Transcript of this chapter:

barlow: Well, this is the area that Alex's demon-detector was pointing towards. I can't go exploring in the woods, so I'll just have to see what's around the outskirts.
barlow: Turnip! What good luck! Have you seen any demonic activity around here? Anything evil in the immediate surroundings?
turnip: When you say "evil", are you referring to the sheriff? He's the most evil thing for miles around!
barlow: Alex thinks there's a demon out here somewhere. I'm just doing my demon-hunter obligations. Have you seen anything?
turnip: A demon? Nope, but I'm not foolish enough to go into the Smoggy Woods. This is as close as I'll get.
turnip: There might be demons in there, but who can really find out? Nobody who goes in there ever comes out alive... we just find their bodies when the fog recedes. That includes paper mammals, too.
barlow: I was hoping I could just carry out my investigation out here a the edge.
turnip: Hmmm... you know... Just behind me a little ways is a big rock. It sort of looks like a monster or something, if you're looking from the right angle...
barlow: A rock... If that's it, then Alex owes me for wasting my time...
barlow: It DOES look kind of like a demon or something! I can't believe that I trusted Alex and his silly demon-detecting contraptions.
barlow: What are you doing out here?
turnip: I'm making use of these woods.
barlow: But the Smoggy Woods are, well... a bit dangerous, don't you think?
turnip: I'm not going in there, I'm doing what everyone else does... I'm throwing trash into the woods. In my case, I'm disposing some of the sheriff's mammal traps. Of course you know he means to trap my comrades, just as we're starting our great revolution...
barlow: Yeah, yeah...
barlow: Have you seen anything suspicious around here?
turnip: Suspicious? I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for suspicious things. If I wasn't as careful as I am, my whole species might be dead by now.
turnip: I'm convinced that the sheriff means to trap and kill every paper mammal in the world!
barlow: But he wants everything to be in balance. If he traps all of your kind, that's liable to upset the natural balance of things.
turnip: There's nothing more suspicious than someone who spouts out that many lies about a natural balance. I'm not fooled.
barlow: What's got you so worked up about the sheriff?
turnip: That man is incapable of showing remorse for his crimes against us mammals! It's almost like he's incapable of "human" emotions like love.
turnip: These past few days I've recorded a huge increase in the number of my kind that he's killed and skinned! I thought that there were rules on how many he was allowed to trap.
barlow: I think Rebecca keeps him in line. He's only allowed to make as many paper bags as the town needs.
turnip: Well, something's up, because he's killed four times the normal "quota" of paper mammals! If the murder of your species was referenced with words like "quota", you'd be upset too.
barlow: Well... sorry.
barlow: I'm never going to trust Alex's stupid weathervane thing again!
barlow: What a great invention... something the just points out things that LOOK like demons! So utterly useless!
barlow: Although... how would a machine like that work? It doesn't make sense.
barlow: Well, this trip was a total waste of time.
barlow: Come with me, little flower, and we can go tell Alex what an idiot he is.
barlow: I should make sure that this is really just a rock.
barlow: Judging by the flowers growing on it, I would assume that this rock has been here a long while. Funny that I've never seen it before.
barlow: Wow, this place is busy today.
eliza: Good afternoon, Barlow.
barlow: Hi Eliza. What brings you so far from the marsh?
eliza: Oh, I have an interest in all parts of our local ecosystem. The woods are just as fragile as the marsh, especially if everyone keeps taking it all for granted.
eliza: I'm here for scientific purposes, but what brings YOU way out here?
barlow: There was a demon sighting around here.
eliza: Demon sighting? Ha!
eliza: I'm really surprised, Barlow. I would expect that kind of medieval thinking from the others, but you're far too rational to believe in demons and monsters.
eliza: You have to get out of Spider Cliff, you have to see the rest of the world. Then you'll come to have a more sensible and constructive view of the universe.
barlow: I couldn't agree more.
barlow: I think someone was dumping things into the woods.
eliza: Argh! This is no place to dispose of our waste materials!
eliza: I know that the people of Spider Cliff have been dumping their trash in here since the town was founded. Just because it's tradition doesn't mean it's right!
barlow: I was just... uh, taking a walk.
eliza: Taking a walk? A walk to one of the most dangerous places in the region?
barlow: Check out this flower I just found...
barlow: Uh, I hope it's not endangered or anything...
eliza: No, but it's quite rare to find one. That flower only grows in the Smoggy Woods and can't live long in direct sunlight.
barlow: Really? I found it growing right here.
eliza: Well, that confirms my suspicions, then. It looks like the fogtide is about to start, the one day of the year where the fog rolls back and we can go into the woods.
barlow: How soon?
eliza: If you're finding flowers like that, it means it'll be soon... probably tomorrow.
eliza: I know the people in town love to go romping around in there, doing untold damage to the environment, but I urge you to keep everyone out of there. And it's not just for environmental concerns...
eliza: If you're still in there when the fog rolls in, you'll be lost forever!
barlow: Have you ever seen this rock before?
eliza: This rock? Sure. It's always been here.
eliza: The fog in this section is usually a bit heavier, so it's not always visible from a distance.
barlow: Oh, well that takes care of my inquiries.
barlow: Why shouldn't we throw things into the woods?
eliza: You can't just throw things away and expect them to be gone.
barlow: But, well... most of the things we throw in there is gone for good. When the fog recedes, we never seem to find much of it.
eliza: Well, yeah... I know that.
barlow: Where does it go? Does something take it away?
eliza: Er... well, I don't have a scientific explanation for what happens in there, and I'm not about to look for one. I just have to admit that there's things we don't know about... yet.