay, but don't open the door until I say so," Ford said. They couldn't trust anyone who came to their door these days.

Dipper got up and headed to the door, peering out the diamond-shaped window. "Oh, the porch light's not on yet," he said. He flicked a switch behind the coatrack.

The porch light snapped on, and Ford thought he heard a muffled yelp of surprise. "Who's there, Dipper?" Ford asked.

Dipper looked out the window again. "Uh, Gideon," he said. "He looks like one of your dad's servants."

"What?" Gideon stood up from the couch and joined Dipper at the window. "It's Marcus," Gideon said in surprise. "What's he doing here?"

"Don't ask me."

Gideon glanced back at Ford. "I'm going to open the door," he said.

"Is it just the one person?" Ford asked.

"As far as I can tell."

"Then go ahead, I guess," Ford said. If Gideon thought it was safe, then it probably was.

Gideon opened the door. "Hello," he said. There was a wary tinge to his voice. "Do you need something?"

"I brought clothes for you," Ford heard the servant say, "and some other supplies for your stay here."

"Oh," Gideon said, even more surprised. "Thank you."

"Lord Cipher must really want you out of the way," the servant said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "He sent me. But he also wanted me to remind you that you're here by his pleasure."

Gideon's voice stiffened. "I didn't need the reminder."

"He apparently thought you did. May I?" Gideon moved aside, and Ford could see as the uniformed servant lifted a small suitcase into the house. Then he bowed to Gideon, and his dull red hair glinted in the porch light. "Have a good evening." He turned to go.

"Marcus," said Gideon. The servant stopped and turned back. "Is this a trick?"

"Not that I'm aware," the servant replied. "It seems Cipher is content to keep the punishment to your dreams this time." He gave another little bow. "Good night."

Then he left.

Gideon closed the door and looked down at the suitcase. His expression was a mixture of suspicion and befuddlement.

"Well, that was weird," Dipper said. He peeked out the door window. "He's really leaving."

"I thought he'd try to take me back," Gideon said. Now that the servant had left, Ford could see traces of residual fear in Gideon's face. The boy was quite good at hiding such emotions — Ford was almost jealous, to tell the truth.

Mabel, having stood up when Gideon opened the door, now moved to his side. "It's okay," she said softly. "You're safe."

"And now you can use your own pajamas," Dipper said.

"Is it strange that I'm worried it'll explode if I open it?" Gideon asked, nudging the suitcase with his foot.

"Not in the least," Ford said. "If you want, we can take it out in the yard to open it." He was mostly joking, but he spoke seriously.

"I think it's fine," Gideon said. "Explosions aren't really my father's style." He pulled on a zipper. It moved smoothly down its track. "Huh. Really does look like clothes and such."

"That's good, right?" said Mabel. "It means you're really staying here."

"Yeah," Gideon said. "Yeah, I am." The hint of relief in his voice told Ford that he was probably feeling ecstatic.

"You're welcome to stay for as long as you need," Melody said from the kitchen.

"Thank you," Gideon said. He glanced at Mabel and Dipper. "I probably shouldn't sleep in the attic, though. I don't want to keep you up again."

"I'll take the air mattress in the attic," Ford offered. "You can have the couch." Even as he said it, his sore joints protested at the thought of going up the stairs. Well, he'd just deal with it — he needed to get into better shape after his injuries, anyway.

"Thanks," Gideon said. "Hopefully I won't wake anybody up from here."

"Are you sure you'll be good going up the stairs, Ford?" asked Melody.

"I'll be fine," he said. "I'll probably have to do more than just go up some stairs if we really are going to fight against Cipher."

"Okay," said Melody. Ford couldn't see her face, but her voice sounded like she knew how little he was looking forward to using the stairs.

"It's not like I haven't been using the basement stairs for the past few weeks," he muttered to himself.

Before long, dinner was ready. There were no mashed potatoes for Ford to drown in, but his tiredness weighed on him through the meal. "I need to go to sleep after this," he said around a yawn.

"Good plan," Melody agreed.

After dinner, Ford went with Melody to his room to get his pajamas and things. He gathered the clothes in his arms. "May I take my pillow?" he asked, glancing to the bed. There was really only one pillow that didn't cramp his neck. And Fiddleford was currently lying on it.

Melody shook her head. "I don't know if he has any infectious diseases. We shouldn't risk it."

Ford sighed loudly. "Fine."

Melody found him the best pillow she could, and he finished getting ready for bed. Then he took the dreaded trip up the stairs, and it wasn't as bad as he'd feared — though it was concerning that he disliked climbing stairs even while he did things like sneaking into the Order headquarters and trekking through the forest with minotaurs.

Just another strange part of being old, he supposed.

He settled onto the uncomfortable air mattress with his uncomfortable pillow and couldn't help but think unpleasant thoughts toward Fiddleford. The man had done terrible things; and now, to top it all off, he got to steal Ford's room? When Ford was this tired, that seemed like the greatest injustice of all.

