“I’m not concerned,” she said. And for right now, it was true. She wasn’t going to worry about the future or try to make sense of the past. She was going to accept things as they were and be grateful. “The sun is just in my eyes.”

That moment, a shadow passed overhead, and Leelo and Jaren looked up at the same time to see a pair of wild swans high above them. “I wonder where they’re headed,” Jaren said.

But Leelo already knew. They were going to Lake Luma, which was once again a safe place to land. She felt a fleeting sadness at the thought of the treeless landscape and abandoned cottages, until Jaren squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek, and she returned to the preciousness of now.

If Leelo had gone back, she would have seen that the cottages weren’t abandoned at all. The animals that had been driven from their homes when the Forest vanished found shelter between the wooden walls of houses, nestled their families among the sofas and settees. They roosted in chimney tops and raided the pantries. Those wild swans would build their nest on Endla that year, and their offspring would return for generations to come.

Though the roots of the Wandering Forest had been deep, they had not been able to snuff out every little seed blown across the lake by the wind or dropped by a passing bird. Grass would grow next spring, and saplings would begin their long lives on the island. The land would restore itself, as it always had.

And somewhere, on another mountain in another kingdom, a Forest would appear as if by magic. And it would be very hungry.

Acknowledgments

I wrote The Poison Season during lockdown in Serbia, while homeschooling my kids and spending most of my time in our small guest room turned office. So perhaps it isn’t surprising that I wrote about a girl in a very insular world for a change, rather than one who goes on grand adventures. The pandemic has brought so many challenges, but it has also been a time of reflection and soul-searching, and this novel is a direct result of that. Of course, I haven’t handled it with nearly as much grace as Leelo does, but then again, she didn’t have to listen to the same YouTube meme compilations on repeat while attempting to write a novel.

As always, I couldn’t have written this book without the help of my amazing team.

Thank you to everyone at Inkyard Press, especially my editor, Connolly Bottum, without whom this book (and its title) wouldn’t exist. Huge thanks to Bess Braswell, Brittany Mitchell, Laura Gianino, and Kathleen Ortiz.

A special thank-you to Charlie Bowater for creating the cover of my dreams. I am so honored that the first thing people will see when they pick up this book is your beautiful artwork.