So many unfamiliar words.  Penmanship?  Coal?  Quilt?  He strained to recall the order different forms of energy had been developed.  The main one he recalled from this era was internal combustion.  Steam must have been the predecessor.  He had seen something about it in a museum once.

He nodded and mumbled.  [color=00aeef]“Right … boil 18.02 grams of water to produce 22.414 liters of steam.  It would produce a terrific amount of energy in the work of pressure.  Use the pressure in a controlled chamber to convert it to mechanical force.  Piston.  Expansion into the piston chamber would allow the steam to cool partially.  I sort of get the idea.”[/color]

When Mr Livingston pulled out money and handed it to Victoria, Xavier looked distinctly uncomfortable.  He hated the idea of borrowing.  But he remained silent.  In truth he was fully clothed.  His needs for clothing was a convention of the times.  And he promised himself to make up for the costs by working hard.

The mention of the piano made his face light up an he failed to suppress a grin.  [color=00aeef]“Mind if I check to see how badly out of tune it is?  Won’t take but a second.  Need to see it it needs any new strings.  If it has been too long, some may be ready to break.”[/color]

He found the piano was at least dusted and not too badly scratched.  It took him mere seconds to realize why the piano hadn’t been played in so long.  Victoria’s mother was missing.  He kept his silence for a moment.  Then he looked back at Victoria seriously then turned and spoke to the piano.  [color=00aeef]“Well, then m’lady.  It would seem that you have been neglected for a time.  Allow me to introduce myself.  I am Dr Xavier Thomas.  Let’s have a look at you shall we?  Say ahh.”[/color]  He was speaking to the piano as if it were alive.

His fingers started running over the keys from the low end playing every single note in rapid succession.  He made an awful face.  [color=00aeef]“Oh dear.  Laryngitis.  You poor thing.  I’ll have to get you fixed right up just as soon as I get back.  Let’s see if anything needs replacing.”[/color]  He made access to the strings and ran his fingers over them lightly for a few minutes.  [color=00aeef]“I was afraid of that.  But I can fix this.  But I’ll have to do it later as I need to give it my full attention.”[/color]  He closed the piano back up and patted it gently.

He turned to Victoria.  [color=00aeef]“For now, you have my undivided attention,” he glanced round impishly, “but we better hurry before something else in this toyshop distracts me...:”[/color]

He kept his questions until much later, after they had picked out some clothing.  He had had no idea of his size or measurements - or rather he asked what units of measure they were accustomed to.  And as usual he was constantly distracted by everything like a child who had never ventured into the world.  But he kept his mouth shut mostly unless asked directly.  He liked to smell things.  A single sheet of paper seemed like a miracle to him.  He called it ‘real’ paper.  He stopped and stared at a horse and buggy as if he had never seen one and almost wandered off to inspect it.  He studied people on the streets watching every mannerism.  He muscles seemed to twitch as if being on the verge of mimicking them.

They passed by a card con game - one of those “guess where the lady is” razzle dazzle one.  You know, with three cards, one usually a queen.  Then the scam artist swaps them about so fast your eyes can’t follow.  Xavier actually grinned as if, for once, he knew how the game was played.  As they watched he shook his head each time the player was wrong.  The guy running the con looked up at Xavier with annoyance.  But Xavier knew better than to get involved and started to lead lead Victoria away.  The player had also noticed Xavier’s shake of his head.

[color=39b54a]“Mister!”[/color] the loser called out.  [color=39b54a]“You think you could do better?”[/color]

Xavier closed his eyes and reached into one pocket of his duster.  Out came his deck of cards.  He began cutting and fanning the deck, at first with one hand, then two.  Then he pulled off a number of sleights.  [color=00aeef]“Why yes I do.  Card on the far left.  That’s the queen.  I used to play the game as a kid.  I know how to win and how to cheat.  I used to take men like you for just enough to get by, enough to buy food.  His game is actually pretty honest, just enough deftness of his hands to make the game a matter of almost random chance for you.  One in three makes for good house odds for him.”[/color]  He nodded his head to the dealer.  The man turned over the queen.  Xavier smiled.  [color=00aeef]“See, honest game.”[/color]

[color=00aeef]“I might actually play and let the lady make a few guesses, but I’ve had some troubles recently as you can tell from my manner of dress.  So I am off to deal with that little problem first.”[/color]

Once out on the streets and alone with Victoria, Xavier apologized, then was back to asking questions.  [color=00aeef]“What is penmanship?  And coal and quilt?  I’m sorry, but some of your words are unfamiliar.”[/color]  His stomach growled as if to remind him how long it had been since he had eaten.