Winged Falls

//Chapter Eight//

The door stayed firmly shut.

Mason sighed and flopped back onto the cashier counter. "Grunkle Stan-"

"Hush, kid." Stan fiddled with his cane- a Magic 8 Ball on a stick- but his eyes remained fixated on the door. "Someone oughta be here soon."

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Right, well, if that's the case, I'm gonna read my magazine." The redhead put her feet up on the counter and leaned back into her chair. "Or take a nap."

Stan grumbled and muttered something about youth and slackers. Or maybe he had said crackers- Mason wasn't entirely sure. Either way, he doubted Stan was giving Wendy a compliment.

On the other side of the room, Soos was teaching Mabel where the various gift shop wares went. "Snow globes are on the third shelf from the bottom, t-shirts on the rack, and bobbleheads go on the counter by the register." Mabel pointed around the room at the respective items and their locations, her brow slightly furrowed in concentration. "And... hats are on the wall by the door?"

Soos nodded."I have taught you all that I know, and yet already you have surpassed me," he said, resting a hand on Mabel's shoulder as he gazed off into the distance. "You will make a great worker."

Mabel laughed. "I hope so." She glanced over towards the counter, and for a moment her eyes met Mason's. Something flashed across her face too quickly for Mason to read, though, and her gaze dropped.

Stan propped the cane against the counter and straightened his back. "I'm gonna go talk to Ford. I'm trusting you kids to hold down the fort while I'm gone- don't make me regret it," he added with a warning look. "No funny business."

Wendy arranged her face into an expression of innocence. "Us? Funny business? I'm hurt, Stan."

Stan grunted. "Soos, you're in charge. If anyone comes in, lead the tour."

Soos' eyes widened, and his arm snapped into a salute. "You can count on me, Mr. Pines! I promise I won't let you down."

"Where did Ford go?" Mabel asked, turning to Mason and Wendy as Stan left the gift shop. "He was at breakfast, but I haven't seen him since."

That was right- where was Ford? Normally he went down to the lab right before the Emporium opened, but Mason hadn't even seen him come into the gift shop that morning. Mason glanced back over at Mabel- he wondered if maybe it had to do with her. Ford might not want her to know about the lab behind the vending machine; it wasn't something they told the general public. At breakfast, Ford hadn't seemed to want Mason talking about the cave in front of her, which Mason had to admit made sense. If word got around town that there was something killing the life in the forest, people would panic.

And as nice as Mabel seemed, they really knew nothing about her. Stan said that she'd tell them about why she ran away when she was ready, but Mason couldn't blame Ford for not wanting her to know all their secrets.

"Eh, he's probably off doing some nerd junk," Wendy said, pulling Mason out of his thoughts. She waved a lazy hand above her magazine. "Ford does research on the stuff in the woods- it's all pretty boring, if you ask me."

Mason automatically leapt to his grunkle's defense. "Ford's work is not boring! It's fascinating! He runs tests on the things in the forest and learns about why they're there and where they came from, and that allows him to-" His voice dropped off as he realized both girls were hiding snickers behind their hands. "It's important work, okay?" Mason said, feeling his face burn.

"Dude, it's fine," Wendy said, setting her magazine on the counter. "We're just messing with you. It's great that you and Ford like the research stuff- I just prefer doing other things." Wendy winked, and Mason's mind flashed to her flying around the cave. "And if I had to guess, I'd say Mabel here is in the same boat as me."