[color=0072bc]“Not a riddle.  Not a joke.  I am trying to explain why so much of everything is strange to me.  Imagine a man living to day suddenly going back five hundred years.  Imagine how different the world would seem.  Would guns exist?  Steam engines?  And even the language.  I know how confusing what I am saying is.  I know how hard it is to believe.  I am only going to ask you to keep an open mind and accept that very little here is familiar to me.  If I ever seem confused by something everyone ought to know, consider that this is why.  And understand that I respect the thoughts of a woman in all matters - even those most men of today might think are beyond a woman’s ability to have an opinion or interest.

“I could use some lessons in how to write.  That would be a good start.  I don’t even know what you use.  They used feathers, right?”[/color]  This time he was only partly right.  Most people now used quill pens. The latest in a series of versions had recently been patented and was very similar to those used in calligraphy into the 21st century.  The principle was the sample.  The quill PEN was more durable and less prone to leaks.

[color=0072bc]“For now, I will try to stop the crazy talk.  I just needed to talk to someone about … And I have to decide just how much I have to integrate - become part of - this time.  Everything I do will change the future.  The security system that prevents bypassing the 2 hour limit needs work.”[/color]  Again he stopped and looked annoyed.  [color=0072bc]“Sorry, I know, crazy talk.  But you asked how I know these things.  I know them because for me they have already happened.  My past; your future.

“But to explain it all at once is too much.  When we are alone again later and you are ready to listen, ask.  It doesn’t have to be about this crazy stuff.  Ask me anything about science - especially math or physics.  Although it would be easier if I had a way to write the explanations down so you could see them better. Non Euclidean geometry was developed in this century as I recall.  In fact, next year Klein, uhm …”[/color]  he stopped.

Xavier smiled a little embarrassed.  [color=0072bc]“See what a pretty face can get out of me.  I just can’t shut up around you.”[/color]  He broke out into a mischievous grin and wouldn’t stop smiling all the way back.

++++++++

When they got back to the Livingston home, Xavier asked where to put all the boxes.  The suits needed to be hemmed.  Xavier offered to do that himself - if someone would show him how.  But that was considered women's work and Mr Livingston had work for Xavier to do.

Xavier wanted to work on the watches - starting to cleaning and simple repairs.  To him they were the easiest to understand.  And so long as he could work alone, he could do the work a dozen times faster than the old man.  

The first watch had been dropped in mud into  manure pit - literally.  Cow mess.  As the old man described it Xavier struggled to keep a straight face.  He was grinning by the end of the man’s explanation of the task.  The man figured the watch was already too corroded to be fixed.  Xavier considered that the best part of the job.  He liked doing what others considered impossible.

[color=0072bc]“Well, cleaning a watch out of something from the south end of a cow isn’t my idea of a dream job.  But I shall give it my best effort."[/color]  He scraped a small sample of the dung out and did a litmus test.  That impressed the old man a bit.  Then he took some vinegar and diluted it.  Then he got a small paint brush.  The old man left Xavier to it.  Xavier was showing a real knack for the work.

Once left to work on his own, Xavier pulled out a small flat coin shaped canister about the size of a half dollar and twice as thick.  It was really just a solution he used to clean his glasses.  But this solution was from the 24th century and made from picotech.  To say it repaired scratches and pits would have been inaccurate.  It actually drew from the surrounding material to fill in the imperfections to generate a mathematically smooth curvature.  All he needed was a broken piece of a gear or spring and he could return the watch to factory specs in a few minutes.  He was cautious to reduce the effect so as to not make his work look TOO good.  That would have been hard to explain.

Xavier started grabbing other watches and explained that the first one needed time for oil and conditioning.  By dinner he had completed half  week’s work.  And he had the manure watch working as good as new.  He had even polished out a stain on the glass face that had been the result of a cigar.

Finally it was dinner time.