Midwinter

 Midwinter  is one of the Two Houses that Arheled founded in New England to watch over the Road, though most of them do not know their mission. Usually the Children of the Road have at least one Midwinter among them

Their members, at the time of the Return of the Road in 2011, numbered as follows:

Peter Midwinter, 104, last of the Lore Branch of the family

Dennis Midwinter, last of the other branch, a police captain in Barkhamsted, together with his wife Mrs. Midwinter and her nine children: A son in college, Lara, Lilac, Dan, Donovan, Michael, two other small boys, and Summer the baby.

Dennis is rather mild and mouselike, but can be quite pigheaded when provoked. He and his wife share an intense dislike of Peter Midwinter, whom they see as a tramp. Dennis went so far as to prohibet Lara from having any contact with Peter during the time he attempted to pass on to her the Lore, even arresting Peter Midwinter for trespass. This necessiated Arheled to send him a nightmare in which Lara was chained and Peter was the only hope they had. As the Wild Man had already broken Peter out of jail, Dennis dropped the charges.

Mrs. Midwinter has blank eyes but a stony fierce temper, and is quite protective of her children.