A stream of sunlight from a small high window on the wall made Alice's face twist as she slowly blinked awake. She couldn't remember her room having this kind of feature, or any hotel or motel room for that matter. She sat up, pushing the blankets off her and glancing around the room.

I'm not in a hotel... She suddenly remembered, the events of the day before crashing back onto her like a ton of bricks. She reached out, grabbing her phone that she did not remember plugging in to check the time. Being in a freak accident must have left her tired out because it was almost one in the afternoon.

Alice groaned, leaning back onto the pillows with a grunt. What a nightmare... She found herself thinking, closing her eyes, and counting to ten. She wondered what Ella was doing, even what Carson was doing, and she was tempted to try and call her eleven-year-old. That was a bad idea and she knew it.

Alice lifted herself once more, pushing herself off the air mattress and standing, stretching her arms behind her head and arching back. Her bags, still settled in the corner where she had dropped them, were packed with as much of her things as she could grab and logically drive away with. She crossed over and began to rummage, letting out a sigh as she collected what she would wear for the day.

What should she even wear in an Oregon summer? She settled on a light long sleeve and jeans, it was better than the skirts, dresses, and wool sweaters she usually wore in Connecticut. She pushed past the door and started her way through the Pines house until she got to the kitchen.

Despite having been assured the previous evening that she was free to anything in the fridge, Alice didn't want to impress herself on the Pines family. She wanted to be as polite of a guest as she possibly could be. After a bowl of very dry, very stale cereal, Alice washed her dishes in the sink, intent of going to see if there was any progress on her car. Just as she stepped through the door frame, she bumped into Ford.

"Excuse- Oh!" Ford jerked as if he had seen a ghost. "You're, yes, from yesterday. Of course."

"I guess we're going to keep crashing into each other, huh?" Alice said with a startled but hesitant laugh. She didn't want every interaction with this family to be awkward or hesitant. But for a good, solid moment, Ford regarded her in an awkward silence. It made Alice want to crawl into her skin and die, then and there.

"I believe Stanley's taking a look at your car outside," Ford said with a clear of his throat. "If you want to be out there for it."

She nodded, stepping to the side as Ford stepped into the kitchen, his arms poised behind his back. Alice was just about to make her leave when Ford spoke up again, catching her attention in the doorframe.

"And Alice?" Ford suddenly hesitated on his words as she turned to him, his hand rising to rub the back of his neck. "I'm sorry again for the accident. If I'd been smarter about- Well, let's just say it's entirely my fault and you shouldn't worry about this at all."

"Ford," She said with a smile, the nickname felt strange on her lips, but he had insisted that she call him such. "It happens. I'm sure if Stan figures out what's wrong with my car, I can get it fixed pretty quick."

"When it comes down to it, Stanley does have a knack for cars," Ford said with a smile, his hand lowering to his sides as he shoved them in his pocket. "I predict you'll be back on the road in a matter of weeks!"

He sounds much more excited about the time frame than Alice. She couldn't bother to try and keep the dismay off her face. Weeks.

"What am I going to do with weeks?" Alice said, her voice barely a whisper as her face fell. She glanced up again, noticing a small frown crossing his face but then seeming to recover at the prospect of a question he might be able to answer.

"Well, there's the town tour, of course," He said, his voice growing slightly annoyed as he continued. "And... The Mystery Shack. But if you ask me, all that pales in comparison to-"

He cut himself off, taking a step forward and pressing past Alice, his head peering down the hall.

"Hold on... Do you hear that?" Alice turned into the hall, taking a step down toward the door with a hesitant inhale of breath. "Sounds like..."

The sound came again, and Alice heard it this time. She heard the wailing scream of a pig, followed by a pair of footsteps running down the stairs. Mabel's pig, Waddles, tumbled past the open kitchen doorway with the girl following soon after, a few sheets of paper clutched in hand.

