Shot to the Heart
(August 1-3, 2014)
Chapter 10: "Gravity Hurts"
"Who's that?" Wendy asked, suddenly sitting up, tense in every muscle. She clamped her hand over Dipper's mouth. He felt her panic and confusion.
A crusty voice called out: "Ya in here, knuckleheads?"
"S-Stan?" Wendy asked. "You—how did you—?"
"How's it hangin, Wendy? Dipper OK?" the silhouetted figure in the cave opening asked.
Dipper felt Wendy loosen her hold and her hand leave his mouth. He could also feel her rollercoaster of emotions, up and down, wild and out of control. "I'm OK," he said.
Stan scratched his head, or it looked like he did. With the diminishing light behind him, it was hard to tell. "That's good to hear. Everybody's worried. Wendy, guess you had a damn hard time of it."
"Mr. Pines?" Wendy said in the voice of a lost little girl. "I—Stan?" She began to weep, making Dipper's heart ache. "I'm all messed up, man."
"Yeah, yeah. OK if I come on in?"
Dipper felt Wendy's struggle. He sent her a mental message: It's OK. Maybe he can help. But it's your call. Whatever you want. I'm with you all the way.
She suspected a trick. She trusted Dipper. She wondered if he were lying to her. She knew he wasn't. Everything whirled in her head, but she made an effort and thought:
—Come in.
Gently, Dipper thought to her, He can't hear that. You have to say it out loud.
"Come in," Wendy said, her voice trembling. "Don't tell my dad about this. Please, Mr. Pines, don't."
"Hey, I can keep a secret. And it ain't been 'Mr. Pines' for a couple years, has it? Call me Stan." Stan came over, hunkered down, and laid his hand on Wendy's. For just a half-second, Dipper realized something was very different about him: it was as though Wendy had touched a live electric wire, and the current had passed through her and into Dipper, whom she was still hugging with her left arm.
"Yeah," Stan said, his voice becoming soft and warm. "Easy, easy. Hey, Wendy, remember when we jiggered that cop car at Christmas? That was a hoot! You done good, girl. Proud of you. Rest easy, I won't say a word to Manly Dan. I won't promise on my honor, 'cause I got none of that, but you know you can trust me."
"I—I do know that. Thanks, man. I'm so—I brought Dipper here, it's not his fault—"
"Yeah, I know that. And I know why you're messed up, too. OK, since you let me come in, let me help you now. You heard about the layin' on of hands? Yeah, I know, it's fake and BS and all, but I learned a little trick that will help ease you off this crazy emotional thing you got going on. I gotta put my hand on your head, though. And I can't do it without your consent, so is it OK?"
That crazy swinging rush of feelings again, and Wendy, a tiny Wendy, like a girl all alone on a vast, midnight, stormy sea, trying not to drown, fought to say yes—Dipper sent her all the encouragement he could, and she groaned, "I don't know, I don't know—they want to take Dipper away from me! I don't want to hurt him—I have to let him go—I have to keep him safe—I don't know what I want!"
"Wendy," Dipper said aloud, "one time I didn't trust Grunkle Stan, and that was the crucial time when I should have. I've been sorry ever since. I'm with you. I won't leave you ever. It's OK. Let him help."
"I—I guess." Wendy closed her eyes, swallowed hard, and lowered her chin.
"That's good," Stan said, and he put his big hand on her head. After a moment, she slumped. "There. She'll sleep for a few minutes."
"Grunkle Stan—"
The figure stood up. "Guess again." The form of his great-uncle melted and instantly reformed as a woman.
Dipper yelped and snatched Wendy's axe, brandishing it as he jumped up. "You get away from her!"
The woman raised her hands and backed off. "Your heart and hers want to protect each other so strongly," she said softly. "That's good."
Dipper was shaking with the need to do—something, he didn't know what. "Who are you? What are you?"
She smiled. "I could tell you, but your sister can introduce us, and you'l believe her. Mabel, husband, come in now."
