As the townspeople of Windwick would later say, “How could anyone sleep through such a racket?”
Apparently Windwick has always been so boring and shut out from the world, it’s hard for them to grasp the concept of being knocked unconscious.
When I woke, Windwick appeared mostly the same. The windows and doors were shut and locked tight, no sign of life anywhere. Not even old Brooks Philman was outside. The gardens were trampled and bedraggled from the hot sun and not a cloud graced our sky. Surprisingly, Windwick never received so much as a light breeze.
I could barely remember what had happened, but images of thousands of tiny eyes and cold noses flooded my vision momentarily.
Something was different; something was wrong but I couldn’t say what.
I looked down at the ground. Footprints!
Not big footprints or human footprints, but thousands and thousands of puny paw prints showered the dusty earth.
Step after step, I had never felt more alone. For hours I continued until… the paw prints ended.