N.B. Spellings (if correct) are in UK English. All the characters in this story are fictitious, any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. The author neither condones or endorses any of the activities detailed in this story, which could well be illegal in certain jurisdictions. I'm adding (for legal reasons) that apparently if you're under-age you mustn't read this, so if that's the case go away and grow up.

Authors note – Like 'Past Times' this story has an alternate setting on a common SF trope, therefore a slow lengthy build-up, those few people saying they prefer 'immediate action' instead of a plot-line won't find this to their liking.

The readers on this site have been shy with regard to making comments.

All the authors here have chosen to provide you with free entertainment, free does not mean worthless... If you've derived any enjoyment speak-up, it won't cost you anything, it may give the newer authors in our midst the spur to continue, while older lags like myself may wish to hear of the characters or plot devices which appeal to our readership. A form of ongoing dialogue even through criticism is appreciated – it's the only payment we get!

Writing is my hobby, so subject to my quirks, including my magpie-like collecting of really useless information, or my strange sense of humour. On a whim I've sprinkled throughout this story a bunch of (38) Easter Eggs, i.e. titles or quotes from literature, film or music, though who will be the first to find any of them?

Part 1 – Thomas moves!

Thomas was approaching an advanced age for the time and place he lived, thus he picked up another pot of ink created from fire soot, tree galls, resin, together with a host of other minor natural ingredients which he'd discovered worked over time through trial and error.

He was writing his life story, one which was totally incredulous, though due to his lifetime of perseverance his own descendents and a good many more besides would now have the ability to read it for themselves.

He felt it would do little good describing to his people the time and place in which he was born and raised, needless to say it was another realm far beyond their wildest imaginings. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries would have no meaning to them, nor would the history of the country in which he'd lived, nor the world which he had once thought of as home. As an engineer by temperament and training he'd been a voracious reader right from his earliest memories, almost as if he'd been preparing for the strange twist of fate which had so utterly changed his destiny.

As a child he'd loved adventure stories, Robinson Crusoe through to later science-fiction tales he'd read during his teens. He wasn't just obsessed with the way mechanical devices worked, harking back to the fundamental first principles of physics or chemistry, he would read about anything from anthropology to zoology, while au-fait with modern trends in the area of medicine he also looked backwards to see their developments throughout history.

While considering practical science and factual historical tomes to be edifying, among his guilty downtime pleasures were reading internet authors who wrote post-apocalyptic tales, time travel, and those erotic fictional stories that were outside of the mainstream genre.

Typically some alien entity would warn the main protagonist about their transportation into a distant realm being in another parallel time-stream, similar to the earth but essentially somewhere else. The hero would then have time to gather together a set of supplies that they'd be allowed to take on their one-way journey. Sometimes the tales were outlandish in the quantity and complexity of goods, the whole premiss in a way compromised through the apparent need to include every modern-day appliance.

Back then placing himself in a similar circumstance he would've imagined maxing-out all his credit cards, as being elsewhere the payments wouldn't be his problem, but those had simply been pipe-dreams at the time.

He had been thirty-seven years old; while his working life had been rather successful the same couldn't be said for his personal relationships. He surely liked women well enough, he'd even imagined he'd loved a few of them, but once they started to get their feet under the table, they each thought they could change him!

Equality was all well and good, but he was who he was, and they always thought that it was quite reasonable that he should compromise beyond some tipping point where he'd have to give up on those hobbies or pastimes that made Thomas the person he'd become. Rock climbing, hill walking, and visiting sites of historic interest instead of mindless sitting on a beach sunbathing, or clubbing to loud music you didn't like weren't ways he wanted to spend time with a lifelong partner, hence his failed serial monogamous relationships.

He enjoyed wild camping, but the opportunities were few and far between. After stepping from the train he'd hiked several miles to the commercial campsite that would serve for his first evening. A small enough site just outside a little Dales village, plus it had a pub for a few fine pints of ale to ensure he slept well till the following morning; then he would set off for his own little wilderness adventure...

