Cordelia had changed into a rather casual dress before going on her little trip. She didn't want to attract attention where she was going, so the simpler the clothing, the better. She entered the coordinates without having to pay much attention. She'd gone to this place plenty of times.
"You are going to see him again, aren't you?" Norbert said.
"I am. Are you jealous?" Cordelia's finger hovered over the "Go" button as she waited for Norbert's response.
"I most certainly am not."
"Good." Her finger hit the button. The interior lights of the STAR dimmed as the forcefield came on. The shudder in her seat told her that the moment to abort had passed. The monitors went dark apart from one with the Anomaly Replication Curve. The ARC didn't move up much as she wasn't crossing time boundaries. Cordelia only travelled to another part of the world, which took no more than a few seconds.
"We're here." Cordelia always said that. She didn't really know why because both she and Norbert knew. Quickly she shut down the system after the forcefield had dropped. In her left screen, she saw the familiar wooden wall of the barn she used to 'park' here.
Here, in this case, was Lexington, Mississippi. In the year 1875. Cordelia had come here a few years ago, out of curiosity to see if the town would actually exist already. It did, and it had been doing quite well since it was established in 1836. Lately, she knew, things weren't so grand. A recession was emerging, plunging many people into financial problems.
She got out of the STAR, locked it and left the barn, curious if she would find anything changed. The only change was that wheat was growing around the barn now. At least that was good. There was only one path out of the field. She knew it well.
After a brisk walk, she reached the 'main road' into town. The Weismeier family lived just outside the town. The field was theirs. Well, it belonged to Mr Weismeier. David, Mr Weismeier's son and, by now, her more-than-just-a-friend, took care of it after his hours at the Muskary farm. Cordelia grinned as she remembered meeting him for the first time. She had arrived here for the very first time, two years ago, and he had seen the STAR appear. It had shocked him to his very core. Cordelia still felt sorry for him, for having to go through that. That moment had, however, given her the advantage, because David had been too stunned to use the gun he had with him. The fact she'd been wearing her jumpsuit had probably helped also, as that was more revealing than underwear in this time.
The walk only took her about ten minutes. Mrs Weismeier was outside, feeding the few chickens the family had. That wasn't uncommon; she only worked at the hardware store of her husband if their daughter, Rose, couldn't work.
"Cordelia," the woman greeted her. Mrs Weismeier smiled a tired smile.
"Mrs Weismeier, how good to see you again." Cordelia took the bucket with the chicken feed from the woman's hand and started helping her, even though there was little more to do.
"David was hoping to see you again soon," Mrs Weismeier told Cordelia. "He said so yesterday." She looked where the sun was. "He should not be long now. Would you like to come inside and have some tea?"
"That would be nice," Cordelia said, enjoying the sound of this woman's funny dialect. The Weismeiers had come to the States five years ago. They were Jewish and from Germany. Using Norbert's knowledge, Cordelia had learnt what Jewish meant. Those things had mostly gotten lost in the past century but it was important that she knew about this. David and she had become more than friends, so doing this right was important.
As they sat and talked, time went fast. Footsteps outside on the wooden veranda announced someone was coming. Cordelia's heart jumped as the door opened and David came in.
"Cordelia..." His tanned face split in a giant smile. "How nice to see you."
Her first impulse, as usual, was to jump up and hug him, but that would be considered offensive in this household so she got up and took his hands for a moment. Rough, calloused hands with fresh cuts and more scars than she wanted to see. "David. I am glad to see you too." He excused his appearance and took his leave to wash and change into something more appropriate. During that time, Mrs Weismeier commented on Cordelia's efforts to come over to Lexington.
Together with David, she had come up with the tale that Cordelia lived in a tiny village near Lexington, no more than 4 houses on a patch of land, where she allegedly rented a room from an old landlady. The landlady was real, and David's parents would never want to meet her because of her strange convictions.
Cordelia still had to find out what those convictions would be. Maybe, one day, she'd go there and have a look at that woman.
"It is not a very long walk," Cordelia said to Mrs Weismeier. "I have walked further."
"You have said so before," the older woman said, "but it is quite a distance for a woman alone. Anything could happen, Cordelia. It would be nice if, in proper time, you could settle closer to our house." The unspoken 'with David, properly married' hung between them.
"That would indeed be nice," Cordelia affirmed. Settling down wasn't so much on her mind yet, but having a future with David sounded very good.
At that moment David returned, cleaned up and in fresh clothes. "Would you like to go for a walk?" he asked. He loved going out walking with Cordelia, and ask dozens of questions.
"David..." His mother looked at him. "She has just walked ten miles to come here. Give her a moment to rest her feet, the poor goya."
