Travelers on the Jolly Road are the fundamental source of business in Eidenswill. Maggie's family owns a shop at the entrance to the road that has been in their family for four generations. They set their hot rolls and baked goodies on plates for the weary travelers that crave something sweet and warm before the fearful journey, or needing it afterwards. Business is good, although it hasn't always been.

The last few years have been rough on everyone. After the Crimson Plague, new families moved in, chancing living along the treacherous Grim Woods while hoping to make a profit from the Jolly Road. Most realize their horrid mistake too late. Maggie does her best to give advice, but isn't surprised to hear the gossip that the newest family, the Barnette's, young son, has gone missing.

"We told them a hundred times not to go in the woods," Lionel repeats as if he thinks his daughter hadn't heard him the first five times. "And to salt all the doors and windows. For all we know, a fair one snuck into their home in the middle of the night and snatched him from his bed."

"Can we not talk about this?" Maggie asks. She hates speaking of the Grim Woods, of what it has done and will continue to do. The beauty of the woods is a lie to shield the ugly within.

Maggie leans out the window to observe Artemis' shop down the road. The doors and windows are closed. He hasn't returned from the woods yet. She worries, especially when he didn't return until after dark the other day without his sled, and he was injured! She tried to tend to his wounds, but he wouldn't allow it. He wanted to go home and sleep while she wanted to help, to maybe see his smile again.

"Sorry, sorry," Lionel says, pressing a kiss to Maggie's temple. "I know you don't like speaking of this. I'm frustrated that we can't do anything, and sad that their boy is gone."

"I know, Papa." Maggie pats his arm.

"I better get going. I promised Old Janny that I'd cut some firewood for him today. Make sure to be home before dark," he orders, heading off for Old Janny's house on the opposite side of town.

A handful of travelers visit Maggie's storefront. They talk about goblins stealing their coins or kobolds disguised as children heckling them from the forest. All the usual tales that Maggie laughs or frowns at until Artemis appears, dragging his catch into the shop on a new sled. Her heart skips.

"Thanks so much for your patronage!" Maggie calls when the last customer leaves.

The blonde eagerly packs up. A small cake is wrapped in cloth, waiting among the leftovers of the day. She carries it all in a basket, jogging down the road. Her pigtails bounce with every step. But at the door to Artemis' shop, she falters.

Mr. Barnette stands at the counter within. His wild red hair stands at odd ends and blue eyes widen when he says, "I know what you can do, boy. You travel the Grim Woods! You're the only one who can, so you can find him, you can find my boy! What do you want? I'll give whatever you need. I'll pay whatever you ask for, just tell me!"

"We warned your family when you moved here to be wary of the woods," Artemis says with his back turned, working on skinning the animals.

"Are you trying to say that it is hopeless? You haven't even tried!" Mr. Barnette retrieves a coin purse from his belt. He dumps silver and copper coins atop the counter. "Here, this is all I have, but I'll get more. I'll sell the farm. Better yet, you can have it! Please, please look for him."

Maggie leans against the exterior of the shop, ashamed of eavesdropping, but hopeful of Artemis' answer even if she knows she shouldn't be. He has never accepted anyone's request to search for their loved ones, although there are rumors of a boy who has saved people from the woods. Who else could it be but Artemis? But why does he always decline?

"You should leave, Mr. Barnette. It grows late. The trees eat those that dare the dark," Artemis warns.

"Damn it, are you listening to me?!" Mr. Barnette slams his fist against the counter. "I'm offering all that I have. You think I will stop? I won't. Never. I'll come here every day. I'll follow you into the woods if I must!"

Artemis sets aside the skinning knife, facing Mr. Barnette with eyes that appear black beneath the shade of the shop. "Since you won't take the hint, let me put this clearly, I don't need to look for him," he claims. "He has red hair and freckles like you. He was wearing a green jacket and carrying a stuffed white horse, right?"

"Yes, yes, but how...?" Mr. Barnette's eyes widen. "Y-you've seen him? You know where he is? Bring him home, please."

"You don't want me to."

"W-What are you saying?"

"You know what I'm saying." Artemis' expression remains passive when Mr. Barnette grips his sleeve. He trembles terribly, tears already staining his cheeks before Artemis declares, "Your son is dead, Mr. Barnette."

He punches Artemis.

"What are you doing?!" Maggie shrieks, releasing the basket to grab Mr. Barnette. Artemis backs away, guarded by the counter between them. The frenzied father scrambles atop said counter, howling like a beast. Maggie can't hold him back, but soon she doesn't need to. He weeps, sliding to the floor in a jumble of gasped tears.

"He's not, he's not," Mr. Barnette cries, smashing his fist against the floor. "You're a liar!"

Artemis wipes the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. "Believe what you want, but belief doesn't change the truth."

Mr. Barnette whimpers, his breaths labored, croaked between broken sobs. Maggie cradles him, insisting to Artemis, "That's enough. He understands. Come, Mr. Barnette, let's get you home. You should--"

Mr. Barnette abruptly rises. Maggie places herself between him and Artemis, in case he lunges again. But the man says nothing. He glances at Artemis with bloodshot eyes that darken into a sharp glare. Then he leaves, wavering like a drunk and slamming the door behind him.

