Read Pickers 1: The Find for Free Online Page B

Something, I forget what, which was what killed Mama. Papa thought there were supplies out here that would have made caring for the ill better, maybe saved a few of them. Uncle Julien, and lots of the others, wanted to keep the road in and out blocked, thinking it made them safer."
    Veronique was quiet for a while. "I can't believe we're going back. For a moment, when I found out where it was, I thought about not telling Papa where the seed bank is."
    "You don't want to go back?"
    "Of course I do. I just don't know if Papa would be welcome there. The way he was talking about it, it seems like he thinks we'll just roll up after a decade away and they'll be happy to see us. Maybe if we had done what he had suggested, and returned every so often with the stuff we found, maybe then it would be okay."
    "We will be taking them quite a prize." Tony offered.
    "Maybe it would be big enough."
    "If it does work, and they do welcome us in, perhaps we could stop moving for a while. Settle down.... Start a family."
    Veronique rested her head on Tony's shoulder. "Darling, we've been having sex for five years. A lot. If I haven't got pregnant yet.... Maybe I never will."
    Tony's expression suggested he hadn't though of that. "We shouldn't stop trying though, should we." Theatrically, he looked down at his crotch, and Veronique followed his gaze.
    "No, we shouldn't stop."
    After they had made love again, bathed and dressed, they had to race the setting sun to cut the tree trunk up before it got dark. They hacked at the trunk several feet apart, until there were two V-shaped notches deep enough that the water flowed through it. Each blow now raised water but didn't seem to remove any more wood. There wasn't that much left holding the parts of the trunk together, so they started kicking it, pushing it against the water and letting the pressure bend it back. Soon enough, they had to skip back as the tree gave way and the flow of water became a cascade. The trough below the rock filled in seconds and sent a smaller wash down the culvert.
    Wet halfway up to their knees from the wall of water they had released, Tony and Veronique watched its progress down the hill as far as they could see. It kept disappearing under grass, and didn't have as much sunshine to reflect as if they had done this earlier. "Max can make sure it's flowing properly in the morning. Let's get back." Veronique handed her axe to Tony and led the way down the hill.

* * *
    Maxine heard the gurgle and clatter of the approaching water early enough to walk from the courtyard to the trough before the first sloosh rushed into it. The flow was full of stones and twigs, brown from the dried mud it had lifted as it made its way down the hill. The trough filled with a messy soup quickly, but as it overflowed the scum of wood and grass washed out with it.
    There would be clean water flowing down by the morning, and they could refill the wagons' water tanks before they moved on. She stirred the water with a spade, splashing it out and taking some of the silt with it. She couldn't help but help it clean out, even if it would sort itself out if she left it alone. The water flowing in kept up with her efforts, so she gave up soon enough and went back to the wagons.
    Remy was sat in the captain's chair atop wagon one, looking out at the road that ran up to the farm buildings. Maxine clambered up the narrow ladder at the rear of the wagon with the ease of years of practise and walked along the perforated metal plates that ran up its spine between the solar panels. Resting her crossed arms on top of the chair, she asked, "Would you like me to take over watch?"
    "Not yet. But stay up here with me a while."
    From the top of the big boxy body of the wagon, Maxine could see over the remaining walls of the farm buildings. She did a full circle scan of the landscape, and spotted Tony and Veronique coming down the hill, casting long shadows as the sun set. "Are you looking forward to going home?" her