The village outfits Emily and Wendell generously for the search, providing a sleigh, horses, food, blankets, firewood, and even a knitted jacket for Shadow. Because the kidnappers’ route remains visible in the snow, Emily and Wendell visit Poe one last time at the spring before leaving. There, Wendell is angered by the damage to Poe’s tree and restores it with a touch, revealing a casual power that overwhelms Poe with gratitude.

Poe first offers Wendell a loaf, which Wendell dismisses, so Poe returns with a basket of magically warm cakes. Emily uses the visit to ask her promised questions. Poe says the tall ones have taken Lilja and Margret to “the place where the aurora bleeds white,” and says the tall ones fear fire. Emily deliberately does not ask the third question, trusting her sense that it will matter more later.

Back in the village, Aud embraces Emily and privately warns Wendell to keep Emily safe, offering him a boon. Emily and Wendell then depart alone, after two villagers lead them to the place where Lilja and Margret left the road. As they follow the tracks into the forest, Emily notices that the woods seem to have shifted to admit the captors and are now slowly closing again. She walks beside the sleigh at times to ease the horses’ burden and notes that Shadow leaves no tracks in the snow.

Wendell spends much of the journey sulking and complaining about the cold until Emily makes him eat one of Poe’s warm cakes. The cake restores Wendell’s mood and energy, and he begins touching the winter trees as he walks, causing them to burst into leaf, berry, blossom, and birdsong. Emily is shaken by the scale and beauty of this magic, because it makes Wendell’s faerie nature impossible to ignore. By evening, they reach a mountain pass, find signs where the first search party stopped, and continue deeper after the kidnappers’ hoofprints.

Emily insists on pressing on for another hour before camping in a sheltered fold of the mountains. At camp, Wendell proves useless at cooking and burns the stew, confirming Emily’s suspicion that he has never prepared his own meals. After supper, Wendell retreats to the tent and quietly mends small tears in his cloak, ending the day in a more settled mood while Emily keeps focus on the search ahead.