Chapter 1- The Tree in the Attic

The bus was still rolling when Sadie Sawyer leapt from her seat and rushed to the front. She
slipped through the half-opened doors, her feet slapping the pavement and she emerged into the crisp
October air. She yelled a hasty thank you to the driver as she dashed down the street. Through crunchy
leaves and past barking dogs she ran, breezing past her house.
She skidded to a stop in front of a pink cottage. Breath heavy in her ears, she walked up the front
path and took in the lush gardens of her neighbor’s house. Most of the bushes and flowers were past their
prime and covered in leaves, but they were still every bit as beautiful.
The whimsy of Ms.Willows’ cottage fit into the neighborhood just about as well as its owner. The
pink siding and excess of gnomes gave it a distinct look that did not adhere to the blue and brick standard
of the nearby houses. Reaching into her coat pocket, Sadie found a heavy metal key. The peeling gold
varnish stuck to her fingers as she slid it into the lock. Like everything else in Ms.Willows’ house, the
door was secondhand, most likely from an estate sale several years prior.
Inside the house, light had to fight for agency within the maze of excess furniture towering at
unsafe heights. There were chairs used as displays and four lamps sitting on the dining room table.
Nothing matched. And everything was perfect.
Sadie could navigate the room blind, the comparative cleanliness of the kitchen as her guiding
beacon. The counters were cluttered with kitchen gadgets and decorations. She savored the faint hint of
vanilla and fading burnt toast in the air. In his usual spot on the island, a chubby black cat watched her.
“Good afternoon, Magnus,” Sadie said, tossing her backpack to the side.
He was greying at the ears, but Magnus maintained his dignified look with the brown patch of fur
that resembled a mustache underneath his nose. Even after years of taking care of him, Sadie never shook
her unease of his observant gaze, almost too human-like. He pushed his bowl closer to her with an
unpleasant grind.
“Be patient,” She tutted, “I just got here.”
From a large jar shaped like a cat, Sadie pulled a tin of wet food. A smaller, orange duplicate held
the dry food. In a familiar dance, Sadie took the bowl decorated with ridiculous cat likenesses, and braced
herself. Trying not to breathe, she cracked the tin.
Immediately, she was assaulted with the smell of dead fish and despair. She tipped it into the
bowl with a sickening squelch.
As she mixed the foods, she said, “I don’t know how you eat this stuff. It looks depressing.”
Magnus mewed indignantly.
“Fine, fine. Here you go,” She replied.
Sadie had never been particularly fond of cats, but after years of cat-sitting for Ms.Willows, she
found she had a soft spot for Magnus. Of course, it had taken time to get to this point in their relationship.
Sadie had to get used to scooping litter and breathing in stray shed fur floating through the air. In return,
Magnus became adjusted to her presence after school, doing homework, and singing as loud as she could.
Their understanding of one another was mutual.
As she finished up her tidying, Sadie wandered through the furniture of the living room once
again. Every time she came to the house, there was something new. This week alone, she had found a
clock that sang Happy Birthday at five thirty sharp every evening, a desk that looked like it was pulled
straight from a one room schoolhouse, and a painting depicting three fairies dancing in a river. Sadie
intended to ask her neighbor where she could get a clock like that. She needed one of her own.
 Today, nothing held the same sparkle that it usually did. School was long this afternoon and
restlessness was crackling through her bones. Sadie needed a little adventure and it was getting too cold to
weed in the backyard.
As Sadie wandered through the front entry, she paused in front of the stairs. She couldn’t
remember the last time she went up them. A cool evening light illuminated the landing, beckoning her to
explore. She skipped up the steps, giving in to its siren call.
The landing looked just as it always did. Three long, white tables stood overflowing with plants.
Behind them was a giant bay window with more pillows than places to sit. She really should come up
here more often; Ms.Willows had instructed her not to water these plants, so there was rarely any reason.
It was peaceful despite holding the same amount of clutter as the rest of the house.
Sadie wandered between the tables, lost in awe of the gorgeous blooming flowers. How did
Ms.Willows keep all of these plants blooming so vibrantly? The smell of soil felt like she was outside in
the midst of May when gardens were first replanted for the season.
She was so lost in her thoughts, it took Sadie a moment to realize that she had stepped in a
puddle. And another to realize that she had stepped in a puddle inside a house whose owner had been
gone for days.
Alarm bells screamed in her head.
