Through the Standing Stones

Chapter 16

Izzy awoke from a wonderful, dream filled sleep, to a large warm arm across her waist and a large hand holding hers. She smiled to herself and allowed her mind to wander off to daydreams of living with Simon at her little farmhouse in the mountains. Waking up with him every morning, taking him exploring in the forest, going hunting and simply sitting enjoying the sunshine by the creek.

Her daydreaming stopped when she felt Simon stir, anticipating he would be uncomfortable at their closeness and immediately leave. However, she felt him squeeze her hand and heard a soft sigh. Not wanting to disturb the comfort, they lay like that for nearly an hour, not saying a word, until the need to use the loo and get some caffeine, prompted Izzy to get up.

Over coffee, Izzy suggested that since they would be staying for longer, they could go grocery shopping and cook at the cottage. After his experience at the store, buying clothes, Simon was curious about where they would be buying their provisions. Izzy explained in detail how like the clothing store, food and essentials were available to buy in one place and that Simon would be amazed at the choice.

Wrapped up against the cold, they headed off to the small supermarket further into the town. As expected, Simon was wide eyed at seeing the unbelievable range of food and had lots of questions about many of the items he didn't recognise. Izzy chuckled at how he would fare in an American supermarket, that would be four times the size of this little village store. Thinking back to when they'd travelled together to get provisions, their choices had been limited, so Izzy asked him about the types of food he liked. 

Simon thought about the question looking puzzled "I simply eat what is available or that which I kill" he said bluntly. 

So with much discussion about the varieties and styles of cooking and how Izzy used different ingredients from other countries, Simon simply stated that he was willing to eat any food that Izzy felt was worthy. So to give him the opportunity to try different types of meals, other than the English food she'd ordered, Izzy decided on a couple of pasta dishes and a couple of rice dishes, as well as some snacky foods. Even the checkout was a source of learning for Simon, who was curious to know why Isabelle used a small card to pay instead of coins.

Back at the cottage, they relaxed on the sofa, discussing everything to do with bank accounts, credit cards, how they could buy things online. That's when Izzy had a stark reminder that many of the things she took for granted, Simon had no knowledge of and had no equivalent in his time.  Izzy made sure to add computers and the internet onto the list of things to teach him when they returned home. 

Izzy was in absolute awe of Simon, who was such a sponge for knowledge and found that she couldn't help but gaze at him in admiration at his thirst for learning. Sensing her gaze, Simon stopped talking and took her hand in his "My dear Isabelle, have I tired you with my many enquiries?" he asked looking a little guilty.

"Oh no, definitely not Simon" she said warmly. "I was just thinking about how amazing you are. Instead of being worried and scared of all the new things you're having to take in, you just want to learn more" she added, with a grin.

Simon blushed slightly and squeezed her hand "As you found yourself in a strange time, you had so much courage, sweet lady. With you by my side on this journey, I have no such fear" he replied bringing her hand to his lips.

The early evening was spent showing Simon the few modern gadgets in the kitchen and the modern practices of cooking a meal. In Simon's lifetime and while Izzy was with him, he'd only ever cooked using an open range or a camp fire, so the complexities of gas hobs and ovens were quite an eye opener for him. Simon threw himself into the whole process, even showing off his knife skills when he was supposed to be chopping vegetables, much to Izzy's amusement.