“I relented and nodded. Besides, I had nowhere else to go and I thought reading might help to ease the pain of being away from my father, and from you, so I stayed.
“The woman and I hardly talked during the nights. She talked to the stray squirrels who came to eat the nuts and berries she left for them, she scribbled strange drawings and words in a language I didn’t recognize with her colored inks on paper, and she chanted late into the night and bubbled concoctions in her cauldron.
“How did you get so many books? I asked her once. I don’t see many bookbinders in the forest. She swatted my words away since she always found my questions annoying.
“I haven’t always lived here, she said.
“Then why did you come? I asked.
“Because I wanted to live as I wanted to live. I cannot conform to f
