Ghosts and Gossip

 

Doll County Paranormal begins an investigation of local amusement park Witch's Cove.  They split into teams of two.

Jimin:  The most common mistakes made by beginners are pareidolia and backscatter. 

Esperanza: I know about pareidolia.  That's when we see a face where there is no face, because our brains are wired to look for them.  We use it in theater, for subliminal creepiness in a scary production.  

Jimin: Good.  Backscatter is when things like dust are mistaken for ghostly orbs.  Always look for a practical explanation first.  And don't take it to heart if we tease you.  We're still teasing Nova about a screech owl.  

Nova: We're picking up something.  Quit leaning on the post and take some pictures.  

Ken: I'm just catching my breath.  

Nova: Take pictures while you do it.  Especially towards the Raging Rapids - I feel like something that direction is watching us. 

Hagrid: Check this out. 

Kenna: That's probably radio transmissions.  A steel coaster is basically just a big twisted antenna. 

Hagrid: Sure, some of it.  Maybe even most of it.  But there's weirdness on each end of the frequency range.  Spikes at the same time, on each end.

Frodo: This path is supposed to be a very active area.  Jeremiah wants the trip sensors on either side.  Mine's good, but what is going on at your end?  You got fairies dancing around over there? 

Peeta: Only fairy around here is me, smarty pants.  I can't get the damn sensor cone to stay upright.

Frodo: Sounds like a personal problem to me. 

******

Meanwhile: At Sunburst, after a meeting of the Teacher's Union.  

Rallee: I'm glad we got everything sorted.  I was really dreading a strike.  As superintendent, I get all the blame if that happens.  Maybe I should try for that new WDLC show.  I could retire from the whole mess.

Gwen: I'm actually thinking about applying.  I love to teach, but I sure ain't in it for the money. 

Snape: It's practically prostitution, Gwen! 

Rallee: It can be argued that all marriage is prostitution.  

Gwen: You both are such sourpusses.  Why am I sitting with you? 

Suzie: You aren't seriously?

Doreen:  Already mailed the application packet.  I'm not desperate for a man to define me, never have been, but I get tired of sleeping alone.  Two of my kids are grown and in serious relationships.  Tommy's the same age as the potential stepchild.  

Suzie:  Two?  Who is Bonnie dating? 

Midna: Everything good?  Anyone need a refill?

McG: Perhaps you can settle an argument for us.  How do you feel about this Mrs. Moneybags program WDLC will be putting on? 

Midna (shrugs): It's not anything I'm interested in.  Seems like a goofy way to get a husband, but I've seen goofier.  

Susan: You agree, then, that there's nothing immoral or unethical about it?

Nancy:  But it's so decidedly unromantic! 

McG:  Not all women can be as fortunate as we are.  Particularly in modern society.  

Nancy:  My daughters are grown, so I can't forbid them, but I have strongly advised against it.  

McG: I'd tell my daughter it's a bad idea if she shows an interest in anything but dinosaurs.  If she ever marries, it's bound to be a Velociraptor.  

Sex, Drugs, and... Remodeling

At Barbieville Middle School, the day begins. 

Alex: I appreciate all the advice, but I really don't think it will be rough adjusting.  For one thing, I'm going to have my own room to hide in if it gets crazy.  

Hermione: It was all the boys in the house I had to get used to.  

Samantha: Having a stepsister is a godsend for me.  Raven has helped me so much since Charmaine did what she did.  (laughs) And now they've moved out of town, so I don't even have to look at her! 

Alex: Still gotta look at the piece of crap she did it for, though. 

Samantha: He's not to blame for her actions.  (Waves dismissively in Draco's direction.)  I heard your dad's team finally got a chance to investigate Witch's Cove?  

Alex: Yeah, and it was Pocahontas's idea!  I think he's more excited about that than the wedding!

Gabriella: ...then Charlotte told Courtney nobody cares and Mom said "Keep your mouth off my children."  

Taylor: No wonder y'all come to my house so much.  Beside helping your dad with the remodel, you can get away from that hag.  

Gabriella: Have you heard anything from Candy?

Taylor: No, and it's been over a week.  We're starting to really get worried.

Draco: You know, a decent school doesn't teach this stuff to boys and girls in the same room. 

Nancy: You and I have very different ideas of what a decent school does.  (Draco rolls his eyes.) If you have parental consent, you can turn in your book and take a study hall.  Do you have parental consent? 

Draco: You know I don't. 

Nancy: I suggest you discuss your discomfort with your parents.  In the meantime, please keep your complaints to yourself.  

*******

Pern is walking home from work when Pocahontas calls her over to a table in the park. 

