Taking the Wounded to the Dryad Woodland for Treatment

Taking the Wounded to the Dryad Woodland for Treatment is a rescue-and-care episode in which Lock’s knowledge of Bradbury Mountain and his ties to its Dryad community offer an answer to injuries the group cannot manage alone. The detour delays their pursuit of Cade, but Olive’s life takes priority: corrosive Vodyanoy venom has overwhelmed the Were-hare’s usual healing, and Grandma Rose’s woodland clinic gives the wounded a chance to recover.

The Detour to Bradbury Mountain

Olive is unconscious, and Lock carries her while Sid is wounded. Ava hopes Sid’s Were-hare healing will help him, but he warns that whatever attacked them may resist it. The group is initially headed toward Duncan's cabin; instead, Lock directs Ikka to take them toward Bradbury Mountain. Ikka questions the change, and her doubtful glance makes clear that the choice carries risk. If the detour proves mistaken and Olive worsens, Lock will be held responsible. The tension remains unspoken but palpable as they follow his directions.

Lock’s destination is not a marked trailhead or an obvious settlement. Bradbury Mountain is a forested stretch of national parkland, described as roughly eight hundred acres. The van follows an access road that dwindles into two ruts until Ikka can drive no farther. Lock, awkwardly balancing the still-unconscious Olive, says they must walk the rest of the way. The group gets out and proceeds on foot, ducking beneath branches. The contrast between the urgent, injured party and the secluded woodland makes the journey feel less like reaching a conventional refuge than entering a place whose rules they do not yet know.

Before they continue, Lock sets strict limits: leave lighters behind, do not pull leaves from the trees, stay on the path, and make no fires. He also tells Ezra not to chase or disturb the local animals, naming squirrels, porcupines, groundhogs, and birds. His warnings establish that the forest is not merely a route to medical help; it is a living territory that must be approached with care. Even in crisis, the visitors are expected to respect its inhabitants and plants.

Lock’s Connection to the Woodland

The group eventually reaches a small clearing ringed by old-growth trees. Lock stops and stares into the trees, while the others wait without knowing why he has brought them there. After a pause, he addresses someone beyond the visible group, explaining that they are in a hurry. A voice from the underbrush answers with familiar irritation at humans’ constant rushing. Their exchange has the ease of an old argument: Lock replies that humans feel pressure because they do not live for hundreds of years, and the unseen speaker laughs before a young-looking girl steps out from behind a tree.

The encounter reveals how established Lock’s relationship with the woodland community is. He kisses the girl on the forehead, asks her to take him to Olive, and she agrees. He calls her Auntie Mar. Ava, unsure what the girl can perceive about her, watches the exchange with suspicion, but the immediate purpose is practical: Lock has brought the injured to someone who can help. At Grandma Rose’s house, Rose recalls Lock as a boy who once hid in a cupboard and swept her floor after emerging from it. What begins as an unexplained detour thus resolves into a return to people who have known Lock since childhood and can provide care unavailable to the group on the road.

Olive’s Treatment

Lock introduces Sid, Ikka, Ava, Ezra, and Olive to Rose MacArthur, whom the group calls Grandma Rose. Rose clears the remaining Dryads from the room except for Lock’s mother, then has Lock lay Olive on a padded, wipe-clean medical table. She asks for the relevant details before examining Olive. Ava explains that Olive is a Were-hare, ordinarily able to heal quickly, but that the Vodyanoy they encountered spat something like acid or poison. Rose recognizes the wound as corrosive and finds that the substance is interfering with Olive’s natural recovery.

Rose checks Olive’s pulse and listens to her heart with a stethoscope. She has Lock sit Olive up and helps her swallow a thick pain-relieving liquid; Olive gags and chokes as she takes it. Rose then explains that the corrosive must be removed and the wound salved, promising Olive should be well by morning. Ava reacts to the wait because the group is running out of time to find Cade. Yet she also knows there is nothing she can do for him at that moment: the drove is searching, their message has been delivered, and it will alert them if Venus appears at Ava’s home. She puts that fear aside and accepts that Olive’s treatment must come first.

Rose prepares liquids, ointments, and gauze, warning that cleaning the wound will hurt even after the pain medicine. Lock and Ikka hold Olive steady as she twists and screams; Ezra pins her ankles. Sid takes one of her hands and murmurs reassurance near her ear, helping her calm despite the pain. Ava initially hesitates when she reaches toward Olive, uncertain how to help. Rose takes Ava’s hand and places it on Olive’s, making her presence part of the care. After cleaning the wound, Rose applies a thick ointment to keep the skin pliant as it heals. Olive is carried to a small guest room with cots, clean sheets, and quilts, where Ikka stays with her until she falls asleep.

The Other Wounded and the Night’s Consequences

Only after Olive has been settled does Rose attend to Lock and Sid. She cleans and sutures Lock’s injury, then cleans and bandages Sid’s, giving instructions as needed. Ava fetches things for Rose. Although she dislikes being ordered around, she finds relief in having a useful role: after the fear and helplessness surrounding Olive’s injury, caring for someone feels like a reversal of her own usual position as the person who needs help.

The treatment establishes a cost as well as a refuge. Sid goes outside to report to Les and explain that the group will not reach Ava’s home until the following day; he also hopes Venus will not rush to take their bait. Lock brings in their belongings, since they will spend the night with Rose. The group’s urgent plans therefore bend around the recovery of the injured, and the care they receive depends on accepting delay. Once Lock returns, they discover Ezra has disappeared, despite Lock’s warning not to chase anything. The episode closes not with every danger resolved but with Olive treated, the other wounded tended, and a fresh problem emerging within the woodland refuge.