During the reign of Ferdinand II, the court of the Holy Roman Empire had been dominated by the priesthood. While that was less—much less—the case in the Austro-Hungarian court of Ferdinand III, they were still a faction with considerable influence. Besides, being a bit drunk, Father Lugocie had forgotten the change of status. “Your dress is an offense to God.”
The young woman turned to face him. “Really?”
There was no way for Father Lugocie to know it, but he had picked on the wrong girl. Vicky Emerson was fully aware of the audience and had chosen her little black dress to be unique and different, but within bounds. She was also Catholic, and rather more religious after the Ring of Fire than she had been before it. Going through a miracle will sometimes have that effect. So she had become fairly conversant with the Bible and the many and varied ways it was interpreted . . . and the way bits of it were taken out of context.
Also, Vicky cheated.
“Are you an expert on women’s fashions?” she asked.
“You are presumptuous. I am an ordained priest.” It wasn’t truly an issue of dress. The Austro-Hungarian court was hardly Puritan in nature. It was an issue of religious authority.
“I’m presumptuous? God picked me up, and my whole town with me, moved us halfway around the world and three hundred fifty-nine years into the past. Set us down again without so much as breaking a plate. In spite of which, I don’t presume to know God’s will. Except that, for whatever reason, He wanted me here . . . in this world, in this time. Well, I did learn one other thing from that experience. Do you want to know what else I learned?” Vicky didn’t give him a chance to answer, but proceeded to tell him.
“I learned that in spite of all the supposed experts on God’s will—ordained or not—the Good Lord didn’t see fit to inform anyone in advance of our arrival. No Catholic priest, Lutheran or Calvinist minister, no Jewish rabbi, Moslem mullah, or Buddhist monk was there to greet us. No up-timers knew about it, either. There are a number of people who, after the fact, claimed prior knowledge. But they weren’t there when it happened.” Neither had she found a single reference to the Ring of Fire in the Bible. At least not one that made any sense without twisting the reference all out of shape.
Father Lugocie brought up Deuteronomy 22:5 and Vicky returned Deuteronomy 22:11 and 12 and added that while her clothing was clearly female dress, his was diverse. He seemed to be about four tassels short. She ended with, “Funny how people pick and choose the rules from the Bible that they decide matter.” They traded a few more barbs back and forth before a fellow cleric pulled Father Lugocie away. The main, or at least most immediate, effect was that everyone in that part of the room was reminded that the Barbies had actually experienced a miracle. People got a bit more formal. The title, von Up-time, which had been treated as something of a joke at first became a somewhat more serious appellation.
* * *
As Father Lugocie was led away, Count von Eisenberg turned back to Hayley and bowed stiffly. Suddenly the von Up-time didn’t seem a joke at all. Rather it seemed a description of the miracle that had brought these strange people into the world to change it—and with it the fortunes of all they came in contact with and more. Spreading out before them like the ripples on a pond when a rock is tossed in, save that this rock was six miles across and tossed by the hand of God. What exactly was the social position of someone delivered by God’s own hand?
“Count von Eisenberg?” Hayley Fortney von Up-time didn’t seem offended, just confused.
“My apologies, Miss Fortney von Up-time, if I gave offense.”
“What?”
“I was curious about how the internal combustion engine worked. I didn’t mean any imposition.”
“I wasn’t offended,” Hayley assured him. “But now I’m curious why you thought I might be.”
Now the young count was really confused. She wasn’t acting like . . . come to think of it, he had no clue at all what she was supposed to act like. Nor how he was supposed to act around her. It was a most uncomfortable sensation. “Ah . . .”
“If I promise not to be offended, will you take my word and tell me what’s bothering you?”
Put that way he could hardly refuse. “To be . . . Well, I saw you standing here. Ah. Looking uncomfortable. I . . . well, I thought it would be nice to come over and . . .”
Suddenly she was grinning. “Why, Count von Eisenberg! You came to rescue me.”
Count von Eisenberg felt his face go hot, but Hayley was smiling and he smiled back in spite of his embarrassment. For the next few minutes, they talked about the internal combustion engine versus steam. And Amadeus learned that though Hayley didn’t consider herself a steam head like her father, she did feel that until the supplies of gasoline, refined naphtha, became much more consistent, steam would have a very important place in industry and transportation. “That’s why we built a steam engine for the boats that go to Race Track City.” Her face lit up when she started talking about building things. It actually lit up, like there were candles glowing through it. At least, that’s what it seemed like to Amadeus.