Page 44 of Jace

“Sure,” he explained. “Once we get to town, we’ll invest in chips so we can communicate with them better. Then they won’t need tethers at all.”

“Won’t they just fly away?” she asked

“They enjoy our company,” he said, smiling. “And they’re curious creatures, dying to know what we’re up to. They wouldn’t miss a chance to go on an adventure with us.”

“That’s nice,” she said, smiling. She’d been a little too freaked out by the idea of flying to really give the animals themselves much thought. But it sounded like they would be really nice to have around.

Susannah and Jace, and baby Zeke from his place in the sling on Jace’s chest, continued their investigation in relative silence. The birds crying out over the forest provided a soundtrack as the sun continued to rise.

Some of the birdsong was bright and high, but other birds chortled and creaked, reminding Susannah that she was far from home.

“Nothing,” Jace said at last, shaking his head.

“Nothing,” she agreed. “Let’s forget about the berries and check out the felled trees to see if anything there can tell us why the workers think the place is haunted.”

“Makes sense,” he replied, and they headed into the lawn.

The trees appeared to be sawn off evenly. There was no sign of an accident of any kind, which allowed Susannah’s heart to beat more evenly.

But that still left a mystery.

“Why would they stop here?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Jace replied, stopping in front of the tree he was examining.

“I mean, it looks like it was a regular workday,” she said. “I don’t see signs of an accident or anything going wrong. They could have at least dragged the logs to the side and cut them up. Left things a little tidier.”

“Something must have gone wrong,” Jace said, nodding. “I guess we just can’t see what.”

Susannah secretly wondered if they would ever be able to see what had gone wrong.

After all, her curse was invisible, but no less powerful for it.

But it didn’t do anything to Jace.

She shook off that hopeful thought. Poisonous berries had awaited them this morning. It amounted to the same thing. The curse had followed her here, so far from home. It would never release her.

“You okay?” Jace asked her, concern marring his handsome face.

“Yes,” she said, shaking off the dark thoughts. “Should we go into the woods now?”

“Help me with the boy?” he asked her.

“Of course,” she said, feeling silly. “I didn’t mean to make you carry him all day.”

“I want to carry him,” Jace retorted. “His small weight is nothing to me, but he’ll tire you out, and we have much exploration ahead of us. But I would like to have him on my back now. That way I can go first, you last, and he’ll be between us.”

“Good thinking,” she told him with a smile. “Sure, I can help.”

Zeke jumped his little legs up and down as she approached.

“I’m glad to see you too, my love,” she told the little one, placing her hands around his rib cage so that Jace could untie the sling.

While she waited, she scanned the woods over his shoulder, spotting some birds, but not much else. For just a second, she caught a flash of red that might have been a fox, but it was gone before she could be sure.

When Jace was done, she carried Zeke to his back and placed him between the big warrior’s shoulder blades.

Together they wrapped the sling until Zeke was comfortable and secure on his daddy’s back.

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