Chapter One Hundred and Nine: Whatever Can Go Wrong

“I just found another leak in that hose,” Dandelion said.  “Whose idea was it to get our water this way anyhow?

“Yours, as I recall,” Lois said.

“I was afraid you’d remember that,” Dandelion said.

Lois looked up from the leak she was working on.  “I’m not sure I can think of any way to have hoses this long running for this long without there being leakage along the way.  I am sure that I couldn’t think of any better way for us to get water this while the water company is working on the pipes.”

“It was supposed to only last a week,” Sowbug said.

“Then they found additional problems,” said Earthworm.

“Hey, folks!” Dan yelled from down the field.  “I’m glad I found you.”

“Now, what?” Sorrel yelled back at him from further down the hose.

“Come in, come in!” Dan yelled and waited until they had all gathered around him.  “I’m afraid there’s going to be another delay.”

“Again?”  Mo asked.

“Oh, yes,” Dan said.  “The water company guys found an auxiliary line that they wanted to investigate and when they dug it up they hit a phone cable that they didn’t know was there.  The phone company is on it’s way but they say that this is one of their major cables for the region.  They estimate that it will be another week before the water company will be able to get back to the pipes--and then they’re going to need some time to get everything back on schedule.”

“Oh, great,” Sowbug said.  “At this rate it will be November before we get our water back.”

                                                                   *

Meanwhile, the kitchen crew were having problems of their own.

“Oh, no!”  Nancy cried.  “This is the third batch of blackberry sage bread that I’ve burned this week.”  She looked like she was about to cry.

“Go easy, dear,” Zelda said.  “It’s not  your fault.  You know that oven is off.”

“But I hate throwing good food away,”  Nancy said.

“It’s okay,” Candy said.  “We’ll get the ovens fixed and we’re not losing that much stuff.”

“What’s that smoky smell?”  Paul G asked, coming into the kitchen.

“Oh, fudge!” shrieked Darren.  “I just burnt a whole batch of biscuits!”

“Can we help you with something?”  Zelda asked Paul G.

“Yeah,”  Paul G said.  “I’m looking for someone in the construction/maintenance crew.  One of the flooring supports just broke.”

“Oh dear,” Nancy said.  “Was anyone hurt?”

“No,” Paul G said.  “But now there’s a big hole in the middle of the produce stand.”

“It looks like I’m going to need to get in line,” said Sal, standing behind Paul G.  “The ceiling of the seed office is cracking and there’s plaster falling down on us.”