Page 33 of Alder Woodacre and the Acorns of Affection (Amaranthine Interludes #3)

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kip had sort of figured that Jarrah wouldn’t be happy about losing touch with Joe for the day.

Understatement.

He’d barely unbuckled when a wide-eyed monkey-crosser dropped onto the hood of the truck in order to peer at him and Jiro through the windshield. Kip hopped out to ask, “Okay there, Inti?”

“Jarrah?” he inquired hopefully.

“Oh, boy. Nope. We didn’t bring him along.” Kip patted for his phone, powered it on, and winced at the number of messages he’d missed. The kid had disappeared soon after breakfast.

Joe came around the truck. “He’s missing?”

Inti tugged at an ear, then sighed. “Inti is good, but Inti is not a tree.”

Which explained a lot.

“Little guy teamed up with Biddie, huh?” Kip was kind of impressed. “He gets points for ingenuity. No idea where she stashed him?”

“Nope, nein , nyet ,” he said glumly.

“So he’s here somewhere,” said Jiro, gaze roving. “You’re sure he didn’t try to follow us?”

Jiro’s concern rocked into Kip, who really needed to pull himself together now that the training wheels were off. Shuttering a beacon was kind of a lot. He was going to have to add sigils tonight, once everything was quiet.

Nonny and Gilen rounded the barn and hurried their way, both tossing up a wolvish hand signal that meant no sign of our quarry .

“Should I just assume you looked everywhere you could?” Kip asked.

“Twice,” confirmed Inti.

“Kurloo and the wolves?”

“No trail to track. Because trees .”

Kip got the sense that Inti had experience with trees. Hardly a surprise if Argent had access to golden seeds.

Jiro suddenly asked, “Where’s Kyrie?”

Good question. Jarrah probably couldn’t have eluded him .

“He went into Fletching with Reinier and Cirric,” said Nonny. “They’re helping Harrison pack.”

“Where would Biddie put a sulky squirrel?” Kip looked to Jiro for an answer.

“Tami’s cottage …?”

“She and Ash are in town today.” Beyond her reach, which often led to a similarly sulky Biddie.

Then Jiro asked, “Did anyone check my room?”

Nonny squinted. “Dunno. I don’t remember exactly. Where …?”

Kip facepalmed. “It’s warded. Really, really warded.”

“I’ll go,” said Jiro.

Joe tapped on his own bedroom door and entered with a soft, “Hey, you two. What’re you up to?”

Jarrah was flopped on his belly, surrounded by papers, one finger slowly tracing an unfolded map made from taped-together sheets of graph paper. Totally absorbed.

Joe didn’t keep these old plans from past mazes up here, so he looked to his sister’s other twin for explanation. “Biddie?”

“He wanted to know what Joey-boy loves, and Joey-boy loves mazes.”

Dragging his gaze upward, Jarrah broke into a relieved smile. “Mister Joe, you came back!”

“Yes, I did. Were you afraid I wouldn’t?”

“Everybody said you would , ’cause you never leave. But that couldn’t be true because … you left!”

Kip angled through the door, gaze sweeping the room. “Solving puzzles?” he asked lightly.

“Yes! These are so good!” Jarrah dropped to his knees and carefully picked up a maze that had been a reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood, with a human girl in the protection of a heroic pack. “The trees make this part extra tricky!”

“You noticed!” Kip was beaming. “We wanted the people who walked the maze to also be lost in the woods. For a while.”

“Walk through?” Jarrah echoed uncertainly.

“Didn’t Biddie say? These are all corn mazes.” And Kip proceeded to explain the Reaverson family’s annual tradition. “But I’m new to the game. This guy’s been planning them since he was littler than you. With his grandad.”

“Uncle Abel?” asked Jarrah.

“Grandpa George. He’d let me help.”

“Georgie-boy,” crooned Biddie.

Jarrah began to slowly, carefully restack the scattered mazes, though he looked like he’d rather keep studying them. It reminded Joe of old times, and in an echo of the offer his grandfather had made to him, he asked Jarrah, “Want to help me plan the next one?”

“Really?” The boy’s tail took to twitching. “Really, really?”

“Sure.”

Kip asked, “Man, we’re pushing it late this year. Did you have something in mind …?”

Joe suddenly remembered something that might help. Sure it would please his bondmate and this boy, he said, “We should try acorns.”