The Mystery Museum was getting crowded. Mabel was starting to feel pretty claustrophobic.

They were gathering as many Symbols as they could to the Museum, and Andrew the minotaur had visited a few times and put defensive magic around the building. Dipper had enthusiastically introduced Mabel to his minotaur friend, and Mabel thought that Andrew was pretty cool. And he seemed to know a lot about magic, which was fascinating.

But he wouldn't explain anything to Mabel. If Mabel knew, then Bill knew. Only Ford could know the details of the magic. It drove Mabel crazy. While Ford was working with Andrew outside or behind closed doors, Mabel was left to stew inside, trapped with Dipper, Gideon, Melody, Fidds, and the growing number of guests.

First was Robbie — and his parents. Ford and Andrew had gone to get one person and had come back with three. The Corduroys brought cots and sleeping bags and other supplies — like they were going camping — and set up inside the Hall of Mysteries (after Melody had instructed the twins and Gideon to clear out many of the displays). Everyone had been wary of Greg and Janice at first, though they (and Robbie) had insisted that they were no longer helping Bill. Greg even apologized directly to Mabel for his part in helping Pacifica kidnap her.

It was even more awkward than hearing about it from Dipper.

Mabel still wasn't sure about letting Robbie's parents stay at the Museum. (Gideon grumbled that he'd be able to judge their sincerity in a second, if only he had his amulet.) But Andrew seemed to trust them, which helped the Pines do the same. The minotaur pointed out that it was safest for everyone if they stayed here, because then Bill couldn't send the Northwest servants to harass the Symbols' families while the Symbols were safe in the Museum.

Robbie also told the twins what had happened since he'd last seen Ford and Dipper. He and his parents had had many long talks, trying to figure things out. The barrier around the town, causing a car accident and general panic; the guilt that arose when Ford and Lee had found each other after thirty years of lies; Dipper's outburst and accusations about the Corduroys kidnapping Mabel — all these factors helped the Corduroys see the harm caused by Bill and the Order.

So now Mabel had to share a house with them. They mostly stayed out of the way, but mealtimes got crowded.

And it only got worse when the Valentinos joined them.

The morning after the Corduroys came, Ford, Andrew, and Robbie went to Wendy's house. Like the first time they'd gone, Wendy had been originally unwilling to listen to them — but seeing a minotaur outside her house had stunned her enough to change her mind. Andrew was living proof of the supernatural — proof that Ford and Robbie weren't just making things up. Wendy still wasn't happy to be part of the Cipher Wheel, but she, her father, and her three brothers had all come to the Museum to join what Dipper was calling the "Symbol refuge."

That made eight Symbols and six others staying in the Museum. The Corduroys and the Valentinos shared the Hall of Mysteries; Gideon slept on the couch; Ford slept on the air mattress in the attic; the twins were in their room; and Melody and Fiddleford were in Ford's room. The kitchen got so crowded that they started eating meals in shifts, and the adults took turns cooking.

Mabel felt decidedly trapped. How long would they have to stay like this? It was already Wednesday, the ninth of January: only three days before she and Dipper were supposed to go home. Was there any chance of getting out of this in time? It didn't feel like there was.

Eight Symbols were ready and willing to form the Cipher Wheel. Fiddleford still got tired easily, but he was fully on board with defeating Bill. Wendy seemed scared, and she stayed out of sight for most of the time; but Robbie was confident that she would help when it really came down to it. Mabel hoped he was right.

But what about Pacifica? Mabel tried not to think about Pacifica and the unlikelihood of her joining them; that thought always sent her into a mild panic. Even if Pacifica were willing to fight against Bill (which Mabel knew she wasn't), would she be able to work with Mabel? Could Mabel ever be safe around her?

