Over the past week, Lucie has been sprinkling herbs into the well every night. Lavender works best, but peppermint is good too, and she particularly likes lemon verbena. She crushes this between her fingers and rubs it onto her wrists where it rests above her pulse.

I’m not sure what Lucie threw in last night. Possibly tarragon. When I drew the water up this morning, I also drew up a fat little baby in a new silver bucket. It kicked its feet and made noises like a ruffled dove. Lucie was delighted and immediately said that we had to keep it. This was a gift from the well, and if we rejected it the water would turn sour. I wouldn’t be able to stand that, so I agreed.

The baby is gentle and easy to care for. In the daytime when it wants to play, we just lower it back into the well where it swims around. It dips its head below the surface and feels the stone.