Water witcher

Dougie and his sisters can't remember the last time it rained.

The rainwater tanks are empty, and the river is just a string of muddy pools where birds and animals come, seeking water.

Each day Dad and Dougie cart water from Last Stop Well, an hour down the track.

They haul the water up bucket by bucket to fill the tank on the dray, then bump back over the ruts making clouds of dust.

The crops are brown and crisp in the sun. One day, Dougie's dad tells him about his grandfather's gift of water divining, or witching.

Dougie wishes he were a water witcher- then they would have a well of their own, always full of water.

So Dougie teaches himself the art of water divining and, despite his sisters' teasing and his mother's scepticism, he discovers a night soak of fresh water.