As if responding to some secret signal, the eyes all blink and the moaning of the trees grows louder. Instead of an itching in my palm, this time there’s a spreading warmth. The moaning turns to creaking and popping as if the branches are being stepped on by very large and heavy feet.

“Taika, what did you do?” Aysha’s fingers dig into my arm.

“Watch out!” Katya shoves us both out of the way as a branch crashes to the ground.

The tapestry above us comes apart, the gnarled boughs snapping away from each other like arthritic fingers.

“The forest is showing us the way!”

“It’s trying to kill us!” Katya says. “It threw a branch at you.”

“Trust me.” I push ahead, following the new path.

Wisps of green fire flit above us, pale but present.

“But the footprints,” Katya says.

“I trust the trees.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Katya follows, breathing heavily, with Aysha in tow.

It feels like we’ve been going for hours when I finally spot the familiar distressed denim of Morgan’s jacket.

“Morgan!” I yell so hard my voice cracks and my throat burns.

He’s slumped against an oak, not moving. Pushing my aching legs to their limit, I sprint the last few meters.

“Morgan? Are you okay?” I give his shoulders a shake.

“Tai?” He opens bloodshot eyes and peers up into my face. “You came back?” He shifts and that’s when I notice Aoife lying curled up in his arms, her eyes closed and face corpse-pale.

“Aysha, quick. Aoife is hurt.”

Aysha joins me as Morgan unravels his hold on his sister.

“It’s her right arm. It won’t stop bleeding.” He gives Aysha easier access.

Aoife groans and Aysha starts humming, her fingers gently prodding at the site of the injury.

“Where are the others?” I ask.

“Here.” Toivo limps into the clearing.

His once blue jeans are stained brown. Aoife’s green scarf has been crudely tied around his thigh, but he’s bleeding too.

“What the hell are you doing back here? And with them?” He jerks his head at Aysha and Katya.

“If you want me to help with that leg, you’ll be a little nicer to your sibling,” Aysha snaps.

Toivo folds his arms, wincing, but he quickly covers up the pain with an angry scowl. The gash above his eye has swollen seven different shades of purple and is no doubt infected by whatever diseases the claw of a maahinen might carry.

“You were supposed to get out and stay out,” he says.

“Mom and Dad know where we are.”

“Then how did you get back here?” Toivo asks.

Katya fills him in, thankfully sparing the bit about how she and Aysha helped bust me out of house arrest.

“Did you find Hannah yet?” I ask when she’s done.