The days seemed to go by fast and, soon enough, Mrs Winwood had gathered bits and bobs for the youngsters to take with them on their journey to the Academy. Tyler, Victor and Casey wouldn’t be returning for a while, so she stuffed their bags with stuff that Casey had never seen before or had knowledge of their usages. 

Mrs Winwood had spent the last few weeks knitting and gaining clothes, and on the last few days cooked some of the most glorious meals one could ever imagine—roast meat, freshly baked slices of bread, sweet cakes and biscuits—and she took care to package up as much as possible into little boxes that were mostly portable for them to take along the journey. 

“This should be plenty to keep you all going for a while!” Victor grinned. Casey smiled. Tyler groaned with embarrassment. 

The last day in Winchester arrived. Casey couldn’t sleep that night. It was early in the morning when she was getting sleep, when she heard the door from the next room open. Casey opened the door of her room slightly and saw that Victor rose early too. He entered the bathroom at the door at the end of the corridor. Casey went down the stairs and opened the main door. It was peaceful outside, she closed the door behind her and went on a brisk walk in the woodland that sat beside the Winwood Residence before the departure. 

The dawn brought a gentle breeze that sang through the wild trees, and blackbirds and ravens screeched in chorus to greet the early sun that trickled through the overhead canopy like liquid gold. Along the thicket floor, squirrels, rabbits, and hedgehogs snuffed about in the search of food. Casey traipsed along a path unkempt with old leaves and fallen branches. She sighed and breathed in deep the morning air, savouring the freedom she felt in such a place. She took a seat by a large oak that stretched far above her, and took in her surroundings, munching on one of the bread rolls that Mrs Windwood had put in her bag. 

It didn’t take long before the surrounding nature grew comfortable with her presence, and soon enough a small chipmunk crept up alongside her, staring inquisitive and curious. Casey looked back at it kindly. Breaking a piece of bread off from her roll, she extended her hand slowly into its vicinity. The brown-grey animal cautiously sniffed from afar for a while but ran away, disappearing behind a log. 

“I don’t think he likes you,” Victor said, sitting next to Casey, taking a bite of his bread. 

“You followed me.” 

“I thought you’d be here.” 

“Why don’t you try it?” Casey said, finishing her bread when the chubby fellow appeared again at the top of the log. 

The chipmunk came closer to him, sniffing the piece of bread and eventually nibbled at the bread in Victor’s fingers. Eventually, it opened its mouth wide enough to take the whole share from Victor’s hand and scurried off a few feet to enjoy it in privacy. 

Victor and Casey laughed. “I’m glad you enjoy it too,” he said as he stood up and Casey joined him. “We need to go now, friend, but here you go.” Victor placed the rest of the roll on the forest floor. “Take care, little one,” Casey told the chipmunk as they started walking back towards the house. Casey looked back to the oak where Victor had sat. Both the chipmunk and the bread had disappeared. 

When Casey and Victor got back, Tyler was already up, and busy getting his cases ready as Mrs Winwood made a full English breakfast for them; smoked sausages, strips of black pudding and bacon, boiled potatoes, topped off with an excessive pot of tea and a mountain of bread that sat in the middle of the table for them all. It was sublime, and it woke Casey up properly after eating it. She hadn’t realised how hungry she was until she had wolfed down two platefuls, and when she finished, she felt about ready to fall asleep from overeating. 

An hour later, horses trotted up along the outside of the cottage, and Mrs Winwood rushed about the house to make sure that everyone had everything that they needed for their long journey ahead. She had heard Tyler's parents talk about how they would be safer this way than by car or train. 

“I put some extra blankets in your cases in case you are cold on the journey or if the Academy doesn’t give you enough bedsheets, and I made sure that you all have some reading material for your journey because it will bore sitting in a carriage for so long, and in case you get hungry remember there’s plenty of cooked meat and vegetables for you in the boxes I made up for you, and if you feel—” 

“Ma, it’s okay!” assured Tyler to his mother, giving her a big hug. She kissed him on the cheek, much to his hesitation, and hugged Casey and Victor as they stepped into the carriage. It was small inside, but sizable enough to be comfortable. 

“Stay safe, children! Write to me when you arrive!” called out Mrs Winwood, almost in tears. They smiled and waved back as the carriage carried them off toward the north road. Tyler’s father was not present that morning. Casey thought maybe he was mad at Tyler for what happened. 

A few hours passed, and Victor was already yawning. Casey felt hesitant to say that the entire journey would feel like getting cooked by the midday sun inside of the carriage. It brought memories of her grandparents and wasn’t a good joke to make, anyway. 

“Maybe I’ll try one of those books your mum gave us,” he told Tyler as he reached for his backpack, unbuttoning it open. 

“I think she put them in the other bags—Ah!” Casey yelped in terror as a small creature jumped out of Victor’s bag. It was the chipmunk from the woods. It looked inquisitively around the inside of the carriage, eyeing everyone carefully one at a time before looking up to Victor and settling on his lap. 

“Oh!” Victor wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, but it seemed most content beside him. “I suppose you can stay with me for a while if you want.” It seemed to make a small purring noise as it curled into a more comfortable position and fell sound asleep. 

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” joked Tyler, looking a little more closely at the chipmunk. “What are you going to call it?” 

“Call it?” 

“Yeah. What name?” Victor hadn’t even considered for a second about keeping it. His voice staggered into a sentence. 

“I-I hadn’t thought about it at all. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep him.” “Her,” Casey finally said, having regained her courage. “That’s a girl. Female chipmunks are smaller than males.” Victor thought that considering Casey’s life in the countryside, she had probably seen a lot of chipmunks in her time. “Oh, okay. I’m not sure what I’ll call her. What about... Carrot?” he suggested. Tyler burst out into laughter. 

“Carrot?! You must be joking! That’s so silly.” 

“I think it’s cute,” said Casey, looking a little closer at the sleeping chipmunk. 

“Little Carrot.” She grinned, and Tyler went quiet. 

“You’re lucky. I was considering getting one as a familiar, but I heard from my grand—” Casey paused and continued, “... grandmother, that familiars choose their own master.” Victor smiled, looking down at Carrot, and let a finger lightly stroke her fur. 

Casey leaned back heavily against the window. She gazed at the colourful fields, and a thought came to her almost instantly.