CHAPTER 16
A SUNBEAM SLICED across my face as I looked out of the window. After so many dark days, the blue sky with just a handful of fluffy clouds scudding across it felt like a fresh start. The branch of a majestic oak hung low near the window, and a squirrel ran down it. I held my breath as the creature paused a few feet away, nose twitching. Perhaps I could get him some food? What did squirrels eat, anyway?
With every hour I spent in the cabin, I appreciated the place more. I’d seen more animals in the last day here than the last year at home. While I’d never lived in the centre of town, the upmarket suburbs my father and Douglas favoured weren’t exactly havens for wildlife. Being woken by birdsong rather than an alarm clock was something I could get used to. And yesterday evening,