Then there was Grunkle Lee. Ford had spent a lot of time the last two days in the minotaur village, visiting Lee and brainstorming about how he could join the Cipher Wheel. There didn't seem to be much progress, from what Ford reported to the others later. Lee had decided against getting a metal plate, which surprised the twins and Gideon; but Ford said that it would only make his situation worse. Bill had butted into the brothers' conversation and informed them that, should Lee install a metal plate in his head, Bill would just have to take over even more often to get information about where Lee was and what he was doing. And apparently Bill had altered Lee's mind as part of various deals between the two; if Lee blocked Bill from his mind, then, at best, Lee would be stuck with the magical alteration forever. At worst, the magic from Bill and the magic from the nymphs would mix in unknown and dangerous ways.

Ford told the others about a few other ideas, but none seemed likely to work. Even though Bill was a prisoner, the demon still had immense power over Lee.

Mabel wished so badly that she could visit Lee. So did Dipper (and he loudly reminded Ford of this at nearly every chance he got). But it was too dangerous, Ford told them. Only here at the Museum, where Andrew's magic protected them, would Dipper and Mabel be safe.

"Then how come you get to leave?" Dipper asked.

"Because Bill can't see me. Lee needs me, and I can also make plans with the minotaurs and the nymphs."

So Ford got to go outside, but Mabel and Dipper were stuck in a crowded house. Their one breath of fresh air was when they brought in the sledge and barrels from the totem pole. Then they watched as Danny Valentino, a construction worker, replaced the gift shop's broken window; they pored over the Journals with Gideon; they hung out with Robbie (and Wendy, though she was usually crabby) and with Fidds (who was quickly getting stronger). Dipper wanted to spend time with Andrew, too, when he'd come over yesterday and today, but Andrew had mostly talked in private with Ford.

That evening, Mabel, Dipper, and Gideon were sitting at the kitchen table with Fidds. The four of them had been the last group of people to eat dinner, so they could sit and talk while Melody cleaned up. Dipper had offered to help Melody, but she'd turned him down with a smile, telling him to sit and listen to Fidds.

Fiddleford was in the middle of a story about himself and Ford, back in their adventuring days. Mabel liked hearing Ford tell stories like this, but Fidds had a different way of telling them that made them even more interesting. His stories focused more on Ford's reckless side and Fidds' own desperation to stay safe; they were more comedic than anything, the way Fidds told them. After a particularly funny statement, Fidds would sometimes lose himself in a good memory and give a warm, crinkly smile as he laughed.

Mabel liked it when Fidds smiled. He didn't do it too often; he usually seemed to be lost in sad memories involving the bad things he'd done. But when he smiled, it helped Mabel see the good in him. When it came down to it, she liked him — regardless of what he'd done — and his rare smiles reminded her of that.

"So," Fidds was saying, "you wouldn't think that gnomes could do much damage, right? They're just little pests. Well, that's what we thought, but we were wrong. After Ford and I turned away, they started to swarm together, and. . ."

Fidds trailed off as Ford appeared in the kitchen entrance. Instantly, a guarded look appeared on both men's faces. "Hi, Ford," Fidds said carefully.

Ford's eyes glanced over Fidds and landed on the twins. "Meeting in the Hall of Mysteries. Everyone needs to be there."

"Will Andrew be there?" Dipper said, getting to his feet. Andrew and Ford had been outside, working on the magic around the house, and they hadn't allowed anyone to join them for fear of Bill seeing what they were doing.

"Yes," Ford said shortly. He turned and left the room.

Melody let out a loud breath. "Well, he knows how to ruin a good mood. Sorry about him."

"He must have thought it was getting too cheerful in here," Gideon said with a roll of his eyes. Mabel was pretty sure Gideon enjoyed Fidds' stories as much as the twins did, though he didn't say as much out loud.

Melody came over to wipe down the table as the others got to their feet. "I'll join you in a minute," she said. "Will you be all right, Fidds?"

"I'll be fine," he said. He glanced at his walker, which was nearby, then shook his head and left without it. Mabel, Dipper, and Gideon followed him. Mabel braced herself for the Hall of Mysteries.

It wasn't as crowded as she'd thought. The Hall was used to groups of twenty to thirty tourists, so three Pines, three Corduroys, five Valentinos, Fidds, and Gideon weren't too many people.

