Chapter 2: Great-uncle Jack

For the longest moment no one said anything. But a quick glance at Pop told her that she had done something wrong. But what?

Then it hit her. My contacts! I never put on my contacts! "Uh- I'm going back to the truck now, Pop," Lily said turning towards the door as she said so. She hurried out of the store.

"Oh brother, Dipper scared another one away," muttered Stan.

"Don't blame him, she's just bashful," replied Pop. "But I need to get goin' anyhow. My brother is expectin' me, and I don't want to keep him waitin'."

"Be sure to stop by again and buy something," called Stan as Pop exited.

"I won't," he called back, closing the door.

"Ha ha! That joker," said Stan. "But seriously, he's gonna buy something next time or get out. I can't take cheapskates."

Mabel ran into the museum area of the Mystery Shack, and searched for Dipper. She found him frantically sweeping dust in a corner.

"Dipper!"

He jumped, smacking the broom in the dust, and sending clouds of it blowing into their faces. Between coughs, Mabel asked. "What happened to you out there?"

"Wha- wha-wha- what do you mean?" he asked, resweeping the dust back into a pile.

"When we were talking to that girl, you practically flew in here," she clarified.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, turning his back to his twin. "I'm just doing my job."

"Are you hiding something?"

"N-n- nothing! I'm not hiding anything? W-w- what's there to hide?"

"You're stuttering. You stutter when you're hiding something."

"Wha-at? Pssshhh. Th-that's ridiculous. It's not like it has anything to do that nice girl Lily, if that's what you mean." He covered his hands over his mouth.

"AHA! I knew it!"

"Wait! It-it's not what it seems!"

"You like Lily!"

"I don't like-"

"Admit it!" She tried to jump on him, but the broom he held between them barred her way.

"No! I'm not gonna say-"

"Admit it!"

"No!"

"Admit it!"

"Never!"

"ADMIT IT!"

"Hey what's goin' on in there? You two breakin' somethin'? Don't make me come in there and demand an explanation."

"O-OK, fine!" he loudly whispered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I … sorta...like Lily."

"I knew it," she smirked with triumph.

"Just as a friend!" he clarified. "I mean, she seems nice, you know?"

"You're totally crushing on her!" she squealed.

"Would you be quiet about it? I don't want everyone to know about it."

"Especially Wendy," said Mabel batting her eyelashes.

"Just don't say anything," he told her. "If she comes back, I don't want her to think I'm a chicken."

"Oh don't worry, I won't mess it up for you. You can do that without my help." She laughed, and exited back into the gift shop. Dipper sighed, and began dusting the jackalope, positive that after his performance that Lily wouldn't want to bother showing up at the Shack any time soon.

Lily nearly blew it. She nearly blew it. She knew as Pop pulled out of the driveway and onto the road leading into town that she wouldn't be hearing the end of it. She was still struggling to place the contacts in her eyes while her grandfather badgered her.

"How many times have you been reminded to wear those contacts?" demanded Pop.

"All my life," she replied.

"So how come you didn't wear them when we were out in public?"

"I forgot to."

"You forgot? The one time you forget could put the next moment of your life in danger, do you understand that? You're not being homeschooled anymore; you're in the outside world, where there's dangers and wicked people who will try to hurt and kill you!"

"But that's not my fault!" Lily yelled. "I don't know anything about who's out to get me."

"That's true," he replied in a more gentle tone. "You're not safe or experienced, which is why we're here."

"Is that why we had to move all the way out to this old town?"

"It's a small town, not many things goin' on, no one askin' any questions, and it's where I've grown up and told no one about. Few people, few problems. If anything happens here, no one notices. Hardly anyone knows that this town exists. It's a safe place where you'll be able to learn how to defend yourself without trouble."

"But you told me that all sorts of supernatural things happen here in this town," I mentioned. "How are we sure that this place is any safer than back home?"

"Because anything that's 'out of the ordinary' that lives here is doin' the same thing that we are: hidin'. Stayin' safe. Stayin' alive. It's all about survival. Whatever's out there, chances are they're more afraid of you than you are of them."

"But what if something supernatural tries to find-"

"Don't worry about how safe you are, Lily," Pop said. "That's my job. Just try to settle in and live a new life here. My half-brother, Jack B. Nimble, is going to help us train you to fight for yourself and make sure you're takin' cared of. Now get those contacts fitted in. We're about to turn into his drive, and he might have visitors."

Lily peeled back her lids and blinked until the eye lenses fitted properly, watching as the truck turned up a forested area and into a dirt road. The surrounding pines made everything shadowy and spooky, and her foreboding feelings began to well up inside her. In all the years that she visited Pop and Gran-Gran, neither of them had mentioned anything about Pop's half-brother Jack B. Nimble. She had wondered about that ever since her parents told her to pack a few suitcases and be ready to get on the road with Pop, but it wasn't until today that she realized the reason why: he knew about the family secret. He understood what danger that her family was in, or maybe even he was a part of the secret as well, there was no way that she could know now. But she knew that it had to be the only other reason why Pop would go to the trouble of bothering some half-sibling who he probably hadn't spoken to in years. And judging by the growing remoteness of his dwelling, it seemed that he didn't get out much.

"Well, here we are," said Pop, finally pulling into the narrow dirt driveway behind another rusty truck. "Great-uncle Jack's home."

