Transcript of this chapter:

turnip: I'm here like you asked, Barlow.
barlow: Great. How's everything with you today?
turnip: I don't know... I'm not sure why you called me here. Lately you've been preoccupied with that gondola and those strange messages.
barlow: Can't I spend time with my best friend? I can't work on mysterious codes ALL the time.
barlow: But speaking of the messages, you were right about it being the Sprawling code. The sheriff also confirmed it.
turnip: If that's the case, then those messages aren't intended for us. It's written by ghosts from the past and meant to be read by other ghosts.
barlow: You don't say...
turnip: You saw them. They have no place in our time. They were written by the dead... by Elkwood... or worse.
barlow: Those messages are not going to stop the gondola project. If that's what you thought, then you were wrong.
turnip: Why do you say that? It's not like I wrote those things.
barlow: But you haven't been overly helpful with our efforts to restore the gondola...
barlow: Somebody knows about these messages. Somebody living, and living right here among us.
turnip: But what's the point of writing codes like that?
barlow: Somebody is trying to scare me off from restoring the gondola. That's what I think.
barlow: Or worse? Like... maybe Hatchetpaws?
turnip: I... I don't know who you're talking about.
barlow: I think you do.
turnip: Maybe I do, and maybe I don't.
barlow: Why are you avoiding the subject of Hatchetpaws? He was real, you know.
turnip: Of course I know he was real! We mammals know all about what happened... the truth... and we still carry his shame with us.
barlow: What is the truth, then?
turnip: Hatchetpaws was a killer, of both humans AND paper mammals... and his actions led to even more deaths after we caught him.
turnip: We caught him, you know... we paper mammals. We caught him, put him on trial, and when he was found guilty my ancestors pushed him into the woods until he couldn't find a way out. That's how we dealt with him.
barlow: Why did he do it?
turnip: They say he hated everyone, paper and flesh alike. He talked to demons, and at some point he made a deal with them, exchanging his front paws with hatchets.
barlow: So he caused the gondola disaster?
turnip: I don't think so. It was around the same time, but I'm pretty sure that Hatchetpaws was already dead by then.
barlow: Then what is his connection with the gondola?...
barlow: Hatchetpaws was a paper mammal who killed a bunch of people.
turnip: I know what you think, but that's just a myth. There's no way that a paper mammal could do that.
turnip: That story was made up to scare little kids... and to give humans an excuse to go hunting after my species!
barlow: I have theoretical evidence that Hatchetpaws DID exist, and is connected to this gondola we pulled out of the woods.
turnip: Barlow, about that gondola... Please, think about what you're doing. This is all too dangerous. If I was in your position, I'd chuck that whole thing back into the woods.
barlow: Ah, so you ARE trying to stop me.
turnip: No, Barlow. I just think you're making a mistake...
barlow: That gondola is important to me! Fixing it is important to me. Leaving town is important to me.
turnip: But Barlow...
barlow: No! This is something I really need to do. I can't stop now just because it reminds you of the Sprawling family.
barlow: How does this matter to you? This gondola is human stuff.
turnip: That gondola was built in part by the Sprawling family, and to us paper mammals, they were the most evil humans in history!
turnip: They did HORRIBLE things to my kind in their paper mill, and the profits from their acts went towards paying for that gondola.
turnip: But that's not the only reason I'm against putting that gondola back into service...
turnip: Barlow, I'm mostly against this gondola repair because I'm worried about YOU.
barlow: Me?
turnip: I have a bad feeling about this thing, and I know how anxious you are to leave Spider Cliff. I'm just worried that you might be rushing into a trap of some sort.
barlow: Well... I appreciate your concern...
barlow: Maybe you're right. Let's walk towards the gondola station and I'll listen to what you have to say...
barlow: Whoa, look at that...
barlow: Would you look at that? It looks like someone left another one of those coded messages on the wall.
turnip: Hmmm...
barlow: So... What do'ya think it says?
turnip: I have no idea.
barlow: Really?...
barlow: I think you DO know what it says!
turnip: Are you accusing me of something?! I didn't write this gibberish!
barlow: No, but you wrote the previous messages, didn't you?!
turnip: I... I can't believe you would accuse me of that! I'm your friend!
barlow: Come on, you don't have to lie to me...
turnip: You think I'm lying?! This is crazy. I'm not going to say here and listen to this!
barlow: Are you sure you don't know?
turnip: Very sure. If I knew, I'd tell you.
barlow: Must be another message from Hatchetpaws.
turnip: Would you stop bringing up that name?!
barlow: Are you hiding something? Are you in contact with him?
turnip: Are you even serious?! Hatchetpaws was an enemy to human and paper mammal alike. The damage he caused us goes way beyond his crimes...
turnip: One of his victims was the young son of a Sprawling, and afterwards Mr. Sprawling was so angry at us that he increased the capacity of the mill tenfold.
turnip: So many of my kind were killed during that time that it was impossible to maintain our population. They might have made a lot of money on our paper corpses in the short term, but eventually we were depopulated and they went bankrupt.
turnip: We outlived them, though. Now, there's nothing left of the Sprawling family but the gondola and this code of theirs.
barlow: And you can't read the code?
turnip: No!
barlow: But if you had to guess?...
turnip: If I had to guess? I don't know. It might not mean anything... it might be nothing but a bunch of random letters.
barlow: What... what makes you say that?
turnip: No reason.
barlow: It looks like this message was burned into the wall.
turnip: That seems about right. I think the first message was burned into the side of the gondola.
barlow: Right. I wonder how that was done?...
barlow: Hmmm... If someone had an acetylene torch, they could've done something like this...
barlow: Have you seen anyone carrying anything like that?
turnip: Uh... no... But if I see one, I'll...uh, let you know...
turnip: You know, I just remembered that I have to take care of something. I'll see you later...
barlow: He's acting suspicious... and he's definitely trying to hide something.
barlow: Alex, that was perfect! This message looks so genuine. You even burned it into the wall like the first message.
alex: Uh, thanks?..
barlow: You should've been here when Turnip saw the message. I'm SURE that he's involved with this somehow. He ran out of here so quickly...
barlow: Alex, how DID you burn this message into the wall?
alex: I... uh...
barlow: You didn't make this. This is a REAL message?!
alex: Uh... yeah...
barlow: Turnip read this message! I have to follow him!
annabelle: Fresh pastry...