The following morning, just as the sun was climbing over the two grassy hills behind his cottage, Tobias slowly awoke to the dull throb of a stiff neck and other minor aches caused by a night spent in the armchair. Through the sitting room window he could see a typically overcast day. He sat staring out at the sky for a few minutes, massaging his neck with one hand and waiting for the last remnants of sleep to drain from his body. The storm had passed and any damage it had left in its wake was yet to be discovered.
When at last he did rise he walked into the small hallway on the way to his bedroom and glancing at the front door he noticed that all but two small puddles on the floor had evaporated; the last traces of the strange visitor he had welcomed into his house the night before. He f