Alice exchanged a look with Ford, unsure if it was a look that said 'we should go' or 'oh god I'm never going to be able to clean this up', before the both of them stepped out of the kitchen and dashed to where Mabel and her big were fighting. The tug-of-war between the two seemed to consist of a grossly saliva-covered sheet of paper. Alice could start to hear the ripping of the paper as Mabel nearly toppled backward from her effort, but she regained herself, snatching the paper from Waddles' jaw and lifting the torn pieces up victoriously. Ford lunged forward, holding a hand out to steady the energetic child/

"Ha!" Mabel cried out with a grin. "Mabel wins again! Now I just gotta fine- GRUNKLE FORD!!"

Ford almost recoiled as the saliva-covered, crumpled pieces of papers were shoved into his hands, Mabel tugging urgently at his coat.

"GRUNKLE FORD YOU HAVE GOT TO HELP ME!!" Mabel suddenly cried out, as if the world was going to drop on her head. Ford, seemingly far calmer than his niece, knelt down to face her with a serious, though concerned, look.

"Slow down, Mabel," He said, almost soothingly. "What's the matter?"

"Dipper found a stack of pages from your old journals and I walked in and Waddles ran up and started eating one! And he must've been chewing on it to warn me, Grunkle Ford, because look!"

She quickly took the ripped halves of the paper back from Ford's hands, joining them together, and holding them up for Ford to see. Alice leaned over, trying to get a good look at the papers, but Ford's wide shoulders and large coat blocked her view.

"Hm... I see..." Ford said seriously. "And you took it as a warning?"

"Yes!" Mabel sounded almost exasperated as she waved the papers at her Grunkle. "It says here that it eats small dogs, and Waddles is a small pig, but he sorta looks like a dog from far away and Waddles must've feared for his life!"

Alice was trying not to let out a giggle, but Waddle's agreeing snort as he lounged a short distance away almost broke her. She couldn't imagine what kind of animal could cause this kind of fear in Mabel and Waddles, and that suddenly hit her too. Was it some kind of wolf, something bigger? She was suddenly not too keen on staying if even Mabel was worried.

"Remember the pterodactyl I told you about?" Mabel pointed out, gesturing back to the pig. "Wassles was so scared that time! I can't let him leave my side!"

Are pigs allowed in museums around here? Alice found herself wondering, her head tipping towards Mabel. Surely that had to be the case, why else would a little girl and her pig know about the flying dinosaur if not for books and museums? Alice pressed her lips together, glancing hesitantly at Ford, but he smiled, seeming to muse the girls' wild imagination.

"Hmm. How about I finish that repellent I never got around to completing?" He asked with a snap of his six-fingered hand. "That'll keep Waddles safe from harm."

"Grunkle Ford, you are an actual lifesaver-" Mabel let out a large sigh of relief, slumping to the floor with a muffled thud. She tipped her head back to the pig, grinning at him, "Waddles, you have nothing to fear!"

The pig seemed to agree because he flopped down in front of Mabel's face and snorted at her, his nose nuzzling against her head. Ford chuckled, shifting himself out of the kneel and standing, brushing his coat off with both hands.

"Alright," Ford said with a chuckle, turning to start down the hall. "I'll go get my recipe."

With nothing better to do for the weeks, Alice thought it wouldn't hurt to get to know the people she was staying with. Ford seemed to know what there was to do around town, and Alice truly didn't want to die from boredom. 

"Hey, Ford?" Alice called out, glancing at him as he stood and twisting her hands in front of her. "Need a hand with that recipe?"

"I can handle it myself-" Ford said with a wave of his hand. Alice would have been disappointed if she wasn't a persistent person.

"Are you sure you couldn't use a hand?"

"I-" Ford started, averting his gaze. Alice glanced to where his line of sight let, finding Mabel mouthing something she didn't catch. When Mabel noticed her, she gave Alice the widest grin, the picture of innocence. "Yes- I suppose I can accept some help."