Chap. 403 The Dowser

“I remember this commons,” Darnell said, “It’s got to be the biggest one in Landing. Where did you dig?”

P’jar looked for the building to get his bearings, and threw an arm out to point. “Waaay over the other end, much nearer to the building than here. Do you want to go see the holes I dug?”

Orlon laughed. “No, we’ve seen holes before.” Everyone laughed.

“Just goes to show you that those engineers don’t have a lick of sense, just arbitrarily start you digging without considering how a water line might run?”

“One of them did leave saying he was going to find the map.”

“There is NO map!” Orlon snapped. “That’s why we have such a hard time finding water lines.”

“And where, I wonder, are those louts? Maybe they didn’t get Lord D’nis’s order?”

P’jar laughed. “I doubt it. We all keep forgetting the datalinks aren’t working. We can still message other Landers through our database terminals, but not if they’re outside, like us. I’m betting that soon the folks  in the Head Shed will come up with the concept of runners to contact folks here on Landing, but for the moment, the only ones able to communicate when both ends are out of reach of a terminal is through dragons.”

“Or face to face, like now.”

“And fire lizards,” K’ndar said. Siskin chipped in agreement.

“They can understand you?” Jorge asked.

“They can, but it’s easier, at least for me, to just project my thoughts to him,” he said. “At the moment, there’s only five fire lizards here, and three of them are Francie’s.”

I would like a fire lizard Falconth said.

I know P’jar said.

“I’m betting, too, that right this moment, the folks in the head shed are working on what to do about team leader. I don’t think he knows they’re on to him. It’s probably why Lord D’nis wants me to hold them here, at this site. He didn’t go into why, but from the tone of his dragon’s words, that man is PISSED.”

“He was my Weyrleader,” K’ndar said, proudly, “I can tell you, he’s a fair man, a wise one, and will give you a chance. But he also isn’t one to cross. I’m betting he’s already setting a snare for team leader, and when the lout sticks his head in it, he’ll give it a good yank.”

“That will be fun to witness,” Darnell said, “It’s been a long time coming.”

K’ndar looked at distance to the building. “This common is huge,” he said.

“It is,” Darnell said, “I think it’s the largest one on Landing.”

“So far,” Orlon said, “There’s still an awful lot that’s still under ash.”

The idea of digging to find a waterline suddenly grew daunting, K’ndar thought. No maps? Maybe opening the building would be easier, if more time consuming? But no. Darnell made that job so much more difficult without a wagon. If nothing else, I don’t need that horrid mask and the hot coveralls to work in.

“How long does it take to repair a water line?” he asked.

“Depends,” Orlon said. “First we have to find where it IS.  And I’m sorry to say, that means digging. The ancients ran all these water lines every whichaway, it’s insane. I’m sure that of all the bright sparks that transported from Terra, not a one of them was a lowly plumber. But they had to start from scratch. No one knew where water might be. I often wonder why in the world the colonists planted Landing right here, at the foot of a volcano??  Of all places on Pern, why HERE? Did they know if there was water at ALL? But now we know there’s dozens of artesian wells below Landing, not all of them have been located yet. We get our drinking and cooking water from the wells, NOT the thermal springs. Those provide us heating for quarters and run the steam generators, but the water isn’t potable. Sometimes the mineral content is so high it corrodes the pipes. Which I’m thinking is the cause of this so called water leak.”

“Well, that woman in the so called ‘empty’ building did say she’d not showered in three days. She didn’t say anything about drinking water.”

“Doesn’t it make sense to make maps now, the ones we know where and how they run?” K’ndar asked, still not liking the idea of digging up what looked to be kilometer’s worth of knee high grass.

“It does, and maybe we’ll start doing that,” Orlon said, “It’s just finding the time and the person with the patience to go over maintenance records. None of us have those talents or time. As for the colonists, they didn’t map it because, I’m thinking, they were in a hurry. You have almost six thousand people brought down from the starships and temporarily living in the caverns, they spent years in cold sleep, when they get here, they want to have a home, you know, where they can live like family. We all grew up in caverns, so we’re not even bothered by it, but they came from Earth living in rectangular buildings set in chess board grids like Landing. I can easily hear all the griping and groaning from thousands of people. 

I’m sure that the engineers were constantly being badgered to hurry up! But that many buildings take time to create. I remember reading that many of these structures were 3D printed. Don’t ask me what it means, I have no idea, and can’t even remember where I learned that. Apparently, it was a rapid process, but it couldn’t lay out water lines. I’m betting my boots they were working hammer and tongs, trying to get everyone in a building.”

“Unlike now, when they can’t be bothered to do a bit of manual labor,” Jorge sniped.

