novelraw Chapter 177: Water Cut Off
Chapter 177: Water Cut Off
Back home, Evelyn Ford dealt with the multi-colored snake. She placed the mushrooms she had dug up in the courtyard for Ronan Kendrick to wash. Once clean, he sliced them and laid them out to dry under the scorching sun. When they became dried mushrooms, they could be used for stews and stir-fries.
For the next several days, Evelyn Ford, like everyone else, became nocturnal—sleeping during the day and diligently venturing out to the periphery at night to dig for mushrooms.
It was no longer possible to grow vegetables in the sandy soil; even the Four Seasons Green was starting to wither across large patches. Evelyn Ford cut down the dried grass and brought it back, putting the waste to good use by weaving it into mats.
Taylor Vance organized another group to fire a batch of earthen jars for water storage. Evelyn Ford also placed a custom order for five large jars. Zion Lowell was leading a small team to fire them, and custom orders required bartering with supplies. Evelyn Ford traded fifty pounds of potatoes for her five large jars.
Evelyn Ford germinated a dozen or so pumpkin seeds. Once they sprouted, she planted them directly in the sandy soil. At first, she worried the high temperatures would scorch the seedlings, but it turned out pumpkins were surprisingly well-suited for the heat. Not only did they survive, but they thrived.
At night, while Evelyn Ford continued to dig for mushrooms, Ronan Kendrick cleared a large patch of weeds in the backyard, turning it into a pumpkin patch. He planted nearly a third of an acre more with pumpkin seedlings.
The high temperatures made it impossible to grow most vegetables, but the residents couldn’t just sit around and wait to die. In addition to desperately storing water and digging for mushrooms, many people, upon learning that Evelyn Ford was growing pumpkins, came to trade for seedlings. Ripe pumpkins could be stored for a long time and could be used as a vegetable or in sweet dishes. Even the leaves and flowers were edible.
Evelyn Ford dug for mushrooms at night and ran experiments at home during the day. After two weeks of trials, she found that only pumpkins, chayote squash, cantaloupes, and desert watermelons could survive the intense heat.
Chayote squash could be sprouted directly from the fruit. It would begin to sprout within a week if buried in soil or simply left in a damp place.
Evelyn Ford planted them by the pond. Chayote squash was high-yield and had a long shelf life. It could be stir-fried or boiled, and even its shoots were delicious.
"Evelyn Ford, where did you get these chayote squash?"
"I must have picked them up in The Undercity. Back when the temperature was stable, they never went bad. I couldn’t bring myself to eat them, so I just kept them in my bag. I was surprised to find they had rotted and sprouted after the heatwave hit. I quickly buried them by the pond, and I didn’t expect them to actually grow."
Serena Lynch found it a little strange. ’Can a single fruit really be preserved for that long?’ But since it was Evelyn Ford, she believed it. ’Other people’s fruit rots because they don’t know how to preserve it. Evelyn must have done a great job to keep it for so long.’
"Evelyn Ford, you’re a real good-luck charm. When the chayote squash bear fruit, you have to save a few for me."
"No problem." ’I can’t believe she bought that so easily,’ Evelyn thought.
Serena Lynch traded a basket of mushrooms for three pumpkin seedlings. Evelyn Ford called Ronan Kendrick over to the backyard. After planting, the new seedlings needed to be watered every night. Thankfully, Evelyn had a hose in her space, and they quickly finished watering the third-of-an-acre plot.
Although it was cooler at night than during the day, the temperature was still thirty-six degrees Celsius. Evelyn Ford wore a short-sleeved shirt, but it wasn’t long before she was drenched in sweat.
She had been running on pure adrenaline for the past two weeks, but that energy had only lasted so long. These last few days, she was starting to burn out again.
Still, her passion for farming remained. ’As long as the land is still usable,’ she thought, ’I won’t give up.’
The three girls who had come to Evelyn Ford for hair loss treatment returned. Evelyn noted that their complexions were much better than two months ago. They had put on some weight, and their estrogen levels seemed to have stabilized.
