Chapter 21

~Erik~

If we didn't need the rain I would be cursing it in every dialect I knew. But throughout the day as I climbed the ladder to peer into the catch basin, the ever rising water was a mixed blessing even as its source made our tasks more difficult. At least today it was gentler.

Nadir's concern for those down at the pit bore into me. I remembered the deluge that nearly drowned us early on. After a day's worth yesterday and continuing into today I had to wonder if they could even safely be down there today.

That thought didn't last long as my project continued despite the foul weather. At least we were less likely to be harassed by patrolmen. With the still in place, every large component was ready to be connected into a single machine. Above us, Salvatore and Conall worked on building a framework for a roof over the final three-fourths of the distillery. The catch basin would remain exposed by design.

Using the rest of the metal cut from the damaged tank I began to roll sheets into pipes with the help of Oisin and Artyom. I folded over the edges and forced them together. Using the scrapped hides I wrapped the pipe to seal in the steam once I had the one mounted between the still and the cooling tank. Neither the feeder from the basin to the still nor the one from the cooling chamber to the barrel needed this extra sealing as I positioned those seam up to prevent leaking.

The last task was the most technical, and no one could assist me here. I sent Oisin and Artyom to fetch the tap Conti had offered us for the reservoir barrel. This left me on my own as I fitted the small pipe needed for the steam engine and made the final adjustments to every gear within it. My best guess had been off. Wet fingers slipped off the tools no matter what position I leaned over in.

What would have taken me less than an hour on my work desk took the remainder of the daylight. But as I stood up and gazed at the towering distillery now under a slat-board roof, checking every attachment and joint, I was confident it would work.

Shoulder to shoulder, we admired the fruit of our labor. This was hardly an architectural masterpiece. However, it was a utilitarian success cobbled together from scavenged materials. Very little of the previous building hadn't been used, leaving behind only a small pile of refuse. The wood we could burn. I intended to use this in a test. Until we fired up the oven I would not know whether the joints were sound or not.

Kazimir pulled up in his cart, he had gone to help at the pit once we had set the still. Tugging his hat back he whistled. "Is it done?"

"It is." Silhouetted against the darkening clouds of dusk it was a stunning piece of work.

"Heh, just last week you showed me the plans. Though I tried, I had never imagined the size. We won't have a lot of water to go around, but surely this will help."

"If the rain keeps up, that will not be an issue."

Kazimir rolled his eyes. "True. Speaking of which, if you're finished how about we get out of it."

Collecting our tools, we loaded them onto the cart and soon were jostling up the Bowery toward home.

Carried on the excitement of my success, or rather being on the cusp of it, I whisked into our apartment and grabbed my violin. Granted, I was still drenched, but the energy flowing through me would not wait another moment. I could hardly dash up to the rooftop in the rain. So I stood in the middle of the room and let the music fly. A cheery tune fit for dancing.

Nadir wandered out from the bedroom, in the process of buttoning his shirt. He blinked at my exuberance as I spun in circles in the confines of our room. His jaw hung loose. But he didn't manage a question before a knock on the door disrupted him. He opened it and Chastity peered around the corner, cocking an eyebrow at me.

This did nothing to curtail the swell of the music on the strings.

"What is going on?" She looked to Nadir when I did not answer.

"I … " he pointed toward my tool bag on the floor where I had dropped it, " … could it be that the distillery is finished?"

I threw my head back and laughed, the bow still sawing out the celebration. "Tomorrow the flame of our salvation will be kindled!"

Of course, that was the hard part. Waiting.

~Erik~

Damp wood is terribly difficult to ignite, and especially smokey once it does. The wood I had stacked in the oven yesterday evening sizzled and popped as the flames sputtered to life intermittently. Deep red, threatening to go back out again. It had been a battle all morning to keep it going, but I was not about to give up.

The clouds had broken overnight leaving us with a humid, sun beaten day. Despite the smoke, residents of the Bowery gathered around the distillery pressing into the shade as I prodded the contents of the oven trying to coax the flames back to life. We needed more heat to get the process going.

At last, a thicker beam sacrificed to the fire cracked open. The core caught with a crackle. Smoke rolled out of the arch as I backed away, coughing for my efforts. Well, I was the fool who had stuck my head in there to stir things up.

Now it was a waiting game.

"Mama?" A young boy tugged on a sleeve. "Where's the water?"

She picked the toddler up. "I don't know. But let's watch and see."

It would come. It had to come. Boiling that much water would take time and even knowing it would be well over an hour before we saw the fruits of our labor, did little to quell my impatience. At least I knew the feed pipe into the still wasn't leaking.

People shifted in the street, waiting, watching as the machine sat there, belching smoke from the chamber beneath.

A hiss emerged. I stepped closer, cocking my head. The pitch gradually changed until a soft bang started a cycle like a starting locomotive in miniature. I lifted the metal flap covering the steam engine and glimpsed the piston's rod shifting in a building cycle. The gears turned and a slow current of water flowed in the bottom of the primed engine. The pump was actually working, trickling a steady flow of water over the terracotta.

Stoking the fire, I kept the heat building.

