No one followed her into the woods. Things grew there that she had never seen before -- trees with mold encrusted black bark, branches heavy with pungent dark green needles that shut out the sky, thick spongy patches of moss from which small white flowers emerged on fragile stalks, shiny green vines that curled around her feet in places where the sun filtered through the trees.

"There isn't anything there except miles and miles of trees." Ned's words echoed in her mind as she followed the faint path that led deeper into the forest.