"Wait. What?" Lance's head snapped around to Johanna.

She smiled at him, "Hi Lance, I'm Johanna. I'm glad that you can finally see me."

He looked her up and down, not quite believing that she'd not been there a moment before.

"Brother, what are you—Hey! You must be Johanna!"

She curtsied to Matt. "Indeed, I am. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Matt said, elbowing Lance.

"Oh, yes. Very nice to meet you!" Lance said, regaining his senses.

The rain lessened and the thunder ceased its bellowing, which allowed everyone to return to bed. Despite being tired, Mercy's mind was racing. It seemed an enormous coincidence that a forge became an opportunity here, something that Lance might use to establish himself.

Johanna appeared at the foot of her bed before sitting on the edge, her corporeal form making an indentation and moving mattress in the same way as if she'd been a living person.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Mercy asked her after plumping her pillow and settling under the covers.

"That maybe, all this isn't just about you? That maybe, much of this was contrived to benefit Lance, and maybe even Matt, as much as help you get to your own true love?"

"Yes. Exactly that!"

"Then, yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking," Johanna said with a smile.

"Should I send some of the thread with them? Could they exchange it for supplies?"

"Oh, yes. It is fine thread and its value is well known here. The area has been waiting for my apprentice."

"Well then, I'll give them a basket and spin more while they're gone."

Johanna grinned. "That's the beauty of spinning sunshine. You can do it anywhere. Why not set up in the square and spin while they shop? People would better understand its value then."

"Wow! I hadn't thought of that!" Mercy said, sitting up in her excitement. "To find my wheel wherever I am and spin, so long as I had a base fiber..." Mercy daydreamed until Johanna interrupted her.

"There is an issue with just setting up to spin, however. We have a seamstress who lives in town. She does quite the business."

"Oh!" Mercy exclaimed, "I don't want to impede her shop! That would be the rudest thing I could do. Certainly not the way to make friends."

"I might have a plan to work around it," Johanna offered. "Her mother and I had an agreement once: I would use her everyday thread as my base fiber and spin the sunshine or moonlight on it while sitting outside her shop in the square. She would then sell my thread and we would split the profit. It was a good living for both of us. Perhaps you could make that offer for the day if you go?"

Mercy gasped. "Yes! I bet she'd even barter with me for whatever embellishments I might want to have for all three of the dresses."

Johanna agreed with a smile. "So, shall I let her mother know that you'll be coming?"

"Yes, please," Mercy requested. "Wait, you talk to other people besides Dadus?"

"Just a few. Laura's mother, Teresa, is one of them. She was a seamstress of top quality in her time. The woman's embroidery could not be matched. She's rather old and frail now, but Laura seems to have inherited her talent."

"Her talent is fiber arts, too?"

"Oh, no, far from it. Her talent is salesmanship. She can sell anyone just about anything! She just happens to like fashion."

Mercy laughed as she snuggled further under the blankets before stifling a yawn. "She sounds like a useful person to get to know."

"Oh yes. But be prepared to spend some money on those embellishments. That talent of hers can make her a tidy profit," the fading woman said, chuckling.

Mercy smiled, pulled the covers up to her chin, and settled in for a few more hours of sleep. She dreamed of Jasmine and so it seemed like no time had passed when Mercy heard the noises of others up and about. Everyone went about their morning business before gathering for a quick breakfast.

The day was gray and it threatened to rain at any moment. It was a perfect day for setting up the loom.

"Finding your loom is a different process than finding your wheel, Mercy," Johanna explained as they all sat and ate. "This time, it's not a matter of physically locating an invisible loom, but of dressing a special, real loom with the sunshine thread. Not all looms can handle it."

"How do I find such a loom! Oh, I don't have time to travel more!"

Johanna nodded. "I think the loom in the corner might be yours, Mercy. Petra and I used it for normal cloth, but it never quite felt right, you know?"

