“Let’s try to encourage that thought,” Zephyr said. He glanced across his desk at Shan. “Did you speak to the witnesses?”
Shan nodded. “They are exaggerating some details. But they are not lying.”
“Oh, come on,” Buck said. Baby Ashley sprawled against his shoulder, sound asleep and drooling onto his camp T-shirt. “A floating, glowing specter vanishes into thin air when anyone tries to get close? Exactly which part of thatisn’texaggerated?”
Shan’s expression was distinctly pained. “All of it.”
“It has to be the kids,” said Honey. “Estelle and the others, I mean. It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise.”
“Of course it’s them.” Leonie rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “I just wish I could figure out how they’re doing it.”
“I could talk to Archie,” Paige suggested.
Leonie shook her head. “No, that would tip them off that we know they’ve been lying from the start. They still don’t know about Shan’s ability.”
Honey blew out her breath. “I hate that we’re having to ask Rufus to keep secrets from his friends.”
“Me too,” Leonie said. “Hopefully, it won’t be for too much longer. Though all these red herrings really aren’t helping.”
“Have there been any useful reports?” Zephyr asked.
“A few,” Shan replied. “Leonie, the map, please?”
For safety, Leonie had been keeping their notes safely hidden at the bottom of her clipboard, which rarely left her side. She pulled out the map of Thunder Mountain, spreading it across Zephyr’s desk for everyone to see.
“These are the locations of the reports from the sheriff,”Shan said, gesturing at one of the scattered red dots. His gloved finger moved down, indicating a few wider areas marked in dotted blue lines. “And these, as far as we’ve been able to determine, are genuine sightings from campers. All before this summer.”
“That’s where Claire saw it,” Leonie said, pointing. “We know that one pretty precisely, since Buck was able to remember where he took the kids that night. The rest are more of a guess. There are a couple of campers who swear they saw a strange floating light while they were out playing night tag last year. And a few more who admitted to sneaking out of their cabins and getting spooked by something in the woods.”
Zephyr rested his chin on his hands, frowning. “Not as dramatic as Hetta’s story. But put together, it’s a troubling pattern.”
Moira surveyed the mess of annotations. “If you can see a pattern in this, you’ve got a good imagination. Nobody seems to see this light in the same place twice.”
“No, but look at this.” Leonie leaned over Shan’s arm, tracing a wide curve across the mountainside. “All the sheriff’s reports are on this side. And all of ours are over here. Put together, they make a circle, see? Centered on this part of the woods.”
Moira was looking at her rather oddly. Leonie opened her mouth to explain her theory further, and then realized she was leaning on Shan, one arm propped up on his shoulder. He didn’t seem to have noticed, but possibly only out of excessive politeness.
She straightened in a hurry, trying to pretend she hadn’t just draped herself across her colleague like a scarf. “We think that’s where Hetta got lost, too. If this thing exists at all, that’s where we should look for it.”
Ragvald stroked his beard. “Young Hetta said she saw thislight emerge from a dead tree, did she not? Perhaps it is a landvættir.”
Buck looked at Moira. “Was that a sneeze or a word?”
Moira frowned. “It’s a little hard to capture the nuance, but I think the best translation would bebeing-of-the-land. They’re nature spirits tied to a specific place, according to wyrmish beliefs.”
“One does not believe in landvættir,” said Ragvald, with great dignity. “They simply are.”
“Spirit or no spirit, locating this dead tree would at least tell us we’re in the right area,” Zephyr said. He glanced at Buck. “Does it ring any bells?”
Buck gave him a level look. “You’re asking me if I know one specific tree. In a whole motherloving forest.”
“Honestly, I’m only surprised you can’t immediately rattle off its first name and all its cousins,” Conleth muttered.
“We could get camp staff to look for it,” Paige said. “But that’s a large area to cover.”
“I have been flying a search pattern after the children are in bed,” Shan said. “Though there is little to see from the air. The canopy is too thick.”
“We’ll have to search on foot.” Zephyr grimaced apologetically. “Those of us who can, at least. Leonie, could you divide the area into a grid, and draw up a potential search rota? We’ll need people whose animal forms have good noses and night vision, and who’ll be able to cover the ground quickly.”
