บททั้งหมดของ This Time I Keep the Keys : บทที่ 141 - บทที่ 150

Disaster day forty-six July 18Dee answered on the seventh ring.“Tell me where it's stopped.”Nessa looked at the silent tap, then made herself use Hale's report. The break was at the exposed building feed beside the uphill inlet. The responsible staff had isolated it. Water remained upstream in the existing header supply, but it wasn't reaching the washing points.“Send the location with the photograph,” Dee said. “I'll finish here, then call about the approach. Don't take anything apart for me.”Nessa gave the phone to Nell to discuss the visit and payment. Relief came before an agreement, and she was careful to recognize the difference.Behind her, Ada stood holding the marked cup.“Can I use the water in the bucket?”“Leave it with the others. We'll ask which water is for washing.”Ada set it down without complaint. That small cooperation made Nessa want to promise her something she couldn't yet provide.She put a hand on the girl's shoulder instead.The check of stored water beg

Disaster day forty-six July 18Gideon was ready before Rory came to the door.His papers were in his own bag. He had arranged the receiving time for his hand review and checked the journey with Rory. The crew vehicle stood outside with its necessary equipment and two proper travelling places in use.Nessa wanted to go with him.The thought arrived so simply that she almost picked up her coat. Then she looked at the pipe references on the table and the phone waiting for Bram's stock confirmation.Gideon followed her glance.“I'll tell you when we're coming back.”“I'd like that.”She didn't ask for the clinical conversation to be relayed through Rory. If Gideon wanted to share it, he would.At the doorway he touched her fingers, briefly and with his sound hand. Then he went out to the appointment he'd arranged for himself.Rory sent an actual arrival message later. Nessa read it, copied the contact time and started to type another question before noticing that he had already answered i

Disaster day forty-six July 18The fourth reserve carton was still sealed on Nessa's private shelf.She'd brought it out of the Stillroom four days ago. Since then it had been one of the solid, ordinary things she could look at without concentrating. Opening it now felt more expensive than its contents should have allowed.Tamsin held the issue page while Nessa lifted the lid.They checked what was actually inside. Four sound sealed meal packets were selected for Bram. The remaining contents stayed in the opened carton, on the same private shelf. Nessa marked the four portions issued and put them in a separate exchange bag.One label carried the name of a meal Ada liked. Nessa set it beside three matching packets, then stopped. She was choosing from food she'd bought for people she wanted to keep comfortable, and comfort kept becoming a price.Tamsin asked whether she wanted to choose a different packet from the actual stock.Nessa did. She checked the substitute's condition and made

Disaster day forty-six July 18The familiar turn was closed when they reached it.Nessa stopped before the barrier, where a worker could see her from the roadside shelter. Tamsin put down the old map without being asked.“The report was for the other entrance,” she said.“I know. I wanted to see the sign before I committed to that turn.”The worker came over and confirmed the changed approach. Their van could return to the marked junction and use the present upper entrance after the waiting vehicle had cleared it. He described the turn from where they actually stood.Nessa repeated it back.Tamsin made no suggestion about the closed lane. She watched the passenger side while Nessa used the permitted turning space, speaking only when she was asked about what she could see.It made the maneuver easier.At the next stop, Tamsin admitted she had wanted the old lane to be open.“It would have made the day shorter.”“I wanted that too.”“And I wanted to get back before Owen asked whether we

Disaster day forty-seven July 19Owen was waiting beside the van when Nessa brought out her journey bag.He had his own records, personal supplies and the food and drink he'd chosen for the appointment. She asked where he wanted the bags within the agreed passenger space and waited while he checked the arrangement himself.The two hardware boxes remained secured in cargo, separate from his things. They still belonged to Bram's delivery. Their twelve kilograms hadn't become something Nessa could trade for another favor.She filled her own separate one-liter travel bottle from general potable stock and recorded the withdrawal there. It didn't come out of the eighteen-liter contingency left at Alder.They checked the receiving time and the current route before departure.Leila had already left on Bracken's confirmed staff transport, in the proper seat arranged for her. Ada stayed with Tamsin under yesterday's agreement. Iona was taking the crew vehicle to her own customer job; Rory and G