From acorn to sapling 10/13

The next morning, Dave phoned his office, to say he was feeling unwell and would have to take the day off. First of all Jennifer Jane took him to Arthur’s castle in the alternate world, so that he could have a word with Fundin. Then with the dwarf crouching down on the scooter’s platform, the three of them flew over to look at the dam.

Dave and Fundin were able to walk along the dam wall without any problem. Jennifer Jane made sure she stayed on solid ground, while they had a good look at the way the dam had been made and discussed ways of trying to make it safe for the villagers.

“We’ve come to a conclusion,” said Fundin rather importantly, “the villagers are already using hoses to siphon off the water as they require it for their agricultural purposes. All that needs to be done, is to make much larger diameter hoses and lower the level by draining the excess back into the river. It’s a fairly simple job, it’s just a question of making sure there are sufficient hoses to do the job.”

It was two days before Fundin completed the large tubes and was ready to try out the idea. During this time the water level had risen another ten feet. Jennifer Jane and Erm flew the tubes one at a time to the lake behind the dam.

Fundin and one of his helpers, laid the tubes in position, blocked the lower ends and then filled them with water. When this was done, Jennifer Jane flew them down to the river level, where they checked that the tube ends were correctly in place to let the water out into the old riverbed.

“That should do it!” said Fundin with a sigh of relief, “now all we have to do is remove the plugs and let the water out.”

“I think I can help there,” said Jennifer Jane, “I can open the ends using magic that should save a lot of trouble and keep you out of the way of the water at the same time.”

She didn’t bother with any of the flourishes that were supposed to accompany magic performed in public. She just thought hard about the stoppers in the ends of the tubes and pulled them out using her T.K. powers.

Each of the six tubes Fundin had made was a foot in diameter and the water was soon pouring down the old riverbed in a very satisfactory manner.

“We’ll leave it for a couple of days and then come back to see how much the water level has dropped,” said Fundin.

Jennifer Jane could hardly wait, but at last the two days were up and she took Fundin to the top of the dam to see how much the water had dropped. He looked rather puzzled and checked a notebook he took from his pocket.

“Well the tubes are working alright,” he said, “but if my measurements are correct, the water level has stayed the same. We seem to be taking out, about the same amount as is flowing into the lake! There isn’t really room to put in any more tubes, I think I’ll have to go and think of some other way to get rid of more water.”

“Wait a moment,” said Jennifer Jane, “where is all the water coming from?”