"What aren't you telling me?" Dipper asked angrily, becoming frustrated with the evasive answers of his Gruncle. "And why are you always so anxious to hide your past from us?"

"No one wants to, needs to, or even should know what I know about the Northwests." Ford replied grimly, still herding Dipper and Mabel away from the door.

"Pacifica isn't a bad person!" Mabel pleaded with Ford, "I mean she kind of was a jerk, but some arguments with little golf people and an angry lumber ghost kind of fixed that!"

"Just trust me on this, some things are better left hidden."

Later, up in there room. Mabel watched Dipper pace on the floor, venting his frustration to his twin.

"I cant believe this," Dipper's voice could almost have been called a growl, if it hadn't been followed by a kitten sneeze that made Waddles come over to investigate. Dipper ignored the piglet, not even slightly in the mood for its adorableness. "Our Gruncles wont tell us anything. They never have!"

"Pacifica isnt a bad person," Mabel chimed in, "If we talk to Gruncle Ford I'm sure we could get him to understand."

Dipper gave a frustrated sigh and glared down through the floorboards imagining his Gruncles below them. "We could talk all day, but it doesn't matter since neither of them will listen." With that thought, Dipper came to a decision.

"If we want something to happen, we will have to do it ourselves."

Mabel grinned, then dived under her bed, rummaging around and throwing sweaters and puppets behind her as she searched. Finally she emerged, holding her prize above her head triumphantly.

"GRAPPLING HOOK!"

Dipper would never tell her how the various objects (including a glue gun, an empty smile dip container, and half knit sweater) stuck to her lessened the epic-ness of her pose.

Five minutes later they were speeding away from the Mystery Shack in the Shack's golf cart.

"Do you think Gruncle Stan will ever hide the keys to this?" Mabel asked, waving goodbye to Waddles as they left.

"He will probably just give them to Soos," Dipper said, idly wondering as he drove whether or not the vehicle was stolen from the mini golf course. "And I don't really think we will have much trouble borrowing them from him."

Though faster than walking, the cart was not nearly as fast as a car. (Though admittedly, the engine was clearly modified. It would figure that Stan would have stronger engines in his vehicles, all the better to get away with) And it struggled to get up hills. Over one particularly steep incline Dipper had to get out and help push, scowling at the gnomes that watched and laughed from the side of the road.

They didn't even attempt to bring the cart up the road to Pacifica's mansion, and so the two had to hike up to the main gates. By the time they reached them, it was late in the afternoon. Dipper wondered if their Gruncles had noticed their absence yet. Probably not, he thought bitterly, much as Gruncle Stan loved his great nephew and niece, he wasn't much for checking up on them. How often had even noticed they were gone before?

Dipper pressed the call button on the intercom on the side of the imposing gates. He imagined the people who had camped out in front of them not that long ago... The walls and monogrammed gate were quite intimidating.

"Good afternoon," Dipper recognized the voice of the unnamed Butler Mabel had called 'fancy' at their last visit. "Please state your name and business."

"Umm, its Dipper-"

"And Mabel!" Mabel interjected.

"And Mabel," Dipper conceded, "and Pacifica wanted to see us?" His mind had worked through all sorts of possibilities for what she could need. Had the ghost come back? That seemed unlikely, and honestly that was the most trouble he had seen the Northwests get into in Gravity Falls. The towns strangeness seemed to give them a wide berth.

There was a pause and then, "Very good sir and ma'am." And the gates slowly creaked open, revealing the path up the Manor proper. "Young Miss Northwest will be waiting in the foyer to meet you."

-Notes-

So... I guess I promised actual notes this time. Honestly, I have so much work to do that I barely have time to write. Which, I should admit, is why I have chosen to write relatively short chapters. It is easier to keep my line of thought when I can simply sit down and write a chapter in one go as opposed to have to continually return to it. That said, most of the time I spent on this chapter was attempting to find out how a butler would address the daughter of his employer, eventually settling on 'Miss' because Pacifica would be young and unmarried, and although in a position to give orders, not actually the employer of the butler. And fair warning to people out there, this isn't going to have any lemon in it. Things may or may not be implied, based on how this goes in writing, but these kids are twelve. And while that is old enough to be perverted, it isn't old enough for them to be doing anything and it is certainly to young for me to be comfortable writing about it. As a side note, since Fanfiction wont let me put more than two pairings, this fic will also contain Mabel/Mermando and Soos/Melody. mleh, I'm tired.

facilis descensus averno, sed revocare gradum superasque evadere at auras, hoc opus, hic labor est