The Mistress
Zander asked, his eyes narrowing.
“My grandfather’s original studio,” I realized, the memory hitting me like a physical blow. “Before he moved the family to the city, he had a cabin in the mountains. He used to tell me that the cedar there was the only wood ‘honest enough’ to hold a carving. Zan, these aren’t from a toy store. Someone carved these by hand.”
I turned the block over. On the bottom of the ‘A’ was a tiny, scorched mark. A small, stylized bird—a sparrow.