While she ate, the button on Electra’s sleeve fell out of the frog loop. She didn’t hook the button again, reaching for her wine instead. The sleeve pulled back from her wrist to expose her watch, which she hadn’t thought to remove.
“What is that?” Simon asked and pointed to her Seiko.
“A watch.” What a bizarre question. There wasn’t a corner of the planet that people didn’t recognize a wristwatch.
A frown slowly formed and he stretched across Emily and took hold of Electra’s hand to tug it toward him for a better look. He turned her hand over and in a matter of seconds had the clasp undone.
He brought the candle in front of his trencher closer and held the watch under it. “What do the numbers mean?”
“It’s a clock, a miniature timepiece you wear on your wrist.”
From his expression, the explanation puzzled him. “Do they not have candle clocks in this Greenland you claim you’re from?”
How to explain the abundance of various clocks to a man who apparently has no context for the anything beyond a candle clock or similar ancient means of telling time?
“Are you saying you’ve never seen a clock?” Emily asked.
“One like this? No, I have not.”
Emily bent her head nearer Electra and whispered, “Are you thinking what I am?”
“Sadly, yes.”
Simon ran his finger over the watch face. “These small digits, what is their meaning?”
“It’s the date and year: 5.14.15.”
He shook his head. “What year is 15?”
“2015, of course.”
“You are mad. It’s the year of our Lord, 1357.”
“What year were you born?”
“1327, why?”
Electra didn’t care for the speed which Simon answered. She held onto the small hope this was some odd reality show and that he’d stumble or hesitate before coming up with a year. “No reason, I was just curious.” She turned to Richard who’d been chatting with the serving girl. She tapped his arm. Getting his attention she asked, “Richard, what year is this?”
He tipped his head like a dog hearing a strange noise. She assumed he too thought her mad for asking. “1357. Do you measure your years differently in your native country?”
“Yes, it’s a different time there.” A different world. She looked over at Emily, who’d been listening. The color had drained from her face.
For both their sakes, Electra fought to keep from falling apart in front of the whole room. She failed and began to tremble uncontrollably. She balled her hands into fists and turned from Simon to Richard. “I need to go outside. I feel sick.”
“I’d like to go too,” Emily told Simon.
“I’ll go as well.” He smiled. “Just to make certain nothing untoward befalls you.”