Well, this was awkward.
Wendy froze as she met the woman's horror-stricken stare. At least now she had a good guess who had been the holdup for the last few months.
A pink butterball of a pig came trundling out of the living room. As soon as Waddles laid eyes on the familiar freckled face he beelined straight to the redhead with an excited squeal. The merciful interruption brought a relieved smiled to her face.
"Hey there, pig dude." She scratched the little annimal behind the ears. The girl then braced herself and sheepishly met the unhappy gaze of Mrs. Pines. "Uh, hey. So, I'm Wendy, and um…..my bad about the rug."
Thankfully the embarrassed looks on the twins' faces helped the woman snap out of it. Even though neither of her children said a word, they both wordlessly made it pretty clear that this was no way to treat a guest. The flustered woman cleared her throat and recomposed herself. "Oh, um, yes, of course. I'm….uh, I'm sorry, I must have given you a little bit of a scare back there, didn't I?"
Just a small heart attack, thought the teen. "It's fine. Look, I didn't mean to-"
"No, no, it's fine. It's only a little mess." Despite her reassurance, it was clearly much more than a mere little mess to her. Her eyes wandered back to the catastrophic trail of boot prints marking the formerly spotless carpet and sighed, "Oh, and we just got this cleaned….."
"It's just a rug." Wendy shrugged. This "disaster" was nothing compared to an average day in the Corduroy cabin. An annoyed glance quickly made her walk back her remark. "Uh, sorry."
"No it's fine." Ms. Pines likewise stood down for the sake of the uncomfortable tension that was rapidly filling the room. "Just….when you're coming in and out, could you please just wipe your boots off on the mat?"
"Yeah, no prob." The teen nodded.
"And maybe you can even just leave them right by the-"
"Mom!" Dipper interrupted with a groan. She shot him a disapproving look, but he added defensively, "She just got here."
She took another deep breath and conceded. "You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just feeling a little…look, don't worry about it. "
And with that she gave each of her children a quick pat on the head before heading out the door. "Sorry I can't stick around, I need to go and take care of some things. Bye! I'll see you in a few hours, okay?"
In no time the matriarch of the Pines household was out the door, in her car and pulling out of the driveway to go show some errands no mercy. Wendy glanced to her friends and said sarcastically, "Well, totally nailed that first impression."
Mabel bounced on over for a hug around the waist. "It's okay! Trust me, I make messes LOTS of times."
"Yeah, Mom can just get a little wound up sometimes." Dipper generously understated, followed by a grimace. "Sorry."
"We're cool." Wendy wanted to remark about spotting some family resemblance between mother and her often high-strung friend, but she held back her tongue. For now.
"It's fine. The holidays always get my Lynda in a bit of a tizzy." Mr. Pines cheerily brushed the matter aside. "And it doesn't help that people always try to squeeze in heavy-duty dental work around this time."
"That's…..huh." The teen didn't know how to reply to that.
"Yeah. Welcome to the Bay Area, located about five miles west of Reality." The cornball of a man successfully got another laugh out of her.
"Coming from a town in the middle of nowhere, I think I could actually do with a little more weird." She and Dipper shared a knowing look. According to her friends, quite a few details had been wisely omitted from their summer Oregon, and it didn't hurt to do her part to keep the 100% dull sleepy backwoods town facade up.
"Sounds like you're going to handle yourself just fine." The oblivious father chuckled. "All right, you get settled in. I'll clean up here, and then I'll call in for pizzas in about an hour."
"C'mon, Wendy!" Mabel grabbed the redhead by the hand, but Wendy motioned for her to wait.
"Just take off your shoes. I have a whole thing about shoes." She performed a spot-on impersonation of a certain prissy jerk of a unicorn while she tugged her boots off.
"Uh-uh, I'm talking to allll of you!" Mabel waggled a finger. Both girls cracked up while Dipper bemusedly watched on. Wendy was then led her to the guest room where she was in for a sight. The bed was covered with a small crowd of Mabel's stuffed animals, with each one clad in a little hand-knitted flannel shirt.
"They're in case you get homesick." The arts and crafts master said proudly.
Dipper meanwhile was now wishing he had put more effort into his contribution. It was just a simple "Welcome Wendy" sign hanging taped on the wall, ringed by a few scattered photos of her and the twins and scrawled in his scratchy handwriting.
