In the deep woods of Potter County, long before the tragedies of The Hollow Tree, a town is born, and something ancient wakes beneath it. In 1885, Terrence Fee arrives in the untouched valley of Bailey Run, scouting timber for the Goodyear company. With him are Silas Burke and the quiet, steady Maddox, men who believe the hemlock-rich hills will make their fortunes. What they build instead is Blowville: a raw, growing settlement perched on the edge of wilderness older than memory. Ezekiel Moran, his son William, and young Clara come to Blowville as the town takes shape and life begins to settle into the rhythm of frontier labor. But when a clearing is cut on the Freck warrant and a hollow hemlock is found towering above a strange patch of ground, unease creeps into the valley. This prequel to The Hollow Tree reveals the origins of Blowville, the first stirrings of the presence in the woods, and the secrets buried long before the town's final fall. Some roots go deeper than the trees.

And some things, once disturbed, do not sleep again.