Chapter 3
When Cody woke up, his head was throbbing. He went to raise a hand to the back of his skull, to feel for damage, but discovered he was unable. He opened his eyes. The light was dim, but not dim enough to hide the ropes that bound him to the chair he was sitting on. He tried to think. How had he got there? Wherever “there” was.
He saw a table and three chairs, each completely different from the others. A lantern hung from the ceiling, and the shadowy half-light showed a shelf with plates and bowls, and strands of dried plants hanging off nails hammered into the wood. He looked to his right and saw an unmade bed and his backpack leaning against the foot of it. To his left was a wooden door.
The room smelled damp and earthy.
He struggled against his bonds, setting off a spray of