But as he watched her emerald eyes wander over to it, he sucked it up and awkwardly admitted, "That's, uh….that's mine."
"This is amazing." Wendy beamed. Her grin grew by at least inch. She honestly didn't expect them to be this happy to have her over. They were acting like they had won the lottery.
"Really?" Dipper replied incredulously.
"Uh-huh. Dudes, you totally you didn't have to do this."
"No offense, but that's where you are dead wrong! A big part of Christmas is having friends or family visit. Or both! " Mabel let out a sudden squeal. "Oooh! You're like, both at once! You're friemily!"
"I like the sound of that." Wendy flung her bags on the bed. "Anyway, thanks for tricking my pad out. So, what are we doing next?"
"Oh, we got plans." Dipper excitedly signaled to his twin and started to announce,
"Holiday movie mar-"
"Christmas movie-" Mabel started, and both stopped when they realized they were completely out of sync. "Wait, isn't it supposed to be Christmas mov-"
"No wait," Her confused brother interrupted. "I thought we were…..wait, wait, you're right, I remember now. Sorry."
"It's okay! Do-over in three, two..." Mabel counted down on her fingers and this time they announced in adorable sibling unison, "Christmas movie marathon!"
"Awesome." Wendy cackled. "We talking like, those crazy old movies with the creepy claymation stuff?"
At the mere mention of this, Mabel hugged one of her stuffed animals from off the bed and shuddered. "No."
"Ooooh, right. Sorry Mabes." Wendy quickly remembered her friend's unusual phobia. Ever the dutiful sibling, Dipper was quickly at his twin's side and patting her back.
"Yeah, we're uh….still not a big fan of those." He gently put it. "Luckily we still got a pretty good collection to pick from."
After Mabel's quick recovery, the next several hours passed like one of the many movie nights they had held over the summer. Greasy pizza, loads of snacks, and a bunch of supposedly classic films that didn't hold up very well to the test of time. To put it bluntly, it was everything that Wendy could hope for.
"...Whoa, whoa, so wait." She protested as she watched an animated snowman come to life onscreen. "Happy birthday? What's he even talking about? This is supposed to be a Christmas movie, right?"
"Frosty's saying that because it's his birthday!" Mabel explained around a mouthful of popcorn. "Duh! He was just born!"
"Dude? That's kind of messed up." She gave her two cents. "I mean, so he's basically like a giant baby now?"
"Technically, I guess." Thanks to her fresh perspective Dipper now had to concede, "Wow. This movie just got a lot more disturbing."
"It's so messed up, man! I mean, look at those kids! Why aren't any of them running away? It was just a bunch of snow a second ago, and now it's like, an actual guy." She cupped her hands over her mouth and jokingly called out to the characters, "Yo, keep away from that thing!"
"He just wants to make friends!" Mabel tossed some popcorn at her.
"How do they know that? How does it even know what a friend is? How does he even know how to walk, or talk, or like, anything?" She kept riffing. "If I said 'happy birthday' and tried to sing a song as soon as I was born, my parents would've gotten an exorcist, pronto."
"He gets all his knowledge from the hat!" The younger girl explained. "It's magic, silly!"
"Magic bringing something dead to life?" The teen shot her a look. "Mabes, c'mon."
"Oh man." Dipper realized where she was getting at. "That's like, the textbook definition of a zombie."
"Took you long enough." She teased the Mystery Twins. "Just a couple months away from Weird Central and you guys are getting rusty already."
"Whelp, guess those kids are doomed then." He deadpanned, and they all immediately cracked up.
"They deserve it, if you ask me. Look at them!" Wendy laughed. "C'mon! Just run away from him already!"
"He's going to go for your brains!" Dipper warned.
"It's night of the Living Snow-bie!" Mabel now got in on the stupid fun. There was a sudden ding from the kitchen, and the brunette shot to her feet. "Yes! Cookies are done!"
"Need a hand?" Wendy paused the movie.
"Nope, your orders are to stay here and keep enjoying yourself. And then you're going to eat at least two reindeer, one wreath, and three stars before bed tonight!" The little hostess ordered.
"Yes ma'am." Wendy rolled over onto her side and playfully saluted.
"Holiday Heroine, awaaaaaaay!" Mabel sprinted off into the kitchen.
"Have I told you how boring things are back home without you guys?" Wendy grinned, even though she knew the answer. She probably brought it up in at least half her emails and chats.
