As her dad led Penelope over to their parked truck, Liam popped out in front of them.

Penelope's dad jumped. "What the—"

"Do you need me to drive your truck again?" Liam asked, the words all coming out in a rush. His dark eyes were shiny with eagerness.

"Don't worry about it," her dad replied, attempting to walk around him. "I'm sure we can make our way back okay if we follow your mom—"

But Liam jogged alongside them. "You sure? The road is pretty tricky, even trickier on the way back," he insisted. "It might be better for me to drive with Penelope. I'll be careful, I promise."

Her dad just raised an eyebrow and looked down at Penelope.

Penelope shrugged and tried her best to rearrange her face into something that resembled bemused innocence like she had no idea why Liam was being so insistent.

She wasn't sure if her expression convinced her dad, but eventually, he just smirked and shook his head. "Fine," he said, digging the keys out of his pocket before tossing them to Liam, who caught them effortlessly. "Drive safe. Extra safe. And Penelope," he turned back to her. "I want to talk to you when we get home." He gave her a serious look before releasing her shoulders and nudging her towards Liam.

As he walked away, she thought she heard him say, "Guess they're friends again," with a chuckle. He headed over to Beth, who was waiting by her SUV. They talked for a moment before they climbed into the vehicle with a wave back at their respective children.

Now they were alone, Penelope turned to face Liam. She opened her mouth to speak, but Liam stopped her with one of his sharp looks.

"Let's get in the truck first," he said, his eyes darting around like he was worried they were being watched. Considering everything that happened, they probably were.

She nodded and followed him to the truck.

Liam stayed silent as they climbed in and got settled. He started the truck up and put it into gear, reversing out of their spot, then into drive to follow after his mom's SUV which was already on the road leading out. It wasn't until the search was far behind them, obscured as the trees closed in around them, that he spoke.

"What happened out there, Penelope?" he asked. His voice was even, careful, but Penelope thought she might've detected a waver. He kept his eyes fixed on the road and the dust cloud ahead of them left in the wake of his mom's SUV.

Penelope shook her head. "I—I don't... I don't know." She was still processing it. And if she was being honest with herself, she'd be processing it for a while.

He tore his eyes away from the road for a second to give her another sharp look before turning back. "What did you see, then?"

Penelope blew out a big breath. "Not a lot. It came out of nowhere. One minute I was with dad, looking at something he had found in the grass. He stepped away from me for a second and when I looked up, I was alone."

Liam nodded. "For us, it was like you just vanished. No one saw you go, you were just... gone." His voice went soft on the last word.

That sent a wave of shivers through Penelope.

"Where did you go?" Liam asked.

"I don't know, exactly. More woods," she said, thinking back to the vibrant green forest where she had found herself—not so different from the forest she had left. "But, of course, there was a little raven waiting for me there."

Liam gave her a sidelong look. "Did it... Did it say anything to you?"

"Yeah," she said. "It asked me to follow it. Again."

The truck slowed slightly as he turned to look at her again. "And did you?"

Penelope swallowed. At the time, it felt like the logical thing to do—what else would she have done?—but now, about to say it aloud, she realized how stupid it sounded. She was sure that Liam was going to get mad at her.

"Yes," she said, her voice small. "But I used the neon tape they gave us—" she absently reached into her pocket and realized that she still had the roll. As she pulled it out, she saw that it was well over half gone. She put it on the console between them. "I used it to mark a trail of where I went. So someone could find me."

Penelope could tell from Liam's set jaw and frown that he wasn't happy to hear that she had chased after the mysterious raven on her own but, thankfully, he held his tongue. Penelope was relieved. Part of her wondered if the reason he didn't chew her out was that he would've done the same thing if he had been in her situation. After all, he wanted to know as badly as she did...

"Where did it lead you?" he said at last.

"We didn't get that far. I was just following it through the woods," Penelope said. "It was going somewhere, though. There were other ravens flying overhead, going in the same direction."

Liam nodded but didn't say anything, so Penelope kept going.

"We reached a small clearing and I stopped. Something about it felt weird. Like if I stepped into it, there'd be no turning back. But there was nowhere else to go. So, I made sure the tape was tied tight to a tree at the edge. And that's when I noticed that it was a braided tree. Only this one was bigger, older, like it had been braided a long time ago."

"Another braided tree?" Liam repeated, his face scrunching up into a confused grimace. "What do braided trees have to do with the Raven?"

