The Clocks

As the two left the house, Miranda thought back to when she'd first met Mario. At the time she'd assumed that it would be much as 10 years before he would be ready to be fully recruited. She'd only been off by about five. He was smart, inquisitive, and sneaky. Very sneaky. He'd come up with his plan for gathering information all on his own, and he'd just turned 19 when he had done it. It was also a very good plan.

It would be interesting to see what, if any, influence he would exert on Eugenia.

Genie would have answered "none" had she known what her mother was thinking. She was prepared to stay angry at Mario for the entire duration of their ride, but she soon found it impossible. Discovering that he was a Senior Journeyman at his age... She didn't know exactly what it meant, but he was much younger than the others of his rank she'd met.

While she sulked, Mario gave a running description of what he'd seen on his way to The City. He had a lovely baritone voice, and it was obvious that he paid attention to all manner of things. His description of the origin and probable path her rather plain looking broach had taken to reach The City fascinated her. She'd never thought of it as anything but a rather simple bauble that she valued more because it had been given to her by her older brother Paolo than because of its monetary worth.

What she learned from Mario was that it had probably come from China, and it had likely taken anywhere from two to four years to reach her. She was fascinated. Before she realized it, she was talking to him as if she'd known him for years instead of less than two hours.

He was very patient with what were probably naive questions about the world outside. Clearly he knew of how little most residents of The City travelled, and not once did he show a sign of impatience.

The idea that she might, because of her link to the others, be restricted in her movements had frightened her. She had always planned, hoped, that she'd be able to travel someday. She'd been with the family as far away as Milan on three occasions when they'd visited relatives in years past, but she knew that there was so much more to see, and her desire to see it caused an almost physical pain. Thinking about it made her wonder why they'd not travelled anywhere in the past six years.

The further they rode, the lighter her heart became. When they passed the five kilometer road marker, she was nearly ecstatic. They were at least six kilometers away from the others, and she felt just fine. When they reached the warehouse belonging to The Company, she could no longer contain herself. She was riding a young mare that had somehow picked up on Eugenia's excitement. When Genie loosened the reins and gave her a bit of heel, the mare took off at top speed across the field adjacent to the buildings. It was glorious.

The spring flowers flew past. They sky was an incredible azure blue, with just the right number of fluffy white clouds to keep it interesting. Everything was absolutely perfect...perfect......perf.......

"Eugenia. Eugenia! Genie! Are you OK? What's wrong?"

She shook her head, and glanced around. What the? She was back by the warehouses. She turned to an obviously distressed Mario, who was holding the reins of her horse. She took a deep breath and inventoried herself. Other than some very slight wooziness, which seemed to be fading by the moment, she felt fine.

"I'm fine Mario. What happened? The last thing I remember, I was riding through that field over there."

"It was more like you were flying, but, yes, that's where you were. You both seemed to be enjoying yourselves when you suddenly reined her in. For a moment I thought you were going to fall." He nodded. "Yes, you did pull her up that short. It's a good thing she's the cooperative sort. Otherwise she might have been irritated enough to buck you off.

"After that you just sat there, with the reins up against your chest and your head hanging down. Once I caught up with you, I took the reins and led you back here."

He looked at her carefully. "I don't have any medical training to speak of, but you look like you're feeling OK. Are you?"

"Yes. I'm feeling totally normal now. Give me a second."

She dismounted then walked back and forth a few times. When she was satisfied, she performed a few basic kata. Everything seemed to be working normally.

Mario looked at her inquiringly.

"Yeah, I'm normal, at least as best I can tell. I wonder what could have happened."

Mario asked, "You don't have some kind of chronic illness do you? Your mother told me that if you looked faint I was to bring you back right away."

Understanding flashed in her eyes. The look Genie directed at him was so anguished that it might have thawed the heart of the Snow Queen. Then she collapsed onto her knees and wept.

Mario dismounted and quickly tied the horses to a hitching post outside the closest warehouse. Then he trotted back and began to pat her on the shoulder, over and over again. He had no idea of what else he could do. He considered hugging her, but they'd just met, and he didn't know if she was the kind of person who responded well to hugs, or one who needed to be alone in times like this. Whatever "this" was.