Although that was a long time ago and a world away he still clearly remembered the shock waking-up the next day. As the sunlight filtered through the tent fabric he thought how all the other nearby campers were being so quiet and considerate, thinking perhaps the lazy bastards were sleeping-off one too many drinks from the previous evening, on that line of thought he would need to drain the tank, he was bursting for a piss, which was probably why he'd woken so early. Once away from it all he'd sleep naked, but in regular campsites he wore baggy swim-shorts as nightwear just in order that he didn't need to scrabble for something to wear in the semi-darkness just for a hurried trip to the toilet block.

Still not fully awake he pulled himself from his sleeping bag, concentrating on finding the tag on the tent zipper to make his exit.

Climbing through he stood dumbfounded, rubbed his eyes then looked around again but that scene was the first glimpse of his new life... gone was the campsite, the village, plus everything he'd known from his past, was he in fact having a vivid dream?

He'd looked around, pinched himself, but it had been real and had continued to be real ever since that first fateful morning. While figuring out what to do next he took a long piss a short distance away from the tent, looking down initially he thought he was holding in his stomach, the beginning of middle-age spread. The walking holiday had been part of a fresh resolve to mend his ways, to regain his former levels of fitness.

Okay he wasn't where he thought he was, had he hiked for a day or two then had some kind of brain episode, a mini-stroke or something similar which had erased a day or two of his journey. Awful as that sounded it was the most logical conclusion, therefore he ought to break camp and head back towards civilisation for a medical check-up immediately.

Thomas didn't quite camp like most people, his specialist tent in rather drab green brown camo colours to be deliberately less visible in the landscape, much like his hike clothing, even his rucksack looked old-fashioned and rustic again in dull muted colours.

Using a little of his bottled water he bushed his teeth, not bothering with a strip wash nor to get shaved, hence he didn't use the mirror from his wash-kit, that surprise was yet to come. Looking round he couldn't see any roads, fields or drystone walls, in fact it was odd not seeing signs of man's influence upon the landscape, not even the ubiquitous litter that got blown on the wind to the remotest of places. As there were no outstanding landmarks visible in the landscape there was little point looking at his Ordinance Survey map until he reached something recognisable, because his phone had been stolen at some point during the train ride towards his adventure he couldn't use the GPS facilities that it provided, not that it would've proved useful anyway.

He'd learned hill craft the old fashioned way with map and compass, even able to figure out the cardinal points from moss on the trees and suchlike if it remained overcast with no shadows or sun visible in the sky. He felt it odd he didn't recognise exactly where he was, though it had been several years since he'd hiked in the same region - or so he thought.

Even without a precise location it wouldn't much matter which direction he travelled as he would hit a road within a couple of hours whichever way he walked, in fact that was part of the problem of upland walking unless he visited the highlands or islands of Scotland. Looking to the sky he thought it might rain, while the undergrowth and scrub made him decide to wear trousers rather than shorts to protect his legs from being scratched to hell in the seemingly trackless area. The undulating ground limited the view in any direction so he'd maybe follow any beck he found as that would surely lead him to a village, on the other hand a prominent hill could give him a wider perspective to then pick a good route.

After some hours walking he was confused that he'd not encountered a tarmacked road, in fact he hadn't even seen a footpath or way-marker of any description. Having checked he was walking in a generally straight line, not going round in circles, maybe it was simply his bad luck as one of those few moorland stretches that was unbroken between roads which were parallel to his course, just out of sight to his left and right, but he hadn't heard any road noise, nor had he seen any trails in the sky – but it was becoming more overcast.

He checked his watch, it had belonged to his grandfather, a fairly valuable chronometer of its type, a good quality mechanical watch popular with navy divers that wasn't phased by adverse conditions, plus it wouldn't pack-in for want of a new battery. He was surprised to discover he'd been walking for closer to three hours yet amazingly he didn't feel half as fatigued as he might've expected. He considered changing direction, then deciding it made less sense than continuing on the same heading, beginning to wonder if a possible brain episode was affecting his sense of judgement. No, the longer the straight line he laid on the ground the sooner he was going to reach a road where he could flag down a ride.

He heard the water before it came into sight just behind a rocky outcrop, a fresh spring as it emerged from a crevice into a little pool which then drained off as a small watercourse that he intended to follow. The water looked so cool and inviting, and while he wouldn't of course drink from any old stream, the spring itself would've been filtered, so unadulterated by any farm run-off, or dead sheep as was a possibility as you got further from the source of a spring fed stream. He couldn't remember the last time he'd encountered such a nice refreshing naturally fed source of water which hadn't required sterilising pills to ensure it was safe to drink, then you had to shake the bottle and wait until it was finally drinkable.

