The Forest of Sleepers (Nowhere Book 2)

t h i r t y - s i x : c a m p

When darkness fell over the forest, it was unlike anything Wyatt had experienced before. The world was so still, so quiet, that it made nighttime like a thick black quilt that smothered everyone who was unfortunate enough to sit beneath it.

He'd been camping, once, at the Grand Canyon on a Brambleby school trip. It had included roasting SPAM over the fire, crude jokes, and tents that didn't quite keep the cold out.

Wyatt remembered wishing to be back home more than anything as he shivered against the uneven ground.

That trip had been a luxury compared to this.

Though the air in Gwydyr wasn't cold, it wasn't warm, either. It was tepid, like water that just felt uncomfortable to swim in.

Everyone was silent as he tried to make a fire, too shocked to speak.

After Wyatt and Marshall had come back the first time, they'd all set out together to find any way out of the forest.

Somehow, the path that always led them back to Nowhere had vanished. There was no explanation for it, but when darkness came, the fact remained that they were all trapped for the foreseeable future.

The dry wood piled together caught flame easily and for the first time, Wyatt was grateful for all the Boy Scout meetings his mother had made him attend.

Mother.

He needed to be back home to take care of her. Would Rose and Oscar be too distracted worrying about their daughters to remember her?

His heart hammered with anxiety, but he didn't voice any of his concerns because they all had the same ones. They all had loved ones that would be going out of their minds with their absence. They all needed to be back home.

Wyatt nursed the fire to life and made sure there was a steady flame before taking a seat on one of the logs they'd collected to place around the fire.

They looked at one another, wanting to say something, but not knowing what.

Ophelia had told them that they'd found Marigold somewhere in the forest, but still didn't know where. Birdie had wanted to keep trying to find her but was eventually convinced that it would be better to wait until morning.

What kind of trouble had she found? Wyatt knew he wouldn't want to be alone in this stifling darkness. Maybe she was safe in the cathedral. He hoped she was.

As if reading his mind, Birdie said, "We have to find her. I'm not going back home without her."

Wyatt didn't have a deathwish, so he didn't argue. Birdie had been in a bad mood ever since she'd found out Marshall was Sal Hickory.

"We will find her," Ophelia said comfortingly.

"We should try to get some rest," Wyatt said.

Birdie regarded the forest dismally. "Oh, I'm sure that'll be super easy. Nothing like dirt to lull you into a sound sleep."

"Birdie," Ophelia reprimanded.

"I'll take first watch," Wyatt said.

"Marshall should take first watch," Birdie replied. "The dead don't sleep anyway."

Marshall, who had been particularly quiet the whole night, sat up. Only then did Wyatt realize that he looked...thin. Not as if he weighed less, but like there wasn't as much of him as there was before.

"I...I don't know how useful I'd be," he said. He twisted his hands in his lap. "This place...I can't...I'm not myself."

Ophelia reached over and placed a hand over both of his. "Rest," she said. Birdie rolled her eyes.