What was strange was the large minotaur in the room. Andrew looked a little like a display in the Hall of Mysteries, except that he was too real for the mostly fake exhibits (many of which had been moved to the gift shop to make room for the guests). Mabel gave Andrew a tentative smile, then glanced around at the others. Dipper had immediately gone to Andrew's side and happily greeted the minotaur; Ford stood quietly to the side; Fidds had gone over to them and was waiting patiently (and a bit nervously) for Andrew to notice him; Gideon regarded Andrew with silent curiosity; Robbie was smiling as he watched Dipper; Wendy clung to Robbie's arm and had a look of frightened hostility on her face; Janice and Greg seemed uncomfortable; Danny Valentino looked like he was trying to be nonchalant (but failing); and the three Valentino boys were staring at Andrew with open-mouthed awe. Everybody had met Andrew before, but being in an enclosed room with him made him seem bigger than seeing him while he was outside.

"Where's Melody?" Ford asked.

"She's coming," Dipper said. "What are we meeting for?"

"I'll tell you once Melody gets here," Andrew said.

"Okay," Dipper said. "Hey, I think Fidds wants to talk to you."

Fidds flinched just a bit, but he managed to compose himself as Andrew turned to him. "How can I help you?" the minotaur asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about, um. . ." Fidds glanced at Ford, who was standing on the other side of Andrew. "About visiting Stanley," Fidds finished.

At that moment, Melody walked in. "Oh, good, you're here," Ford said loudly. "Let's get started." He gave Fidds a stern look and headed over to the rest of the group.

Mabel didn't think it was fair for Ford to act that way toward Fidds, but she wasn't going to say anything. She and Gideon went over to Robbie (the boys gave each other a measured glance; they were, at least, generally civil to each other, which Mabel appreciated), and Dipper and Fidds joined them.

"Go ahead and sit down," Andrew invited. He sat cross-legged on the floor, giving the ceiling a wary look, and gestured for the others to do the same. The Corduroys and Valentinos sat in camp chairs that they'd brought to the Museum; the others sat on the floor. Mabel noticed with a fleeting sense of annoyance that Wendy had scooted her chair as close as she could to Robbie's and was still clinging to his arm.

"There, that's better," Andrew said with a smile. "I'm not used to human architecture."

Dipper laughed. No one else did.

"I'm glad you're all here," Andrew continued. "We need you. We need the Cipher Wheel. We're still down two people, but eight out of ten is good. And thanks to the Corduroys and the Valentinos for coming while we gather the Wheel. I'm sorry to force you from your homes, but everyone's safer here."

"How exactly are we safe?" Danny demanded. "I don't see you doing anything but walking around the building saying weird words. And who are we in danger from?"

Wendy made a disgusted noise at her dad's outburst, but Andrew nodded and said, "Stanford and I haven't been very transparent with you, I'm sorry. Our enemy can see into the minds of humans, and only Stanford is immune, so we mostly have to keep things between us."

"Why is Stanford immune?" said Danny.

"Because I have a slab of metal in my skull, Valentino," said Ford, annoyed. "If you want one, I'm sure you could get one, though you'd have to politely convince the nymphs to help you." Clearly, he doubted that Danny had the capacity to be polite.

"You have a what in your skull?"

"Let's stay focused," Andrew said. "You asked how we were safe. I finished with the spell today; it's a bit more complicated than ones I've done in the past. Everyone in this room has access to leave and reenter the Museum. So if you need to get something, like Danny did when he got the materials to fix the window, you'll be able to. I recommend stockpiling everything you need now, though, because you're vulnerable outside."

"Vulnerable to what?" Danny asked, exasperated.

"Let me finish," Andrew replied. "Others can only enter the Museum if you allow them to. Otherwise, they'll hit an invisible barrier and fall unconscious for a few hours."

Melody made a concerned noise. "Maybe we should mark the perimeter with some kind of warning. I wouldn't want anyone to accidentally hit the barrier and freeze in the snow."

