Ion had been following the stream through the village, after walking back from the store. He recalled a tree he had used as a marker; if he could find that, he would be able to find his house again.

While the small department store he had found did not have cloth, there had been large shifts that he could use as oversized shirts. With some help from an attendant in the store, he had cut slits in the back for his wings and donned one as a makeshift turban, and then he had headed off.

He hummed, hugging his journal and the small pillow he gotten -- both of which he had stuffed under his shirt to protect them from the rain. He would have to write to Anise again and tell him about the rather scraggly tree near his house; maybe that would help her find him.