When she felt that she could speak coherently, she raised her face, with tears still running down her cheeks and whispered, "I thought I'd be able to fly, but it looks like this bird has clipped wings. All I'm going to be able to do is dream about the sky." Then she buried her face in her hands and wept some more.

Mario waited semi-patiently. Much as he wanted to do something for her, sometimes all you can do is wait. His curiosity was beyond maximum, but any good trader learns how to wait early on. Some deals depend on the customer being ready and not on how good the trade is.

Finally she pulled out a handkerchief, blew her nose and said, "I guess we'd better get the horses and head back. It looks like today isn't nearly as nice a day as I thought it'd be."

Mario looked at her dubiously and asked, "Are you sure you're OK to ride?"

Seeing her nod, he waited till she had mounted and then did so himself. "Wait here a bit please. I still have to talk to the guard at our warehouse about two things." He pointed to a building about three hundred meters away. "It won't take but six or seven minutes. Is that OK?"

Genie nodded. As he rode off, she pulled out her water bottle and took a long drink. She examined the buildings, wondering what the best way to break in would be. Perhaps her mother could arrange for her to practice someday. As her mind idled, she began to feel slightly woozy again. That didn't make sense. She wasn't moving. So why?

Gradually the feeling passed. When it did, she looked up and noticed that her horse had been walking slowly toward Mario. They were about 200 meters apart. It didn't make sense. AT ALL. But...maybe...just maybe. She was well aware of the concept of "grasping at straws." Even so, she hoped she was right. An experiment was in order.

She turned her horse and walked her down the road away from Mario. Sure enough the wooziness gradually returned. When it got to the point where it was getting fairly bad, and she was feeling slightly nauseous, she turned back and took another look. Hmmm. About 350 meters if she'd figured the size of the buildings and their separation accurately.

Mario had finished whatever business he'd had, and had begun to ride back toward her. Sure enough, the closer he got the better she felt. Once he got to about 150 meters she felt just fine. She looked up at the sun. They could be back at the inn in just over half an hour if they trotted. Once they had turned in the horses, they could have lunch. Assuming that Mario would be free afterwards, they needed to talk to her mother.

Whether he was free or not wasn't all that important. This couldn't wait.

(Well of course it could wait. Even several days considering that Mario had a layover that would last a week, but you need to remember that Eugenia was only 17 years old. "Impatience" might as well have been her middle name, which was another reason she wasn't yet being considered for anything but the most simple field work.)

Once they had gotten back to the inn and washed up, they went in to have lunch. Things were't too busy so there were a number of free tables. It wasn't a Festa week, and most families preferred to go out in the evening on Saturday, not in the middle of the day, mostly because many people worked at least half-days.

Mario slid onto the bench of a table by a window. Out of long habit he liked to be able to see what was coming, even in the safety of a city. Eugenia started to sit across from him but found herself sliding in next to him. She really didn't think about it. It just seemed to be more comfortable for some reason. Mario stiffened in surprise, but he soon relaxed and enjoyed the sensation.

Alicia waved off the server and went to wait on them herself. First the twins and now this one. How very interesting, especially as she was with Mario. While he was training with Aldus, she'd heard a lot about him, and it was mostly good. The past two years on his own she'd seen much more for herself, and she liked what she'd seen.

She took their orders then hurried back to the kitchen. There was no chance that they'd notice the foolish grin on her face once she was on the other side of the wall.

As they headed back up the hill after lunch the streets became busier. Many of the shops had now closed and people were bustling around doing whatever errands had needed to be put off until the end of the week. After a couple of people with too much on their minds and too little attention for where they were going had bumped into them, Genie, much to Mario's surprise, took his hand.

She explained it by saying, "It'll take too much time to find you if we get separated. I don't want you getting lost on the way back to the house."

He considered reminding her that not only did he already know the way, but he'd been there many times in the past. After giving the idea due consideration, he realized that it really wasn't important and, besides, her hand felt quite comfortable in his. He decided not to say anything and to let her have her way, at least this time.