So did Warren.
The soft spots were concentrated around one point.
Eli compared the stakes to the old soil survey.
They matched.
Warren stood near the cedar post one evening and closed his eyes.
“The old kitchen would have been there.”
He pointed.
“Back porch around there.”
Then toward the pond.
“And the well, yes. Right about there.”
Marcus exhaled.
“You’re sure?”
“No.”
Warren opened his eyes.
“But I’m surer than I was.”
Eli proposed the rope test on Friday.
He had found an old grappling hook hanging in the tack shed.
Three blunt iron hooks welded around a central shaft.
Rusty but solid.
Warren inspected it.
“Used that to pull fence wire out of the creek once.”
“Can I use it?”
“For what?”
“Drag the pond bottom.”
Marcus immediately said no.
Eli explained.
No swimming.