Book Description

Deila Weaver lives on a flax farm with her Da, Skalle, a bitter alcoholic whose only love is his land, and her Gran, a blind woman the local people have dubbed 'Dark Weaver' for her ability to weave intricate tapestries from the linen she and Deila make from the flax. When a mysterious creature kills the Weaver's plow horse's new foal, Skalle feels as if he can't go on. He had looked to Molly's foal as a way to keep working his fields. Deila sees a drab brown bird in the fields--a brownbird that is said to have magic powers since rains often fall on the parched ground when the bird is seen. Soon after, she and Gran watch a strange storm over the fields. A white foal appears in the barn to replace Molly's foal. As the foal grows, Deila realizes that he is magic, too.