"You're going to be okay," said Melody Ramirez, smiling gently at the women in front of her. These women — a mother and her adult daughter, the victims of a recent car crash — returned her gaze with hesitant, vaguely haunted looks.

Melody continued, "If anything starts to hurt more than bruises or scrapes, come find me, all right? I'll be at the Mystery Museum." She didn't think she'd be going back to her own home any day soon — unless she moved the injured Fiddleford there from the Museum, but he probably wasn't stable enough for that. She had no idea when he would be, either.

An elderly man — the father of the older woman, presumably — came forward and put a hand on Melody's shoulder. "Thank you," he said. To his daughter and granddaughter, he said, "Let's go back to the house."

The older woman looked up at him. "What about the car?" she asked. A solemn silence followed, and Melody looked to the car in question. It sat in the middle of the road, surrounded by frantic townspeople whose conversations reached high, panicked pitches. The hood of the car was crumpled in on itself, as if it had run into some kind of wall.

But there was no wall that it could have hit.

In fact, aside from the crowd that had since formed around it, the car was totally alone on the town's main road. Nearby stood the sign that welcomed visitors to Gravity Rises, but it appeared undamaged; and, anyway, it was too small and too far away from the car to be the cause of the accident. The entire situation was baffling, but Melody hadn't gotten the chance to ask about it. She'd been brought here by Robbie Corduroy to help the accident victims, and she made sure to do that before worrying about anything else.

Beside her, the younger woman let out a shuddering breath. "How are we going to get home?" she asked quietly.

Melody turned to her. "We have a car," she said. By 'we,' she meant Stanford Pines, but Melody would use his car whether he liked it or not, if it meant helping someone in need. "We can take you home."

In response to her offer, she got three blank stares. "What's wrong?" she said. The two women and the elderly man looked at her as if they didn't know whether or not she had just told a joke; and if she did, it wasn't a very funny one.

"Melody," said a nearby voice. Melody turned to see Gregory Corduroy standing nearby. He'd been with the accident victims when Melody had arrived, but he left when she came. Now he had returned, and the look on his face was sympathetic but grave.

"Did I say something wrong?" Melody looked between Greg and the family in utter confusion.

Greg shook his head and put up a hand, indicating for her to wait a moment. To the elderly man, he said, "I can help you push the car out of the road, if you'll put it in neutral." He added to Melody, "And we can show you why you can't drive them home."

The elderly man chose to take his daughter and granddaughter home first, so Greg and Melody were soon left alone. "I'll just show you, then," Greg said, and started heading for the car.

Melody followed him. "If we can't go to the hospital," she said, "and I can't drive them home, then. . . then can we not get out of town?" But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? They were near town boundaries, and she could see the road stretching into the forest beyond. There didn't appear to be anything that would stop someone from leaving.

But. . . the car crashed into something.

Greg led her to the edge of the crowd, and Melody noticed something strange about it. The crowd was congregated around the car, but not in a rough circle as one would expect. Instead, the crowd stretched behind and to the sides of the car. No one was in front of the car: If anyone wanted to look closer at the wreckage, they approached only from the side. Melody could also see people put their hands up in midair, as if they were touching something — although there was only air in front of them.

"Do you see it?" Greg asked quietly.

Melody shot him a confused look. She saw the oddly shaped crowd with its odder-still behavior; aside from that, she didn't know what he was referring to.

"I guess it's hard to see from here," he said, and he led her into the fray, carefully pushing his way to the front of the crowd. Melody followed, catching glimpses of people's panicked faces as she went. As curious as she was, she was also hesitant. It had been less than an hour since the portal opened: less than an hour since Fiddleford had arrived instead of Stanley. After all that pain and confusion, Melody wasn't sure she wanted to face yet another mystery — especially one that caused this much uproar.

Still, she followed Greg. They didn't go near the car — that area was swarmed with people — but they soon came to a stop. Greg slowly put out his hand, shuddering a bit when he stopped. Melody frowned at him, and he gave her a solemn look. "Now do you see?" he said, speaking quietly despite the noise around them. He nodded to his hand.

