If Cici couldn't get the water turned on, how was she going to live at the cabin? She'd bought a few bottles of water, but that wouldn't last more than a day. She thought finding the water main valve would be easy. After all, she'd done it before at the trailer park where Dad lived. However, she stared at the jumble of pipes and some kind of apparatus attached to it, and nothing she saw even looked like any water main valve she'd ever seen.

"Hey, Cici!" A voice called from behind her, and it just about made her jump out of her skin. It was Em from the Town Pump, who plopped down on the concrete ledge next to her and peered under the grate. "What 'cha up to?"

"Oh, Em! Gee! You scared the crap out of me."

"Good, you found it. Dillan asked me to make sure you got the water running." Em reached in and turned the spigot.

"I already tried it. Nothing's coming out," Cici sighed. She appreciated Em coming over to help her, and was even more surprised that Dillan was the one who told her about Cici's living situation. What else had he told her?

Em wiped her hand on her sleeve, and stood up from the ledge. "Did you turn on the breaker?"

"What breaker?" Cici wondered what the electrical system had to do with the water system.

Em pointed to the top of the mysterious box-like apparatus. "My stepdad always wrote stuff on everything to remind himself what to do. See?"

Closer examination of the machinery revealed a faded note scrawled in black marker on the top of the case: "Turn on breaker."

Cici laughed out loud. "It's a well! Man, I didn't even think of that. So I need to check the breaker for the pump. That's what you meant, right? 'Cause, no, I haven't checked that yet."

"Let's go have a look inside."

Em followed Cici around to the front porch, where Cici paused before opening the door. She turned and apologized to Em. "It's a mess inside. I didn't expect guests." And was relieved when Em only laughed.

The cabin was so small, it didn't take long to find the breaker box located next to the fridge in the kitchen.

"It's a good thing that tree branch didn't fall on this side of the kitchen, else I'd probably be out electricity too," Cici commented as she flipped the breaker labeled "Pump."

"Well, it'll take a while for the water pressure to build up enough to test the faucets," Em informed her. "So while we wait, I was going to suggest we have a drink to celebrate, but... I see you already did." Em pointed at all the empty wine bottles Cici had left in the sink.

(to be continued)