Dipper smiled before getting to his feet. "Hold on, be back."
She watched him head towards the kitchen. "You sure you guys don't need me?"
"Yeah, I just….need to make sure Mabel doesn't go overboard on the frosting." With this hasty excuse he slipped off.
His twin was happily crooning :Jingle Bells" to herself as she worked like a cheery little machine as she decorated the cookies with incredible speed. She saw her brother enter and waved him off. "It's okay. All set here, bro-bro."
"I know." He coughed before lowering his voice. "So, uh...how do you think we're doing so far?"
"Doing what?" She kept bustling about, never still for a second. .
"You know, with…." He nodded towards the living room. Mabel shot him a puzzled look, then had herself a small giggle-fit.
"Hey, Nervous Nelly? When you find where Dipper went, can you tell him to stop being such an anxious butt?" She gave her twin a gentle push, leaving a smear of red frosting on his shirt.
"Mabel…." He groaned. This was not the sibling reassurance he had been hoping for. Despite all their fun so far, he had been nursing small knot in his gut ever since the rough introduction with their mother earlier. "I just want to make sure she's okay. I mean, this is like, literally her first real Christmas. We made her come all the way down here, and then as soon as she walks in the door Mom goes all…"
Mabel let him anxiously bvent a little until she had assembled a gorgeous platter of handmade treats. She then silenced him by shoving a cookie into his mouth. "You need to just relax and enjoy yourself. I mean, this is our Wen-Wen you're talking about! It's not like we can do something to like, get her upset and make her head all the way back to-"
They returned to the den to find their friend gone. Dipper's stomach automatic tightened harder. Thankfully, the mystery of the missing lumberjill wasn't very difficult to crack; the opened sliding door was the only clue they needed. They found her standing in the middle of the little backyard, gazing out at nothing in particular.
"Wendy?" Dipper called out.
"Huh?" She snapped out of her reverie.
"You okay?" He scampered over to her side.
"Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. While I was waiting I wanted to see what the weather was like right now." She explained as she rolled up her sleeves. The teen genuinely marveled at the feel of such gentle night air on her skin.
"So, what do you think?" Mabel did a twirl and grinned. "Pretty nice, huh?"
"Nice? Nice? Ohhhh man, I can't believe you guys even bother calling this winter down here. I'd seriously kill for December weather like this back home." Wendy took another moment to relish the touch of the marvelously mild temperature with a sigh. "Okay, so I know like, we have Christmas traditions and junk to do, but….you mind if we hang out here? Maybe for just a couple minutes?"
Considering how much time they had spent over the past summer lazily lounging with her up on top of their great-uncles' home, this was hardly an outrageous request. They all settled down in the grass around the overloaded plate of Mabel's cookies.
"You're really liking this, huh?" Dipper asked.
"Oh yeah, it's like total paradise out here. Plus…. okay, freak-alert coming, but honestly, it feels kind of weird actually being inside and like, actually comfortable." She confessed. "I mean like, being inside during this time of year. I'm calling it now, I'm going to be super confused when I wake up in a real bed tomorrow."
"When your Dad makes you do your training thingy, do you get to use a tent or anything?" Mabel asked around a mouthful of one of her homemade treats.
"Only for the first few years when you're younger. And then when my Dad thinks you're old enough, you have to make your own shelter from then on out."
"Out of what?" Dipper pried inquisitively.
"Whatever you can get. Branches, rocks,...maybe if the ground's not too cold you can try and dig yourself a little cave and cover that up."
Mabel giggled at the thought of her friend burrowing underground. "Haha! Like a big bunny!"
"Sort of, actually." Wendy chuckled. "I have had to use my hands a couple of times. But a nice flat rock works best. But you can only do that if you're lucky and the ground's not frozen solid, which it usually is. Maybe if you hunt around you can find a hole something's already dug, but then you have to check to make sure nothing's…."
Before she knew it she was giving a full-blown lesson. Not that the twins minded at all. They both listened intently, Dipper particularly so. The boy was absolutely fascinated with everything she had to say (he was usually fascinated by whatever she had to say, but right now he was more so than usual). Even on the few campouts he got to do up in Gravity Falls he had never gotten to do anything close to what his friend apparently did every year in the harshest of conditions. He marveled at the tough-as-nails girl.