"Oh, yes! Weaving on someone else's loom is always awkward," Mercy said in agreement. "Let me try it and find out."

The corner of the cottage had two enormous windows to let in the light. They had to have cost a fortune, Mercy knew; glass was expensive and tedious to transport. She was grateful for them; the natural light was much better to work in than the lamps she had to use at home.

Mercy felt the loom. She snatched her hand back when it hummed, a warmth spreading over her. "It didn't do that before when I touched it!" The feeling faded and she was left with a feeling of... rightness. She rubbed her chest, the tingling there subsiding as the sensation faded. "What just happened?"

"Look at what's in your hand, Mercy," Johanna said with a grin.

Mercy had a handful of sunshine thread bobbins. "So, it's not reacting to me, but to the thread?"

"Possibly, but I think it's both. It hummed for Petra and I while we weaved, but not like it just did for you, and you haven't even sat down!"

Mercy took a breath and slid onto the bench, firmly and deliberately placing a palm on the loom. She exhaled a sigh as the warmth flooded her body and she knew by the sudden connection that this, this was her loom and always had been. "I feel—like I've come home," she breathed, running her hand over the wood in front of her.

When she turned to Johanna, she saw that the older woman was crying, great tears sliding over her cheeks only to catch in her smile. "Indeed the same just standing over here," Johanna whispered.

Mercy laughed. "Well, let's get started!"

Using the neutral colors of grays and whites, she and Johanna spent the early morning winding the warp, preparing the fibers that would anchor the weaving of the weft together, onto the loom. Next came dressing the loom, the actual threading of the warp, one of Mercy's least favorite parts. As they worked, the hum clarified until it grew into a beautifully sung note. They took their time since proper dressing was important; this is where she would set the pattern in the little book Matt had translated at the beginning of their journey.

Mercy became so engrossed in what she was doing, she didn't notice that not only did she slip into her talent, she swept up Johanna with her. They stopped halfway through, hungry, to find that it was still midmorning for the men. At this rate, they'd be done by lunch.

"Oh!" Mercy exclaimed. "Did I take you into my talent with me? Sometimes that happens. How do you feel? My little sister gets a little queasy."

"I'm fine, but then, I'm dead," Johanna said, deadpan, before laughing.

Mercy laughed with her and they finished their meal.

After threading the warp on the loom, the two of them worked on sorting the thread and winding the shuttles with the weft thread. This involved first sorting the thread into hues, grouping colors, then arranging them in the order in which Mercy wanted to use them.

When they were done, Mercy sat to weave a section of test cloth to measure how much more weft she would need to spin. Working with the thread was a delight. It was beautiful and it behaved as if it had always wanted to be cloth. Johanna smiled to see Mercy so bedazzled by the sunshine cloth. It would make a stunning dress in the colors of the dawns and sunsets she has spun; a colorful weft woven into the storms and high noons of the white and grey warp.

When the men came in for dinner, Mercy stopped and admired her work. It shimmered on the loom as if blown by a breeze, yet no draft penetrated the cottage.

"Wow." Lance whispered as he placed a hand on Mercy's shoulder. "That is amazing cloth, Mercy. I've seen nothing like it."

"Neither have I," Mercy breathed in return.

They stood for a while watching the light play on it, Lance's arm snaking around her shoulders, until Dadus called them to dinner.

"Tomorrow will be long," Dadus said. He could hardly contain his excitement. "These days, I usually have stores delivered out here. I haven't been to market in quite some time. It will be good to see old friends and to shop for myself again."

"I'm looking forward to meeting Laura and Teresa," Mercy said before explaining to Lance and Matt who they were.

"Hmm. Maybe we should have sent word ahead about a journeyman blacksmith. Lance could have worked the forge for the day," Matt said. "I know he's got to be missing it."

Lance stared into his mug, "Yeah, I am. I've never been away from the forge this long ever since I started."

"Well, we've never been away from home this long either!"

