David held the shop door open and watched the rain fall on the nearly empty street outside. He smiled to himself as he wondered how many people were being affected by the overcast skies. They made him feel alive almost as much as the sun did.

The young woman working in the room behind him was certainly being affected by the lack of sunlight. It was obvious even though he hadn't been around her much.

They had talked for a while, using hushed tones whenever it was something that Auk'a should not hear. Conversation had tapered off when the rain started. Sañi had decided she needed to get more work done so David allowed his attention to be captivated by the water falling from the sky.

For some odd reason the rain reminded him of the few times he had been able to swim in the ocean. Swimming in rivers was simply not the same. David had often asked himself why and the only answer he could think of was the vast size of the ocean. Most rivers would have a hard time encompassing such a large area as rain clouds often do.

At length, a gruff voice greeted him by simply saying his pseudonym, "Auk."

David broke from his thoughts, more from the sound of Auk'a's voice than anything else. "Good morning," he said as he let the door close.

"¿Are you ready to make a down payment?"

"No, I should have that in two or three days."

"¿Then why are you here?"

"I just wanted to make sure you knew I hadn't forgotten or changed my mind."

"No, I would hunt you down for that."

David laughed. "OK, then have a good day." He pushed the door open again and disappeared onto the rainy street.

He took his time weaving through the streets back to the blacksmith's shop. While he walked, he wondered if Auk'a had been joking about hunting him down. He could almost visualize the guy on a motorcycle. In any case, they expected to make the payment. It should work out.

Then again, the time that he had tried to raise some money by cleaning windows door-to-door hadn't gone so well. In four hours he had only had one person accept his offer. And that wasn't trying to sell a new car. He and Mark would have to come up with a good sales pitch.

He was still thinking about this when he arrived at the smithy.

"Hey, welcome back. How'd it go?"

"It was alright. I'll tell you more about it on the way home."

"That bad?"

"Not really, but it's probably a good idea not to rattle on in our own language here."

"Ah. You're probably right. Well, we've already bound the wheels so all that is left is bending a few plates of iron for the rods to attach through. We'll be done here soon."

"Mind if I go wait in the wagon?"

"No, I guess not but we will wake you up in a few minutes if you try to nap."

"Hah, alright."

Mark edged closer to the metal bar that the blacksmith was bending into the shape of a square "U" to prevent it from slipping loose once it was mounted on the wagon frame.

David, already wet from the walk, stretched out across the bench seat on the wagon. The water droplets falling on his face were relaxing and he needed to think a little more about a sales pitch.