Mrs. Leary's patience was not infinite. Especially when she decided that his study needed to be cleaned. To be fair, it probably did, but it left Doyle at loose ends. He finally took his heavy coat and boots, put his hat on and told his housekeeper he was going out.
Most days, that would have meant a trip to the saloon, even if he didn't drink. Today, though, he found himself walking out of town toward the woods, lost in his own thoughts and hardly noticing that he was following a path broken through the snow by someone else.