I have no clue.

(Author's Notes)

Panel 1: Imogen is walking through the meadow, hand in hand with Laudna.

Panel 2: But then Laudna is gone.

Panel 3: She looks back to find herself alone, except for the red moon in the darkening sky and the red clouds of a familiar storm beginning to crawl in over the horizon.

Imogen: No . . . no, no, no, no, no . . .

Panel 4: She wakes with a start to find Laudna bending over her in concern.

Laudna: Imogen?

Imogen: No . . .

Laudna: Are you all right, darling?

Panel 5: Sitting up, Imogen buries her face in her hands while she tries to regain her composure. Laudna fetches her a glass of water.

Laudna: Shhh, it's all right. You're safe. You were dreaming.

(Author's Notes)

Panel 1: Imogen is tidying the house, which is starting to look cluttered. She looks skeptically at a jumble of deer antlers in the corner.

Imogen: Laudna, are we keepin' this . . . whatever this is . . . for a reason?

Laudna: (calling from elsewhere in the house) I'm going to carve them! Very versatile material, antlers. Just leave them there, I'll take care of them.

Panel 2: Imogen moves on to a collection of assorted empty bottles on a shelf. Much of the shelf space has been given over to discarded odds and ends Laudna has collected: empty spools, bones, twine, scraps of fabric and fur.

Imogen: And these?

Laudna: I'm saving those! We might need them for something!

Panel 3: Imogen looks inside a box and winces to find it full of dead beetles and snail shells.

Imogen: Laudna! This is literally a box'a dead bugs, why're you keepin' this?

Laudna: You can crush the shells to make dye! I just need enough of each color for it to be worthwhile. Just leave them there, I'll put them somewhere else.

Imogen: All right.

Panel 4: Imogen joins Laudna in the kitchen, where she is cleaning. Imogen gathers up a basket of a few vegetables past their prime -- sprouting potatoes, limp carrots, turnips with blackening spots. Laudna looks over, alarmed.

Laudna: Where are you taking those?

Imogen: To the compost heap, where they belong.

Panel 5: Laudna tries to rescue the vegetables from the basket.

Laudna: Wait! Parts of them might still be good.

Imogen: Laudna, I am beggin' you. Nothin' stinks like a rotten potato. Please let me put ‘em out of their misery.

Panel 6: Laudna anxiously fidgets with a carrot, looking unhappy. Setting the basket down, Imogen covers her nervous hands with her own.

Imogen: Hey. I know, sweetheart. But we're doin' okay. Still got plenty of veggies left, and these guys are gonna be put to work makin' compost for the garden, so nothin's goin' to waste. The winter's almost over. And come spring we'll have a nice garden of our own where we can plant anything we need. Strawberries, lettuce, potatoes, carrots, melons, whatever we want. Okay?

(Author's Notes)

The cozy domesticity montage continues.

Panel 1: At the end of a work day, the two of them exit the shop. The sign outside now reads “Hippogriff Gifts & Thrifts” with “and Repairs” tacked underneath as an addendum. Laudna is carrying a rather decrepit baby doll previously seen in the back of the shop, which Imogen is regarding with some misgivings.

Panel 2: They walk arm in arm through the market, stopping to look at a display of winter vegetables. A child in the market points eagerly at Laudna, who waves.

Child: Look! It's the rat girl!

Panel 3: At home by the fire they sit together with a partly-finished quilt spread over their laps, stitching together.

Panel 4: They dance in the kitchen to the music of Laudna’s thoughts. A mixing bowl on the counter suggests something is baking in the oven.

Panel 5: View of inside the cottage from outside. It's evening, and the interior is lit up with a warm fireglow. Laudna is carrying two cups of tea to the couch, where Imogen is waiting with a book. Outside the window are two snow creatures. Imogen has built a friendly-looking horse. Laudna has built a monstrosity.