Free Falling to the Viking by M. Garnet Page B

before handing the cup to Kathryn. The old lady seemed very pleased with this entire process. The little girl indicated a shallow bowl with some local coins laying in it.
    Kathryn lifted the cup to her mouth, cautiously. It was very hot, so she blew before she took her first sip. Oh, this was good tea. It was strong and the cream was rich with real cane sugar. She smiled over the edge of the cup at the woman as she placed a dollar in the small saucer next to the local money that was already there. Kathryn hoped it was okay.
    She finished the tea, finding that it helped her whole body relax. For the first time in hours, once in her seat on the next bus, she slept deeply.
    The next station was in the middle of a busy small town. This was where she had to board a ferry to go across a channel. She made her way to docks that were close to where the bus passengers unloaded. She found out there was only one ferry, surprised that it but surprisingly it looked was large and substantial. However, as she looked out over the water, she began to appreciate the size of the boat. She could not see the other side of the so-called channel. It was very wide.
    It took two hours of choppy water to reach the other side and she had to admit she was glad that she had not eaten anything. The boat docked by beside a busy marina at the edge of what looked to be a rather busy small city. There was a sign that read Hals .
    So…this is was where she was to meet her aunt. She waited for her travel bag and backpack. There weren’t any porters, but her items weren’t that heavy, so she just lugged everything through the small clean station and out the front door to stand on the wide sidewalk, where and then she got her first taste of culture shock.
    There were a couple of cars, but she had no idea what make or how old, but they were not new. She saw more horse-drawn wagons than autos and a lot of people walking. There were also quite a few bicycles.
    More than that was the colors. It was all so strange because the colors were on the buildings or within the food stands. The people were dressed lightly in the bright sunlight, but the items were mostly greys or browns, or washed out blacks.
    People spoke politely as they moved around her, giving her a big smile, whether it was a man or woman. She tried to move out of the way with her totes. Of course, she didn’t understand a word they said. Okay, tonight in her room, she was going over that dictionary she had purchased to learn a few simple polite words.
    She knew her aunt spoke, English as all the communications had been in the plain old American type of words. She was remiss, though, in forgetting that everyone else around her probably didn’t speak anything but Danish. In Copenhagen, she had heard English and German in the announcements along with the signs posting the same languages.
    But, hell girl, you are not in Kansas anymore.
    At this point, she was aware that a man was waving at her from across the busy street. He was beside one of the older cars as he had the back door open. Okay, she didn’t need the interpreter to tell her this must be someone from her aunt.
    Since there was as much foot traffic on the road as there were animals and vehicles, she shouldered her backpack. She lugged her tote, thinking it would be nice if the guy would help, but he just stood, holding the car door. She carefully weaved through the polite traffic, smiling back at all the white teeth in return, and finally reached the vehicle.
    With a heavy accent, the man introduced himself. “I am Mikkel. I work for your aunt. I will take you to her home.”
    Well, that seemed to be the extent of his talking, because after he got her into the back seat and put her items in the trunk, he did not speak again. She thanked him, but then tried to ask a couple of questions. This all fell on deaf ears as he carefully drove through the slow, mixed traffic until it thinned out as they reached the edge of the small city.
    Even though