“Aye. I think they may have just found the artesian wells and ran pipe here and there, like a manylegs web, no rhyme nor plan to it. Just get the water running. Maybe they just dug little trenches with best intentions of ‘going back later and doing it right. We’ve already seen that, haven’t we, lads?”

“Aye,” Jorge said, “And you’re right, it don’t make for a sensible layout. But what do I know, I just fix things, I’m not a trained engineer.”

“Then they kinda sorta forgot about doing it right, until Mt. Garben blew and covered all these buildings with ash.” He looked at P’jar. “The engineers had you digging holes, P’jar, because they don’t want anyone to know they’ve no clue where or even IF there are pipes. Got that reputation of being clever, yes? But they sure as sunrise don’t want to do the real work. They’re smart but have no common sense. Common sense says a water line goes from point A, behind us where those living quarters are. There’s definitely a well serving them. But is there a point B at that so called ‘empty building”?”

“Not that I found, Chief, but then again, I just dug holes where team leader told me to. And didn’t find a drop,” P’jar said.

“For that matter, I don’t know if there really IS a broken water line. Finding a water line is going to take time. If this grass weren’t so high and so fresh and green, we might find a wet spot,” Orlon said, depressed at the concept.

Danno spat, angrily. “So it sounds as if we’re back to circle one, digging all over this bloody commons looking for water.”

K’ndar suddenly remembered a better way. “Why don’t you just dowse for a water line?”

Everyone stopped, looking perplexed.

“What?”

“You know, dowse for water. With a dowsing rod.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing. Dowse for water?”

“Yes.” He could see none of them had a clue what it was.

“Okay, tell me what a dowse is.”

He took a deep breath, wondering if once again, he’d be ridiculed for having been born and raised in what was still considered wilderness. And it’s been a very long time since I’ve done it, he thought.

“It’s not a thing, it’s a, a procedure to find water. I grew up on the steppe. It’s dry, arid grassland. No lakes. No ponds. Not much snow, even. There’s very little running water on the steppe, streams are only in the winter, and they dry up in the summer.

There’s two or three ways to find water. The easiest way is to watch the whers. They will dig down to water to drink and wallow in. The second easiest is to find the vernal ponds, they usually are spring fed, and in the spring, the water birds and wherries are all over them.  The third is to dowse. There’s a shrub that I’ve only seen on the steppe. We call it waterfinder or wetfoot. It’s about twice as tall as P’jar at maturity. It only grows where there’s water. You cut a Y shaped limb about twice as long as your arms, hold the ends of the Y with the stem straight out. Then you walk around where you think water may be, and when you cross over an underground water source, like a stream, the limb bends down to the ground where it is.”

The others were gobsmacked. “No way,” Jorge said, “with a stick?”

Stung by the tone of disbelief, K’ndar hissed, “Can I make this up? It’s true. My mother taught me, she’s so good at it she can tell you how fast the water is moving and how deep we have to dig. We have a well because of her dowsing, and it’s a good one, cold clean water with a good flow. It’s never gone dry, even in the worst droughts, which we have. Often.”

“Waterfinder, eh?” P’jar, his botanist brain intrigued,” I’ve never heard of it.”

“It only grows on the steppe,” K’ndar repeated.

“Even if I believe you, K’ndar, if we don’t have that shrub, we’re still stuck searching the old way, digging holes that might not be where common sense says it should,” Orlon said.

“Believe me, Orlon. Please. You don’t necessarily need a waterfinder limb, I can do it with two pieces of wire, each bent into an L,” K’ndar said.

“Now I’m REALLY having trouble believing you,” Jorge said. “We use wire all the time and it never told us about water.”

Time to put up or shut up, K’ndar thought. Once again, I feel as if I’m not qualified to be here, But I am, and I know it works. Maybe not so good as Mum, but I can do it.

“I’m not the hand at it my Mum is. But she taught me. It’s saved my life when I’ve been out exploring on the steppe on my own. Okay?”

“You’re pulling my leg, K’ndar,” Jorge said. P’jar glared at him.

“Avast that, Jorge.  Who are we to say he’s bonkers? I know K’ndar well enough to know he’s not a blowhard. If he says he can do it, he can,” P’jar growled.

K’ndar felt a rush of gratitude for P’jar’s support. Now if only I can prove it.

Jorge shot a glance at Orlon, wondering if he should revolt against P’jar’s preemptory order. He’s NOT my chief, he thought. Orlon looked back. It said, plainly, don’t. Jorge submitted.

“Danno,” Orlon said, “you toted the tool bag, please dig out that roll of wire and a cutter. K’ndar, if you can’t make it work, well, that’s okay. We’ll still respect you.”

Nervously, K’ndar gauged the length of wire he needed, cut them from the roll and bent the two pieces into an L shape. He gauged their weight, cut a bit off of one and was satisfied that they were the same length and weight.

