Forget the Past

Forget the Past Part 15

Changes

"You are not eating." he had noted the fact. "I will behave." his eyes twinkled almost mischievously. "You can drop your vigilance."

She lifted a stern stare. "You are too complicated. I do not like complicated men."

"You like me." he knew, returning to his plate. "And I like you, to an extent, so...let us choose another topic. What are your plans now? Where do we go from here?"

"We?" Elsbeth hoped she had not heard him correctly. "I would hope, I...go about my way and you, return to your life."

"That is not what you want and you know it." he shifted a sage look. "I suggest, we solve your problem that we might return to 'our' life and get on with the business of living it."

The blue eyes clouded over. "Too much has passed between us that we simply cannot pretend does not exist." the woman knew the truth. "You are just being obstinate."

"The pot calling the kettle black. I hate tea." He grimaced, putting his cup aside. "What is it that has passed between us that is so overwhelming for you?"

"You are a man, you would not understand."

"As a man...I can solve your problems." he pointed out his virtues. "Which is more than you seem able to accomplish."

"I can solve my problems." she turned sullen.

"You haven't, up to this point." he also pointed out. "...the cannery is a passable idea but I was thinking along the lines of...textiles."

Elsbeth scowled darkly. "And what do we make these textiles of...thin air?"

"Sheep are much cheaper a commodity than constructing an entire factory out of thin air, say. And they offer other benefits."

The girl's mind churned frantically. "...We have no sheep. There is not one in the entire village."

"There is a goat." he teased. "Or there was until it fell off a cliff. I will purchase sheep and then, there will be sheep...in the village."

Ellie was lost. "But we already have boats and there is fish in the ocean."

"As I said...a viable thought but until there is coin to purchase the needed supplies to construct a cannery." He let it set for a while. "Sheep will supply that coin over a reasonable amount of time."

The girl scratched her head, her manner one of agitation.

"Brain hurting?" he held his smile. "The gentlemen coming down from London are looking for viable investments. I can convince them to invest...in your village but there must be more than one avenue of venture within the community. I was thinking beyond the cannery, actually."

"Stop." Elsbeth insisted. "This is moving far too fast for my liking. I must think it through."

"By that time, the opportunity will have passed." he grinned. "Listen to me." the man insisted right back. "...All the major shipbuilders are located in London and major cities which gives the companies power to set prices. Which are exceedingly high at the moment because we are dealing with only two major manufacturers."

"I do not care." she snipped. "What about our cannery?"

"...If another company, say...a small independent one, to start, comes on the scene and sets their prices more reasonably. Some serious business opportunities could arise for that company."

"That sounds like it would cause bad feeling with the larger companies."

"That is their problem." Erich shrugged his shoulders, buttering his bread.