Quiet Magic by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Page B

showing up like the hawks had called your name. The
horses were all unnatural nervous, like they get sometimes when it
thunders. We got them all together--thought maybe another storm was
showing up, but it was all them birds...."
    The hawks above wove through the
slowly clearing sky in an intricate dance.
    "Look Captain!"
    Slate turned to see the crow drifting
lazily in the breeze toward Grayling. Shrugging its wings briefly
it dropped several hand-heights to land unceremoniously on Slate's
sleep pack behind the saddle.
    Grayling turned to look at the bird,
shook his mane, and resumed grazing. The bird muttered something
very much like "Braddack, chick-chick Braddack-chick," folded wings
and settled in as if it was something he did every day.
    There was something else to see, as
Disburno's quiet watch-whistle let Slate know. The avian juggling
act overhead had drawn the attention of other travelers, and now a
half-dozen or more stared about the meadow. Some were obviously
interested in the birds; others looked to be planning on setting up
camp.
    Slate looked at the bird still perched
behind his saddle, then toward the clearing sky with its decoration
of wheeling birds, and shook his head a moment. Then he sighed and
called out "Break day camp and mount up, Rove Troop. With any luck
at all we'll sleep dry in Carrsbritch tonight."
    * * *
    SLATE SAT AS comfortably as he could
on Grayling, the occasional mutter of the crow a strangeness at his
back as they waited for yet another party to be ushered off the far
end of the structure. The crow had refused to leave its perch and
Slate had given up in time, unused as he was to sharing horse. Two
more wagons moved onto the dirt, and the Rove Captain sighed a
small sigh of relief as their rumble faded away.
    With all the advice they'd been given
no one had explained exactly why some bridge crossing times were
better than others. He'd not been prepared for this slow confusion
of people, carts, and wagons and the strange impromptu shelters
that people raised--either against the night or against the sight
of the bridge, waterfall, and river far below.
    It had taken an incredible amount of
time for them to move through the bustle, ignoring last minute
attempts to sell this or that special luxury for an absurdly low
price. Littlebrook could not buy what he wanted--as the troop
wouldn't wait for a rendezvous--and what was most for sale were
bits of jewelry, or silver and gold.
    The bustle had perhaps gotten busier
when folk saw the crow; they'd gained space but lost time as
onlookers had gawked at the sleepy rider behind Slate. It hadn't
helped that they'd arrived bridge-side just as the traffic flow was
reversed, and had to wait for twenty wagonloads of goods and twice
as many riders and dozens of folk on foot crossed from
Lamonta.
    Once or twice the crow had muttered
when someone spoke loudly, but for the most part he was a quiet
passenger, and Slate had seen it go slit-eyed as he'd finally
turned and given the command to cross.
    The troop had come willingly enough
onto the bridge. Littlebrook, even, had started across without
comment after receiving his orders. Perhaps it was that Arbran,
pulling the pack pony, rode behind Littlebrook for the moment.
Arbran being silent, what could an experienced hand like
Littlebrook say?
    Grayling went more willingly than
Slate; but Grayling had come through the trip across the sea well
enough and trusted Slate, despite the rumble of the river and the
tremble of the bridge.
    "Mist means crowds," had said the herb
man, and well did he know the truth! For who but the senseless
would cross this ancient, trembling structure when one could see
the river beneath one's feet and watch entire flocks of birds
happily pass beneath as if there were nothing overhead?
    Why, too, had none explained that as
the mist disappeared entire caravans might abandon their crossing,
or delay it until the night made seeing the river
impossible?
    Slate watched the far end of