The knock on the gate came early, before most of the family had finished breakfast, and Kai was the one who answered it, still holding a half-eaten piece of toast.
"Morning," he said, around the bite, finding David and his two boys waiting on the other side. "This an emergency, or a before-nine-a.m.-social-call kind of knock?"
"Neither, exactly," David said. "We wanted to ask you something. In person, since it felt rude to shout it through a gate."
"Go ahead."
"Our boat's gone," David said. "Lost it two weeks back, trying to get past a horde that decided the water looked interesting. We've been borrowing rides off neighbors since, which works until it doesn't. We wanted to ask if we could borrow one of yours. Just for today. We know your family's got more than one since the sporting goods run."
Kai considered it, chewing thoughtfully. "What's the run?"
