”I suppose it's a hobby, fur noo. But I hope thae branches will hae a practical purpose.” Gesturing to his stack of other branches, he said “See, when thae branches are stuck th'gither, thay shuid be able tae transport cooncil juice.” Pausing to remember her previous confusion at the words, he added, “That’s water.”

“If I kin speak tae one of the gaffers, that’s the leaders, I kin find oot where the main water source is, and if that branches oot tae dens, or even tae areas. This kin be useful for hygiene as well. Ye ken ye can git peely-wally if ye eat animals who’ve hud an illness? We can use these tae transport water from further up river, tae avoid deid animals.”

Silence for a moment, he added “What dae ye dae all day, then?” After he spoke, he realised that he’d used a lot of ‘day’ sounds. Bit of a tongue twister, if he was honest.