Melody looked closer. "I see. . . your hand."

"Look around it," Greg said. "Or. . . or just come feel it yourself."

"Are you touching something?" asked Melody. She was thoroughly confused. Looking at his hand, she only saw that: his hand.

Then she noticed the white aura around it.

"What is that?" she asked, leaning in closer.

Greg gently pushed her back with his free hand. "Don't knock your head. Just reach out with your hand."

This instruction made the situation no less confusing, but Melody did as he said. She lifted her hand and moved it forward.

Her fingers brushed against something solid.

She pulled her hand back. "What?" She reached out and felt it again: a solid surface, invisible but for the cloudy white color that appeared around her hand. "What is this?" she asked Greg. Rather than alleviate her confusion, this discovery only made it worse.

"This is what the car crashed into," Greg said. "This invisible wall."

Melody stared at him as her mind struggled to wrap around this concept. An invisible wall. At the edge of town. The more she thought about it, the more horrifying sense it made: the wrecked car in the middle of the road, the crowd of people spread out along the wall, the reason they couldn't get to the nearest hospital. She looked out across the crowd again. This time, she could see the white areas around their hands — or their whole bodies, for some people were shoving themselves against the wall in hopes of getting through it.

"It turns white where you touch it," Greg said, "but it's otherwise invisible. Those women are lucky they weren't going any faster, or they could've gotten seriously hurt."

Melody's eyes widened. "You mean they had no idea this was here until they ran into it?" She felt a pang of sympathy. No wonder they'd been so shaken: They'd had absolutely no warning before impact.

"Nobody knew about it until the car wreck," Greg confirmed. "We don't know when it appeared, either — but nobody dared leave town during the gravitational anomalies."

A cold wave swept through Melody. "Are you saying that the portal caused this?"

Greg met her eyes. "It may have," he replied. "Melody, I need you to be honest with me: Did someone come out of that portal?"

Melody frowned at him. Something about that question. . . it sounded like he knew a lot more about the situation than he was letting on. "If I told you that Stanley came out, just as planned," she said slowly, "would you believe me?"

Greg hesitated, and in his face she saw the truth. "You knew, didn't you," she said quietly. She could hardly hear herself over the din from the surrounding crowd, but she couldn't bring herself to speak any louder. "You knew Stanley wouldn't be there."

She could see him silently considering his options. Finally, he said, "Yes, I knew."

"And you didn't bother to tell us?!" Now her volume rose.

"I wasn't allowed to," he answered simply. "Now, please, Melody: Tell me what happened."

"And why should I?" she demanded. "Why should I trust you, Gregory Corduroy?" Vaguely, she realized this was the first time she'd seen him since discovering that he was an Order member. Before then, she certainly would have trusted him. Now. . . now, she couldn't.

"Janice and I are trying to figure out why this wall is here," Greg said, keeping his voice low so that only Melody could hear him. "If you tell us who came out, that's another piece in the puzzle."

"If I tell you," Melody said, "then you have to tell me where Stanley is."

Greg's eyes widened, which told her that he did know where Stanley was. She hadn't been sure, but now she knew. "Don't try to hide him," Melody warned. "Stanford is already in enough pain because of you."

"I don't know where he is," Greg said quickly. "I'm telling the truth," he added when he saw Melody's doubtful look. "Listen, Melody — I think I know who came out of that portal, but I need you to confirm it."

"Who do you think it was, then?" she asked. She wouldn't let him get away with his lie that easily, but she was willing to wait.

"I never knew him," Greg said, "but I've heard a bit about him from my parents. Fiddleford McGucket."

Melody gave him a guarded look. "Yes," she finally said. Her voice turned hard as she continued, "But I will keep him safe. You aren't getting anywhere near him."

"We weren't planning on trying," Greg said with a shake of his head. He gestured to the crowd around them and the wall to his left. "We have our hands full with all this."

Melody's eyes widened. "You aren't going to wipe their memories, are you?" she said, lowering her voice to a hiss. "You do realize that it would cause more accidents."

