The hammer rang once. A spark jumped off the anvil and did not go out. It waited. They followed.

The ferry horn blew once. Gullwick came out of the fog. Two spans of the bridge stood over the water now: FAIR, then LIKELY. After that came the third gap.

Poppa Pike had a pile of planks this time. Islanders had been bringing him wood all week. But his nail tin was empty.

"Planks without nails are just a raft," said Poppa Pike. "The ferry sells nails from its hold. Twelve coins a box."

"Then we'll buy some," said Lan.

"With what?" said Beto.

Gullwick swapped things. Rope for planks, buns for fish. Hardly anybody on the island had coins. And the ferry only took coins.

It was the hottest day of the summer. The ferry was due back at four o'clock, full of people going to the mainland. Lan watched a passenger fan herself with a hat.

"Everybody on that ferry is thirsty," said Lan. "We could sell them lemonade!"

"Lemons cost something," said Beto.

Gilly ran the market. She lent them a basket of lemons, a bag of sugar, and a stack of paper cups.

"Pay me back after," said Gilly. "I never sit on spare goods, but I do like them back."

A crow with a small slate under one wing hopped onto the table.

"Write down what the supplies cost first," said Cost.

She wrote with a stub of chalk. Lemons, four coins. Sugar, two coins. Cups, two coins.

"Four for lemons, two for sugar, two for cups," said Cost. "That's eight coins we owe already."

"But we haven't sold anything yet," said Lan.

"Every cup costs something before it earns anything," said Cost.

A pelican in a blue apron came along with a blank wooden sign.

"What do we charge?" he asked.

"One coin a cup," said Beto. "Then everybody will buy one."

"Too low and we can't cover the lemons," said Price. He counted on his wing. "Ten cups at one coin is ten coins. Take away the eight we owe, and only two are left. That's nowhere near twelve."

"Ten coins a cup, then," said Lan.

"Too high and nobody stops at all!" said Price. "Two coins a cup, painted big."

He painted the sign in big letters: TWO COINS A CUP. Ten cups at two coins each would take in twenty.

At four o'clock the ferry tied up. People came down the gangplank, hot and pink. A man wanted two cups.

"That's four coins," said Lan.

He held out a big silver coin. "I've only got fives."

Lan froze. They had a tin, and the tin was empty.

A chipmunk with a little wooden cash box slid in beside her. The lid had cracked once and been patched with a square of tin, and beside the patch was a tiny scratched hammer.

"Count up from the price to the coin they gave," said Coin. "Four, and one more makes five. One back."

Coin had a pocket full of small coins from Gilly's market. Coin gave the man one coin back.

"Here's your change, and thank you kindly," said Coin.

After that, nobody had to be turned away.

They sold cup after cup. Lan poured. Beto stirred. Price shouted, "Fair for the buyer, fair for the stand!" Coin made change.

By the time the ferry horn blew for leaving, the jug was empty. They had sold ten cups.

Lan tipped the tin out. Twenty coins.

"Twenty coins for the bridge!" said Lan. "We can buy the shiny box! The one with brass brackets!" She grabbed the tin and turned toward the ferry.

A porcupine in a green jumper was standing in her way. He was very slow and very steady, and he did not move.

"Takings take away costs. Then we'll see," said Profit.

"But it's twenty!" said Lan.

"That's what we took in," said Profit. "It isn't what's left yet. We owe Gilly eight. Pay back what we owe before we count it ours."

Lan's ears went hot. She had nearly spent Gilly's coins on brass brackets.

She counted out eight coins and gave them to Gilly.

"Twenty take away eight," said Beto. "Twelve."

"Twelve left over," said Profit, and waited.

Lan looked at the twelve coins. Then she looked at the ferry, where the shiny box sat with its brass brackets.

The brackets were beautiful. But the bridge did not need brackets. It needed nails. And twelve coins was exactly the price of the plain box.

"The plain one," said Lan. "That's enough."

"Does the bridge need brass brackets?" she asked Poppa Pike, on the way back, just to be sure.

"The bridge needs nails," said Poppa Pike.

So that was what they bought.

"Everybody drives one," said Poppa Pike.

Gilly drove one. Cost drove one with her beak. Price, Coin and Profit drove one each. Beto drove four, because he liked hammering. Lan drove the last.

The last plank had a word carved on the end. It said ENOUGH.

"Enough isn't the most," said Lan. "It's the right amount."

The third span held. The ferry horn blew twice. Home.

The spark dimmed to a warm dot and settled back on the anvil. The Green was just the Green again.

Back on the Green

At home, Tí wanted to sell his drawings on the Green for one coin each.

"First," said Lan, "how much did the paper cost?"

Tí didn't know. So they asked Grandmother, and wrote it down.

Tell the story back to someone in your own words. Then guess: why did they pay Gilly first?