"The way you let us freeze a few days ago?" Janice muttered. Greg put a hand on her arm.

"Good idea," Andrew said to Melody, "because if someone does hit it, you can't bring them in to help them. To let someone in the barrier, you have to be touching them as they enter. A hand on their shoulder would be enough. But if you let them enter once, they would then be able to pass through the barrier at will. If the person were an ally of Cipher, you wouldn't want to give them that access."

At the words "ally of Cipher," Mabel resisted the urge to glance at Greg and Janice. Andrew seemed to be avoiding the phrase "member of the Order" for their sake. That, and apparently the Northwest servants were the people the Symbols needed to worry about now.

"Besides Lee and Pacifica, I don't know of anyone we'd want to bring in," Ford said, "and even those two are. . . dangerous." His face twisted when he called Lee dangerous, but he did it all the same. "Can we all agree not to let anyone in unless we decide together that it's a good idea?"

"What about Greyson and Candy?" Dipper said. "I want them to be safe too."

"Candy's mother is an Order member," Gideon said, "so we shouldn't invite the Chius. And I doubt Cipher cares about the Grays."

"But I do," Dipper said.

"Sorry, Dipper, but I don't think that's a good idea," Andrew said gently. "The more people we have here, the more risk there is of Cipher getting to someone. Speaking of which, this might be uncomfortable, but I need you all to be honest with me. Has anyone seen Bill Cipher in their dreams since the gravitational anomalies?"

Everyone hesitated. Then Gideon raised his hand. Understandable, since Bill was still sending Gideon nightmares every night. After a moment, Robbie raised his hand, too. Then he nudged Wendy, who reluctantly put her hand up as well. Janice and Greg both raised their hands.

Andrew nodded. "What has he said to you?" he asked.

Those with their hands raised looked even more reluctant now. "Well," Gideon said bluntly, "he's been having fun sending me nightmares. He knows it's not going to bring me to his side, but he's trying to wear me down."

Mabel shot him a sad look. He returned her gaze with a small, reassuring smile. I'm not going to give in, that smile said. It'll be okay.

She didn't know if he believed that.

Greg spoke next. "He's been trying to convince Janice and me to keep helping him."

"And will you?" Andrew replied. "Please understand: If there's any chance that you'll try to get in the way of the Cipher Wheel, we can't let you stay here." He spoke kindly, but it was clear he wouldn't change his mind.

Greg and Janice shared looks. "No," Greg said, "we won't. What you've told us about what Cipher will do to Robbie if he gets the chance. . . well, we won't give him that chance."

An alarmed expression jumped to Robbie's face. Mabel looked in surprise to the Corduroys; she hadn't known that they'd spoken to Andrew.

Janice leaned forward and put a hand on Robbie's shoulder. "We won't let anything happen to you," she said softly.

Mabel searched the Corduroys' faces. They seemed sincere. Mabel wondered how they were feeling, now that they'd finally faced the fact that Bill and the Order were evil. Such a realization, after years of thinking the opposite, had to be hard on them.

"And what did Cipher say to you, Robbie?" Andrew asked gently.

Robbie shrugged uncomfortably. "He showed up, introduced himself, pretended to be innocent. Got angry when I saw through his act." He looked warily at Andrew. "What did you tell them Cipher would do to me?"

Andrew sighed — a heavy sigh, as if he were resigned to what he had to say but not looking forward to it. "Well, that's another thing I needed to tell you all."

He hesitated, and in the silence, Wendy spoke up. "In case anyone cares," she said, "Cipher tried the same thing on me that he did on Robbie. It didn't work." Robbie put a comforting hand on hers; she glared at him.

"Good, I'm glad you resisted him," Andrew said to them. He looked out across the group. "If Cipher appears in any of your dreams, don't listen to him, all right? No matter what he says. He's deceiving you. He's been doing it for centuries."

Greg and Janice looked guiltily to their laps.

"What do you need to tell us?" Dipper prompted.