"We'll do what we're instructed to do," Greg said carefully, "but yes, we do realize that. Right now, we're just trying to keep everyone calm."

The panicked cries of the people around her reached Melody's ears. "It doesn't sound like it's working," she pointed out.

"We're trying," Greg repeated.

"Dad! Excuse me, I need to get through — Dad!" Robbie made his way through the crowd until he was standing beside Melody. "Dad, Danny Valentino wants to talk to you."

"Did he find something?" asked Greg. Robbie shook his head, but Greg still moved to leave. "I have to go, Melody," he said. "Thank you for helping with the accident."

"Oh, no, sir." She followed Greg and Robbie out of the crowd, then touched Greg's shoulder. "You are going to help us find Stanley."

"Wait." Robbie looked between Melody and his dad. "You know where Stanley is?"

"I don't," Greg protested.

"But you know something we don't," Melody insisted. "Tell me."

Greg put his hands up in exasperation. "I have to take care of this first," he said. "The Valentinos are following the wall to see how far it goes. If Danny wants to talk to me, it means he and Janice got in another fight." With that, he turned his back on Melody and kept walking.

Melody pursed her lips and followed. Fidds needed her back at the Museum, yes — but she couldn't let a lead like this drop.

It was just as Greg said: Two figures stood on the edge of the road, arguing in low, fast tones. Melody recognized Danny Valentino and Janice Corduroy. Danny was struggling to keep his voice down, and his face was turning brighter than his thick red hair and beard. "I don't answer to you," he was saying. "I'll take my kids out into the forest, and we'll find a way out of here."

"I can't let you do that," Janice said; her voice was calmer than Danny's, but it was still strained. "It's too dangerous."

Danny opened his mouth to retort, but then he saw Greg approaching with Robbie and Melody. "Greg! Thank goodness you're here. I'm trying to tell Janice that we can't just follow this wall forever. We need to go that way" — he pointed opposite the barrier, towards the forest — "and see if we can get out through there. But she seems to believe in the stories of monsters and whatnot in our forest." He glanced to Melody. "Maybe she's been spending too much time in Stanford's Museum."

Melody frowned. Usually, Danny was nice enough — until he got frustrated. Then he said whatever he wanted about whomever he wanted, and it was rarely anything kind.

"Calm down, Danny," said Greg. "I'm on your side. But we need to be smart about this."

Both Janice and Danny turned on him. "You're on his side?" said Janice, just as Danny said, "Who said I'm not being smart about this?"

Greg put up his hands. "Janice is right to be worried about the creatures out there," he said. "If you go the wrong way, you can end up seriously hurt. You would need to be careful."

"Greg, what are you doing?" Janice hissed.

He gave her a serious look. "They've already seen enough in the last twenty-four hours. We can't hide anything for long in this panic." He looked back to Danny. "Who are you taking? You, your boys, Wendy. . . Can you take Robbie, too?"

Robbie looked surprised, but Danny nodded. "Sure."

"Robbie, I want you to find someone who knows how far this barrier goes," Greg said. "The fairies might help in an emergency like this, and the nymphs will listen — the hamadryads especially. They live in trees all over the forest; if you call out long enough, they should respond." His voice shook a bit, and Melody realized that he wasn't used to talking so openly about the creatures in the forest.

"What are you talking about?" Danny spluttered.

They ignored him. "What path should we take?" Robbie asked.

"Take the road to the yurt," Greg instructed. "There should be something that will hear you from there."

"What are you talking about?" Danny repeated, louder this time.

"I'll explain on the way," Robbie said. "Let's go get Wendy and the boys."

"Robbie." Janice waved to him. Robbie shot her a questioning look but went over to her.

Janice gave her son a tight hug. "Be careful," she said. Melody thought she heard her add in a whisper, "Don't tell him anything that will make him more angry."

Robbie stiffened and pulled away. "I've known about all this for a while, Mom," he said, "and I'm still angry."

"You know what she means," said Greg. "Stay focused. See what you can find out."

"And if nobody knows anything?"

