The Spinner of the Bridge

In Valdesorna, when the village fountains run dry for no reason, the old folk climb up to the stone bridge and look at the third flagstone. They say someone hasn’t given back the spindle. This is the story that explains it.

Under the bridge lives the Spinner, who on autumn nights spins the river’s water so that it reaches the village fountains, thread by thread. To anyone who has truly lost something she lends her spindle: when you set it rolling, the thread unwinds by itself and leads you to what you lost. She sets only one condition: it must be returned to the third flagstone of the bridge before the first cock crows. If not, the fountains will not flow again until the spindle is back in its place.