Andrew hesitated again. "Well," he finally said, "I'll tell you the reason you all need to stay here in the Museum. Cipher wants to capture you."

"And do what with us?" Gideon asked. Mabel gave him a scared look. Was this it? Would Andrew tell them the reason Bill needed them alive?

"And. . . use you," Andrew said. "I can't think of a good English verb for it, I'm sorry. He needs your energy to escape his prison. He would take your energy — your life force — from you, and you would die."

Various cries of outrage and fear spurted from the small crowd. Mabel went cold; Dipper grabbed her hand.

"That's what we're protecting you from," Andrew continued. "That's why you need to stay here."

"Isn't that just helping him?" Robbie asked. "If we're all in one place, and he manages to get in, then he could just kill all of us." His face was pale.

"It's better than having you all spread out," Andrew said; his voice was certain, as if he'd thought about this already. "It has to be one at a time, so he'd have to come back here over and over."

"But if he manages to kill one of us," Gideon said, "then we'd have no chance at the Cipher Wheel." He spoke as if realizing this even as he said the words.

"That's true," Andrew said. "There's a slight possibility that somebody else would become a Symbol if one were lost. But that's pure conjecture, and we won't let it get to the point where we have to test the theory."

"You'd better not!" Danny Valentino had been shell-shocked when Andrew had announced that eight people in the room were at risk of dying; but now, after doing his best to comfort his sons, he had pulled himself together into a rage. "I'm not letting anyone near my Wendy!"

"That's why I'm here," Andrew said. "To keep you all safe from that."

"Thank you," Fiddleford said quietly. Mabel agreed, but she found herself too paralyzed to say anything. That was the reason? Bill needed them alive so he could kill them? Not just kill them, but drain them of their lives?

"So it's a race," Gideon said. "A race between Cipher stealing whatever he's trying to steal that will help him kill us, and us forming the Cipher Wheel."

"Yes," Andrew said.

"Has anyone tried to talk to Pacifica?" said Gideon. "Has anyone tried to convince her to help us?"

"Lee did, before he ended up with the minotaurs," Ford said. "He said she thought he'd been tricked. That we'd done something to mess with his mind."

"Bill is messing with her mind," Dipper blurted.

"We need to find her," Gideon said. "We need to keep trying. She could be doing who knows what to help Cipher right now. We need her on our side."

"That girl's crazy," Robbie said.

"Yes, thank you, Corduroy," Gideon replied coolly. He looked back at Andrew. "Someone needs to counteract whatever Cipher's telling her. We need to help her."

"At the very least," Dipper said, "somebody needs to get her out of the way."

Andrew and Ford shared a look that told Mabel they'd be talking more about this later, when no one — Bill included — could hear them.

"What about Lee?" Fidds asked. "Any breakthroughs?"

Andrew lowered his head. "Only theories."

"I thought the whole forest was trying to help him," Dipper said. "Shouldn't you guys find something?"

"Like I said, only theories," Andrew replied. "Things that might work, but that we'd need to try out with the rest of the Cipher Wheel. I know plenty of powerful people, but Cipher's deals can prevail against their magic. It was a miracle that our ancestors were able to trap him in the first place; as it is, he still has the advantage if he convinces someone to make a deal."

"And Lee made the worst deal possible," Ford said quietly.

Andrew gave a reluctant nod.

"It sounds to me, then," said Gideon, "that we need to get Pacifica on our side, bring Lee to the rest of the Wheel, and try out those theories. Or, if we can't convince her, can we at least kidnap her and force her to join us?"

"Participation has to be willing," Andrew answered with a shake of his head.

Gideon gave a frustrated growl. "Okay, then, is there magic out there that can heal her? She went crazy after Dipper broke her amulet; it must've messed with her mind."

"She was crazy before," Dipper pointed out.

"But not as crazy. Trust me. I'd know." Gideon leaned forward. "Look, Andrew. Let me go to the Order. Let me talk to her. Cipher already allowed me to stay here, even before you came. Maybe he would leave me alone if I went to her."