“Ugh,” she moaned, taking off her soaked sock, “Where did that come from?”
Sadie knelt to look under the table, hoping to see a leak. At least then she could write it off as an
accident and definitely not the result of another person in the house. She ran her hand along the rough
wood. Nothing. The seal was solid and the bottom was dry. Sighing, she pulled herself to her feet.
Halfway up, she locked eyes with herself in a metal watering can. A watering can with drops of
water on its side. One that also happened to be sitting upright on the table. Last time she checked,
watering cans didn’t fill themselves up or put themselves back on tables after they spilled.
Which meant she was not as alone in the house.
Her heart picked up speed in her chest. Ms.Willows had been gone for four days, if she had
spilled it, it would be more than dried up by now.
A meow sent anxiety rippling through her arms again. Sadie jolted around to find Magnus seated
at the top of the staircase, watching her with his omniscient green eyes.
“Did you spill this?” She asked.
He responded with annoyance almost like he was saying, “Why would I go anywhere near a
watering can? And if you hadn’t noticed, I don’t have thumbs.”
“Right, silly question.”
If Magnus didn’t spill it, and wasn’t offering any explanation about who did, then it was up to her
to figure out what happened. She had just asked for an adventure, right? And Sadie loved a good mystery.
She scanned the room, trying to puzzle out hiding spots. There were no nooks or crannies in the
small loft area, they were all occupied by her neighbor’s furniture collection, but there were four doors.
To her right, there were two closed doors. Sadie wagered they were Ms.Willows’ room and a bathroom.
To her left, there was one closed door. But the last door was cracked open with light streaming from the
spaces where the door failed to meet the frame.
As she approached the door, her mother’s voice rang in her ears, Don’t open that door Sadie.
Ignoring the words, she pulled it open and was met with a staircase. Was there space in this house for an
attic? Halfway up, it veered off to the left, obscuring the top from her sight.
Sadie Lucille Sawyer, do not go up those stairs.
 The steps creaked and groaned as Sadie’s alternating sock and barefoot hit them. She held tightly
to her sock, ready to fight.
“One,” she whispered, her back pressed against the wall right before the turn.
“Two,” if this was the end, at least she went down fighting for Ms.Willows’ house.
Maybe this was not worth risking her life over.
“Three.”
Sadie ran up the steps and stopped abruptly right before the top, frozen in awe.
Standing before her was a tree, its branches sprawling across the attic. The ceiling was obscured
in the bright green of the leaves. She blinked a few times, trying to make sure she was actually seeing this.
Downstairs, she would not have questioned this full grown oak in the house, but three stories away from
the ground? That was pushing the envelope of believability.
This room was bigger than was possible for the cottage. The walls were towering and Sadie was
positive there was no space for an attic. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She had heard tales of witches
casting spells to make spaces bigger.
The only problem was, Ms.Willows was not a witch. Sure, she was eccentric and a little out there
personality wise, but most definitely did not practice magic.
Even though everything about this place screamed otherwise.
On the other side of the room, there were worktables piled with all sorts of strange instruments,
tools, and cauldrons. The surfaces were cluttered with antique books and glass bottles shaped in all sorts
of impractical ways. The air smelled like a cacophony of lingering fumes. This room was chaotic in the
same whimsical way as the rest of Ms.Willows’ house, with an extra dose of magic thrown in.
Sadie beelined over to the tree, stepping over discarded candy wrappers, various chairs, and tables
situated around the trunk. She pressed her hand to the bark. It certainly felt like wood. Rough and rigid,
small particles coming off on her palm.
This was a real tree.
To her left, there was a single door, the only one in the attic. After completing her inspection of
the tree, she found herself with a hand on the knob. Hesitantly, she twisted it, revealing a bedroom.
This was not just any bedroom. It was a child’s room. As far as Sadie knew, Ms.Willows was
unmarried and childless. For that matter, she spoke constantly of being far too busy managing herself to
bother with dating or motherhood.
So why would she need a room like this?
It looked lived in. The bed was unmade, revealing the Spider-Man sheets. There were drawings
taped to the wall above the desk, every single one depicting a green hero with the power to control vines.
The desk itself was full of half finished comic strips and cups of colored pencils in various states of repair.
A science kit sat on the floor, the glassware tipped all over the place. And then, the most extensive
collection of comic books and super hero action figures Sadie had ever seen shared the wall with the door.