Pern: I knew this was going to happen.  That you'd make me say it. 

Pocahontas: Pern, I'm not going to do this without your okay.  You've surprised me, to be frank, with your drive to stay off the drugs.  I really don't want to hurt you. 

Pern: It's just so hard to admit I failed that badly as a mom.  

Pocahontas: I'm sure it hurts.  I'm sorry.  

Pern (crying softly): But it'd be a bigger failure to stand in the way of what's best for him.  

Pocahontas:  You'll still be in his life.  Hell, if John's the mom and I'm the dad, you can be the doting aunt.  We've all come to love you, Pern.  Warts and all. 

********

At Windu Acres, Joe's short break is interrupted.

Mace: Did you have to make mine the ugliest room in the house? 

Joe: Hey, you left it up to Rose-Grace.  She told me to use repurposed materials from my warehouse.  Not my fault they ended up being contrasting patterns.  

Mace: I'm just messing with you.  It's actually kinda bohemian.  Makes me wanna invite Albus over and smoke some weed. 

Joe: I donated a few horse prints.  I'm a city boy, barely know one end of a horse from the other.

Mace: Thanks.  Hey, what say we go to Sunburst for lunch?  My treat. I can teach you which end is which. 

Beginnings

When Albus reports for work early Friday morning, he finds his boss on her phone.

Pocahontas (Waving him into the room): I'll make some calls and everything should be in place by the time she arrives.  I have a lot of connections in this town.  

Albus (once she hangs up): What in the world is going on?

Pocahontas: Anakin's mother relapsed.  She spent the night in the hospital and now she's on a bus to Barbieville.  The judge was happy to pass her on to the system out here.  Apparently that area's been hit hard by the opioid epidemic.

Albus: How did the boy take it?

Pocahontas: He doesn't know yet.  I saw no reason to upset him when everything was still being decided.  

Albus: They've simply released her into your care?  What about all those rules regarding her being an unfit mother?

Pocahontas: As long as she doesn't live in the same house as Anakin and has supervised visits, it isn't a problem.  I do have to find her a job and a place to live - not with you, pothead.

Albus: I was going to say... Can she work for you?  

Pocahontas: No, but I'm sure I can call in some favors.  And there's always Midna.

*****

 Zenobia's studio is bursting at the seams.

Zenobia: Today we start the Openly Biased series on bullying.  I'll let each of you introduce yourself.

Suzie:  I'm Susannah Dean, elementary school phys ed teacher.

Dean: Dean Mellark, principal of Barbieville High.  Go, Spiders!

Nancy: Nancy Guinness.  I teach Sex Ed on the Middle and High School levels.

Guinness: I'm Alec Guinness, Middle School Social Studies.  I'm related to Nancy by marriage - namely our own.

Zenobia: Strangely, only the local public schools seem willing to admit bullying happens on their campus.  Several others refused to consider allowing faculty to appear on my program. (Snicker from off-camera.)  Including the one attended by my camera operator.

Guinness: Your camera operator attends a private school.  To admit such a thing could hurt the image and, frankly, income of the institution.  Of course bullying happens there - it is ubiquitous. 

Nancy: One thing that comes up often as a means of preventing bullying is the adoption of school uniforms.  I speak from experience when I say uniforms won't stop bullies.  A bully will always find something. 

Dean: Another problem in defining the term.  Where does peer pressure end and bullying begin?  My son can ignore obvious bullies, but some of his peers crumble at a passing remark.  

Suzie: Yes.  There are so many variables at play, it's almost impossible to know.  I have a group of friends in my classes who show affection by insulting one another.  The days of the obvious "Give me your lunch money" bully is ancient history.

Zenobia: And bullies are slick, too.  They don't walk up in front of the teacher and call you names - they do it away from adults and cry victim when you take a swing at them.  The one who retaliates gets in trouble. 

Nancy: I once had a student who was instigating every one of the incidents that she reported.  We only caught on when she was overheard.  She all but confessed, not knowing there was a student teacher standing right behind her.

Zenobia: So you, at the school, are powerless?  

Suzie: Of course we aren't powerless.  We just can't do it alone.  Parents undermine us all the time, usually by refusing to believe their little angel could do such a thing.  Adults don't always treat others with respect, and children mimic adult behavior. It really is an uphill battle.

Guinness: Nancy and I recently had to deal with learning that our own son was a bully.  We, and the other adults in his life, made it clear that his behavior was not acceptable. It took a united front to show him the error of his ways.  

Zenobia: And he's agreed to guest on the Reformed Bullies segment of this series.  Viewers, feel free to ask questions in the comments section.  If I must, I will have guests return to explore the issue as completely as we can. 

