Lodging

David was ushered through a small village by his new uniformed guard. If he had seen what Mark saw, he would have said that this was a smaller community and that almost all of the people were local. They eyed him with surprise, but greeted the guard with warmth. Their quiet voices rose slightly as they asked questions about the stranger. He made short replies and pressed on.

David noticed that the man turned every time somebody said "Huk," so once there was a chance he pointed to himself and said "David." He pointed at the guard and asked, "¿Huk?" The guard nodded his head and said, "Aw, Huksonjo."

They finally stopped at a small adobe structure on the far side of town. Huksonjo made David step in first and the two men sitting inside looked up in surprise. Huksonjo entered and rattled off his report for a few minutes with occasional questions from the other two. When he finished, one of them turned to the other and issued two or three short commands. The man grabbed a cloak off of a peg and ran out the door.

The one who stayed turned to David and asked, "¿Pin kanki?"

Huksonjo slapped himself on the forehead and made another hurried explanation, which brought a sigh from the other. He got up and looked out the door but apparently didn't like what he saw. He lectured for a few minutes, sighed again, then give another order. Huksonjo turned to David and said "Hakuyá."

While they headed for one of the houses on the skirts of the village, Huksonjo did his best to explain to David that he had to stay in the village area.

When they arrived at the house, he poked his head in and greeted the person inside then pulled her out to meet David. He held her at his side and introduced David to "Warmiy." She blushed, but corrected him by introducing herself as "Sumailla." Huksonjo colored now but he introduced David.

While Sumailla finished making dinner, Huksonjo found a shirt for David out of a stack of clothes. The house was small, but it afforded enough room for what was needed. Huksonjo's face glowed as he showed David the second room that he was beginning to add on.

There was an obvious excitement about his being home, and he seemed to intuitively trust David. David wasn't sure how or why. It worried him slightly at what kind of people they were. He also felt strange about still carrying Mark's bush thinner, so he found a place to stash it and the walking sticks until they should be needed.

They stumbled through a rough conversation by using hand motions and pointing. David learned a few words before dinner this way. When it came time to eat, he found that Sumailla had made a vegetable stew and fresh bread that was fantastic. David could see why Huksonjo fell for this woman. Conversation was lively but he was completely lost. Even if he could have understood it, he wasn't sure that he wanted to. It was obvious they were newly married.

After dinner Sumailla picked up a bucket to get "unu" (water). David insisted on getting the water then had to ask where it was.

Night was falling as he made his way to a small stream. He looked up at the few stars and thought about seeing this strange sky for the first time that morning. He paused for a moment and caught his breath.

There were two moons.