"You should head home too, Maggie," Artemis says, nodding to the coins on the counter. "And take Mr. Barnette's money with you. Keep it or return it, I don't really care."

"I'm not taking his money," she says, leaning over to pick up the dropped basket. The cake prepared for Artemis is squished in its wrappings. She shoves it back into the basket, intending to bring another tomorrow.

"Did you mean it?" She whispers. "Is his son dead?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"I saw the body," he claims.

Maggie shivers, looking at the door with knitted brows. "Couldn't... couldn't you have claimed to search for him and found nothing? If only for a day or so."

"You wanted me to give him false hope?"

"I wanted you to let him feel like he did all he could to get his son back. Imagine how he's feeling right now. His son vanishes, and he knows where, but should he enter the woods he knows he won't return, let alone return with his son. If..." She bites her lip until it darkens cherry red. "If you agreed, he could at least sleep better at night knowing something was done. Maybe you could have even taken him with you!"

Artemis snorts. He stares at Maggie with incredulity. "I am not a tour guide or an errand boy for villagers that only see me useful when it benefits them."

"I-I know, I'm sorry... I-I didn't mean." Maggie flushes, twiddling her thumbs in embarrassment. "I was only thinking he could have been let down more easily."

"His child is dead. There is no easy," Artemis declares, discarding his apron to round the counter. With his hand against the small of Maggie's back, he nudges her to the door. "I know you mean well, but the only mercy we can give is the truth, so he may hopefully move on."

"What if he doesn't? What if he goes into the woods to search, anyway?"

"Then he will join his son in death, and if you're naïve enough to still believe, whatever great beyond there may be."

He steers her outside, shutting and locking the shop behind them. "Come along, I'll walk you home," he adds, glancing at the woods. "The trees are restless tonight. Better you not walk home alone."

Maggie blushes. "What of the shop? You aren't done yet."

"I'll return after I drop you off."

"Thanks, Artie."

He snorts. "When will you stop calling me that?"

"Never. It's cute!" She declares while walking side by side with him, then she frowns. "But, I, uh, if you really don't like it, I-I can stop."

He shrugs. "It's alright. I don't really mind."

Maggie smiles, enjoying the brush of Artemis' arm against hers. There are many unknowns in life, and Maggie is as uncertain about her future as everyone else. However, at least she knows the future she wants above all else. She doesn't care if she lives in an extravagant mansion along the seashore far from the Grim Woods or a dingy hut nearby, if she's with Artemis, then that is the best future she could ever ask for.

As they walk, the sun sets on Eidenswill, casting the town in darkness. Folk triple check that the doors and window sills are salted. Children sleep with iron daggers under their pillows and St. John's Wort stuffed in their pockets. After all, no one knows if the shadows are only that, or if there's something lurking within, waiting for the opportunity to consume while the lights are out.

Artemis walks Maggie home, as he does from time to time when she closes up shop late. He worries that an evening will come when she walks alone in the dark and never makes it home. After losing most of his friends, either to death or distrust, he doesn't want to lose the last. Artemis wouldn't say that they are close, but she's the closest person to a friend he has had since Ima. Sometimes he peers across the fields hoping to see a smoke trail rising Ima's vacant hut. Sometimes he stops by to clean in case she comes back. She'd grumble about all the dust and cobwebs otherwise.

When they reach Maggie's house, she waves from the open doorway. Her mother does the same, emerging behind her with a forced grin. She thanks Artemis for keeping an eye on Maggie regardless, then the door shuts.

Artemis returns to the shop. Mr. Barnette's money shimmers in the fading sunlight on the counter. He finishes his work, scoops up the coins, then leaves them on Mr. Barnette's porch. The family cries within, broken but together. Hopefully that is enough to keep a sad man from committing a stupid deed.

Kobolds got a hold of the little Barnette boy. How, Artemis isn't sure. Maybe they pretended to be children, beckoning him into the woods to play, or maybe they nabbed him from his bed. Regardless, the Barnette's would do better to not ask questions. Let them make up a lie that their son died peacefully and painlessly. Artemis chooses to do the same, even if he saw what remained of the boy's corpse while hunting the woods earlier that day. The boy's face frozen in fear, in pain, facing death at an age where he didn't understand. The family wouldn't want the corpse either, it would only fuel their nightmares.

When Artemis returns home, the routine continues. Camellia has dinner ready. They eat. They separate. But that night, when he sleeps, he dreams of the dying Barnette boy, only he is the Barnette boy. He screams and begs; save me. Save me, Papa, please!

Monstrous creatures cackle and tease as they cut into him, but they are not only fae, there are mortals among them. A face he recognizes, warped and twisted and red eyed, fabricated from a child's imagination and horror. He lets every moment of pain drag on for eternity. When Artemis thinks death will finally show him mercy, he awakes with a curse, sweating beneath the covers that he throws across the room. The horrors he saw in the woods and the horrors he faced over the years come crashing down. There are times when his mask of apathy cannot save him from the fear buried within. He bites his fist to contain the whimpers.

Curled up like a child frightened of the shadows under the bed, Artemis recalls the boy in ice beneath the white tree. The cold of the cavern. The fresh snow. The tear on his cheek. There is no one Artemis feels comfortable talking to in Eidenswill. Wouldn't it be ok to talk to one that can't talk back? Only once, to let it all out and move on. Maybe the nightmares will go away.

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