The Search For Water

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They used the last of the water to feed the babes that night. "We can last a few days without water," Alithea said. "The babes – maybe a day. Erthen – probably two days," as she jostled the boy on her hip. "Look at those stars," she pointed his arm at the sky. There was not a cloud in the night sky. The others stood and stared at the painting of white stars on the black canvas. Fallon pointed at a shooting star.

"I could take the water skins and see if there is any water up ahead," Drindl's words cut through the group's wondering silence. They turned to look at him. "I can see in this light. Without the travois, I could make it to the forest, fill up with water and be back by noon at the latest."

"That's a lot of weight to carry back that distance," Fallon said. He turned to Alpen. "The two smaller skins?"

Alpen nodded. "We only need enough for a day or so. Then we can fill up the large skins."

Bebe stepped forward and hugged Drindl. She was crying. "Thank you. We will owe you the lives of our babes." Alpen joined the hug, then Fallon, Alithea and Erthen.

Alithea insisted that he take some of their food. "You need to refuel as you go. You will do no one any good if your muscles start to cramp." Drindl reluctantly took the food.

Bebe pointed out a star in the west. "Aim there," she said. Drindl donned the two skins, his hunting pack, his weapon and flechettes and set off toward the west.

Later that night, Alithea tossed and turned. "I can't stop worrying about Drindl."

"He has good skills. I worry that he won't find water," Fallon said as he gathered her into his arms.

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In the morning, the babes began to complain shortly after they awoke. "I don't know if I can get used to this," Bebe said as she picked up Darden and Bella to comfort them.

Alpen searched the dune grass for something he could tie to the runners of each travois to make it easier to pull them through the sand. He stumbled back with some shoots in his arm. He pointed to the base of the shoots. "We could chew this up, make a paste with our spit and feed the young ones," he suggested.

There was a slight alkaline taste to the shoots. They mixed in a bit of the lizard and hoped the babes would eat it. "Yaaay!" Bebe cried out when Darden took some more after the first bite. Alamea and Bella followed suit. Erthen tried a bite, made a face, but Fallon encouraged him to eat a little more.

"Where did you get these?" Alithea asked. Alpen pointed to a sand valley just east of their campsite. "How are these plants getting water?" she asked. Everyone looked at her.

"There's water below the sand. We could build a sip well!" Bebe exclaimed. The others looked to her with curiosity. "The Cawthingi accounts talk about sip wells."

"Why would they need that?" Fallon asked. "They live by the water."

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"That's salt water. We can't drink it," Bebe said. "The fresh water is sometimes beneath the sand further away from the ocean. Here, I'll show you." She handed the babes to Alpen and went over to the travois. After rummaging around, she broke off a piece of the travois frame and came back with a tube about three feet long. "We draw up water through this and into one of our water skins."

Alpen looked at Fallon, hiding his skepticism from Bebe. "I suppose we could try," Fallon said. "I'll help dig, Bebe. Just show me what to do." He and Bebe gathered a water skin, the two reeds and a digging tool, then set off for the short walk to the sand valley.

A short while later, Alithea and Alpen heard the two of them make hooping and congratulatory sounds. "I can't sit here," Alithea said. She gathered up Alamea and Erthen and followed Alpen to the sand valley. Fallon and Bebe had dug a deep hole and a shallow hole. Fallon sucked on the stiff tube until the water flowed, then connected the water skin with the flexible reed. The flow didn't last long so it was painstaking. The reed clogged up with sand and had to be blown out. After a half hour, he filled up a third of the large skin.

They stood around Fallon and watched with fascination. "It's enough to last us a day," Alithea said. "We're losing the coolest part of the day." They turned to look at the waves of heat now drifting off the warming sand hills.

"Shouldn't we wait for Drindl?" Bebe asked.

"We'll see him," Alpen assured her. "It's pretty wide open out here."