Nobody quite remembers who came first.

What everyone agrees upon is this:

The Village has always been here.

Not on every map, admittedly.

There are travellers who swear they have walked straight past the turning without seeing it. Others insist there was no turning at all.

And yet, occasionally, somebody finds it.

Someone the Village appears to have been expecting.

There is usually a building involved.

A key.

Sometimes an animal.

And lately, something rather strange has happened.

Thirteen doors now open onto the lane.

Thirteen people, each with a peculiar talent of their own.

Hearth. Healing. Knowledge. Growth. Harvest. Tide. Glamour. Connection. Fortune. Time. Wildness. Old things. Promises.

Perhaps it’s coincidence.

Except beneath the Bookshop, carved into an old wooden beam, Evelyn has found thirteen marks.

Nobody currently living in the Village made them.

Beneath the final mark is one word.

Again.

Helga has seen it.

Her only response?

“About bloody time.”

There are some things about the Village you haven’t been told yet.

Perhaps it’s time. 🕯️