Describe the wood using details from the text.

Chapter 1 is probably the best place to look for details about the woods near the Fosters' house. The opening chapter does a great job of painting the nearby forest as a place that has something a bit creepy and/or odd about it. One of the first indications that something isn't quite right about the woods is the use of the word "otherworld."

But the wood had a sleeping, otherworld appearance that made you want to speak in whispers.

The feeling of strangeness is so strong that even the cows want nothing to do with the area. They have always decided to go around the forest instead of through it. Other than giving people a strange feeling, readers are told that the woods are completely normal in most regards. It's got that dark forest lighting, there are animals that live there, and birds as well.

There will be a dimness shot through with bars of sunlight, a great many squirrels and birds, a deep, damp mattress of leaves on the ground, and all the other things just as familiar if not so pleasant—things like spiders, thorns, and grubs.

The final, key detail that readers are given about the woods is the presence of a single, large tree in the middle of the area with a spring next to it.

The people would have noticed the giant ash tree at the center of the wood, and then, in time, they'd have noticed the little spring bubbling up among its roots in spite of the pebbles piled there to conceal it.

This brief description is important because it foreshadows the importance of the tree to the overall plot and multiple characters.