The next morning came early. Jane woke while the sky was still dark, dressed in her work clothes, and met her aunt at the docks before the rest of the town had begun to stir.

  The outer parts of the containment circle were finished. What remained was delicate work that would take almost as long, despite being much less deeply etched. Yesterday’s work had hurt her hands, but Jane suspected today’s work would hurt her brain and eyes more.

  Without a word, Cecelia handed Jane a thin etching tool, and they both knelt on the worn stone to begin. Jane focused on the lines she was carving, creating shallow cuts that would channel magic in the specific patterns her aunt had designed. There was no room for mistakes, but neither she nor her aunt seemed to be making any. The work went quickly as the world slowly brightened around them.

  They'd been at it for maybe an hour when footsteps approached. Jane glanced up to see Bella coming down the dock, carrying a basket that steamed in the morning air.

  "Thought you two might be hungry," Bella said, setting the basket down. The smell of fresh bread and eggs hit Jane's nose. Her stomach loudly reminded her that she hadn’t eaten anything since the sandwich at Allen’s workshop the day before.

  "Thank you." Jane sat back cross-legged on the ground and gave her friend a grateful smile. “I need this.”

  Cecelia rose more stiffly, one hand on her lower back. "You're a lifesaver, Bella. I was just starting to feel it was time for a break, and here you are."

  They ate quickly while the food was still warm. Bella sat with them and chatted, carrying most of the conversation herself as she filled them in on the town’s gossip. This didn’t take long, as all gossip mostly pertained to them and their project.

  "Are you staying to watch?" Jane asked when they were finished.

  Bella shook her head. "I don't think this is the kind of work that's good to watch. If anything, I’d mess you up. I’ll be here to cheer you on tomorrow, though."

  Jane understood. This wasn't entertainment. This was the kind of work where one mistake could mean she got hurt. Bella wouldn’t want to be the cause of that mistake.

  "Thank you for the food, anyway." Cecelia said. “Now it’s back to work.”

  Bella nodded, picked up her basket, and headed off towards her stand. Jane watched her go, then returned to the circle.

  The sun rose properly while they worked. Jane felt sweat starting to build under her shirt, felt the grit of stone dust on her hands and face. But the work was going well, which made it easy to persist.

  By the time Allen arrived, Jane was filthy, exhausted, and so deeply focused that she almost didn’t notice him. He was only a few steps away when the sound of his boots on the dock made her look up, blinking to clear her vision.

  He greeted her with a smile. “Morning.”

  "Morning." She felt her back pop as she straightened. "We finished the main circle yesterday, which is most of the work. Now it's just the inner parts. Everything's going well. We should be done before noon."

  "That's good. I'd love to watch, but I've got plenty of work to do myself." He paused. "Will setting up the winch hurt the circle? I want to make sure I'm not causing you any problems."

  Jane stood, brushed stone dust off her pants, and walked to the edge of the dock. She pointed to a space between two sections of the docking area, well clear of where she and her aunt were working.

  "There," she said. "If you can put it there, it won't affect us at all."

  "Perfect." Allen hesitated. “It’s going to be loud. Apologies in advance.”

  Jane glanced at her aunt, who was so absorbed that she hadn’t even acknowledged Allen’s presence.

  “We’ll be fine,” Jane assured him. “Do what you have to do.”

  She returned to her work. Within minutes, the sound of drilling started up. It was far louder than she had expected. Allen and three other men were boring holes through the stone itself, driving a type of drill with sledgehammers and muscle.

  Jane gritted her teeth and kept etching. The noise was annoying, but it wasn't going to stop her.

  Cecelia didn't even look up. Her focus was absolute. Jane resolved to try to build the same kind of control over her attention, if she could.

  The drilling stopped eventually, replaced by the sound of metal scraping against stone. Jane caught glimpses of Allen's work whenever she straightened to rest her back. The process was clamorous and intense, nothing like the quiet precision of circle-making. She could tell he was still being precise, but she almost envied the freedom of the hammers as compared to her etching tools.

  Around midmorning, a different sound approached. Jane looked up to see four men hauling what looked like a massive wheelbarrow down toward the docks. The winch itself sat on it, larger than she remembered from seeing it under the bridge. The men were straining, all four of them leaning into the work of keeping it balanced and moving.

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  They positioned it carefully where Allen directed. He worked quickly then, attaching long metal spikes to the frame, then driving them through the stone with a heavy maul. Each strike of the hammer rang out across the water.

  When he was done, all four men tried to rock the winch back and forth. They put their full strength into it, straining against the metal and trying their best to find a fault in the mounting.

  It didn't budge. If Jane understood Allen’s strategy properly, it was probably affixed several times more securely than it needed to be. She would take the extra safety without complaint, though.

  Once again, Jane went back to her etching. The end was almost in sight, but the work went much more slowly now. The inner patterns were more complex and required even more care. Jane kept pausing to check each line against her aunt's diagrams and make sure everything aligned.

  By noon, at last, she was done.

  Her aunt had finished her section only moments before. Now Cecelia inspected the work with the same critical eye she had used when teaching Jane the basics of magic back in the capital. She walked the entire perimeter, knelt to examine specific intersections, and gave it the most thorough review she could.

  Finally, she looked up at Jane and nodded. “It’s fine.”

  Jane felt the tension drain out of her shoulders. "So we're ready."

