Hesh’s sister refused to let them use her good cooking pot.
“You’re putting it in front of a thing that bends iron,” Lale said. “Use the cracked one.”
“The cracked one leaks,” Hesh replied.
“Then you’ll know when it stops being warm.”
Iven examined the rejected pot. A narrow split ran down one side near the handle. It would hold water below that point, more than enough for their purpose. He put it on the workbench.
“This one’s fine.”
Lale gave her brother a look of complete satisfaction and returned to the kitchen.
The pot would become a moving source of warmth and vibration, carried into an unused wash culvert beyond the thermal chamber. Hesh could open a stone sluice at its far end, sending cool water across the culvert after the lure passed. A heavy service gate would close behind it. The arrangement would not kill the animal. It might hold it long enough to inspect the far header and arrange a safer worksite.