To bring it all together, the whole room smelled like her younger brother’s, with the faint odor of dirty
clothes and sweat.
Things were getting stranger by the second. Was Ms.Willows hiding a superhero obsessed kid
somewhere in her attic? Where was he?
She kept poking around the room. There had to be something that would help her piece together
this puzzle. Finally, her eyes settled on a stuffed animal, sitting neatly on a pillow. Sadie gingerly picked
up the frog, its fur matted down with age and love.
“Don’t touch him!”
Chapter 2- The Boy Who Was Green

Sadie screamed, the frog tumbling from her hands and onto the rug. Her heart pounded in her
chest as her eyes searched for the owner of the voice.
A boy dropped from one of the lower branches of the tree just beyond the door. He dashed in and
snatched the frog off the floor. Scowling at Sadie, he cradled it as if she was about to tear it to pieces.
“You shouldn’t touch things that aren’t yours.”
Sadie’s mind short circuited as she took in the boy standing in front of her. He looked to be her
age, but her eyes glazed over that fact and stuck on one thing.
This boy was green.
His hair, a chaotic mess on his head, was long grass. Tiny, emerald colored leaves dotted his arms
like freckles. But otherwise… he looked completely normal. He wore red sneakers with dirty soles and a
superhero t-shirt. Sadie saw boys like him every day at school, and yet, she had never seen anyone like
him.
“Can you talk?”
Her thoughts evaporated. Sadie sputtered, “Of course I can talk! Who- what are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” The boy responded, sizing her up and down.
“For your information,” Sadie said, “I’m here to take care of Magnus while Ms.Willows is away.
She never said anything about having another guest.”
He burst out laughing. Sadie fumed. Who did this kid think he was, mocking her for doing her
job?
“What’s so funny?” She snapped.
The boy took a few deep breaths, fighting off the giggles, “I thought she was kidding about the
house-sitter!”
All Sadie could do was stare at this boy in confusion.
“Magnus doesn’t need to be taken care of! He feeds himself.”
“Magnus is a cat. He doesn’t have enough thumbs to feed himself,” Sadie said, “Who are you?”
“Don’t say that to him,” He replied, “he’ll scratch your face with his claws.”
Was this happening? Sadie wondered if she had been hit in the head with a piece of furniture
while she was wandering around. Maybe this was all one big hallucination.
“Well, this has been fun,” The boy said, slipping behind her to return the frog to its spot on the
bed. He pushed her out of the room and clicked the door shut.
“Don’t touch me!” Sadie growled.
The boy ignored her, scampering up the tree and hanging upside down by his legs from the lowest
branch. He watched her with intent curiosity. Or maybe more like a scientist, trying to analyze her every
move for some sort of experiment.
“Who are you?” Sadie insisted.
“Oh, I’m Henry,” he said.
“Well, Henry, you need to leave,” Sadie demanded, hoping the shakiness in her voice didn’t come
through as loudly as she thought it did.
“Hmmm,” He mused, “No, I don’t think so.”
“I’m going to have to call the police.” It then occurred to her that her phone was dead in her
backpack, but Henry didn’t need to know that.
“What are they going to do?” He asked, “I live here.”
 Surely, Sadie was losing her mind, it was a bit premature for eleven but all the signs were there.
She had lived next door for eleven years and not once had she seen this boy. What motivations would
Ms.Willows have for hiding an eleven year old in her attic? Was he a danger to society? Clearly, he
wasn’t shy enough to hide away forever just for the sake of doing so.
“Oh, hey Magnus,” The boy waved.
The large cat lumbered up the steps and took a seat on an overstuffed chair by the tree. He
watched Sadie, waiting for her next move. She was going to disappoint him this time, she had no idea
what to do.
“If you live here, how come I’ve never seen you before?” Sadie asked, glaring at the boy.
“Mom always took me to the babysitter before,” He shuddered, “This time I convinced her I
could handle myself.”
Magnus meowed, annoyed.
“Fine,” Henry said, “I could handle myself with Magnus’ supervision.”
Deciding to ignore the idea of the cat supervising Henry, Sadie calculated how many days he
would have been alone here. She first checked Magnus on Monday. Today was Thursday, which meant
she had left him here for five days. Her mom had never left her alone at home for more than six hours.
And she was back before the sun went down. If all this was true, did that make Ms.Willows a really bad
mom?
“Ms.Willows left you alone for five days?”
