At that moment, a small, black and white crow circled the garden and lighted on the fountain's rim. It shook out its feathers, and eyed the children with a cocked head. Then it turned its glance at Pio, before a returning boat caught its attention.
As an abandoned boat came around, the bird plucked a shiny pebble, round and glittering with quartz, off the deck of the toy craft, and solemnly paced over to the brown, curly-headed girl by the water. It laid the pebble in the lap of the girl, then croaked "bain felig!", while the children looked on, open-mouthed. "Ohhh, is he yours, Lady?"; and the boy-child beside her echoed: "Is he yours?"
The dark-haired Halfling lady held out her hand to the pet, But Bird ignored her, taking the opportunity to hop on Pio's shoulder, where she whispered in her ear: "They return. The news is bad."
[ August 06, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]
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