GOSSIP CORNER — all the news that's barely fit to print.
A single great feather was found in the village square this morning, long and tawny-gold, laid neatly on the bakery step as if someone had left it there on purpose. Within the hour, half the village had a theory.
Theory one: Aquila dropped it while circling overhead, a gift for the baker, whose morning loaves she is known to admire from a great height. Theory two: she left it as a message, though nobody can agree on what the message says. Theory three, from a small boy with jam on his chin: she just liked the step.
Aquila herself has said nothing, which is very much her style. She circled the square once at noon, high and unhurried, and the whole village looked up at once — which may have been the point all along.
The baker has put the feather in the shop window, where the morning light catches it. She says anyone may admire it, but nobody may take it. Aquila, witnesses confirm, has been watching the window with what can only be described as approval.
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