"How would you get down there?" Janice asked. "We changed the code after the Pines took the first Journal, and I'm sure they've changed it since Greg and I came here."

"There's a passage to the Order from the Northwest Manor; I could go from there."

"There's no way they'd let you through," Ford said. "I'm sure they'd have ways to catch you, even if you sneak in. Just because Cipher is letting you stay here doesn't mean he won't stop you from going after Pacifica."

"I have to do something," Gideon said.

Mabel understood that feeling. It was maddening to stay here while Ford and Andrew did things. She wanted to be helpful. She practically had the Journals memorized at this point, but she kept searching through them, hoping for something, anything, that could suggest a solution to their problems. She wanted to be a part of things.

At the same time, though, it was scary to think of leaving the Museum and being kidnapped by Northwest servants or whatever other creepy minions Bill had.

"I'm sorry, Gideon," Andrew said. "I hate to say it, but right now the best thing you can do is to stay here and wait."

From the look on Gideon's face, he wasn't happy with this answer in the least. Mabel put a hand on his arm and gave him an empathetic look.

"Andrew," said Melody, "you said earlier that we should stockpile our supplies. I worry about having enough food. Not just for us, but for the rest of the town. The grocery store won't be able to get new supplies with the barrier around town, and we'll have to ration food. . . . Is there anything you could do to help?"

Ford answered before Andrew could. "People around here are prepared," Ford said, "and I'm sure they have food storage. I can get some food storage from my bunker, too, and bring it here."

"Oh, no," said Dipper. "Not that again."

Ford gave him a stern look. "It'll keep us alive."

"Good plan," Andrew said. "My people can also share some of our food if necessary; we keep a good amount of storage. I am concerned, though, about your electricity. If the township starts, won't you lose power?"

"Wait a minute," said Greg, frowning. "Why do we still have power? Aren't we cut off from the rest of the dimension?"

"Yes, which is what worries me," Andrew said. "I don't know how you still have power, but the township hasn't moved. Maybe we're still somewhat connected to the rest of the dimension. But we won't be if Cipher manages to start the ship."

Mabel didn't know much about the township; Ford and Andrew wouldn't explain it. But Gideon had told Mabel what he knew from what he'd read in the Order library. It was easiest for him to describe it as a metaphorical boat, with the other dimensions as the sea that it was sailing over. Sailing to Cipher's freedom.

"What should we do, then?" Ford asked. "Will personal generators and batteries still work?"

"I'm not sure. We shouldn't count on it," Andrew replied. "My people have magical means of heat and light that we can share with you and the rest of the town. I'll send a group tomorrow with supplies, and Ford can get food from his bunker."

"The Order uses firelit lanterns in their headquarters," Gideon said. "We should go down there, get some lanterns in case we lose electricity, and get Pacifica. Don't you have some kind of magical way to get through the door?"

"We'll try that, too," Andrew said. It was pretty obvious that his "we" didn't include Gideon.

"We should go back home and get our own supplies," Janice said, gesturing to herself, Greg, and Danny. "We brought some already, but we can get more food. And flashlights and batteries."

"Okay, but be careful," Andrew said.

"Why would we be careful? It's not like a demon is trying to murder us," Wendy muttered.

"Janice and I might be able to help with distributing supplies to the rest of the town, too," Greg said, "and act as. . . intermediaries for you. Other Order members might be willing to help as well."

Andrew looked thoughtful. "Let's talk about that after we're done in here. Anything else we need to discuss?"

"Yeah," Dipper said. "When can me and Mabel visit Grunkle Lee?"

"Dipper, I've already said—" Ford began.

"Fidds wants to, too! And I think he should. And Mabel and I should, too."

"A quick visit wouldn't hurt," Andrew said slowly. "We could go right after this, even."

"Yes! Let's do that!" said Dipper.

"Isn't it too dangerous at this time of night?" Ford asked.

Andrew shrugged. "We'll go with June. We won't go anywhere dangerous."