Cordelia smiled as she heard the word. Goya meant woman in the Yiddish language, which was what the family often spoke among themselves, despite being in the United States. David had once explained goya to her and pointed out that it was a good word. Had his mother called her shikza, it would be clear she didn't like Cordelia, or at least she wouldn't hold her in high esteem.
"I'll be fine, Mrs Weismeier," Cordelia said. "David doesn't walk that fast so I will be able to keep up with him."
"Hah." Mrs Weismeier huffed. "He always runs." She looked at her son and rattled away in Yiddish, making him nod very often. Cordelia would love to know what his mother was telling him. Oh well, if it was important, he'd tell her later.
David looked relieved when his mother stopped talking. He thanked her, got up and looked at Cordelia, who also thanked his mother (even though she wasn't sure what for). Together they left the house.
"So what was that all about?" she asked as soon as they were at a safe distance. Mrs Weismeier's ears were notoriously sharp.
"Oh. Nothing important. She thinks the world of you and she made me promise I'd take good care of you so you won't leave." David looked at her for a moment. "You have the heart of my whole family, Cordelia. Even my sister likes you very much."
That made her smile. Rose was a nice girl. Then she asked what had happened to his hands. "I've never seen them so bad, David."
"It was... a difficult day at the farm," he simply said, making a feeble attempt to hide his hands. Before he managed that, Cordelia carefully took one of them in hers and looked at the wounds. Maybe she had something in her small cabinet at home that might help. She knew she couldn't hold his hand for too long, though. They were 'just friends' and there were houses around from where they could be seen. This was a nice little community but rumours and gossip were of all ages.
"Come. Let's walk a little further out," she suggested. David was all in favour of that, even though that might cause some gossip too. A man and a woman, walking off on their own... But they had decided not to care about that.
"Where have you been?" David's question didn't surprise her. She had been honest with him about her past from the first moment they had met. At least, after his shock had worn off and she had convinced him she was real.
"Today I went back to 1331, near Salisbury in England," she said. "Someone had asked me to hide something and that was a good place. I put it near the cathedral there, which they finished building last year. In a few days, I'll need to recover something."
David squeezed her hand. "It is amazing what things you do, Cordelia, but I don't like that you have to do such things for ganifs."
"For what?" Sometimes he slipped in a word that puzzled her. It was fun to tease Norbert with those words. Often it didn't know them either.
"Ganifs. Thieves. Bad people."
"Oh. Yeah, I know, but they usually pay very well. Staying alive is more important than staying on the right side of the law at the moment." Cordelia wasn't too keen on dealing with thugs either, but they were good for her 'business'. To that, she knew she had an edge on the crooks since she knew where their stuff was, and she was the only person who could retrieve it for them. It did make that she had to be very careful and reliable. It was hard work to build a good name. One glitch and she'd be out of business indefinitely. Not a state of being (or rather not being) she was looking forward to.
"I wish I could accompany you on one of those strange journeys," David said. Cordelia wasn't certain if that was out of curiosity (it had to be) or from his desire to keep her safe (which was so endearing).
"We talked about that, my love," she said. "As long as I do these things alone, it's not dangerous. The more people involved, the more danger comes up. But maybe we can take a trip to somewhere someday when I am not doing a pick-up or drop-off." She noticed a momentary change in his step. Whenever she said 'my love' to him, he seemed to be surprised, shocked almost.
"Yes. I would like that."
She noticed how he looked around, then put a hand on the small of her back. They stopped walking. A moment later they were in each other's arms, finally free to give in to the feeling, without people watching them.
"I have missed you, David," she whispered. "I wish I could have come sooner."
"So do I," he said, his lips close to her ear. "I hope you have not been waiting for too long for me."
The problem, of course, was that Cordelia could arrive at any time she wanted, but that wouldn't make him be at home any sooner. She popped over nearly every day. Sometimes there were moments she simply couldn't because of the time she had to spend on her business. Days could get very long and then she was too tired to go to Lexington and David. They both knew that and hated the situation but Cordelia wasn't ready to settle down here, marry David and see how they would stay alive while he had no other job than what he did now. There was little future in that, and Norbert had explained about the economic collapse that this area was about to face.
After holding each other for as long as they needed to, they resumed their walk.
"Is there a time and a place you would like to visit?" Cordelia asked.
"I... I wouldn't know. You know so much more about the world and... the future... Where would you go? I would go anywhere with you."
Cordelia had already given that some thought. It had to be a place where David wouldn't attract attention. And a place that wouldn't scare him, yet it had to be somewhere that would show him something amazing from the future. At least his future. STARs weren't able to travel far beyond their own production date. The official limit was twenty-five years ahead, but Cordelia knew enough of the internals to adjust that. Tinkering with that, however, could present the STAR driver with unknown dangers. It was standard STAR Production INC policy and Cordelia understood that rule had been implemented for a good reason.