Though she had not raised her voice, Love God and Mabel ran in as if she'd yelled for them. Mabel rushed straight to Dipper and hugged him. "You OK?"
"Yeah, but Wendy's in real rough shape," Dipper said.
"Watch that axe! Hey, where are your clothes?" Mabel asked, seeming to become aware for the first time that her twin wore only his shorts.
"In Wendy's car. Long story. I know that's Love God, but who's the woman hugging him?"
"Dipper, meet Psyche. She's married to L.G. Psyche, this is my brother Dipper. You should like him. You're Psyche, he's practically psycho!"
"Can you guys help Wendy?" Dipper asked, his voice tense. He gripped the axe tightly. "'Cause if you mean to hurt her, you'll have to get past me!"
"Relax, kid," Love God said. "Nobody's gonna hurt anybody. Look, this was a silly little misunderstanding, that's all."
"Dip," Mabel said, "he tried to shoot me with a jealousy curse or something, but he missed and hit Wendy!"
"What!"
The Love God shuffled his feet and looked embarrassed. "Look, I was tired and edgy and just off a hard set, OK? All right, let me look at the patient." Love God raised both of his hands, thumb to thumb, palms spread, and held them a few inches above Wendy's head. "Man, I do good work! OK, she's scrambled but it's cool, I can take care of this. Jealousy will end right here, be again as once you were!" A golden beam of light leaped from his hands and hit Wendy, who flinched and jerked but didn't wake up. "Psych, see how she's doing."
Psyche said, "I'll have to touch her again."
"Go ahead," Dipper told her, but he held onto the axe.
Psyche knelt and touched Wendy's head again, closed her eyes, and hummed a little tuneless melody. "She will recover." She stood up. "It will take some time. You'll have to comfort her and help her understand that this was not her fault. If you show her you still love her, she should be all right soon—but unless you reach her and touch her deeply, she'll have a difficult day or two."
"We cool?" Love God said, smiling. He held out his hand for a fist-bump. "We're cool, right?"
Dipper sighed, dropped the axe, took a step forward, and made a fist.p
A moment later, Love God looked up from where he lay sprawled on the sandy floor of the cave. "Hey! Not cool!"
"Go, Dipper!" Mabel said admiringly. "What was that?"
"Left hook," Dipper said, shaking his hand. "Grunkle Stan didn't tell me how much it would hurt!"
"You should be on my end," Love God groaned, sitting up and holding his jaw. "I ought to blast you with a love-stinks spell."
"But you won't," Psyche said firmly. "You know you deserved that!"
"Yeah, yeah. Help me up." Psyche gave him a hand, and he got to his feet, still rubbing his jaw. "Not bad, kid. All right, I messed with your girl, even though I didn't mean to, so I'll give you a pass this one time. But no .mp3's for you! We even, Mabel?"
"Depends on how Wendy does."
"If she's not OK," Dipper said, his voice barely hiding his fury, "we will come after you. It doesn't matter where you hide or how far you go, or what dimension you're in. We'll find you!"
"Yeah, and then you'll be sorry! 'Cause we're the Mystery Twins!" Mabel announced, and they did the fist-bump, though Dipper said, "Ow!"
"You won't have to. Wendy will be all right. Come on, Pudge," Psyche said. "Let them handle it now." She tickled his chin with a crooked finger. "There's a sandalwood candle waiting with your name on it."
With a grin, Love God took her hand—and they vanished in a soundless blue explosion.
"I don't understand any of this," Dipper complained.
"I'll explain," Mabel said. "But we have to find some way to get home."
Dipper picked up Wendy's phone. "We could call—but I think she's coming around." He sat on the floor and cradled Wendy's head in his lap. He put his hand on her cheek and felt her easing out of a tangled nightmare and into a calmer mood. Her eyes fluttered. Vaguely, she asked, "What happened?"
"Come on," Dipper said. "Mabel's going to tell us everything. Are you OK?" He helped her up, and she stood unsteadily.
"Uh—I don't know—what did I do to you, Dip? I—did I lose my mind? It's all fuzzy!"