Another hour passed, I touched the cooling chamber with its hidden terracotta pipes. I knew before contact it was functioning, condensation built on the outside. Each step was working, surely inside it was too.

Rapping my knuckle against the cooling tank, I listened. The sound at the full stretch of my arm was hollow. A fraction down, the same. I struck again lower. This time the tone was muted. I backed away, grinning my fool head off. The damn thing truly was working.

Racing to the reservoir barrel my hand shook as I grabbed the tap. I hesitated to turn it. But until I did, all of this was still a guess. If the cooling tank had enough to start holding, the barrel should have something in it, unless we were breaking the law of gravity. To my knowledge, the only laws we had broken pertained to property.

Closing my eyes, I turned the tap.

A trickling splash stuck the small metal basin we had placed below the tap. I opened my eyes. The sun's rays glistened through a stream of crystal clear water.

Cupping my hand I caught some and turned off the tap before wasting more. I drank it up. Cool and fresh. As clean as the water from my own private device.

I threw my hands in the air. "It works!"

Of course, I may have been a touch impatient.

Suddenly I found myself pushed back in a rush to get to the barrel. "Stop!" I put everything I had into the word as the crowd forced toward it. "Please, everyone calm down!" Desperate eyes gazed at me as I blocked their salvation.

I took a few deep breaths and then translated into the various common Bowery tongues, "It is working, but it needs more time to fill up. If everyone rushes forward it will drain it. Rationing will be critical."

The elders stepped forward and started to organize the eager residents into a line. The excitement was indeed understandable, but what good would this do us if someone broke it in a rush. One at a time the elder's opened the tap and let them take a small drink. This much for now. More would come later, once the machine had caught up.

Nadir came to my side, his eyes wide with surprise. "No wonder this took so long. This is many times larger than the device in our apartment."

I laughed. "Indeed. But until I set it in motion I was not entirely certain it would work on this scale. I am glad my doubts proved unwarranted."

He gestured toward the ever growing line. "I'm certain they are too. Now they are saved."

"If only that were true." I glanced his way. "While we celebrate this little victory, let us not forget the war. Just because we have clean water does not mean this is suddenly over. The disease is still in our ward. It will not simply vanish overnight. Throughout the coming week there will still be the dead to bury."

"How long?"

I shrugged a shoulder. "However long it takes to run its course." We had endured two full weeks of constant loss, that time frame did not count the deaths of the Sheehans, the first to succumb on the days before the crippling onset.

A child leaned under the tap catching the clear trickle in her open mouth. She swallowed a few gulps before drawing back to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. She grinned. "It's good."

"All we have to do is keep this going. As long as we get intermittent rain, we will have fresh water."

Nadir chuckled. "Another miracle from your hands. Soon I shall have to call you the angel of mercy."

I rolled my eyes. "Truly we are not going back to such a juvenile game. No. I did not do this for the sake of some reckless ploy to elicit attention. I did this because no one else would."

"Be serious. No one else could."

"Those with the resources were more than capable. They simply choose to let greed champion them."

Nadir glanced down at my side. "You're flexing a fist. And I am not certain I like the tone creeping into your voice."

"Stop being a pest." I forced the fist to release. "I have had my mind on this project since its conception."

He eyed me suspiciously. "And nothing else?"

I huffed a breath, crossing my arms. "Maybe a fleeting thought or two. But acting on that would have delayed the project. I had my priorities."

Shaking his head he laughed. "Don't tell me, I don't want to know. I am confident, looking at this machine, that you are telling me the truth. You would have had no time for such foolish pranks."

"Thank you for the confidence." I muttered. "Now, it is time to add more fuel to the fire."

By mid afternoon we had gone through nearly all of the refuse wood. Each new damp piece released smoke engulfing the still. But the heat it supplied was worth it. The barrel at the other end was now supplying more than just a drink. Word had traveled and people brought small buckets to fill from our reservoir. The elders watched the line ensuring that no one was taking too much from the limited supply.

Daniel walked up to me, savoring sips from the mug in his hands. He grinned with dirt smudged cheeks. "I don't think I've ever had water this fresh."

I ruffled his hair. "Thanks to you we have it."

"Me?"

I crouched down. "Of course. Do not belittle your contribution, young man."

"I only found stuff, and kept watch."

"Supplies I could not have built this without. And your eyes helped keep us safe from detection. Lesser men turn away from duty in the grips of such a challenge. But you stayed the course. This success belongs to all of us."

His eyes brimmed with tears.

The clatter of horse hooves on cobblestones stole my attention. I rose up and gazed down Canal street. The sound headed our way. More than one horse. And they were coming fast. I held my breath. Perhaps the fire cart thinking something was burning? That would be the only emergency that would send any sort of response. Fires spread fast from building to building in the overcrowded wards.

The crowd on the street parted in an alarmed wave as a group of mounted men charged down the street. Men dressed in finery as they urged their horses forward, flanked by officers dressed in blue with brass buttons shining in the sunlight.

I did not move one step.

The lead horse came to a clattering stop as the man mounted on the gelding's back reined it back roughly, a veiled threat to run me over. I stared up into the disgusted scowl from a man I knew all too well.

Atherton Wellspring narrowed his eyes. First at the distillery. Then … at me.