Their young translator sat down next to Tara and looked up at his guests. He was very nervous about the men, but he seemed to be ok with Tara and Mary.

  “What’s your name?” Tara asked kindly.

  The boy smiled and proudly responded, “Amadi Worede!”

  Tara smiled at the boy and glanced over at Acharya who was also smiling at the exuberance of the young man. It must be hard for the boy to find someone to practice his English skills with.

  “Where did you learn English?” Tara asked.

  Amadi frowned comically before spitting his tongue out of his mouth and saying, “school!”

  This earned him a well-meaning laugh from the pack. Asclepius softly whined in the corner and laid his snout down on the cool floor of the hut, leaving one eye open as he watched what was going on in the hut.

  “Tara?” Aiman asked quietly, “Ask the boy about the blacksmith. How long has he been in the village?”

  Tara turned to the boy and still smiling warmly she asked, “How long has the old man been here,” she pointed around her, “in the village.”

  The boy looked up at the ceiling smiling playing with his foot, “ummm… don’t know.”

  “Well, that’s not telling us very much,” Mary said, “We need to be able to talk to the old man and offer something in return for his help.”

  Aiman said quietly, “If we are to build a coalition and gain some knowledge from the black smith we have to gain his respect, or trust. Neither of which will be easy to come by.What do we have to offer in return for the old man’s help?”

  The group looked inward for an answer to Aiman’s question. What could they offer. Was there something to offer.

  Tara thought about the village and what it would take to gain the trust of a total stranger. Then it hit her like a mac truck. What could they offer? The answer was in the question. All they had were themselves.

  “Aiman, you’re a genius.” Tara said excitedly as she knew exactly what to do. She pointedly looked over at Acharya and winked. Acharya raised an eyebrow having no idea what she was talking about. Tara smiled.

  The pack thanked the boy and his family and exited from the hut into the late afternoon sun. They six of them watched the boy tumble and play in the field around them. It was a quiet reprieve and they let the boy do what he wanted, following them as they walked away from the village huts. The boy tumbled and chased bugs as they moved farther away from the village.

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  Acharya pointed looked at the setting sun and then back at Amadi. Tara nodded and called to the boy to bring him back towards them. The pack sent Amadi home. Amadi looked sad to be sent away but started running laughing and turning around often smiling at the group.

  Tara shook her head as the young boy faded into the distance, “Are all kids that cute?”

  “Only some of them, and then only some of the time,” Mary replied with a smirk.

  “Tara, now that we are alone, what exactly is this genius idea that Aiman gave you?” Acharya asked.

  Tara smiled and shook her head, “You still don’t know? Its so simple. What can we offer a people, when all we have is ourselves?”

  Aiman replied, “That is the question, we can’t stay to defend the village against raiders and people kidnapping their children? Nor do we have riches or a means to move them to another location, even supposing they would if we could.”

  “This is all true,” Tara replied. “But we do have something that not all the gold El Dorado could buy.”

  “Will you just come out and say it,” Malikah said curtly. She was clearly irritated and very tired of the word games.

  “We give of ourselves, Acharya and I, to grow their crops. Overnight! It’ll be a miracle to them. It’s the only thing we have to offer, and in a rural poor village like this? It’s the chance for survival and the promise of continued existence.” And what better way to show our true intent than by helping these people and giving them something that no one else can offer?”

  “There will be no guarantee that this miracle earns us any favor, much less the help of the old man,” Aiman said quietly.

  “It’s the best and I think only card we have to play,” Acharya said. “If we ask for payment beforehand, it could be seen as a con and that we are cheaters or here to bring them harm. A gift freely given will earn us something and that karma will be repaid, if not from this village than from somewhere else.” He looked up into the rapidly darkening night sky over head.

  Smiling he said playfully, “We have a hell of job in front of us tonight, Tara,”

  Tara nodded as she smiled stepping over to him. Acharya turned to the rest of his pack, “The rest of you I need someone to be a lookout for Tara and I while we work. I really don’t need to be ran out of town for being a witch.” He said this last with a smile, though he knew that it was hard to gauge rural superstitions. They might very well be hanged or get hot pokers shoved through their eyes for practicing witchcraft. Not something he wanted to dwell on too much.

  The pack moved silently towards the far field. It was the only piece of green in view, and as the sunlight faded from the sky, it was hard to tell the green of the crops from the tan of the desert surrounding them.

  Tara and Acharya deftly stepped over the small irrigation ditch that surrounded the square piece of land. Tara began at one corner, and Acharya another. Tara knelt down in the darkness and reached out her hand and touched the soft well tended earth. She let a piece of herself flow through her fingers into the soil and find the roots of the nearby crops. Giving of herself she helped the plant to grow in size and mature in minutes. The patch surrounding her grew up around her in big leaves and tall stalks.