"Then come back here," Janice said, raising her voice so Danny could hear, "and we'll try something else. I don't want you going out there blindly."

"We won't be blind," Danny cut in. "I know this forest like the back of my hand."

All three Corduroys looked to him. "No," said Janice curtly, "you don't."

Danny's face went red again, but Robbie touched his arm. "Let's go," he said. Danny followed him and shot a glare at Janice over his shoulder.

Melody watched them go for a moment, then turned back on the Corduroys. "What's your plan?" she asked. "We figure out some way to fix this, and then you just wipe a whole day from everyone's minds? And who knows how long we'll be trapped in here? A week? A month? You can't just make everyone forget this."

Greg and Janice shared a look. "I don't know what we'll do," Greg said to Melody. He looked more helpless than she'd ever seen him. "We're just trying to figure things out."

"So are we," Melody replied. She wanted to ask about Stanley, but she voiced another question. "Why do you think this wall is here?"

Greg glanced at Janice. "There's a prophecy," he said. "It mentions something like this. I don't know if I should tell you more than that."

Melody took a deep breath, trying to school her frustration. "Is it the Cipher Wheel?" She remembered Andrew the minotaur saying something about a prophecy.

"It's related," Janice said carefully.

It was clear Melody wasn't going to get much else from them about this; besides, there was more important information to be had. "Never mind," she said. "I have to go." She needed to get back to Fiddleford. "Just tell me where Stanley is, and I'll be on my way."

Janice looked to Greg in alarm. "What?" It wasn't a question of confusion; it was an accusation. Like Janice was angry with Greg for giving up their secrets.

"You know where he is," Melody said, "or at least where we can start looking for him. Tell me." She was rarely this demanding; but when her friends — her family — were in such pain, she'd do anything to heal them.

"We don't know where he is," Greg said, a little desperately. "We haven't seen him for weeks."

Melody froze. Weeks? Stanford hadn't seen his brother for thirty years, but for the Corduroys it had only had a few weeks? "When?" she asked. "When was the last time you saw him?"

Greg glanced at Janice. "Just before the Northwest Gala," he said.

Janice grabbed his arm. "Greg, don't do this," she hissed.

"Listen, Greg," said Melody. "Come with me to the Museum. Tell Ford what you know. You don't understand the kind of pain he's in right now. You have to help him."

Greg recoiled. "Help him? After his gravitational anomalies terrorized everyone last night? After his actions helped form this barrier?"

"Those actions would never have happened if you had just told him about his brother!" shouted Melody. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so angry.

The Corduroys weren't used to it, either: They both flinched. Then, "You said you have to go," Janice said, "and we're busy here. This will have to wait." Her eyes flicked around them, and Melody turned to see that her shout had drawn some attention.

"No," she said, keeping her voice more controlled this time. "I'll go get Ford myself. Then you have to tell him what you know."

Greg frowned, his eyes focused on something to Melody's right. "I don't think you have to go get him."

Melody followed his gaze and saw Ford, walking down the street. He was moving away from the Museum. . . headed towards the library.

"What is he doing?" Melody left the Corduroys; she wasn't done with them, but Ford was her first priority. Why was he going towards the library — towards the Order?

She only went a few steps before Janice Corduroy came up beside her. "Janice? Why are you following me?" Melody quickened her step.

Janice sped up, too. "He looks like he's trying to get into our headquarters," she said. "I won't let that happen."

"Don't you dare touch him." It was clear that Melody couldn't lose Janice, and she felt a sudden pang of worry: If it came down to it, would she be able to physically defend Ford? Would Janice try to hurt him? Would Melody be able to stop her?

Ford disappeared behind the library long before Janice and Melody reached it. They followed him behind to see him standing at the door, contemplating the lock. To Melody's relief, Janice came to a stop at the same time that she did. "Ford, what are you doing?" Melody asked.

He turned. "I need to get in," he said simply. "Who's this?" He nodded to Janice.

She stepped forward. "Janice Corduroy," she said. "Robbie's mother. You've brainwashed my son, if you recall."