"I don't know. But it's the second time I've seen them."

"Hmmm," Liam murmured. "And then what?"

"The little raven kept urging me on, so once my tape was secure, I stepped out into the clearing... And that's when you grabbed me."

Liam's grimace deepened. "When I found you, you were not walking into a clearing," he said, his voice sharpening. "You were on the edge of that cliff walking straight ahead like you didn't even see it. I had to run to grab you and pull you back in time."

For a moment, Penelope's breath caught in her throat. "That's not what I saw."

"I know," Liam said. "But why would the raven—or the Raven—lead you there, to the edge of a cliff? Do you think it was trying to kill you?"

"N-No. I... I don't think... I don't know. I think it was trying to lead me somewhere, but that maybe the... s-spell, or whatever, got broken and I snapped back to where I was before. Why would it want to kill me?"

Liam shrugged and shook his head. "Who knows what it wants?"

Penelope thought of the other thing one of the little ravens said to her, during her first excursion into the woods.

HELP ME.

By this time, they were nearly at the highway again—Penelope could see the flat, paved road in the distance, at the crest of the next hill. From this angle, Penelope could see other smaller dirt roads splitting off from the main vein, disappearing into the forest beyond. She'd be relieved to get past it all, and back on a safe and sturdy road.

"But that's not all," Penelope said, leaning back into the seat. She didn't realize how tightly she was holding herself until she felt herself finally relax. "When I came too, I recognized that cliff."

Liam shot her a look. "What?"

"I had dreamed about that place," Penelope said in an almost whisper. "Just last night."

Liam's eyebrows rose up his forehead. "You dreamt of it?"

Penelope nodded. "Yeah. Super weird, right? I even dreamed of falling off the edge." Thinking it over, she shivered again. She had been too close to making that dream a reality. "And there were birds, too, circling over top of the trees on the other side, just like my dream. The only difference was the piece of—"

Her sentence cut off in a squeal as she lurched forward. The truck had skidded to a stop. She sat up, gasping and rubbing where the seat belt had dug into her shoulder, ready to swear at Liam... But she stopped when she caught a look at his face. His jaw was hard set, his eyes sharp and focussed. He threw the truck into reverse and turned to look out the back window as he sped backwards down the dirt road.

"What are you doing?" Penelope cried.

"I want to see something," he said. Once he had reached some undetermined point, he put the truck into drive again... and turned off onto one of the smaller side roads.

If Penelope thought the other dirt road was bumpy, it was smooth as silk compared to this. This new road was deeply rutted like it had been used exclusively by vehicles with four-wheel drive, carved out of mud that had now hardened and formed a small mountain range. Her dad's truck was hardy, sure, but it was old, and she wasn't sure it was up to the task. Penelope hoped they wouldn't get stuck. She took hold of the grab handle overhead and held on for dear life as they bumped around down the road.

Her new phone began to ring in the pocket of her hoodie. She pulled it out, saw that it was her dad calling. She answered immediately.

"Penelope, what's going on?" her dad bellowed down the line as soon as the call connected. He did not sound happy. "Did I just see you turn around?"

"L-Liam's taking a, uh, detour. We're just going to look at something and we'll be right back on the road."

"No, Penelope. Turn back around right this instant. I don't want you to go off on your own again. I want you to come with us back to the campground. If you absolutely have to go back, you can do it later."

Liam must've been able to hear her dad because he just shook his head. Penelope swallowed hard. She rarely went against her dad's wishes, but if Liam was up to something, it had to be with good reason.

"It's just a little detour, I promise," Penelope said. "It'll be quick."

"Penelope, listen to me," her dad said, his voice going crackly as their reception faltered. "If you don't turn around right now I will—"

But the call cut out as reception was lost.

"Shit," Penelope said with a wince, staring down at the ominous screen that read CALL DISCONNECTED. "He's going to be so pissed at me."

"He might," Liam said with an apologetic smile. "But he'll forgive you. You can explain it all to him later. This is important."

Penelope gave him a small smile and tightened her grip on the grab handle. She hoped he was right.

The road they followed began to curve, leading them back in the direction of the search base. Penelope wondered why he wouldn't just take the main road, but figured there must be a method to his madness. The route continued to list further from the main road, heading deeper into the forest at an angle. The road got narrower, the trees closer. The blur of them as they passed the window and the heaving of the car on the road was starting to make Penelope feel a little car sick.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Liam began to slow and the trees that ran alongside the road began to thin. Through them, Penelope could make out slivers of grey sky. The road bent again, now running parallel to the thin line of trees. As there was no real shoulder out here, Liam just stopped the truck in the very middle of the road, put it into park and turned to her.

