Write the desired date and time on a white sheet of paper and burn over candle.
Close both eyes, then blow out flame.
EPILOGUE
There is no such thing as a common forest.
A place of ordinary trees and unremarkable terrain.
Woods are formed of mischief and misdeeds, thorns to bite at exposed skin, roots to catch a loose shoelace dragging down a path. Malediction lives in the dark, it festers beneath thick canopies of evergreen limbs, burrows into the damp wood like needle worms.
But some forests are older than most. The oldest kind. Some forests grow hatred in their bark and moth-eaten leaves so that no safe passage can be made through such a place.
Unless you are built of the forest. Unless blood as black as tar swells through your veins.
Unless you are a Walker.
Walker women have never feared the trees—the ancient sway of limbs clawing at their long, sooty hair.
Locals say they were sprouted from the ground itself, pushed up like green saplings greedy for sun and warmth. That their bones are built of roots and briars and stinging nettle.
They belong to these woods. To the Black River where gold was found along the rocky shore. To Jackjaw Lake, dark and bottomless. To the fattened moon, tethered in the sky—awaiting the whispered words of a Walker’s furtive spell.
The history of Walker women is strange and storied and woven in folklore.
And that’s how they prefer it—to be made into legends.
Acknowledgments
At times, writing this book was like losing myself within a dark, dark wood. I might not have found my way back out if it weren’t for a few spectacular people.
A ridiculously huge thank-you to Nicole Ellul for venturing into the Wicker Woods with me. For conjuring spells and unexpected endings and word magic. There is surely moonlight in your veins! Thank you to Mara Anastas and Liesa Abrams for providing a home for my dark, twisted tales. To Jessi Smith and Thandi Jackson, thank you for reading countless drafts. Thank you, Sarah Creech, for designing a perfectly spooky cover; Mike Rosamilia, for designing an equally spooky interior; and Jim Tierney, for the magical art. Thank you, Elizabeth Mims and Sara Berko, for making sure stories become books. Thank you to Clare McGlade for rounding out the rough edges. Thank you to Caitlin Sweeny and Alissa Nigro for your marketing magic! Thank you, Lauren Castner, for all the top secret work you do! Thank you, Cassie Malmo, for juggling schedules and making sure this story gets into the hands of as many readers as possible. To Anna Jarzab, Emily Ritter, Jill Hacking, and Chrissy Noh—you ladies are superheroes. And thank you to all the fellow book nerds at the S&S office who make this book possible in all the little/big ways that are never seen!
Jess Regel, you’ve read an unnameable number of my stories—ones that no one but you or I will ever read, and you have been the greatest ally I could ask for. Cheers to the books buried in both our old inboxes. Thank you for everything. Truly.
To Mom and Dad, thank you for all the bedtime stories. To Sky, thank you for distracting the animals while I write and for eating only cereal when I didn’t have time to cook. Love you endlessly. To Mel and Andra and Andee, still the best friends a girl could ask for.
To Ann and Nicky, Jeanie and Tyler. I was on deadline during our trip, but you guys still made sure I got in that turquoise water and played cocobocce. I heart you all. Banana.
To the readers of this story, if you find yourself in a dark wood, without a match to light the way. Be your own light.
About the Author
SHEA ERNSHAW lives and writes in a small mountain town in Oregon, where she shares her home with her husband, a tiny dog named Diesel, and two furry felines. She is happiest when lost in a good book, lost in the woods, or writing her next novel. You can connect with her online at www.sheaernshaw.com.
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/teen
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Shea-Ernshaw
Simon Pulse
Simon & Schuster, New York
ALSO BY SHEA ERNSHAW
The Wicked Deep
Copyright
SIMON PULSE
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Simon Pulse hardcover edition November 2019
Text copyright © 2019 by Shea Ernshaw
Jacket design and illustration copyright © 2019 by Jim Tierney
Jacket art direction by Sarah Creech
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ernshaw, Shea, author.
Title: Winterwood / by Shea Ernshaw.
Description: First Simon Pulse hardcover edition. | New York : Simon Pulse, 2019. |
Summary: “Rumored to be a witch, Nora Walker attempts to uncover the truth about a boy she discovers in the woods who went missing weeks ago during a brutal winter storm, only to learn that he wasn’t the only one to go missing all those weeks ago”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019018245 |
ISBN 9781534439412 (hc) | ISBN 9781534439436 (eBook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Fantasy. | Witchcraft—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Time travel—Fiction. | Missing children—Fiction. | Forests and forestry—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.E755 Win 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019018245