Great-uncle Jack was supposed to have a small farm on a mountain. It was more of a shabby bungalow with a dilapidated chicken coop built into the side of it. There was a gaping hole in the roof, and one of the windowpanes in the top floor was smashed broken. The screen door on the front porch was almost unhinged, and the paint had peeled so much off the building, the exposed wood siding underneath had turned a withered gray color. There wasn't any sign of any chickens, but a miniature horse was eating dandelions in front of the fence around the chicken cop, and an old bloodhound sat slumped on the front porch, it's sagging face drooping over the steps. The horse looked up as the truck pulled in, but the dog gave no acknowledgment of the two guests. Lily couldn't say how excited she was of meeting this unknown relative.

After grabbing their luggage, they walked up to the broken screen door, Pop shoved it aside, and knocked a couple of times on the front door. There wasn't a response. Pop tried knocking again, louder this time, muttering something about "Probably takin' a nap." Meanwhile, Lily scanned the front porch setting. The dog glanced lazily up at her, finally deciding to see who was making noise trying to get his master's attention. There wasn't any sign of telephone wires, or a satellite. No phone calls. No television. No connection with the outside world. She pulled out her cell phone, and turned it on. No signal. If someone was going to kill them, no one would even know they were dead.

Before the morbid train of thought continued, the door opened abruptly, and a burly man wearing clothes that must been a few days overdue for washing appeared in the door frame. He was about Pop's height, though he definitely seemed to be younger than Pop by at least a decade. He had a growing beard, and wore a pair of glasses close to his eyes. Judging by the dark circles under his eyes and the displeased scowl he was giving them, Lily knew that he wasn't expecting or happy to see them.

Pop spoke first. "Hey, Jack."

"Who are you and what do you want? I'm busy," said his half-brother gruffly.

"Jack, it's me, your brother."

"Dad married a third time and said didn't anything? That's not a surprise."

"No, I'm your older brother."

"Never seen you before in my life."

"You don't remember me, 'Popper?' We used to play basketball in school together."

"If that's true, whose son are you?" he asked scrutinizing him.

"Mary Ellen's, dad's first wife," Pop replied.

Great-uncle Jack then seemed to stare off, looking at Lily and her grand-father, but not seeing them. He was reliving those days of basketball.

"Popper!" he cried squeezing his sibling into a hug with his bare arms. The two of them laughed as Jack tried to lift his older brother off the creaking floorboards. Lily watched on in silence, feeling almost as though she shouldn't be there, watching this reunion meant for them.

"Jack," said Pop when he was through splitting his sides. "This is my grand-daughter, Lily. You remember when I wrote to you about her a few years ago when she won the spellin' bee in her class?"

The middle-aged farmer bent to look at Lily through his glasses. "This is her? She seems older than in the picture you sent me."

"Well, she's twelve, Jack," replied Pop. "Kids grow."

"That they do," replied Jack. "Well, enough banter. Let's get you two settled in. I remember now that I had two rooms set aside for guests: the livin' room and chicken coop. Ha! Gotcha, didn't I? But seriously, the couch in the livin' room is a futon, but that's where Pop's stayin'. Li'l Lily here will be upstairs. She'll be stayin' in my daughter's old room. It's the first door at the stairs. Well, get settled in. I'm gonna burn something for dinner." With that he headed for the kitchen.

If the house left something to be desired on the outside, the inside was in desperate want. The place was full of clutter. Unwashed dishes towered on the coffee table, a couple of chairs in the dining room were overturned, ugly unidentifiable stains were ingrained in the carpeting and rugs, scarred and discolored wallpaper peeled off the walls, the scent of forgotten trash reeked throughout the kitchen, newspapers littered the hall floor, even a week old sandwich sat atop an open book collecting flies. If that coop outside was the chicken pen, then this must be the pig's sty, thought Lily disgusted. She slowly inched her way uneasily upstairs, unsure of what she would find there.

While the boards creaked and groaned unhappily at her approach, she found the upstairs to otherwise be more welcoming than the downstairs. It appeared less lived in, with less clutter, but plenty of dust. She sneezed as she opened the door at the top of the landing.

The room seemed to be like a picture: a moment frozen in time. The bed had the sheets shoved back, as though Jack's daughter had just gotten up that very morning. The drawers of the clothes drawer were opened and emptied of clothes of any other items, and a chest at the end of the bed was wide open and void of toys or other belongings. The only thing that filled this vacant room other than the present furniture was a fine layer of dust, which left footprints where she walked. Lily couldn't help but feel as though she were stepping into an empty tomb. Another sneeze distracted her thoughts and she focused her attention on unpacking.

The room wasn't half bad. The wallpaper in the room was a light violet shade, with tiny pink roses trailing like raindrops down the walls. She looked inside the closet, and found dusty but unused sheets to replace the one on the bed. While pulling sheets on the bed, she knocked her hairbrush off the bed and unto the floor. When she bent down to fetch it, she glanced under the bed and found a dust-coated, cobweb-curtained book. She pulled it out, blew and wiped the dust off, and was puzzled to find that it had nothing on it's red cover to indicate it's title or subject. There was only the word "Scarlet" pasted on the front from letters cut out from magazines and newspapers.

"What is this?" Lily asked herself. But before she could even open the cover she heard her name being called. "Lily! I think you took one of my suitcases by mistake!" called Pop. "Can you bring it back down?"

"Coming!" she called. She tucked the mysterious book under her pillow. What is that book about? There seemed to be no shortage of questions in this old mining town. And they didn't stop here.

A/N A mysteriously discovered book... sounds like a cliché, but there you have it! I'm sorry that there wasn't much going on between Lily and Dipper in this chapter, but there will be more in the next, I promise! I just felt like we should know where Lily will be staying and who with, and then move on from there. To answer a question that was previously asked, no, this story won't be taking place in the series as my other story has been. This story is on the fly (and I love it that way :) ). QHzW FKDSWHU FRPLQJ VRRQ!