He walked right up to her; she didn't flinch. "And you're a member of the Order?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good." He decked her in the face.

With a grunt of pain, Janice fell to the snow. "Ford!" shouted Melody, rushing over to her. She'd wanted to punch Janice in the face herself, she had to admit — but that didn't mean it was okay.

Before she could reach Janice, Ford crouched down beside the woman. He grabbed her chin and lifted her head. "Listen to me," he said quietly. "I know about my brother. I know you've been hiding him from me all this time. So you're going to let me through that door, and I'm going to wait for him to get back. Understood?"

Another shout came from behind them. "Stanford!" Gregory had come around the corner just in time to see Ford intimidating his wife. "Get away from her!"

Ford stood up just as Greg came charging toward him. Moving into a defensive stance, Ford caught Greg as he barreled into him. The men tumbled into the snow, and Janice scrambled away. "Ford, stop!" said Melody, and she ran into the fray, shoving the two men apart. But she couldn't stop them. It wasn't until Janice joined in that they were able to break up the fight.

"Just what do you think you were doing, Stanford?" Greg demanded as Janice pulled him back.

"You liar," Ford spat. "You traitor! You told me it was a good thing I forgot about my brother, when you knew where he was the entire time!"

Greg's eyes widened. He looked between Ford and Melody: two people who knew something that they weren't supposed to know. Melody put a comforting hand on Ford's shoulder, wondering how the Corduroys could hide this from them and still sleep at night.

Ford took a deep, shuddering breath. "You don't even try to deny it," he said. "My brother's been here all along, and you knew it, and you still tried to stop me from turning on the portal. You could have just told me where my brother was, but you didn't." He fixed the Corduroys with an intense stare. "So. You're going to let me inside headquarters. I'll wait there for him in there."

Melody frowned at him. "In there? Why would you go in there?"

"Because this is where he's been," Ford said. "This whole time, he's been in the Order. He's not here right now, apparently, but I'll be here waiting when he comes back." A challenge flared in his eye. "He has to come back eventually, right?" he said to the Corduroys.

Melody wasn't sure what to think of this. Yes, she wanted to find Stanley. . . but to go inside the Order to do it? Ford had just escaped from there a few days ago. Melody wasn't sure she couldn't let him go back — for her own sanity as well as his safety.

"Well?" Ford said after a moment of silence. "Let me in."

Greg shook his head. "No one knows where he is, Stanford, or when he'll be back. I don't think you should wait for him here."

"Oh," Ford said, "so I should just go home, and you'll come tell me when he gets back?" He took a step closer to Greg, pushing Melody away when she tried to hold him back. "You, who have kept my brother hidden from me for thirty years?"

Greg and Janice glanced to each other. It was clear their resolve was fraying. "I don't know what we'll do when he gets back," Janice said. "That's up to Lord Cipher."

Ford's eyes flared. "I won't wait for Bill to decide when I get to see my brother," he said. "He's already been deciding that for thirty years." He glared at Greg. "Let me in, Corduroy, and I'll wait down there."

"Ford, wait," said Melody. She moved so she was facing him. "I don't think this is a good idea."

"Stay out of this, Melody," Ford said tightly.

"No, I won't," she said. "I know this has been hard, but you're not thinking clearly — none of us are."

"I'm thinking clearly enough!" he insisted. He jabbed a finger at the door and glared at the Corduroys. "I need to get inside. Now."

Melody tried again. "This is a lot to process, Ford, I know. You need to—"

"I just want my brother back!" The scream tore from Ford's throat. His face was red, his expression wild. It broke Melody's heart all over again, but it also scared her. She wanted Ford to find Stanley, she really did — but she didn't want him to lose himself in the process. She didn't want him to put himself in any more danger.

"Ford, please," she said softly. She stepped towards him and put a hand out.

But her hand froze in shock before it could land on his shoulder.

She stared past Ford as another person moved into view. From the other side of the library, by the tree line, someone appeared as if out of thin air — someone who looked just like Ford.

"I'm right here," said Stanley Pines.