“They’re screening tools.”
“I know.”
“Say it.”
“They’re screening tools.”
“Good.”
Earl almost smiled.
Dana knelt near the newest pile.
“Any odor?”
Luke shrugged.
“Metallic?”
“Maybe.”
She looked toward drainage ditch.
“Where does this go?”
Earl pointed.
“East culvert.”
“Then?”
“Pine Run.”
Dana stood.
“Any fish kills?”
“No.”
“Livestock access?”
“Fence keeps them out.”
“Good.”
“Wells?”
“House well is uphill.”
“Good.”
“Neighbor?”
Luke pointed.
“Millers about half mile east.”
Dana nodded.
“We need representative sampling.”
“Multiple depths.”
“Multiple ages.”
“Chain of custody.”
“Accredited lab.”
Earl frowned.
“Cost?”
“Depends.”
“Give me ugly number.”
“Couple thousand if we do it properly.”
Earl winced.
Luke said:
“I’ll pay.”
His grandfather looked at him.
“With what?”
Luke had saved almost three thousand dollars from summer equipment work.
Money intended for tuition.
“School fund.”
“No.”
“Grandpa.”
“No.”
Dana stepped away.
Not her argument.
Luke said:
“If this is clean, I lose two thousand.”
“If it isn't, we lose a farm.”
Earl stared.
Luke continued:
“Let me.”
The old man’s eyes moved toward the piles.
Then back.
“All right.”
They sampled for four hours.
Dana used a grid.
Older piles.
Middle-age piles.
Newest material.
Surface.
Interior.
Fine fraction.
Large fragments.
She wore gloves and changed them between locations.
Luke labeled every container.
Time.
Coordinates.
Sample number.
Earl followed with a notebook.
At one point Dana looked toward him.
“You're writing everything?”
Earl nodded.
“Habit.”
She smiled.
“Good habit.”
They also collected soil beneath an older pile edge.
Sediment from drainage ditch.
Water from Pine Run upstream and downstream.
House well.
One sample went into a cooler.
Another remained sealed as duplicate.
At the end Dana taped the cooler shut and signed across the seal.
Luke asked:
“How long?”
“Rush analysis?”
“Yes.”
“Three days.”
“Normal?”
“Seven to ten.”
Earl looked toward Luke.
“Normal.”
Luke said:
“Rush.”
“Luke.”
“I’m paying.”
Dana watched them.
“Rush could be four hundred extra.”
Luke swallowed.
“Rush.”
The cooler left with Dana.
Then waiting began.
Waiting was harder than work.
Luke fed cattle.
Fixed a hydraulic fitting.