El pokes her sister in the back of the head. She's naturally sneaky, especially when Mary's distracted like this.

"You're going to need the doctor next if you stay out here."

"Maybe they'll let me see mom then," she mutters, swatting in El's vague direction.

"Maybe, but then they won't let me see you and I'll be so bored."

"You don't want to get sick too?"

"I don't get sick," El says primly.

"Even if you fell in a river?"

"Don't fall in rivers, either."

"You can be my nurse next time I get sick, then."

"Okay. Not today, though." She pokes her sister again.

Swat.

"Fine, I'll come inside." She gets up, stretching.

El pops open the umbrella and waits for Mary at the edge of the tree.

She follows along.

There's a crash as they're walking back, a few shouts - all from the direction of the river nearby.

"Wanna see what happened?"

"Yeah. Let's go." She swings over to walk that way.

The river seems to have overflown its banks, washing away fences and spilling in a rush towards the town. They're downstream of the breach - up on a little hill, but it seems likely that the water's going to wash around them.

Mary steps forward, looking around.

Figures.

She heard shouting; does it look like people already know about this?

They seem to. One person's in the water, clinging to a rope someone else threw him, and people in town are trying to get to high ground. The spill is gradually worsening, and there's a distant roaring upstream.

"Wonder if everyone's gonna be washed away," Mary says.

"Could be. That happens sometimes. Though not here for a long time, I don't think."

"Maybe the river'll get that annoying doctor."

"He's with Mom right now."

"Awwwww."

She squints out in the distance.

"Think it's gonna get that woman."

She points at someone walking towards the river.

Strange.

"Think she wants it to get her." El squints. "Don't recognize her, though."

"Out of town weirdo?" she asks, laughing.

And then the woman claps her hands together, kneels -

And in a rush of alchemical energy, new dikes form, earth rising to block the wave of water just before it reaches her.

A curl, and those who've been swept into the water are lifted out, those trying to rescue them brought to safety on a wave of moving earth -

The landscape reforms, massively, grandly.

The river obediently rolls back into its path.

Wow.

El is stunned silent.

She keeps moving, repairing other breaks, strengthening the river, forming a new, higher bank at the weak points -

She doesn't seem to use arrays at all.