diymy Chapter 87 The Water Crisis Temporarily Resolved in the Cold Winter
Chapter 87 The Water Crisis Temporarily Resolved in the Cold Winter
"Isn't there a better way?"
Tom curled up by the fireplace, took a sip of hot coffee, and glanced at the cowboy Ennis and the cook Jonah.
The cold outside the window was biting, and the well was freezing deeper and deeper each day, with the ice layer at the bottom getting thicker and thicker.
Breaking ice with boiling water? Don't even think about it.
Fetching water from now on will likely be even more difficult.
Ennis and Jonah exchanged a glance, and silence filled the room.
Tom understood.
Fortunately, the well water we drew this time filled all the buckets in the house, which will last for a while.
But the livestock can't go without water!
"The snow has stopped," Ennis said, gazing at the faint light at the edge of the meadow outside the window. "Let's go to the river and break the ice to get water."
"Can it work?" Tom asked, his voice full of doubt.
Ennis shook his head: "Drawing too much well water is too risky. The only way to keep the livestock from dying of thirst is by relying on the river!"
Tom looked at Jonah, who nodded vigorously.
"Once the snow stops, we'll break the ice!" James declared decisively.
Tom suggested, "Let's all gather together. It'll save on firewood and coal, and we can help each other out if anything happens at night."
The persistently low temperatures cast a shadow over everyone's hearts; this awful weather might mean something terrible is about to happen.
The wind and snow seemed to be locked in a contest, with either howling winds or heavy snow blocking the doorway. The snow was knee-deep, making every step a struggle.
"The snow is so thick, we need to use sleds!" This snowfall has lasted so long that the accumulated snow is now hard enough to bear weight.
But how to transport the water from the river back is a problem.
Sleds are a good tool, and several left behind by the former rancher are still kept in the warehouse.
The sleds are made of hardwood, such as oak, cedar, and maple.
The main body consists of two upward-curving, arched sleds to reduce resistance, connected by a crossbeam in the middle, and covered with wooden planks to form a cargo platform.
It is about three meters long and one meter wide.
Taking advantage of the brief respite from the morning snow, Tom, Zack, Cooper, James, Ennis, and Jonah, along with their dog-drawn sleds, shovels, pickaxes, and iron shovels, headed straight for the riverbank.
As for this "dog"?
They were four grown-up wolf cubs.
Under Tom's "stick-and-carrot" domestication method, at least they don't dare to bite people anymore.
Pulling sleds became their only "job" in winter.
"Tom, who would believe that? A wolf cub pulling a sled!"
Jonah was panting heavily, his eyes fixed on the wolves.
Wildness still flows through their muscular bodies.
"If they dare to bite, send them on their way." James coldly swept his gaze across the wolf pack.
Perhaps it was the overwhelming smell of blood on him that made the male wolf "Wilderness" stare intently at him.
"Crack!" The whip lashed hard across "Wilderness's" body.
It let out a low growl, then swallowed it back and turned its head to the side.
But the fleeting hatred in his eyes did not escape Tom's notice.
Tom stroked its head and neck with his rough hands, his voice low: "Work hard, or... you'll go hungry again tonight."
They've certainly tasted the bitterness of hunger lately.
The other male wolf, "Hurricane," looked completely docile, gazing at Tom with fawning eyes, just like a domestic dog wagging its tail and begging for mercy.
The remaining two female wolves had already obediently settled down in the snow den.
Don't be fooled by this illusion!
Tom knew perfectly well that if he were ever seriously injured and unable to fight back, "Wilderness" would be the first to pounce on him and tear his throat open, "Hurricane" would be the second accomplice to finish him off, and those two seemingly docile mother wolves would show no mercy either.
Then why bother raising them?
Because Tom wanted a purebred wolfhound!
The water-fetching team from Dutton House engaged in battle on the glacier.
The iron shovel plunged down hard, vertically piercing through the ice layer and creating a guide hole.
Immediately afterwards, the pickaxe swung in a wide arc, using the guide hole as the apex, and cleaved down at a 45-degree angle, making a series of "crack" sounds, tearing a huge V-shaped gap in the ice.
That width is enough to fit two large buckets side by side!
The pickaxe applied force following the natural texture of the ice, resulting in astonishing efficiency.
The iron shovel was then inserted into the crack, and with everyone working together, they pried it off with a loud "bang," and the thick block of ice was removed.
To prevent the water inlet, which was earned through hard work and sacrifice, from freezing quickly, buckets of brine were poured in.
Everyone must remember their position; they must be upwind!
Ice shards are sharp as knives; if they get on your body for a long time after being blown by the wind, the risk of frostbite increases exponentially.
Tom's task is transportation.
He sat on the sled, shooing away the "dogs".
Buckets of precious river water were transported to the livestock sheds.
To prevent the water in the buckets from freezing on the way, each bucket was wrapped tightly in thick cowhide, and an additional layer was added on top of the lid.
Even so, when the sled arrived at its destination, the mouth of the barrel was still covered with white ice shards.
Tom and Simone didn't dare delay. Together, they poured the icy river water into the huge stone trough.
Buried beneath the stone trough is a clay flue, the other end of which connects to the fireplace in the livestock shed.
The temperature of the furnace slowly warmed the icy water in the tank into lukewarm water.
After each drinking session, the stone trough must be cleaned thoroughly!
The hardship of breaking through ice to obtain water has also made everyone re-evaluate the value of river water.
Tom pulled out his charcoal-gravel filter bucket and glanced at everyone: "This river water...is it safe for us to drink?"
"We'll rely on it for everything on the road!" Margaret said firmly.
"We're perfectly healthy!" Simone followed closely behind.
All eyes eventually fell on James.
"Give it a try!" James declared decisively.
The problem of frozen well water that had been bothering us for days seems to have been largely solved!
Every day, they brave the biting wind that could freeze a person's bones to fetch water and feed the cattle. God has been too stingy with the time they can catch their breath.
Sometimes, when Tom looked at the snow-covered mountains and fields, he couldn't help but wonder: could the livestock eat the snow directly to quench their thirst?
But he ruthlessly extinguished the thought as soon as it popped into his head.
If even one animal contracts that damned liver fluke from eating dirty snow, the eggs will contaminate the entire barn with the feces…
The consequences would be unimaginable!
A cow that gets sick will be as if its energy has been drained, and it will become thinner and thinner day by day, until it is just skin and bones.
By then, their source of meat, on which they depend for survival, will be completely cut off!
The pasture is temporarily maintaining a fragile balance in the frigid weather, with no new disasters occurring.
Tom would occasionally squeeze out some time during the day to take "Loach" and "Snow Woman" for a walk.
To his surprise, the two horses were in much better spirits than the domesticated horses in his own stable.
His dog, "Lightning," spends all day either dozing on the haystack or finding it too much trouble to even move.
"Could this be the muscle and bone structure of a wild horse?" Tom wondered to himself.
Just when Tom thought that Montana's long and cruel winter would pass quietly by day after day of chiseling ice to get water...
God gave him a "surprise," a chilling and potentially fatal one!
In the dead of night, Tom, who was fast asleep, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!
It was as if someone had stripped him naked and thrown him into a bottomless ice cave!
The cold wasn't a sensation on his skin, but rather like countless ice needles piercing his heart!
He suddenly woke up from a nightmare!