"Could I. . ." Fidds swallowed. "Could I talk to you in private, Andrew?"

"Sure, after I've talked to the Corduroys." Andrew let out a breath. "Well, thank you everyone for being here. Let Ford or me know if you have any other questions. Greg, Janice?"

Greg and Janice followed Andrew out of the Hall of Mysteries; after a moment, Ford joined them.

Danny got to his feet. "Wendy," he said, and his voice shook. "Come here, baby girl."

Wendy looked embarrassed, but she did what her dad said. Danny wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug and held her tightly. Her three brothers joined the hug; the Valentinos were quiet for a moment.

"We're going to visit Grunkle Lee!" Dipper whispered excitedly to Mabel. "Finally!"

"He's only been with the minotaurs for two days," Gideon pointed out.

"And June could've taken us to see him in an instant," Dipper said. "It's felt more like two years."

Dipper was right that the last few days had felt slow. Had it really been less than a week since the gravitational anomalies? At least they had been able to reset their clocks. Lee's plan to spread the correct time around town via the Order had worked, and Mabel was pretty sure most clocks around town had been reset. That was a relief. And they were able to use their calendars — which they'd somehow overlooked during the time bubble — to see what day of the week and month it was. The time jump was still confusing, but Mabel felt like she could adjust easier now.

Robbie got up from his camp chair and sat down by the twins. "I'm glad you kids get to visit your uncle," he said.

"Yeah, it's great!" Dipper said. Then he noticed the pale look on Robbie's face and the tremor in his hands. "Hey, you okay, Robbie?"

Robbie gave a shaky laugh. "Sure, I'm okay. Only found out that a demon wants to kill me."

"The rest of us, too," Gideon said.

"Not helpful, Northwest."

"Don't fight, guys," Mabel said quietly. It was the first thing she'd said since leaving the kitchen.

"Sorry, Mabel," Robbie said. "Are you doing okay?"

She shrugged. "I'm glad we get to go see Grunkle Lee," she said. She didn't mention the terror simmering in her stomach now that she knew what Bill wanted to do to her.

"Ooh, Mabel, you get to see the minotaur village! You'll love it!" Dipper talked about the village for a few more minutes, and Mabel tried to listen to him. She noticed Melody and Fidds talking softly nearby, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. The Valentinos had retreated to the back of the Hall of Mysteries, away from the rest of the group.

"—and the minotaurs have really cool wrestling names, too, like — oh, hi, Andrew!"

Andrew had stuck his head back through the doorway. "Hi, Dipper. Fiddleford, you wanted to talk to me?"

Fidds got to his feet. "Yes. And. . . and just you, if you would."

So Fidds left the room with Andrew, and Ford and the Corduroys came back in. Robbie went to talk with his parents, and Ford sat sullenly next to Melody. "Fidds is not going anywhere near my brother," he said.

"I see no reason why he shouldn't," Melody said calmly.

That comment set off a quiet argument between Melody and Ford. Mabel did her best to tune them out and listen to Dipper, who had gone back to talking about the minotaurs and their wrestling matches. After a while, Andrew reappeared in the doorway. "All right, let's go see Stanley."

"Yeah!" Dipper jumped to his feet and tugged Mabel to hers. "Let's go!"

Ford stood. "Fiddleford won't be coming with us," he told Andrew firmly.

"No, not now," Andrew said. He didn't react to Ford's hostility. Instead, he turned to Dipper and Mabel. "Ready?"

"Ready!" said Dipper.

Andrew left, and the twins and Ford followed. Mabel felt a little lighter now that she was going to see Lee. It was hard to ignore the weight of everything they'd just talked about, but she was determined to try.

It only took a few minutes to get their winter gear and leave the Museum. They went out in the darkness to the tree where June would appear to get them.

Dipper linked his arm in Mabel's. "Let's go see our grunkle," he said happily.

The Valentino family:

From left to right: Cecilia (the picture on the wall), Danny, Wendy, Nathan, Jaxon, and Emmett

Art by undying_lilies