A Bargain

Two little boys live out on the land with us. Their mother was sick for a long time and because of the hospital bills the boys can't afford to go to school this year. They live instead with their uncle, the caretaker Jose, and work with him in the fields.

Javier is 13 and Carlos is 9, although they look years younger. Carlos is still small enough to like hugs and kisses on his head. I can tell he doesn't get much mom exposure.

A few weeks ago the two of them found an expensive pocket knife lying around at Km 38. They asked John and ALex who it might belong to, but no one recognized it. Alex decided it had been left behind during a previous mission trip, and told Javier and Carlos they could have it.

The boys decided to sell the knife. Alex wanted to keep it around, and after some bargaining he purchased the knife for 15 soles, about 5 dollars. All parties involved were happy. Alex had an almost new knife, and the little boys had enough pocket money for a long time.

The situation became interesting, however, when Anthony showed up the next week and started asking if anyone had seen his pocket knife.