Sect Year 1 · eighth month · day 10 · the Azure Stream spring
Pei came up the spring path at the middle bell with the kitchen’s water jug on her hip. Lin saw her from the grave. She walked the stony track as she walked everything. She looked at each step before she trusted it with her weight, and a small book hung from a cord at her wrist, knocking against the jug’s handle at every stride.
“The kitchen fetches its water from the lower water tank,” said Su, who had come up behind him with the record under her arm. “Not from here.”
“I know where the kitchen fetches its water.” Pei set the jug down in the grass. It was full to the lip, and she hadn’t spilled a drop on the climb. “Liu Mai says the spring is for the Elders’ jugs and the stone is for nobody. So I’ve brought the water up, and I’ll take it back down, and that’s the same as asking.”
Su’s eyes went to the small book on its cord. “May I see what you’ve written?”
“No.”
“Only the count.”
“It’s mine,” said Pei, and she put her wrist behind her back as if the book might be taken from it. “You can ask again when it’s finished. I’ll still say no.”
