“Now, hang on...” But she had set off again—not up toward the station, but down the path toward the woods. Robin looked around, considering just abandoning her, but she had helped him out of a jam, and she seemed to want his attention. He jogged down the path, catching up. “Where are we going?”

But she didn’t respond. She kept leading him toward the woods, across a vast field. The woods were farther away than they looked—an outcrop of trees. She disappeared into them. And so did Robin.

What followed was a trek through swaths of trees that could have taken five minutes and could have taken half an hour. He wasn’t sure—everything looked so similar that time seemed to run in a loop. The crunching of their feet in the autumn leaves was rhythmic. The only thing that kept him on a straight path was the girl in front of him ducking between the thin trunks with a conviction that showed she knew where she was going.

Finally she paused and then disappeared over the crest of a hill. Robin got to the drop and saw that the woods carried on as far as he could see. He saw the girl at the bottom of the hill, pausing by a large bush. He went down to join her, all the while realizing that the bush was actually some kind of wooden structure, covered in leaves.

The girl disappeared around the corner of this thing that took the form of a shack. Robin went round the corner too to see an opening, with the leaves creating an awning of sorts. He guessed the girl was inside.

“Where are we?” he called, trying to suppress the feeling he was about to get murdered.

There was something jutting off the opening and Robin saw it was a tattered screen door, which was woven into the landscape by plants and vines. It was like he was standing on the doorstep of a ruined house, shrouded in leaves. Robin poked his head inside to find an outdoor porch area that was overgrown with all manner of weeds and plants. The screen door had been left open for all manner of undergrowth and wildlife to come in. There was what looked like a pig trough buried in some nettles, but that wasn’t what grabbed his attention.

Robin stepped backward in surprise.

He was directly in front of it. The leaves and bush parted as if to show the majesty of it. Pristine, grand, almost sparkling.

A red door.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The door stood ajar. Beyond it, darkness. He found himself reaching for it. The girl had gone through here; this was where she had led him. If this was where he thought it was, maybe it was exactly where he needed to be.

Maybe.