"Come and see," he said. Then he cracked open the door and hopped out.

Penelope did as he said. She opened her door and carefully stepped out onto the uneven road. Liam was waiting for her by the edge of the thin patch of woods. He beckoned her forward and waited for her to join him before leading her into the trees.

They didn't have to walk long to get through to the other side. It opened up on a rocky patch of grass overlooking the river below, not unlike the cliff from her dream, only the view was slightly shifted, seen from a different angle.

"So, you saw this place in your dream?" Liam asked.

"Yeah," Penelope said, pointing over in the vague distance. "But it was from over there—where you found me."

"What do you think is so special about this place?" Liam asked, his gaze slowly tracing the scene. "Why did the raven try to lead you there?"

"Like I said, I don't know if it did," Penelope said, scouring the view on her own. She was looking for something, the same thing she had glimpsed after she had come to after Liam had dragged her back from the edge. She wasn't sure it had really been there, but then— "There! Do you see that?" She pointed out, across the gorge.

There, still tied around the base of a thick tree, was the scrap of neon tape she had thought she had seen before. It was flapping away in the breeze that now ruffled through Penelope's fading-black hair.

"I see it," Liam said.

"I tied my tape around the trees like that," Penelope said, the words coming out shaky like she wasn't sure what she was saying. "D-Do you think that is my tape?"

Liam turned to look at her. "You think you were over there?"

"I don't know," Penelope said. "But it's weird, right?"

"Yeah," Liam said. "Weird."

"There were birds, too," Penelope said. "Ravens, I think. They were circling over the forest over there." They were gone now. "Maybe whatever the little raven was leading me to, maybe it was over there. What's across the river?"

Liam frowned. "Not much. It's mostly farms, acreages, and rural homes. Nothing special."

"Homes?" Penelope wondered. "Whose homes?"

Liam shrugged. "I'm not quite sure. No one I know. We could look it up—"

Through the trees behind them, there was a rumble of an approaching vehicle. Penelope and Liam looked at each other before heading back through the woods.

Beth's SUV was now pulling up behind the truck. Penelope watched as Beth climbed out of the driver's seat. As Beth caught sight of her, she frowned at first but then gave her a small smile—as if to say, Sorry. Penelope noticed then that her passenger seat was empty.

Where is dad? She wondered.

She soon found out. Her father was charging around the side of the SUV, barrelling down on them. His face was all red, making the white streaks in his dark hair stand out all the more.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" he snapped at her as he got close. "I told you to come back to the campground!"

Penelope shrank back. She had hardly ever seen her dad this angry, and never at her. "We were! We were!" Penelope babbled as she pointed feebly towards the cliff beyond the thinned trees. "We just needed to take a quick look at something and it was only going to take a second and—"

"I don't care!" he shouted back, but then her father's red face crumpled, the anger quickly draining away. He threw his arms around her neck and pulled her close. "Can't it wait? I almost lost you today, I won't let it happen again! I don't want to let you out of my sight."

"D-Dad!" Penelope gasped through his tightening hug.

"Why were you dragging her out here, anyway?" Beth asked her son. She had now joined them at the edge of the trees.

Liam gave Penelope a look as if to say, Do we tell them?

As she was currently being crushed in a hug, Penelope couldn't object.

Liam took her silence as agreement. "Penelope's disappearing act today wasn't an isolated incident," he said.

"What?" Beth said, her eyes going wide.

Her dad released Penelope, nearly dropping her. "What?" he echoed with a gasp. "She's gone missing before?" He rounded back on Penelope. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I didn't want you to get worried," Penelope said. "And I didn't know if it meant anything, or if I just got turned around, or something. I didn't know if it was real until—"

"Until it happened again," Liam said.

Her dad's still-red face twisted up in confusion. "What the hell does that mean?"

Beth looked the most disturbed of them all. Her usually well-tanned face had turned pale. Even her freckles seemed to fade. "It's not happening again, is it?" she asked Liam with a shaking voice.

Liam's mouth stretched into a line. "Maybe."

Beth's pale face turned grey, then green, before settling. She looked at Penelope, then her father, before turning back to her son. "Then we need to talk to Henry."