  "For tomorrow, yes." Cecelia looked at her seriously. "Today, you and Allen need to rest. Light activity only. Tomorrow, we can't afford mistakes."

  Allen approached, wiping oil off his hands.

  "The winch is ready," he said. "Tested all the mechanisms. Everything works."

  "Good." Cecelia raised her voice slightly. "Everyone involved in tomorrow's work, gather here."

  It took a few minutes for people to assemble. First came two of the dock workers who would be operating the winch under Allen's direction. Then the containment crew arrived, five men who would be responsible for getting the raised barrels into new, clean containers. They looked nervous. Jane didn't blame them.

  But it was a capable-looking bunch, overall. This was good. Once the operation was underway, Jane and Cecelia would have no attention to spare for non-magical work.

  Cecelia addressed them all. "Tomorrow morning, at first light, we begin. Everyone will be here. Rested, sober, focused. Understood?"

  There were nods and a few murmured confirmations. Nobody went against an archmage, and Cecelia was the archmage. They would be there.

  "Good. Go home and rest. We'll see you at dawn."

  The group dispersed. Jane watched them go, trying not to think about everything that could go wrong. The confidence she had felt the night before seemed to be leaking with every hour that brought them closer to the salvage mission.

  "You ready to go?" Allen asked quietly.

  Tearing her eyes away from the departing group with an effort, Jane turned to him and nodded. "Yes."

  Without discussing a destination, they headed for Jane’s house. Once inside, she immediately opened her coldbox and started pulling out food. It was a relief to be working in the kitchen again. Moving with grateful ease, she assembled a meal that was simple but substantial.

  "That's a lot of food," Allen observed. “You emptied that coldbox.”

  "I'm hungry," Jane said. This was true, but she also realized she had made enough for three people without thinking about it. Shrugging, she started gathering the various dishes for transport. “So are you, I bet. Let’s go eat.”

  They carried everything out to the small strip of grass behind her house. Jane spread out a blanket, and they sat down to eat, gazing out over the lake.

  The food was disappearing steadily when Bella showed up, walking down the slope with her hands in her pockets. Jane found she was not at all surprised by her friend’s appearance. She was just happy.

  That’s why I made all this food. Something in me knew she was coming. Is that how it works with good friends?

  "Thought I might find you here," Bella said.

  "Help yourself." Jane gestured at the spread. “There’s plenty.”

  Bella sat down on Jane's other side, completing the arrangement. Jane had a moment of realization that she was sitting between her best friend and her boyfriend. She had never expected to have either one, let alone both, but it was finally starting to feel normal to her.

  "It's warm," she said eventually. “I didn’t need my coat at all today.”

  "Yes," Bella agreed. "The seasons have changed. It happens fast in the mountains. Should be warm most of the time now until autumn hits, ignoring a few storms I’m sure we’ll get. Then it gets nasty again after that."

  Jane finished eating and set her plate aside. For a while, she played with words in her head, assembling something that wasn’t quite a poem but she hoped would have a similar effect.The words had been building in her chest all afternoon, and now seemed like the right time to let them out.

  "I'm thankful for you both," she said.

  Bella and Allen stayed quiet, listening to her every word.

  "I never thought I'd have real friends. It’s still hard to believe moments like this are even possible. But because of you, I’m starting to believe it. I just wanted to say thank you for that."

  "We've gotten more out of it than you have," Bella said softly, leaning her head on Jane’s shoulder.

  "Definitely." Allen wrapped his arm around her waist. “We absolutely came out the winners on this deal, Jane.”

  Jane didn't disagree out loud. Arguing would just make the moment awkward instead of beautiful. But privately, sitting there between two amazing people who had somehow decided she was worth their time, she felt convinced that she was the real winner.

  —

  The next morning, Jane arrived at a dock that was already packed with folks. Bella was there, cooking on a portable, charcoal-driven oven. Cecelia was directing people to their posts as soon as they picked up their breakfasts, giving them instructions and then leaving them to wait until the action started.

  “Hello, dear.” Cecelia gave Jane a light hug and nodded towards the lake. “Are you ready to go exploring?”

  “I suppose. I think you know what I’m about to do isn’t fun. How far do I have to go?”

  “As far as it takes. Allen, is the winch ready? And if so, what’s the plan?”

  Allen was already covered in grease as Cecelia waved him over, apparently having been over every joint of the machine again to make sure everything was all right.

  “Well, it’s like this. We have ten loops of wire, but they’ll get pretty heavy the further Jane gets into the lake. Luckily, she’ll be moving downhill. That means we can attach it to one of these hand-carts, and she can let the slope work for her. Jane, when you get to the barrels, you’ll loop the wires over them, cinch down the loops nice and tight, and then get out of there. Leave the cart. We have two, plus a backup.”

  “That sounds simple.”

  “Until you hit a rock the cart won’t go over. Keep your head on a swivel, Jane. If you get into any trouble, just use the signal we talked about, and I’ll yank you out.”

  The crews assembled quickly. With all the prep work they had already done, there wasn’t much of a wait before Jane and Cecelia were standing in the spell circle, looking out at the lake.

  “Hold still, dear,” Cecelia told her. We won’t be able to talk much after this, so please do be safe. Agreed?”

  Jane took a deep breath.

  “Agreed.”

  .

  !