He sat down taking off his backpack to rest for a while and eat a pack of trail food, the bar making his fingers sticky he turned to the pool to wash still marvelling at the clarity of the water, that area mirror still clear of the ripples. Leaning over the water he caught his own reflection, his actions suddenly frozen in shock – it was as if seeing his own reflection from

more than a decade or two previously, late teens or early twenties when he'd been at the peak of physical fitness. The second shock of a trying day, he couldn't believe what he saw in the water, instead digging the wash-kit from his rucksack to find his shaving mirror.

The image of his younger self gazed back, his hair thicker more vigorous, his swarthy skin aged by outdoor activities once again youthful, the mirror clearly providing a more faithful reflector than the pond's surface.

What the Fuck!?

He now studied his hands more closely, until now he'd been concentrating on his strangely unfamiliar surroundings thinking he was suffering from some brain-fart, so as to have lost a period of time from his memory, now he was totally unsure what to believe. His having a form of vivid dream didn't account for three hours of steady walking complete with birds and wildlife, nor the weather, or those changes he could now plainly see in his own body.

Sitting beside a gurgling pool, attractive though it might be wasn't getting him any closer to finding some answers. Is this what Alice felt like on falling down a rabbit hole?

Deviating from his prior course he now followed the tiny brook to wherever it might lead as he couldn't formulate a better plan still reeling from the shocks of his current situation, but at least he hadn't had any odd conversations with talking animals as yet. The ground gave away no secrets if he wished to follow the watercourse, keeping him within a shallow defile that limited his perspective of the surrounding landscape.

His next clue was the sight of smoke ahead – together with the rank smell!

Around a slight bend the ground opened out becoming flatter as the origin of the smoke and odour became apparent, a hovel the likes of which he'd only seen in illustrations or in films depicting scenes from of some historical event. Even calling the sod and turf dwelling a hovel was being generous, and although he couldn't see the entrance as he approached from behind, he could hear two voices. At first they seemed to be talking in a language or dialect he'd never heard previously, then abruptly and without explanation he understood what was being said...

“His Lordship's Steward says I've to pay two hanks of woollen yarn come next market day for being on this land and for collecting firewood, or I'm to be his indentured slave for half a year to clear that debt.”

“Anywhere within one hand of days or more walking is still upon his lands, so you'd best find labouring work on one of yonder farms, or sell something soon lest you find yourself in trouble as a debtor. I said before someone would notice that you built this homestead on land where you had no rights, too proud to live in some regular shared hayloft with other yeoman stock.”

Despite the awful malodorous smell of human waste and rotting garbage Thomas stayed in hiding listening to their conversation occurring not more than a dozen yards away as he learned of the local area. Like those historical re-enactments at country houses with actors in period costume playing the part of historic characters he listened intently about the lives of these people. While seemingly unbelievable they weren't playing to a large crowd of fee paying customers, but having what they thought was a private conversation.

He knew they were speaking a language the likes of which he'd never heard before, but it was as if he had some AI assistant do instant translations inside his head, or possibly the fabled babel-fish stuck in his ear. Their society seemed to be equivalent to something that vaguely resembled a medieval feudal society with various local Lords ruling whatever area they could hold by force of arms, while mostly everybody else were surfs without much in the way of rights, or in property ownership without the say-so of their regional overlord.

It appeared this hovel although away from a 'main-road' wasn't actually too far from either nearby farmsteads or from a local township near to where the Lord of the Manor resided. For this reason the man was being charged an 'exorbitant' fee for having built this hovel without having first sought permission. Had he made a request first he would have been charged less in rent – if the construction had been allowed, which was doubtful anyway as this local Lord, or more likely his minions kept a close eye over the domain and the people living within his aegis.

Thomas didn't believe he could learn anything of further use from just listening-in to two country bumpkins having an idle fireside chat. He considered idle to be the correct term, because in an equivalent medieval society from his own understanding life was usually a brutal dawn to dusk struggle involving hard manual labour to earn a crust of bread, while these two loafers just sat around bemoaning their own hard luck.

