There are witches in the wood. That's what they keep telling me. But all I see are blackberry bushes and oak trees. The berries are in-season right now. Every few days, I fill my apron with fruit on the way home from the schoolhouse.

Mama scolds me for spending so much time next to the wood, but I think she secretly likes it because she bakes them into pies and breads, and they taste wonderful.

She ties up a fresh pocket of herbs and tucks it under my shirt every morning just to be safe because she knows I'll go to the edge of the wood even if she tells me not to.