As a Fixer, it's Jane's job to go back to the past and make sure certain events happen as they should. But when her unit breaks down one day, she finds herself stuck in 15th century Korea.
With blond hair and blue eyes she soon discovers life can be...
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The door opens, I breath in, lift my fists ...
A tiny woman walks in, sees me standing and with eyes that almost pop, begins to scream. My fists turn into flat palms as I hastily begin to reassure her there is nothing to fear from me. Oh why oh why was there no black haired, dark eyed Fixer available for this mission?
My Korean must be understandable, because when she finally hears me repeating my 'sorry's' and 'don't be affraid's' and 'I won't hurt you's', she calms down and closes her mouth. The tray she's carrying is like a shield in front of her and I'm slightly awed the contents are still on it. There is a bowl of water and a clean cloth.
"For me?" I point at the tray.
Her hands shake as she sets it down at her feet, a safe distance from me. When I move forward, she moves back and I hold still until she has stepped back far enough for her to feel safe.
My throat burns, so I almost fall down in my haste to kneel beside the tray and clumsily I drink the water. The cloth is wet and I use it to rinse my face and hands as best I can. I probably look like a scarecrow. A very pale scarecrow.
Self aware I touch my hair. I really should have brushed it before I left.
I look up and see that the woman is no longer alone. Beside her there is an elderly man, he has one arm wrapped firmly around the woman, so I guess he's her partner. Husband? I believe that's the proper term in most of history. I wouldn't really know, marriage was never a topic of interest to me.
"Hello, I'm sorry I scared you. Thank you for the clothes."
They stare. They blink and say nothing, simply look at me as if I'm some exotic animal. It makes me uncomfortable. After a few minutes the woman whispers something I can't hear and then she leaves. I make sure I stay perfectly still.
Is this the man who carried me last night? He's only a half foot taller than his wife, I doubt very much it was him. I have to find my way back there. Somewhere on the soil between the trees there is my little, silvery dot and I need that very much. So I sit, smile and wait patiently, because I need their help.
The woman comes back, and with her is a young man who eyes me with so much distrust, I am almost too afraid to admit he is the handsomest man I have ever seen. My heart helps me with that conundrum. It beats right out of my chest and if it hadn't been circulating all that extra oxygen, I would have run out of air much sooner. When he stops next to the old man, who is probably his father, and says nothing, I finally inhale and exhale.
With the tall, slim young man beside then, both elderly people visibly relax. I would too, if only he would look a little bit friendlier.
"Hello", I mumble, trying to break the tension. "Did you ... were you the one who rescued me, last night ... sir?" Am I saying this right? Did I use the correct honorifics? The expressions don't become more hostile, so I think I did. I bow my head and say: "Thank you very much, kind sir."
