39

Your grandma sits there in the following silence, not seeming to blink as she watches to make sure you've understood. As you sit there with your tea, you feel that you've stumbled into a scene you're not prepared for—as if things are already about to reach their climax when you were expecting another whole act. Are things really as urgent as your grandma makes them sound?

"…What's actually going on?" you ask after a pause. All of a sudden, your chest is starting to feel a little tight. "Even if the developments are happening, could they really mess with our magic? I came out here because I felt all this weird energy, and—what was that, anyway? I thought there was something really bad about to happen. What were you doing?"

Your grandma doesn't respond. Over on the windowsill, Carys flutters her wings.

Your grandma smiles—though she still seems a little distracted.

"I know, Huknock. That's not the issue; it never was. It's just that there's so much to say, and so much to explain—and if I don't get it all straight in my head, then I might lose track of it myself. I promise I will answer all of your questions, or as many as I can. I just need to ask you to be patient."

She looks off into the distance for a few more moments. You get the impression that she's chewing something over—trying to make some silent decision on her own before she opens up to you about it.

"Before I tell you what I was doing," she says slowly, carefully, "I want to ask you: do you know anything about the man who's been coming to look around the forest? The man whose voice we heard on the morning you left?"

Frowning a little uncertainly, you reply:

"You mean Mr. Clarence?"

"Is that his name? I didn't know. I've been focusing on other things, so I never really paid him much attention—but I gather that he's in charge of these developments in some way. Is that right?"

You nod. Your grandma thinks for a few moments.

"Like I said—I've had my attention on other things. But just the other day, I found something of his very close to our tree. I assume it's his, anyway, since it only seemed to appear after he was here. There were quite a few of them, actually."

She reaches into a pocket in her long cloak—and pulls out something that looks very like the metal box you found in the forest yourself, a few severed wires sticking out of the back.