"And you would spend the whole night in whatever you made?" He piped up with a question.
"Several nights in a row. I mean, if you know what you're doing, it's really not that bad."
"Soooo…." His mind started wandering. "Let's say...I dunno, some disaster happens and you're stuck here. Could you make a shelter here in the back yard?"
"Pffft! You kidding?" She looked around the neatly kept little yard. "Like, it wouldn't even be a challenge."
"Really? How would you do it?" "Dipper immediately asked.
"Like, would you use stuff from inside the house, or we talking about outside-stuff only?" Mabel chirped.
As both her younger friends bore into her with curious stares and peppered her with questions, the corners of her mouth curled into a smile. "...You guys wanna see how a pro does it?"
"Sam! Sam!"
Mr. Pines was roughly shaken out of a deep sleep, and he instinctively shot up in bed with a start. "Huh? Wha….Lyn, w-what's wrong?"
"The kids!" The blurry outline of his wife answered frantically. He groped at the bedside table until he could find his glasses.
"What about them?"
"They're gone!"
"Wha…." He sat up. "What do you mean they're gone?"
"They're gone!" She repeated impatiently. "The twins aren't in their rooms, Wendy's not in her bed, and…..they're just not here! None of them are!"
"Okay, okay, hold on." He kept a calm head as he clambered from bed to follow his anxious spouse down the hall. True to her word, a look into each room revealed only empty beds.
"Maybe they just camped out in the living room."
"I already checked!" She led him downstairs. All they found was a half-empty bowl of popcorn, some pillows, and a movie still on pause. He scratched his head.
"Maybe…..they could have just gone out early for….uh…." He brainstormed. "Maybe the kids just wanted to show her…...um…..have you tried calling them?"
"Yes! And no answer! From any of them! There's no note, literally no trace of where they possibly could have gone, it's barely seven in the morning…."
The worried mother was interrupted when Waddles started scratching at the sliding door with a little cloven hoof. Mrs. Pines groaned at the family pet.
"Not now, Waddles."
"Hold on, he just needs to go out." Her husband nodded apologetically as he temporarily excused himself. "I'm comin' boy."
He opened the door, and the little animal trundled into the backyard. But instead of tending to his early morning business, the couple noticed that he headed straight towards a bush that neither of them could remember ever being there before. Waddles stopped, sat down, and waited expectantly for…..something. Both Pines curiously followed him outside.
"Uh….hello?" Mrs. Pines cautiously called out. She got a mighty spook when part of the "bush" was pushed aside to reveal a bleary-eyed fifteen-year-old.
"Huh?" Wendy yawned. "Is….issit time to get up?"
Mrs. Pines needed a few moments to process the strange sight. The "shrub" was actually a kind of handmade shelter, made entirely from sticks, leaves, a piece of signboard and some other odds and ends that the teen had scrounged from somewhere. The structure wasn't anything grandiose, but it was big enough to snugly accommodate about three. Both Dipper and Mabel were still slumbering, with their sleeping bags overlapping heavily on either side of Wendy as they remained snuggled tightly against her.
"Everythingokay?" The dozy redhead mumbled as Waddles squeezed past her inside.
"What…..what….." The mother sputtered breathlessly. "What are you….why-"
Her husband stepped in and answered on their behalf. "No, no, it's fine. You can go back to sleep. Uh, cereal and milk is in the kitchen whenever you want breakfast."
"Oh. Cool." Wendy nodded before proceeding to do a quick check on her bunkmates. Waddles was trying to worm his way into the tight huddle, and so she tucked him into Mabel's arms like a stuffed animal. She then drew up the zipper of Dipper's sleeping bag a little tighter, let out another gaping yawn and unceremoniously closed up the entrance. In an instant they all vanished from sight, and once again Mr. and Mrs. Pines found themselves gazing upon what looked like nothing more than an oddly-shaped bush.
"Wait….wait, she….."
"They're fine." Her husband pat her shoulder and he meant every word. After all, they were still at home and safe. But as he led her back towards the house, she continued reeling from the bizarre shock.
"What….she….she had them all sleeping outside….all night? Out here? Like a…..like a…..they were like bunch of raccoons, sleeping out in a….a…." She stopped and pointed back to the survival shelter. "Just what is that supposed to even be, anyway?"
He shrugged. "Looks like some pretty good camouflage, if you ask me….."