Spring remembers before the world went wrong. In a manor on the river—too grand, too loved, too alive—Badger, Mole, Rat, and the ever-impulsive Toad chase sky-high schemes and kitchen-table comforts while the wind begins to whisper of war. Years later, in a hidden refuge grown from older magic, that same memory becomes a map: what we build, what we keep, and what we carry when the flames come knocking. As hunters close in, Brannigan faces a choice between the badge and the boy, between leaving and staying long enough to matter.