Zosia was fourteen and knew the river better than her backyard. The tall grasses by the Narew River hummed, and the wilderness stood like a dark wall. The village was getting ready for Kupala Night, a garland was drying by the window. Grandma said that on this night, borders crack like thin ice. Zosia didn't believe it all, but she listened when she talked about leshas and russets. In the afternoon Zosia found a small statue with four faces in the silt. The wood was as dry as a stump, although she had taken it straight out of the water. - A swiatowid? - muttered her uncle when she brought it to the threshold. - 'Put it down, don't tease what stands abroad,' warned the uncle. That evening the statue rolled itself to the window and tapped on the glass. - 'Don't carry it in the house,' said the grandmother and took a red rowan from her trunk. - Tie it around your wrist, let it guide you, not tempt you. - It's just a piece of wood - Zosia insisted, but her heart was beating too fast. Then she saw the first skylight above the threshold, trembling in the air like a spark. Then a second, a third, and they were all leaning towards the wilderness. Zosia slipped the statue into her bag and left before anyone could stop her. The night smelled of smoke, honey and wet bark, and the river purred deeper than usual. Skylights lined the path, leading through the trodden ford towards the sacred grove. Cones crackled underfoot, an owl croaked in the distance, and the silence was like a stretched string. At the edge of the grove stood a circle of stones, each with an engraved mark, like an old alphabet. Zosia placed the statue on the middle stone and took a step back. The rowan on her wrist darkened, as if she had drunk a sudden shadow. - 'If you are a lecher, show the way,' she whispered, though her throat was dry. Then the marks on the stones glowed green. Among the oaks, someone answered her in her brother's voice: "Zosia, help me". The voice came from a place where no one should be standing. Something heavy moved in the darkness just behind her back.