Mercy felt a pang of loneliness. She missed Jasmine. She sighed, then layered her emotions with renewed determination. She would get these dresses made and made as quickly as she could.

Even as she felt her resolve strengthen, however, she glanced at her friend and worried. She felt guilty for abandoning him and hoped that the Marriage Council would make an exception for Lance and his brother.

~~~

They left before dawn the next morning, wanting to arrive before the market opened. This would give Mercy time to bargain with Laura and set up in the square to spin the sunshine.

Dew glittered on the ground under the waning moon and Mercy, riding in the back of the wagon with Lance while Matt kept a watchful eye over Dadus and the horses he drove. Mercy enjoyed the early birds and, if the clear sky of the predawn sky was any sign, the day promised to be beautiful. Perfect for spinning sunshine.

Johanna drifted into being beside Mercy and admired the landscape for a while, too, before turning to speak with her.

"You'll not want to tell Laura what your actual talent is, Mercy," Johanna warned with a smile. "She'll drive a hard bargain as it is and letting her know you can do more than I could do will raise the price of those embellishments you choose."

"Oh? You make her sound more of a potential foe than friend," Mercy pointed out.

Johanna laughed, "Yes, I suppose I do. You just keep in mind that you have a bargaining chip, too: You are the one who spins sunshine. She would do well to remember that as the deal is being struck. I'm sure, though, that whatever the two of you decide, it will be advantageous to both of you."

The older woman looked at Lance, who was half asleep. "Hey, Lance?"

He roused enough to answer her with a lazy, "Yeah?"

"I talked to the blacksmith's wife last night. I let her know that you were coming. The smith's agreed to let you 'mess about' in the forge."

Lance chuckled, "'Mess about' is code for 'put me through my paces' when all I really need to do is make nails. Ah, well, can't be helped and, truth be told, I'll be happy to be forging again. I'll make them some nice items they can sell to cover the expense of having me there."

Matt, hearing their conversation, turned and lamented, "Everyone has something to contribute to the cause except me. I feel bad."

"Well," Johanna said, "Laura and Teresa are always getting pattern books from various places, some in languages she struggles to understand. Perhaps, if they have one you could translate, you could be of help?"

"Oh! That sounds right up my alley."

As they turned onto the main road, the wagon bounced more, having to navigate the ruts in the road left from travelers in the rain. By the time their trip would be done, Mercy was sure that everyone would be quite glad to give their backside a rest. Only Johanna was unscathed by the first leg of their journey.

"I will not be around much today," Johanna explained, "it wouldn't do to let those who can see me do so when they know I'm dead. There's magic, and then there magic. I think it would frighten more people than it would help us."

"I understand," Mercy said, a little nervous about meeting Laura alone. "I'm sure that things will be fine. I can always say no and find some other way to be helpful to Dadus."

They began to meet traffic on the road. Some were farmers and crafters bringing in wares, some were, like Mercy and her friends, going shopping for needed items. It seemed however, no matter who they encountered, someone in the party knew Dadus and they pulled alongside for conversation.

Matt took the reins with a smile, allowing his new friend to pass the time catching up with people whom he hadn't seen in some time. The old man had quite forgotten what it was like to visit with people.

Listening to Dadus speak to his neighbors and other folk, it seemed like no time passed before the town came into view, though it had been several hours. Guards were watching the gates, inspecting carts casually, and passing travelers through in an orderly fashion.

At last, they reached the Inn at which they would stable the horses and wagon for the day, another old friend of Dadus. In return, they got to see Dadus' talent first hand; he paid for their care and protection with a runthrough of the kitchen's garden. He brightened yellowing plants, revived ones that were a bit too dry and overall improved the health of the garden, all while giving the young cook many tips on how to keep it in the state in which he left it.

"That was amazing, Dadus!" Mercy said as he finished.

"Aye. My talent is outstanding for the small things. Not so much entire farms, but these small, personal gardens? They are my real love. Gardens care for their families as much as families care for their gardens."