His mind ran rampant, one moment scared that he’d be made to look stupid, the next resentment that no one, it seems, ever takes him seriously.

“I remember that building,” Danno said, wondering how a wire could find water. “I’ll never forget it, all that work for nuthin’. So WHY are we here, wasting time on this?”

Orlon looked him in the eye. “Because the repair ticket was opened three days ago. And I’m not about to go and question Evvelin’s work order assignments. Are you?”

Danno backed up, dropping his head. “No, sir. That woman scares the hair off my head.”

K’ndar looked at the building on the edge of the commons. Common sense said a water line would run straight to it. But would it? Water goes where it will, so where do I start?

“Does it make sense that the water line runs in a straight line to that building?”

“That’s the idea, K’ndar, but from where, I don’t know, and to where, I don’t know, either. Maybe it’s why the building was empty when we opened it. As  I said, the ancients, they just ran them like they were high on fellis and, also, they didn’t know where the aquifer started or stopped. It’s not a sure bet.”

He nervously fingered the wires. I know how to do this. I do.

“Before you start, do you know where the water lines run?” Jorge asked, still wondering if maybe K’ndar wasn’t pulling a fast one.

“I haven’t a clue,” K’ndar said. “The only thing I know about waterlines is they make water come out of the faucet in my quarters.”

They laughed, but it was with a mixture of gentle teasing and hopefulness.

The feel of the wire in his hands gave him reassurance. “I don’t need to know where the water line is. The wires will tell me.”

The men clustered around him, all of them still doubtful.

“Now, watch. I hold my elbows at my side. I cup my hands, gently, the wires need to be supported but free to move. The smaller part of the L of each wire is supported by my little finger and the longer part over the top of my fist. Don’t squeeze it, just hold it level. I’m going to assume that if there’s a water line, it’s running to that building, across the commons, so I’ll  walk perpendicular to it. I don’t know how far I’ll need to walk, and I will try to stay on a straight line. When the rods find the water, they’ll cross, one over the other.”

He sure seems to know what he’s doing, P’jar thought, as fascinated as the others.

“I’ve never looked for a water line before, you know, just undergrown springs,” he said. Maybe I let my mouth talk me into looking like a fool.

“There are springs here, K’ndar,” Orlon said, helpfully. “It’s where we get our hot water for the steam generators. We can’t drink that stuff, it’s too full of minerals.  What we’re looking for is a ‘tubular well’, its water running through a volcanic tube and it’s cold and potable.

He looked at their expectant faces. Well, I made the claim, I might a well give it a go.

“I’ll find it,” he said, with more confidence in his voice than in his mind. Positioning the wires in his hands, he began to walk at a measured pace, trying to keep an eye on where he was going as well as feel for movement in the wires.

“Do you mind if we come along?” Orlon asked.

Well, yes, but no. I made the claim, I will need to come through.

“Please do. Just stay behind me and be quiet? I need to listen to the wires. If it doesn’t work, well, I’m sorry, I’ll admit to being a moron.”

“You’re not a moron,” P’jar snapped. “I believe you.”

He felt another surge of self confidence. I’ve always thought P’jar was dismissive of me. He’s always treated me like I’m a kid brother. He can, I guess, he’s older, bigger, and a terrific dragonrider. For him to back me up? I appreciate it.

Jorge said nothing, but still doubted K’ndar.

As he walked without result he began to sweat. I’ve made a fool of myself.

He forced himself to keep the wires balanced as he walked. I’m going farther and farther, it’s not working. It’s not working. I look like an idiot. He was about to give up when his mother whispered in the depths of his mind. You’re almost there. Water goes where it wants, NOT where we want.

Siskin purred, hearing his anxiety. It helped calm him.

Don’t worry about how far you’re walking, he told himself, listen to your hands. LISTEN.

The wires lay docile in his hands. Come on, water, I know you’re here. They don’t put buildings up without water.

“I don’t think they put the pipes THAT far out,” Jorge said, sounding dubious.

“Sssh,” P’jar hissed, “Shut up, let him work.”

Jorge bristling, was about to retort when Darnell, behind P’jar, caught his eye. He shook his head, raised his hand high over his head, then flexed his arms to make his biceps bulge.

Okay, okay, Jorge thought, he IS big. He put out his palms to say, got it…and shut up.

K’ndar walked for ten steps, opened his eyes and saw he was off course. The wires stayed steady in his hands. He straightened his course and slowed down walked another ten, stopped, another ten. Come on, come on, work, he thought.  I’m not even close to the building-and then froze.

It twitched. Did I imagine it? Did it really twitch? He took another step.

Yes?  He stopped and backed up five steps. Mum used to say the stronger the flow, the stronger the turn. This was just a twitch. I must be near water but not quite.

