Then researched.
Then tested.
At every point, he might have been wrong.
That was what made the discovery matter.
It had not been intuition replacing evidence.
It had been intuition asking for evidence.
Warren understood that best.
One evening, late in October almost exactly a year after the pump came out, grandfather and grandson sat beside the pond.
The air smelled of dry grass and wood smoke.
Marcus was driving the tractor toward the barn in the distance.
Warren watched him.
“Your father listens differently now.”
Eli smiled.
“Sometimes.”
“He always listened.”
“No, he didn’t.”
Warren chuckled.
“Fair.”
They sat quietly.
Then Warren said, “Most people think land stays still.”
Eli looked at him.
“It doesn’t.”
“No.”
“Water moves. Soil settles. Trees fall.”
“Families too.”
Eli waited.