The outro plays over footage of Zenobia and her guests chatting.

******

Early evening, back in Pocahontas's office.

Bonnie: I'm Bonnie Carson, probation officer for Doll County.  I'll be handling Pernilla Nedakh's case now.  Do you have all the paperwork ready for me? 

Pocahontas: Bonnie, you don't need to be so formal.  We graduated together.  (Both women laugh.) I've found her a hotel room until she gets on her feet - the judge said that would be acceptable - and she'll be cooking at Sunburst. 

Bonnie: Sunburst?  That's not far removed from being in your employ, but I guess it will do.  Midna makes her employees toe the line.  (She leaves after reviewing the paperwork.)

Pern:  Thank you so much!  All the things you've do for me.... 

Pocahontas: I haven't done anything for you.  This was all for Anakin.  That boy loves you so much.  More than you deserve, from what I can tell. 

Pern (blinking back tears):  You are so right - I don't deserve his love, he's such a wonderful boy.  Will you help me be strong, for him?  Will you help me like my so-called friends back home didn't?  

Pocahontas: Of course.  But fair warning... I'm the queen of tough love. 

Pern: Tough love is probably exactly what I need. 

Can You Go Home Again?

As the weather cools, Nancy and McG find fewer people when they go for their evening swim.

Nancy: We're going to have to start going to the Y, I think.  The lake is downright frigid.

McG: If you'd like.  I find the cold quite invigorating, myself.

Nancy: I'm so glad I found you to swim with.  My husband prefers the home gym to keep in shape.

McG: Lee never was much of a swimmer.  He always likes me in a bikini, though. 

She's interrupted by a passing woman. 

Charlotte:  Mrs. Guinness?  Is that you? 

Nancy: Charlotte.  I heard you'd moved back home. (To McG)  Charlotte is a former student of mine.  

McG: Charlotte Jackson? Gabriella's aunt? 

Charlotte: You know Gabriella?  

McG (coldly): I am Taylor Pike's grandmother.   

Charlotte: Oh, Rose-Grace's mother-in-law.  I heard she lost her mother recently, but I've not seen them at the country club.  Would you convey my condolences?

McG: Rose-Grace is a busy woman and Mace is hardly country club material.  I doubt you and they travel in the same circles, but I will tell them you send your thoughts.

Charlotte goes on her way and Nancy just stares at her friend for a moment.

McG: Have you not heard about that woman?

Nancy: You aren't being fair.  Charlotte had a very rough life. 

McG: So did Batgirl, but I don't see her treating her children as Charlotte treats hers. 

Nancy: Charlotte has children?  Do tell! 

******

Hank Higgins, of Barbieville Real Estate, shows Pocahontas and John a few homes.

Hank: This rustic cabin on the shore of Muneca Lake has...

John: Sorry to interrupt, but I can already tell this house isn't for us.  I might as well go home and drown Kelly in the bathtub.  

Pocahontas: Really?!

John: Yes, really.  We told him we have four kids.

Pocahontas: Not crazy about the white exterior.

John: Me, neither.  But we can always paint. A few safety features around the pool is all I think we'd need here. The kids could even each have their own room.

John: Brick exterior, lots of light from the windows... 

Pocahontas: Definite maybe.  

John: I think we've seen enough for today, Hank.  We'll have to put our heads together and talk to the kids before making a choice.  I know it's our call, as the adults, but they... 

Hank: I understand.  I do have one more I'd like to show you today, if you have time?  

Pocahontas: I love that tower entryway.

John: My girls would think we lived in a castle.  

Pocahontas: Only three bedrooms, though.  The girls would all have to share one. 

The prospective buyers gone, Hank confers with the homeowner before finding a police cruiser parked behind his car.

Lynch: What are you doing? You know you aren't supposed to have contact with...

Hank: They came into my office!  I couldn't exactly turn them out! 

Lynch: You should have passed them over to another agent.  Do it or the program will hear about this.  We can't protect you if you keep doing things like this. 

Hank: What do I tell the other agent for my reason? 

Lynch: I honestly don't care.  

Workshirts and the Windigo

My goal was to have the Windigo ready for July 4th.  I've been working on it for quite some time and finally sat down to finish the project.  Before anyone gets too excited... I'm not actually making a play scale roller coaster.  Not until I win that sweepstakes, anyway.  

What I am making is the seats - just enough to trick the ole eyeballs into seeing them on a coaster.  First step, cutting the box into two halves longways.  The seats are the ends of the box and the rider's feet dangle.  Albus volunteered to be my average rider so I could get the measurements. 

