Chapter 15No matter how hard he tried, Ryland couldn’t settle. He kept seeing a tree in the woods, and felt as though he was being called to go to it. In the end he got out of bed. “I have to find it,” he whispered to Grimalkin and Puff. Watching the way the pup reacted, bouncing madly, and turning circles, Ryland knew the decision was the right one, despite the lateness of the hour.
Turning up the lantern at his bedside, Ryland tugged on his boots, then got his jacket. By the time he reached the bedroom door, both animals were at his feet. “No chance of either of you being left behind, then,” he murmured.
Holding his lantern high, Ryland moved slowly and softly from his room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Finding a scrap of paper in one of his pockets, Ryland jotted a note for
