Under her aunt’s close supervision Fawn then mixed the ingredients in two baskets until Nattie, plunging her arms in and feeling while frowning judiciously in a way that had Fawn holding her breath, pronounced them ready for the next step. Shaping such a disparate mass of fibers into the long rolls for spinning could only be done by the gentlest carding and a lot of handwork, and even Fawn’s willing fingers looked to be tiring by the end.

They went on to the spinning itself after supper. The male members of the family had some dim idea that the three were up to some outlandish Lakewalker project to please Dag, but they were well trained not to intrude upon Nattie’s domain, and Dag doubted they suspected magic, so subtle and invisible a one as this was. They went off about their own usual pursuits. Tril drifted in and out from labors in the kitchen, watching but saying little.

After some debate, it was decided Fawn would be the spinner after all; she was certain Nattie would do it better, but Dag was certain that the more making she put into the task with her own hands, the better the faint chance of tangling her ground in the cord would be. She chose to spin on the wheel, a device Dag had never seen in operation before coming here, saying she was better at it than at the drop spindle. Once she’d finally settled and gathered up her materials and her confidence, the task went much more quickly than Dag had expected. At length she triumphantly handed over for Nattie’s inspection two hanks of sturdy if rather hirsute two-ply thread something between yarn and string in texture.

“Nattie could have spun it smoother and more even.” Fawn sighed.

“Mm,” said Nattie, feeling the bundles. She didn’t disagree, but she did say, “This’ll do.”

“Shall we go on now?” Fawn asked eagerly. Full night had fallen, and they had been working by candlelight for the past hour.

“We’ll be more rested in the morning,” said Dag.

“I’m all right.”

“I’ll be more rested in the morning, Spark. Have some pity on an old patroller, eh?”

“Oh. That’s right. Groundwork drains you pretty dry.” She added after a cautious moment, “Will this be as bad as the bowl?”

“No. This is a lot more natural. Besides, I’ve done this before. Well…Kauneo’s mother actually did the spinning that time, because neither of us had the skill. Each of us had to do our own braiding, though, to catch our grounds.”

Fawn sighed. “I’m never going to be able to sleep tonight.”

In fact, she did, although not before Dag had heard through the closed door Nattie telling her to settle, it was worse than sleeping with a bedbug. Fawn’s soft giggle was his last memory of the night.