Page 4 of Postpartum Spells & Infant Hells

“I also considered more than one child,” she continued. “Every clear right footprint has the same shortened toe. Unless several children out there share the same anomaly, one child made the tracks.”

“How many clusters did you find?” Aidon asked.

“Eleven,” Layla answered. “Three were clear enough to study. The rest were partial, but they followed the same line through the trees. None came within thirty feet of the house.”

“You should’ve called us as soon as you found the first one,” Aidon told her.

“I thought I could catch whoever made them,” Layla said. “They were fresh, and the rain was already destroying the edges. I didn’t want to lose the trail while I waited for everyone else.”

Aidon’s expression hardened, but he didn’t argue.

“How a barefoot child stayed out there through that storm is beyond me,” Layla added.

The mug nearly slipped from my hands as the words from my dream surfaced again. Were the footprints connected to what I’d heard? Were they what I was supposed to count?

Layla’s evidence pointed to one child, but the warning in my dream hadn’t.

“I don’t think there was only one,” I said.

Layla frowned. “The prints came from the same feet.”

“I believe you,” I assured her. “I’m saying one child may have left the trail you found. That doesn’t mean they were alone.”

“What makes you think that?” Murtagh asked.

I hesitated. Telling them about the dream would only frighten the people I loved with something none of us could explain.

“Nothing I can prove yet,” I admitted. “But whether it was one child or several, they walked our woods barefoot during a storm and never came closer than thirty feet from the house. Whatever they wanted, it wasn’t to come inside.”

Aidon tipped his head back to study the handprint on the window. He lowered his gaze to Tseki.

“You searched this area twice,” Aidon said. “Are you certain you found no trace at all? Could the storm have masked it?”

“The rain could’ve washed away an ordinary scent,” Tseki replied. “But whoever left that print didn’t leave an ordinary scent.”

Aidon’s hands curled into fists. “You said there was no scent.”

“No human or animal scent,” Tseki clarified. “There was a residue, but I didn’t recognize it as a trail because it doesn’t spread through the air like one. It clings to the handprint and stops at the glass.”

“Walk me through it,” Aidon ordered. “Tell me exactly what you detected, no matter how faint.”

Tseki brushed the wet hair out of his eyes. He glanced at me before answering, and the look on his face told me he wished he had a better explanation.

“The handprint carries a sharp smell, like the air after lightning strikes close,” Tseki reported. “Under that, there’s something sweet and stale. It reminds me of flowers pressed inside an old book until they’ve turned to dust.”

“Could that residue have come from the storm?” Murtagh asked.

“The sharp part could have,” Tseki allowed. “The flowers didn’t. I didn’t mention either one because I couldn’t be certain they belonged to whoever touched the window. After hearing what Layla found, I’m not willing to dismiss them.”

“Did you smell the same thing near the trees?” Aidon asked.

“I didn’t search the prints because I didn’t know they were there,” Tseki replied. “I’ll check them now. If the same residue is present, we’ll know the handprint and the footprints are connected.”

“And if it isn’t?” Layla asked.

“Then we have two separate problems,” Tseki answered.

“Did any of this disturb the wards?” I asked.