Book Five: Chapter 121

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Velvet found Uncle Foot up on the roof of the cabin. He stood next to the chimney, his face fixed in concentration as he surveyed the land. The sun was nearing the treeline, and his features were grim.

“You okay?” she asked him.

He shrugged, an expression that made his fur ripple. There was a scorch mark on his leg where Quetzalli had accidentally tased him. “There has been much change in the last few days,” he told her. “And I fear the changes yet to come. Have I ever told you that I can smell the future on the wind?”

“Only about a million times.” She smiled. “But I don’t ever get tired of hearing about it.”

Bigfoot snorted. “I should have been able to sense them,” he said. “The Nirumbi and Leeds. The forest should have told me, much in the same way that it tells me where to find game, or if a hunter is lost.”

“It is winter. The forest is asleep.”

“Even asleep, the forest always watches.” He frowned. “I wonder if what Leeds told me is t