Brightling laughed softly at Whirlwind’s self-effacing comment. “I’m sure that’s not true. Medics are always so valuable, we cherish our time with them.” And she laughed lightly, indicating that while it was a joke, it was not a cruel or mean-spirited one. Turning to Fern to include her in the joke, she bobbed her head, smiled and then moved to untie the bells from about her ankle. “These will undoubtedly make too much noise,” she said, and she glanced at the white mus. Oh, it was darling, it was!
“Huh,” she said, suddenly recalling that she had a companion of her own. “Where’d my Flicker get to?” Shaking her head, she gave a quick, sharp call. It was answered with a whistle, and the parus dropped from the branches in which she had been hiding from the other Sentinels.
“Flickerwing can take these bells without too much trouble,” she suggested, smiling at the parus. Flickerwing peeped at her but took the bells and bobbed her head once before spreading her wings and taking off. Brightling nodded her satisfaction and then bent her head to pick at the thongs of the bells around her neck. “These...hm...”
Three quick motions, and all the bells were tied in a chain, kept from bumping each other and with a piece of hide pushed within them to dampen the sound.
“And that should be enough,” she said with a smile.