It wasn't long before his thoughts slipped from Fiddleford to June. The living room light shone up the stairs and gave Ford blurry shadows to watch as he thought. Juniper. She was a hamadryad with long auburn hair and a cheerful, albeit somewhat mischievous, smile. Her tree was in the middle of the leprecorn habitat, and Ford was always hesitant to visit her because of that. He smiled to himself as he recalled how she scolded him for avoiding her and her "babies."

He remembered the general idea of her. That was good. But he still couldn't remember the other part. The big thing she had been a part of.

Eventually, he fell asleep, deciding that he didn't have to remember tonight. He would find out tomorrow.

~~~~~

Caleb moved through the twilight. Yingtai probably wouldn't be to their sanctuary for some time, but Caleb wanted to go a little early. He wanted to talk to Bill Cipher.

He found the sanctuary easily in the dim light, and he sat down on a log at the edge of the clearing. He'd contacted Cipher from this same spot last night, and he was grateful that he could do it from anywhere. Humans needed to perform an elaborate summoning spell or else wait for Cipher to appear in their dreams — but not minotaurs. They, and most other creatures in the forest, had a much easier time of contacting the demon when they wanted to.

Caleb murmured the incantation to himself. The words were from some old dialect of the native minotauran language, and they translated to something like, "Let me slip into the space between dreams." When Caleb finished saying the words, the shadows of the twilight — which were already lacking in color — turned fully greyscale. The change was subtle, but Caleb recognized it from experience. "Bill Cipher," he called out.

It wasn't long before Cipher appeared in a yellow flash. His light illuminated the otherwise-dim area. "What did you find out?" the triangle asked.

"The dagger is in a cave not too far from the minotaur boundaries. If you follow the cliff line from the western boundary, it's the second cave that you come across. I remember thinking that the cave opening looks almost like a triangle," Caleb added, "so that might help you find it. Also, Andrew is leaving at midday tomorrow to go talk with the brownies about reconstruction. The village is still in chaos from the anomalies, and I don't think they'll leave anyone to guard the dagger. It would be a good time to come get it."

"Wonderful," Cipher said. "I'll bring Lincoln, the human that I can possess at will. Whatever happens, though, do not reveal yourself to him. I can possess him, but he'll use any opportunity he can to work against me. He can't know that you're on my side, or he might reveal that to Andrew before we're ready. Sound good?"

"Sure," Caleb said. "Do you want me to duck out and contact you as close as I can to Andrew leaving?"

"Hmm. I need time to get from the Order to your village in a human body. How long do you think Andrew will be?"

"A few hours at least," Caleb said.

"I don't want to get here too early," Cipher mused. "I think there's a greater risk of that than there is of getting here late. Yes, go ahead and contact me when you see Andrew leave. Is he taking a group with him?"

"Yes, some half a dozen others," Caleb said. "I'll keep an eye on them and contact you again."

"Good. I can't contact you when I'm inside Lincoln's body, so we'll have to time this right." Cipher floated a little closer to Caleb. "Have you heard anything else interesting today?" he asked.

"I asked Andrew more about the dagger. He says it has a lot of power, but only when it's used to cut the hands of your Symbols. Once it tastes their blood, it'll start our journey through the dimensions. It's definitely the object you're looking for."

"Excellent," Cipher said happily. "Then that's the next step. Thank you, Caleb, for your help. I'm glad to get a confirmation. The resources in the Order library were too vague to really be of much use — they don't even mention that the object is a dagger, only that it can 'mar the skin.' Human prophets are so annoying."

Caleb didn't know about human prophets, but he found minotaur prophets annoying, himself. But at least minotaurs were clear about their prophecies. With that clarity, and with everything Andrew had shared with him over the years, Caleb was able to inform Cipher of much more than his prison guardians ever expected.

"Well, unless there's anything else you need to tell me, I'll be off now," Cipher said. "Contact me tomorrow when Andrew leaves. Then make sure to stay away from the cave so that there's no connection between you and my human. I should be able to feel if you try to contact me while I'm inside Lincoln's body, even if I can't respond; I want you to try that if there's an emergency. If I feel that you're trying to contact me after you contact me the first time, then I'll simply turn around, and we can try again later."

"All right," Caleb said.

"Yingtai is almost here," Cipher informed him. "You can tell her the good news, but only if she promises not to share it with anyone. The plan is our secret." Cipher floated up higher. "Until tomorrow, Caleb."

"Until tomorrow," Caleb said.

Bill's light grew until Caleb had to look away; when he looked back, he was no longer in the mindscape.

He could hardly believe it. They had a plan to get the dagger. They were on their way to Bill's dimension, where Caleb could live freely with his family. This was really happening.

A flashlight beam soon shone in the distance, and Yingtai came into the clearing. "Oh, good, you're already here," she said with a smile.

"Yes." Caleb stood and embraced his wife. "I have great news. I just finished talking with Cipher."

Yingtai's eyes brightened. "And?"

"And it's happening," Caleb said. "Cipher's going to make an attempt for the dagger tomorrow."

"Really?" Yingtai whispered. Her voice was hopeful.

"Really," Caleb said. He pulled Yingtai close. "By this time tomorrow, we could be on our way to our new home."