Aiken Somerset looked around, blinking away the rain from his eyes. There were red and blue lights flashing through the trees in the direction of the street, and he hoped that no one he knew needed the ambulance. He craned his neck to look at the familiar specimen of fagus grandifolia, smiling at the sight of buds forming along the outermost twigs. The rain may have been close to freezing, but his tree knew that spring was just around the corner.