Cold wind, bitter as black coffee and sharp enough to draw blood, swept through the midnight forest that lay betwixt Farmer Geonnes’ and the village called Arborford. Above, a shadowed sky twisted, writhing as if alive. Perhaps it wasn’t our sky at all, but perhaps somewhere else.

Thoughts like that could scare a man half to death on a night like this. Dr. Lynn snapped his reins, spurring his horse forward. Dark things were said about this part of the forest. People that entered in at night did not always return the same as they went in- if they returned at all. He’d seen some of the survivors.

Despite this, Darwin Lynn was a doctor and had business to attend. A messenger had arrived in the dead of night shaking and rambling, going on about how much Mrs. Geonnes needed him. It had taken Dr. Lynn three tries to get the fellow to stop pounding on his door and explain himself. It was as if he hadn’t seen the doctor at all.

The Geonnes were having a baby tonight. It would be up to him if it was to live or die.