She didn’t make any explanations about her presence, just got the men to work on the spot Padrick had chosen, and only when they were chipping away at hard-packed earth as tough as pure stone did she turn her attention to Master Vance.

“I brought Steen,” she said, “In case he can do something.”

“I don’t know what you think I can do,” the sorcerer replied, frowning. “I’m not going to be able to heal that breech—”

“Wait,” Abi interrupted. “Can you freeze the water in it?”

Steen looked at her as if he had never seen her before. “Actually,” he said, slowly, “I think I can!”

And without waiting for anyone to say something, he scrambled down the slope to the seep, stood a little to one side of it, and began gesturing. He took longer this time than the last two times Abi had seen him work, but eventually there came a flash of white light from his hands that made her flinch and look away. When she could see again, Steen was bent over, hands on his knees, clearly unable to speak. She slipped and slid her way down the slope herself to see what he had done.

Up close, Steen was a pasty white, beads of sweat standing on his forehead, and panting. But he wore a smile of triumph, and no wonder—the seepage of water had stopped, and all the grass around the area where the seepage was lay covered with a thick rime of frost.

“He did it!” she called upslope, and was rewarded by a “Well done!” from Master Vance.

“How long will that last?” she asked the sorcerer.

“Don’t know,” he confessed. “But ice stored underground can last most of the summer. Should hold long enough to get the water down.” His head sagged with exhaustion for a moment, then rose again. “I’ll stay here till that happens, regardless. I can probably do the trick once or twice a day if I have to.”

“You’re a good man, Sorcerer Steen,” she told him, warmly.

He waved off her praise. “I live here too,” he reminded her. “Besides, you’re the one who thought of it.”

“You’re going to be a hero,” she pointed out. “People here won’t care who thought of the idea, they’ll care about the man who made it happen.”

Still bent over his knees, he managed a shy smile. “I’d like being a hero.”

Then he looked up at the men trying to chip away the corner of the dam. “I think I can help up there, too,” he said, and he shoved himself erect again. Abi was dubious, but she helped him climb the slope anyway. He studied the situation and made a couple of complex gestures, then sat down again. “Work on the water side, gentlemen,” he suggested. “I’ve done something to pull some moisture into the earth to soften it up a bit.”