Pakakuy

David had been exhausted but he sensed someone new was present. This brought him quickly from his dreams and he shoved himself back into the corner that he knew was behind him. He could see Sañi and Mark sleeping peacefully in front of him. Beams of light played gently through the unfinished wall of the room.

In between two of the beams appeared Sumailla's face.

David greeted her. "Ay. It's me, Sumailla."

She replied in her subdued voice. "Yes, I know. Huksonjo told me you were here before leaving for his shift."

David grinned sheepishly. "Sorry we didn't ask first."

"You should have, but my husband is easy-going."

David stood and eased his way toward the hole so that they could talk even more quietly.

"¿So you have found your friend? ¿Who is the girl? And your Runasimi has improved much."

"Thanks, we still need a lot of practice. I did find Mark," David said while pointing at his friend. "And the girl is named Sañi. The story is a long one already. She was a slave and we have rescued her."

"¿Did you steal her?"

"Uh... no and yes. It's a long story."

"It can wait until Huksonjo gets back. ¿Do you want something to eat?"

"¿What time is it?"

"Two hours past dawn."

"I'm going to sleep some more."

The woman smiled and disappeared which left David to lay back down. He was tired but his mind ran endlessly. Had they done the right thing in appropriating the room? Had he bothered Huksonjo?

Try as he might, David was not able to coax his eyes to remain closed. The rest of his body stubbornly refused to sleep too. After the preceding five weeks of being up before dawn most days, it felt like he should be awake. Sleeping odd schedules was a pain.

Half an hour later, Mark began to stir. David gave up completely and pushed himself against the wall. A couple minutes later Mark joined him.

"G'morning, sleep enough?"

"Until Sumailla peeked in."

"Was she upset about us...?"

"No, Huksonjo had told her we were here. I was really tired last night. Didn't even realize he had found us."

Mark smiled slightly. "Didn't think it was possible to sneak up on you at night."

"You've never succeeded but that doesn't mean it can't happen."

"Well, I'm hungry." Mark stood up to grab the little bag that Sañi had stuffed some bread into before leaving Ch'uya's. There were several other items as well but those would last longer.

As the two of them began to break off pieces of the loaf, Sañi started to stir. It wasn't long before she joined them and David had to explain the events of the morning again. He still wished that they had been able to ask before bedding down.

The morning had not been fully spent when the three of them turned to deciding what to do with the day. It felt strange to sit around in a useless manner. Sañi felt that she could wander in the marketplace without drawing too much attention, even in a village as small as the one they were in.

With the memory of the people, there was a good chance that David would be recognized and Mark would stick out almost as badly because of his clothing.

Sañi wanted to buy them a different set of clothes. They had refused to take the set that Ch'uya had offered them, saying that he had already done enough. The look in the man's eyes had told them that he thought they stuck out sorely, and so they did.

David picked up his cloak and let it unfold to its full length. "It's going to be a little warm, but this will hide your clothes enough that you can go with her, Mark. I've already seen the town. And you are built similarly enough to me. Nobody will ask why she, a stranger, is buying clothes for men."

"¿What are you going to do?"

"Try to sleep again, without a pillow this time."