Branches have been drawn across the gap between two firs. Behind them stands an ox sled, broad enough for three people and the load beneath its canvas. The ox noses a feed bag without lifting its head. From the road, only the tips of the runners show. Fresh snow has begun filling the groove where the sled turned aside.
One of the crew climbs down, touches the left runner with a boot, and waits while another lifts the front corner. A wooden spacer slips back into place. They do it without discussion. The driver leaves the steering pole angled against his knee; everyone who passes him steps over it rather than asking him to move. A spare spacer hangs from a cord beside his glove.
Under the canvas are meal sacks, lamp oil, and iron fittings. A woman checking the lashings says they are bound for the repair crew beyond the high pass. The workers have been keeping a damaged bridge open with what they can salvage. She counts the fittings again while the driver listens toward the road. Nobody begins unloading. The branches remain across the entrance, and the ox finishes its feed.
What would make this crew conceal supplies that the bridge workers are waiting for?
Actual table rolls interpreted with AI assistance. Prose and artwork reviewed before publication. These discoveries are invitations to play, not fixed setting canon.