“And you could be doing the same thing, essentially, while slogging through thunderstorms and blizzards and living in Waystations,” Abi reminded her friend, echoing what her father had said. “Instead you get to come back up to the Hill every night and sleep in your own comfortable feather bed.”

“Not to mention not cooking my own food.” Kat laughed. “You have put things in their proper perspective.”

Having seen and marveled at the bridge in its deconstructed form, Kat went on her way, back up the Hill to a fine dinner, probably at her father and mother’s side with the Court. Abi returned to discussing the iron dovetails with Master Renold. “We’ll want soft, flexible iron,” he told her. “So the bridge can flex a little, according to traffic and weather.” He showed her the two slots he would have carved in the ends of each of the twenty eight slabs of limestone that would make up the main arch. The iron dovetails themselves would be shaped like a capital letter “V” and be carefully hammered into place while red-hot.

“Won’t that crack the stone?” she asked. “The heat of the iron, I mean.”

“That’s one reason why Master Edders chose limestone,” he told her. “Granite might crack. Marble certainly would. Limestone is not as beautiful, but it will do everything we ask of it for this bridge.”

“I can’t wait until we can start assembling it!” she exclaimed. He beamed at her, and it was quite clear he felt exactly the same.

Behind her, footsteps approached, and Master Ketnar cleared his throat. She turned. He was wearing a slightly troubled look and was accompanied by her mother.

Abi cast a quick look at Amily, but there was nothing in her mother’s face that suggested a family emergency, so Abi tamped down on her alarm and waited to hear what Master Ketnar had to say.

“We have an . . . interesting opportunity that requires someone of your singular abilities, Abi,” said the Master. “But the unfortunate part of it is that it will take you away from seeing the actual construction of your bridge.”

Wait, what? She clamped down on her dismay as well as her alarm. Best to see what it was Master Ketnar was talking about first before she got herself all wrought up for nothing.

He gestured to her mother.

“I know geography was not your strongest subject,” Amily began, with a twinkle in her eye to take the edge off the non-compliment.

“I hate maps,” Abi sighed. “I mean, I really loathe them.”