Miles

Year 2041

“This is home,” said Miles’ roommate Josh as he drove up the farm laneway. “House was built in 1886. The part of the barn you can see was built the year after.”

The other two roommates in the back seat leaned forward to get a better look. “That’s old for Ontario,” said Qiang. “This such a young country compared to home.”

Hyun-woo punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t be such a Chinese snob. Korea is just as old.”

“So is much of Europe,” said Miles.

Qiang shook his head. “Canada is different.”

“Only if you ignore the indigenous peoples,” said Josh. “I mean most of us did, but they’ve been here thousands of years.”

“Same where my family came from,” said Miles. “Just because Jamaica didn’t have big brick buildings, they treated the earliest peoples like crap. Brought my people–from a land older than Europe–to carve up the island and make Europe rich.”

“The land here has been carefully cared for,” said Josh. “I can show you an area that we think Huron peoples farmed, not far from here. When they cleared land, they piled stones in the centre of the area. The settlers chose to pile the stones in lines, but still lived close to the land. Lately, all those fence rows have been buried, stones, and trees and all the critters that lived there. My folks are trying to learn some of the older patterns.”

Josh’s parents were the reason the four university students were in Grey County to spend a weekend on a farm. With grain harvest completed, his mom and dad had gone to visit his sister who had a new baby, had summoned Josh home to look after the sheep and chickens while they were away. And the farm dog and barn cats. Josh had invited his roommates to come and help, to see where he came from, to party when chores were done. “We’ll dump our gear in the summer kitchen, throw stuff in the fridge, get the dog, and check the barn and pastures.”

Shortly after, with beer and perishables stuffed into the fridge, Spike the Australian Border Collie led the way to the barn. At the door, Josh turned. “I still think you should be an electrical engineer, Miles, not a computer geek, the way you are interested in electrical problems. I should warn you that we have a bit of a stray voltage problem this year. My folks have updated the wiring in the house and barn but something got missed, I guess. It’s not a big deal, just five or ten volts and only sometimes. The weather’s been dry so we probably won’t notice anything.”

Miles touched his back pocket to make sure the miniature volt meter he always carried was in its place. Not that he needed it. His Gift allowed him to trace electrical flows, to sense the movement of electrons. But for other people to believe him when he said there was an electrical current where there shouldn’t be, he carried the tech that would prove to them what he already knew.

“Aren’t random shocks bad for the sheep?” Hyun-woo asked.

Josh shrugged. “Sometimes the sheep steer clear of the one section, but mostly they don’t seem to notice. Let me show you how things are done here. Not that we need to chore today, but you might as well know what you’ve gotten into for the next two days.” Josh pulled open the door and started to explain how they got the round bales of hay into the barn and then down to the sheep.

With the dog upstairs hunting for mice, Josh led the way to the stable area. Miles was surprised how big the sheep were. And how loud. They were not afraid of strangers, but instead, approached, eyes on the strangers as if curious about the visit. Josh explained that they were checking to see if the visitors had brought grain. Miles closed his eyes and reached out with his senses to see where he could trace electricity. There were the overhead wires to the lights of course, but he sensed something to his right.

Leaving Qiang and Hyun-woo snapping pictures of the sheep with their phones, Miles ran his hand on the wooden barrier between pens walking slowly. The feeling of a small electrical current increased. He came to a post where a wire ran down from the ceiling to a junction box. No wire left the box. He got out his volt meter. Sure enough, the meter confirmed what his Gift told here: there was power to the box and a trickle down to the water bowl below. “Josh, the wires stop at this junction box. Why were they here?”

“Used to be a heated water bowl, but we replaced it with one that doesn’t need hydro. It uses warmth from the ground and great insulation to keep the water from freezing. Why?”

“There is power to this box, and I think it is grounding to the pipes that fill the water bowl.”

“Really? There shouldn’t be power to the box.”

Miles held up the meter. “Pretty sure there is.”

“Huh. Let’s check the electrical panel.” Josh led Miles out one of the stable doors, and they pushed their way through the grape vines to the panel on the barn wall. Josh ran down the list of circuit breakers.

“This one is the one for the old water bowl. And it’s turned on!” Josh flicked it off. “Must have accidently gotten switched on.” He smiled broadly. “My folks will be so embarrassed that a silly mistake like that caused this problem. Too bad we won’t be here to rub it in. But I’ll do my best.”

“Before you gloat, let’s go back and make sure that the problem is solved.” Sure enough, Miles felt no trace of voltage around the water bowl, and the volt meter didn’t show any either.

“Now do we get out into the sun?” asked Qiang.

“The way these sheep look at us in a bit creepy,” said Hyun-woo.

“Let’s go, then,” said Josh. “This way.”