Hip rails measured, the sides of the box will be removed at the pre-existing bend...  

...and turned into the overhead safety rail.  

Albus claimed I was tickling him when I measured the overhead rails on him.

His shoulders didn't sit even (because I was tickling him?) so I went with the 3.5 inch height.  The remaining flaps get folded over to make the coaster's suspension bar.  I used denim scraps to line the seats but quickly discovered cardboard wasn't a good choice for the safety rails.

So I used the only ribbon in the sewing box that was long enough to serve.  They're permanently attached behind the shoulders, but the crotch "snap" is just taped to the underside.  This is not a recommended procedure for human roller coasters.

Careful placement of the backdrop and camera...  here they go!  Click click click up that first hill.

Corkscrew!  The loop is coming, Albus, are you ready? 

I finished the upholstery with colored tape, braided the bit that passes between the legs, and the Windigo is ready for flight.  It ain't purty, but it does the job.

And then there was this.  My nephew finally wore out his Kansas map shirt.  A cheer rose in Barbieville when the muscle guys saw the fabric.  They knew it meant new work shirts for them!  The poor guys are so limited on what they can wear besides military shirts.

Brent wants to know why Albus is giggling.  "I've got Jeanie's brother on my butt." Albus says.  "He lives in Topeka."  Dean says, "Me, too!  Well, it says TOP."

If they want the maps to be upside down, they can just wear the shirt backward.  The fabric is basically flopped over the shoulders and closed up the sides.  Nancy got a dress out of a larger leftover scrap.  Poor thing's had to wear Ken clothes since her arrival...  

By the way, if anyone is wondering about the wallpaper on my computer...  here she is.  

Also, a big thanks to all my doll peeps who gave advice on finding clothes for Nancy and my big guys.  I didn't ignore you, I promise...  I just gotta be frugal when I can! 

Questions

Early Saturday afternoon, the Pike residence. 

Bobby: Giddy up, lion!

Vivica: That's a tiger, you dummy.

Fred: I wonder what was in that letter John gave our big people.  My daddy said bad words when he read it and now they're having a big meeting.

Bobby: I hope nobody gots bugs. 

Wilma: No, if it was bugs, my mommy and grandma wouldn't let me come play with you guys. 

Fred: Maybe Jenny or Ty gots bugs. They had to stay home with the big kids. 

Sulu: Thanks for coming.  And thank you, Rose-Grace, for letting us meet here.  

Rose-Grace: It's only logical.  I've got the most room. 

Sulu: We all got the letter from John.  We can't let this happen, and I'm not just saying that because he's my best friend.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not willing to drive my kids all the way across the county to let people I've never met take care of them. 

Suzie: Ty is devastated.  He loves John.  And we need the day care more than ever, with Frodo working now.  

Eddie: I don't understand why John is suddenly an unfit care giver.  They've known all along that he doesn't have a diploma or any kind of formal training.  

Joe: They're doing it for legal reasons.  We decided Jenny's old enough to go to work with me.  If I feel it's not safe, I'll do the work on Batgirl's days off so she can stay home.  

Batgirl: But we're open to a better idea.  Right, Joe?

Joe: Jenny would miss her friends if we have to do that.  We'll hear you out, Sulu.

Eddie: We're kind of stuck, though.  Town employees have to send their kids to county day care agencies.  It's in the contract. 

Rose-Grace: No, we get free day care if we use county facilities.  We're allowed to pay out-of-pocket for other options.  I only use John during the school year.  On summer break, Taylor and Nikki babysit.

Eddie: So I could pay your girls to babysit Ty?

Lynch hurries up the steps onto the deck and hugs her husband. 

Lynch:  Sorry I'm late.  I had a bit of inter-agency drama. 

Sulu: We're just getting started.

Lynch: I'll tell you, I am livid.  Our children have had enough turmoil in their lives without having John taken away from them.  Vivica in particular - John is one of the few men she feels safe with. 

Whitney (painfully aware of her youth): Too bad we can't set John up in business for himself. 

Rose-Grace: Whitney Darling!  You might be a genius! 

Whitney: Wait, what?

Rose-Grace:  We've got all those initiatives to lure businesses into Scott's stupid skyscrapers.  I just might be able to find one that meets our needs.  

Whitney: Wow.  I was just trying to inject some levity.

Rose-Grace:  Honey, right now, you might be the new queen of levity!

Meanwhile, on the Muneca Lake Beach.

Nancy: Who is that man?  

Guinness:  If you're going to look at other men, do you have to tell me about it? 

Nancy:  Seriously, there's something very familiar about that man.  I feel like I should recognize him. 

The man in question.