"I'm fine," Dipper told her, leaning down to pick up something. "Here's your axe."
She took it and automatically put it in its scabbard, on her back and under her long hair. "Mabel? I—should I apologize to you? Did I say something really mean to you?"
"Nope," Mabel said. "But I think you stole Brobro's clothes!"
"Did I? Oh, my God, Dipper, I'm so sorry!"
"Come on," Dipper said. "We'd better hurry. It's getting dark."
In the fading light of sunset, they crossed Creepy Hollow, the valley that once had been the realm of nightmares, came to the path through the woods—Jeff the Gnome popped up and called to Dipper, "Look at you, practically naked and with two girls! Guess a squirrel bath looks pretty tame now, huh!" and then hurriedly vanished in the ferns.
Dipper had trouble walking—he was barefoot, and the rocks first and then the brambles and roots were rough underfoot. They got down the hill finally, to a place where a log cabin, long gone, had once stood, and he saw Wendy's car ahead. It wasn't locked. Mabel opened the back door and found his clothes, and he pulled on jeans and tee shirt and shoes, without worrying about the socks.
"Dudes," Wendy said, leaning on the hood of the car, "I—man, I'm so light-headed! I don't think I can drive."
Mabel started to speak, but Dipper hurriedly cut in: "I'll drive. Let me have your keys. Mabel, you ride shotgun. Wendy, get in the middle and just put your arm around my neck, OK?"
He had to adjust the seat—he was still somewhat shorter than Wendy, and his legs were not as long as hers—but he turned the ignition key, the engine started, and he thought to her: Teach me how to do this.
—OK, Dip. Take everything I know about driving.
It came to him in a flash flood of thought and instinct. He thought, This kind of info exchange is gonna come in real handy when we're in college together!
He knew exactly what to do, though he'd only ever driven a golf cart before. They fastened their seatbelts, he adjusted the mirrors, put the Dart into reverse and pulled a perfect three-point turn and then headed out the overgrown drive and onto the highway.
"What if you get arrested?" Mabel asked from the far side of Wendy.
"All the cops are at Woodstick," Dipper told her. "Except maybe Blubs and Durland."
"That's OK, then," Mabel said. "Floor it!"
"I think not."
He obeyed the traffic and stayed five miles per hour under the speed limits, got them safely to the Shack, and in the half-full lot he parked close to Wendy's usual spot. They found a note on the Shack door: Visiting Mrs. Gleeful with the baby. Leftovers are in the refrigerador. Rosa.
Mabel fished out her key and unlocked the front door of the Shack. "Dipper, man," Wendy said in a shaky voice, "you better go get your stuff out of my car. If Dad found it in there—"
"I'll take care of it. Mabel, let Wendy lie down in your room, OK?"
"You got it."
Dipper went back and collected his jacket, socks, bandanna, and phone. Night was coming on. He took some deep breaths and then went inside. Mabel sat at the dining-room table. "How is she?" he asked his twin sister.
"Confused. Resting, though," Mabel said. "Dipper, listen to me: I don't know what goofy things she did or said, but it's not her fault!"
"Of course not!"
"She is going to be needy, and you are going to be kind and supportive! She'll snap back in a day or two, but you have to be extra-extra-nice to her!"
"I will be!"
"Then stop arguing with me!" Mabel rubbed her eyes. "Wait, you weren't, I'm sorry. I'm just so tired and mad! I'm gonna call Robbie and he'll let everybody know you guys are all right."
She made the call and got Robbie to understand her—though even Dipper could hear the blare of music from Woodstick through her phone—and then spent half an hour telling Dipper what had happened. She pumped him for some answers, too.
He said something about what had gone on in the cave, but refused to go into specifics. "She just knew something had happened to her, but not what," he said. "She was so scared, Mabel! I've never seen her scared before. I felt helpless."
"Then make up for it!" She jumped off her stool. "I'm gonna go check on her. You remember what I told you—be extra, extra nice! Oh, and Brobro? I wish you'd hit Love God twice as hard!"