"Since your bodies have mostly recovered, you can start the medicinal treatment. I have some herbal remedies here. Take them home, brew them, and drink the tea for one month. It’s six packs per person, and each pack should last for five days."
Evelyn accepted mushrooms as payment; after all, they were the main currency circulating in the safe zone now.
One pack wasn’t very large, but it was enough for five days, and Evelyn only charged twenty pounds of mushrooms for it. That came out to six packs—a hundred and twenty pounds of mushrooms—for a month’s supply. To them, it was a bargain if it could cure their hair loss.
The three women took their medicine and left. Evelyn went back inside and collapsed into her rocking chair, not moving a muscle. ’I’ve been so exhausted these past few days,’ she thought. ’I need a break.’
"Evelyn Ford, I’d like to trade for three pumpkin seedlings."
Hearing someone call her name from outside, Evelyn laboriously got up and dragged her weary body to the door.
The water level in the mountain pond was dropping. Taylor Vance warned everyone to store water as quickly as possible—each household, each person, needed to save at least a year’s supply.
Evelyn went to check on it later and saw that the output had indeed shrunk significantly. The spring was only refilling about half the pond each night.
Evelyn filled every empty bucket and tank in her space. She took a quick inventory of her supplies: she had barely touched her stock of barreled and bottled water, and all three thousand of her large water tanks were completely full. Seeing this, Evelyn finally felt a sense of relief.
The stream of water diverted through the bamboo pipe had slowed to a trickle, as thin as an embroidery needle. All the fish in the pond had been caught and processed. Only ten chickens and ducks were left. She kept one billy and one nanny goat, having slaughtered the rest.
Evelyn took a sickle and a bamboo basket and went out to cut grass. The layer of sand among the blades was thick, and it crunched under her feet. She shook the sand from the cuttings, placed the grass in her basket, and headed home.
Ronan Kendrick’s task was to care for the pumpkin patch. He was watering the entire third of an acre by himself.
Evelyn cared for the livestock and the chayote squash. In their yard, a new batch of desert watermelons and a few cantaloupe plants were beginning to send out vines. Evelyn dumped the grass into the goat pen, fed the chickens and ducks some wheat bran, then returned to the yard and began watering with a wooden ladle.
After a long night of work, as dawn approached, Evelyn went to the backyard to get Ronan Kendrick. He had just finished securing the protective netting. They returned to the house together, ate a simple breakfast, washed up, and went to sleep.
Evelyn woke at three in the afternoon. She looked over at Ronan and found herself just staring into space for a long time.
The temperature had stabilized at fifty-three degrees Celsius, neither rising nor falling. ’How much longer will this last?’ she wondered. Evelyn sighed and closed her eyes again.
A few days later, the mountain pond dried up completely. As the last drop of water fell from the bamboo pipe, Evelyn looked up at the sun. Its layered, white halo made her dizzy. She blinked a few times and carried the final bucket of water inside.
"The water’s out."
Ronan Kendrick came over and glanced at the water in the bucket. "It’s alright," he said, comforting her. "The pumpkins have started to vine, so they don’t need as much water now. We should probably process the rest of the chickens and ducks. Just keeping the two goats will be enough."
Evelyn had been thinking the same thing. There were only ten chickens and ducks left anyway. ’Fortunately, I have plenty of fertilized eggs in my space,’ she thought. ’I can always raise more later.’
That night, Evelyn Ford went over to the earthen house where Officer Graham and his family lived. They were working through the night, digging up their sweet potatoes and potatoes. Evelyn had seen the food stored in their cellar before; if they were frugal, it would be enough to last them about two years.
The now-empty pond was a cracked, dry basin. As Evelyn walked around its edge, she could occasionally hear a child crying, demanding to soak in cool water. On her way back, she ran into Taylor Vance. He had aged so much in the last two years. Though not yet fifty, his hair was completely white and his back was stooped. He exuded an aura of utter exhaustion and world-weariness.