On the next day, she asked old Codes if Lizzy could be allowed to paint them. "Why look at such ugliness," Mom said, "when this nice girl has the skill to make something pretty?" Lizzy, a restless Sylvannan artist, had befriended Walter, a restless boy, and had run away with him. Walter had been convinced that there was a way out if you took the train, and that more cities than four existed. "People take the train when they leave for the final time, you know?" he'd said. "They must be going somewhere." He'd found a picture of two entwined snakes biting their tales and a note that this picture could open a door. "Did anyone meet you?" Meliora asked. "Did you find the witch?" Lizzy shook her head. "No, Mel. I only found the sun, so bright and frightening—and the wind. And the autumn leaves, rustling so noisily." Lizzy and Walter had walked into the forest, where they'd met a hunting party from the village, who led them here and protected them from monsters. "They had us sleep in different cottages," Lizzy said.