Yeah, I knew it was nuts, Jorge thought. He’s backing up. 

Orlon held his breath. Do it, K’ndar, do it. I trust you, I believe you, I would hate to see you make a fool of yourself, he thought.

“It’s not working,” Danno started to say until P’jar glared at him.

He, too, put out his palms in acquiescence.

K’ndar closed his eyes again, took two steps. One wire turned slightly. Only one? What did that mean? Oh, Mum, I wish you were here-but no. You taught me. I trust you.

He stopped again, took a deep breath then stepped forward. One step. Both wires twitched.

His confidence soaring, he took two more steps-and both wires moved quickly to cross. He looked at his audience and said, “Here! It’s here!” 

Siskin launched from his shoulders, chittering in victory.

The men cheered. “Do it again! Do it again!” Danno shouted, so tickled that he’d been wrong he wanted to jump.

“Look! See, watch the wires!” He backed up, readjusted the wires to the forward position, and crossed the unseen line again. The wires turned hard and obvious.

“It’s underneath us!” Orlon shouted.

“It’s half a kilometer from the building!”

“Why would they run it so far out?”

“Are you sure, K’ndar?” Orlon asked.

“Let me walk a ways from this spot, and do it again.”

The wires stayed still. He turned to walk back, but P’jar held up his hand.

“Diagonal,” P’jar said. Later on, he would wonder why he said so despite never having dowsed in his life. “Turn left diagonal, K’ndar. 45 degrees.”

K’ndar nodded. Within a few steps, the wires turned so strongly the cut end of the wire scratched his fingers. THAT’s what Mum felt!

“Yes! It’s a good strong flow!” he shouted, overjoyed. “It’s going that way, towards those buildings behind the open one!”

“Dogleg! There’s a dogleg in the stream!” Orlon cried, beside himself with glee at K’ndar’s success.

“They did that themselves? You didn’t make them turn?” Jorge called.

“No! I told you, it works. I’m going to find out which way it’s going,” K’ndar said, and now, certain of one spot, his search was narrowed. With another go, he determined which direction the water line went.

“I’m not an expert, but the wires tell me the water line is right here and runs oh, I guess to that building the next building cluster over.”

“NOT to the ‘empty’ building!”

“What the shaff? It’s in the middle of nothing?”

“It’s water,” K’ndar said, “I swear it.”

“Gimme a shovel,” Orlon said, “I’m going to dig.”

Suddenly four shovels made the dirt fly. One shovel made a strange thudding noise.

“Pipe line! I hit a pipe line!” Jorge crowed, “You got it, K’ndar!”

K’ndar was suddenly being pummeled by five exuberant men.

P’jar looked down at him. “I knew you’d do it, brother.”

The utility of the procedure hit Orlon full force. By the egg, this will make our work so much easier. Faster.

“K’ndar, you’re a genius! No wonder you couldn’t find water, P’jar, that line runs from THIS end! It’s got to be a tubular well. Oh, WELL DONE, K’ndar!”

He laughed. “This is incredible. It won’t take any time at all finding the leak!”

Darnell grinned. “P’jar, you want to help dig?”

P’jar looked at Darnell with a grin. “Ah, I have to teach you yobs? No. I’ve got to go back to the dig where I was ordered by team leader to Sit and Stay. Lord D’nis will let me know what he wants to do with that slime ball, and he wants team leader and his yobs kept in one place until he does.”

“I’d give a week’s pay to hear what happens,” Danno said.

“That’s a lot of money,” Darnell said.

“Don’t worry, Danno, I’ll fill you all in over an ale in the hall after you’re done,” P’jar said.

“Done!”

Orlon grasped K’ndar’s hand and shook it. “Thank you, K’ndar. You can’t imagine how much work you’ve saved me and my lads.”

“It’s um, well, uh,”

“P’jar, sir, you tell those louts that they couldn’t find their arses with a map and a mirror. You tell them I bet two marks we’ll have this leak fixed by close of business TONIGHT,” Jorge said, so tickled he could barely keep from laughing.

“I’m in,” Orlon said. “Me too,” the others said.

Jorge came up to K’ndar and shook his hand. “I’m sorry I doubted you, K’ndar,” he said, “and you’re a good bloke to teach me I was wrong.”

“It’s okay. It IS a weird thing, but it works!”

“Would you, um, please show me how to do it?”

“I’ll teach all of you. It’s EASY, so easy even an engineer could do it!”

They all laughed.

“Don’t you DARE teach those louts this, P’jar,” Danno said, “I don’t bet often and I intend to win this one.”

“Nah,” the brown rider said, “They wouldn’t believe me even if I tried. And this, it’ll be a sucker bet. We’re the house, Danno. The house always has the advantage.”

“Yeah,” Darnell said.