"Maybe it would be fun to go to the past instead of the future," she suggested. "What do you think of that? I could take you to ancient Rome. Or to see the palace of one of the French kings." She studied his face and saw wonder and confusion in his eyes. "I'm sorry, David. This must sound so strange to you. Maybe it would be smart to take you to my house in England first. We could go out for dinner together. I would know the right place for that."
"That would be very nice, yes." David sounded relieved. "Then I would be with you, and I'd really travel in your wonderous machine. And speak with it." David had seen the STAR's interior a few times. Only the third time had Cordelia introduced him to Norbert, after telling David about the voice without a body several times. It had been difficult for David at first, but he had gotten used to it by now.
Cordelia knew he would have loved travelling with her sooner, but until now she had never felt safe with that idea. Their situations were so different, and she had to be so very careful, despite being hidden in 1875 England. "Let's do that. I'll make some reservations at a restaurant and get some clothes for you that are better suited for such an occasion." She smiled as she thought of him all dressed up. He'd look so good. She already knew the kind of suit she wanted to get for him. "When do you think you could get away from here for our evening?" As she asked that, she shivered inside. She was going out on an actual date with this man and she was looking forward to it.
The entire date proved harder to plan than they both had thought. For his family they both lived near here, so going out together (if that was at all an option) would have to be in Lexington where everyone knew everyone. David wouldn't be able to skip an evening meal with his family without attracting attention, and with him working six long days a week, the only option would be Sunday. With the religious background of the family, that day was out of the question. Cordelia knew by now that proper Jewish customs saw Saturday as the holy day but 'modern America' had forced them to adjust that to the Christian Sunday.
It was only on their way back to the house that Cordelia had the insight that would make this possible after all.
"At what time do you go to work on Saturday?" She knew he'd told her once, but it had slipped her mind.
"Around half-past six in the morning. I need to be there around seven."
"Cool. I have an idea..."
They walked a lot slower as Cordelia shared her plan with him. David had a quick mind, which she appreciated so much because she hardly ever needed to repeat or explain something.
"That is wonderful, Cordelia." David looked at her in that special way only he managed. It made her heart melt a little.
"I'm glad you think so. I'll make the preparations for Saturday evening and I'll be here tomorrow evening with a few suits to try on so we know what fits you." Saturday was three days away, which would give them plenty of time.
"This is so exciting!" David threw caution to the wind and hugged her, if just for a moment. After that intimate moment, they walked back to the house where his family was already waiting for them because. as usual, Cordelia was expected to stay for dinner.
~
Sharing a meal with David's family was always a highlight in Cordelia's life. She felt safe with them, and she could be as much herself as she was able to in this strange situation. David's father Jacob and his sister Rose talked about everything that had happened in the shop and greater Lexington.
Cordelia gracefully avoided the details of what she had been doing. Again it worked, but it was getting harder as she was getting more and more seen as a part of the family. She'd have to come up with something that would occupy her here if she were to live with that sour-puss landlady. Something that would help her pay the rent and other bills. Opening up about her business wouldn't go down well here. Maybe David could help with that.
After dinner, David offered to walk her home. He always did that, and his parents appreciated that very much. Especially in the evenings, so they said, one could never be certain if bad people were hiding somewhere, waiting for the innocent to pass. Father Jacob handed David the big rifle he kept in the corner. It was an old-fashioned but impressive safety measure. Cordelia was convinced that a shot from that gun would split someone in two just like a laser-gun would do. She was also convinced that the recoil of that gun would break several of her bones.
The walk to the barn where the STAR was waiting was over too soon. Dusk was slowly changing into proper darkness, stars appeared overhead.
"Be careful, David," Cordelia said. "And thank you again, for being here." She held both his hands and looked into his eyes.
"I will be careful. Promise me that you will be careful too, faygela."
She loved it when he called her that. Little bird. "I will. And I'll see you here tomorrow evening." Over dinner, they had already told his parents he'd pay Cordelia a short visit the next evening and they were fine with that. That would give him enough time to fit the suits she was going to get.
It was hard to let go of his hands, but he had to go back home and so did she. Carefully he kissed her on the cheek, then he stepped back. "Goodnight, Cordelia."
"Goodnight, David." With effort, she turned and went into the barn, glad he didn't come in as well. That would only make this harder.
"Welcome back," Norbert said as she got into the STAR.
"Yeah..." Cordelia powered the system on and tapped in the 'home' coordinates. "Let's go. We have stuff to do tomorrow."
The forcefield came up. She pressed 'Go'.