32

You tell Zoe that you'd be interested in speaking to the person who knows something about what's happening near the forest. Zoe, after giving Maxie a kiss on the cheek, guides you through the crowd towards a couch near the back of the room. Sitting there, you see a young man you don't recognize, wearing a strange combination of heavy walking boots and what looks like a doctor's uniform.

"Nice to see you again, Tayo," Zoe says to the young man, who gives a little wave. "I thought I'd introduce you to my new neighbor, Huknock."

Tayo stands up to shake your hand as Zoe tells you that he works as a vet at the nearby Twin Ranch. Suddenly, his outfit makes more sense.

"I know you haven't been in town long yourself, Tayo," Zoe starts, "but Huknock's even newer, and I think he'd be interested to hear what you were telling me earlier. I think I'm right in saying that you've noticed some strange things happening somewhere out near the forest—and after last night's meeting, I was wondering if it could have anything to do with all these development plans."

Tayo frowns slightly and scratches his chin in thought.

"Well, I don't know if I'd say it was strange. I'd imagine there's some kind of explanation; it's just a little unusual when trees start going missing out of the woods."

"Going missing?" you ask, swallowing quickly to hide your sudden shock. Tayo nods, though he seems slightly reluctant. "How can trees be going missing?"

"I guess that's the problem," he says with a shrug. "I've just started working up at one of the ranches outside of town, and occasionally we have animals brought in from the forest. I haven't been out there myself, but it's not uncommon to run into some of the rangers who work around that area. According to some of them—and they're not the sort of people to buy into anything out of the ordinary—not too long ago, trees just started disappearing. Not like they'd been cut down, just…like they were never there. So they say."

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