“I think so.” He said, “Are you done interrogating me?”
“No.”
Henry sighed, bored of their conversation. Without another word, he climbed into the tree and
disappeared from sight. Sadie was flabbergasted. She sputtered a protest, knowing he wasn’t listening and
didn’t care. She rubbed the space between her eyebrows, this was giving her a headache.
With Henry out of sight, Sadie walked to the worktables, maybe this would help her clear her
thoughts. She poked around the shelves and lopsided bookcases. Surprisingly, she recognized a lot of the
materials on the tables as alchemy tools. Fond memories from years ago replayed in her mind.
There was a short time when Sadie was around eight and her dad decided to start experimenting
with alchemy. Their family lacked magical abilities, but magic wasn’t required to brew simple potions
and he was determined to figure it out. He would spend days in the garage brewing and reading from
books he collected on business trips. At the time, she was sure she would never miss the random
explosions and strange aromas filling their small house.
But as Sadie examined a bottle filled with purple liquid, it was all she wanted in the world.
A wave of melancholy washed over her. She should go home. Mom was likely almost done with
dinner, and there was the matter of the homework in her bag, not that she would be able to focus. Her
mind was buzzing with questions for Henry and Ms.Willows, there was no space left for math.
Crackling branches and rustling leaves signaled Henry’s return. “Oh, you’re still here,” he said.
Sadie rolled her eyes.
In a moment, he was sitting on her counter, “Whatcha doing?”
“Nothing that has to do with you,” Sadie snapped.
“Boring,” he pretended to yawn.
When Sadie didn’t reply, he pulled a piece of chocolate from his pocket and tossed it into his
mouth. She did not want to know how long it had been sitting unwrapped in there. It only took another
minute of silence before he got up again and started wandering around the room. Sadie wondered if he
ever sat still with his own thoughts for more than a few seconds at a time.
“Why are you green?” Sadie burst, the curiosity gnawing at her insides unpleasantly.
Henry gasped dramatically, “I’m green?”
That was it. This was too weird, there were too many questions fighting for attention in her head.
There was nothing she wanted more than dinner and a moment alone to think. If she stayed up here any
longer, she was positive she really would lose her mind and then she would have a bigger problem on her
hands.
“I’m going home,” she announced.
Henry watched as she took off down the steps, Sadie didn’t spare him a glance. As she closed the
door to the attic, she thought she heard him call out. But before she could think about going back, her bag
was slung over her shoulder and she was stepping out into the cool evening air.

“How was school?” Sadie’s mom, Kristen, asked. Her warm brown hair was greying at the roots
and worry lines added a few years to her age.
“Hmm?” She asked.
“How was school?” Kristen repeated.
“Oh, it was fine. Lots of math.”
As her mom moved onto Milo, Sadie returned her gaze to the table, spaghetti forgotten on her
plate. She had taken a moment to process the events of the last couple hours and was now more upset than
confused. Did Ms.Willows not trust her enough to tell her about her life? Keeping an entire kid a secret
was a big deal.
“Sadie!”
She jumped, having forgotten she was at the dinner table altogether. She realized both her brother
and mom had finished their food and Mom was looking at her expectantly.
“What is going on with you tonight?” She asked, putting her hand on Sadie’s forehead, “Are you
feeling alright?”
“I’m fine Mom, just have a lot on my mind.”
Kristen Sawyer was a lot of things, and unfortunately, one of those things was an excellent lie
detector. She knew exactly when Sadie was lying. This time she didn’t pry and instead gave Sadie a
pointed we’re not done with this conversation look.
“Are you done with your dinner, honey? You didn’t eat much.”
“Yep, all done. Thanks Mom!”
Sadie jumped up from her chair and ran to the stairs, narrowly avoiding a toy car hidden in the
rug as she went. As she reached her room, she shut the door quietly. The last thing she needed was her
mom thinking she had an attitude too.
She darted to her desk and grabbed the least full notebook she could find. These questions needed
to get out of her head and the only way she could do that was to write them all out on paper. Her blue
walls blurred as Sadie lost track of how long she scribbled on the paper. She knew she needed a plan if
she wanted any of her questions to be properly satisfied.
When her pencil finally ran out of words to write, she stepped back and looked at all of her notes.
On top of the last page in large letters were two words, Operation Willows. She read through the step by
step agenda she laid out. Tomorrow, she was going to find out if her theory was correct.
And it all started with Henry.