Anything more he wished to learn would be through engaging them in conversation, and although he'd never spoken their tongue he felt an inner assurance the words would come to his lips without trouble. He stood quietly stretching his muscles before heading around to the front of the hovel to make his presence known.

It seemed the two dishevelled men were as shocked by his appearance as he was looking at them. He couldn't accurately gauge how old they were, they both had matted scraggy hair and beards in need of a good barber, every aspect of their skin and clothing shouted out that washing or cleanliness in general as foreign to their nature. Their rough clothes were poorly fashioned from some form of coarse homespun fabric, most likely of wool.

His own hiking gear was relatively clean, though had it been muddy it would've still been a vast improvement over the shoddy garments worn by the two peasants who treated him with a good deal of reverence. His one day stubble and overall appearance clearly set him apart from the locals if these two were anything to go by, and he shortly discovered they were fairly typical of the downtrodden surf class. He didn't have any trouble conversing as the two men took him for some dignitary from some far away land due to his own strange clothing as seen from their viewpoint.

The forelock tugging and kowtowing to his 'magnificence' then seemed so foreign, as he'd just stepped from a society where centuries had been spent eroding any distinctions from the point of a class system. Despite all his wishes otherwise, from the evidence available he had to admit it didn't look like he was in Yorkshire any longer, there was no yellow brick road, and he wasn't in Oz or Kansas either. Each passing moment only confirmed he was in some equivalent medieval society having very distinct social classes, and if he was stuck here through some cosmic accident he didn't want to be one of those unfortunates at the base of that dung heap. He would use all his education and intellect to ensure everybody knew he'd originated from the highest echelons of some important if far distant kingdom.

In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king, and from every indication this place was riddled with ignorance and superstition. Within his own realm he'd been considered a well educated guy, but even a dunce with a minimal twenty-first century high school education would be an intellectual giant among these people if the peasants could barely count up to ten without straining themselves.

Although he was offered a meal, one look at the pottage beside the fire almost turned his stomach, politely declining he mentioned that he'd eaten his midday repast only a short time ago. He did discover the direction of the town, together with the name of the Lord of the Manor to whom he should pay a visit as one dignitary to another.

Being a rational person Thomas held no religious beliefs, but he recalled there was some nun's prayer about having the grace to accept those things which you couldn't change and improving those things which were within your power to alter. Little did he know back then how those thoughts would echo throughout his life from that point onwards.

The 'main-road' into town could've easily been mistaken for a half-forgotten rutted farmers track from his previous location, proving they had both carts and horses, stepping around more fresh 'horse-apples' the closer he came to the vibrant hub of city life. He was taking the piss, as he approached the sprawling village which he viewed as a student of history.

Mostly the better houses were half timbered wooden cruck frames in-filled with wattle and daub with overhanging thatched roofs, the lesser dwellings to the edges were huts little bigger than the average garden shed, yet probably homes to a whole family. He'd paused a couple of times along the way to engage people in conversation wanting a better handle on his current situation, the stench of medieval life a constant reminder that it couldn't by any stretch of the imagination be some vivid dream or perhaps nightmare.

Although he'd recalled dreams on occasion, they didn't have the level of sensory detail he was experiencing on a second by second basis. It was mainly the smell and filth that made the most impact, he found it unbelievable they could cope with the conditions even if they didn't know any better. Although he wished his nose was somewhat less sensitive he had become hyper-aware of his surroundings, for he imagined cut-throats existed, though he had no idea of their local laws, or how they were administered.

He was slowly gaining information about the town and the society in general even from his casual observations of the peasantry. A factor that he'd discovered from talking with a few people was that they didn't have words for some concepts he tried to put across, thus he found himself introducing a word or two of English into a sentence, then having to explain they were words from his own homeland as he then described those concepts in broader terms using words which did come to mind within their own local tongue.

He supposed because it was a rural setting the singular street was fairly wide allowing for hay-carts passing in either direction to pass by any parked carts, because it was a place bustling with activity. It appeared perhaps a few of the outlying hovels had been removed for a new 'grander' residence to be erected, he found it so interesting to watch these tradesman that he paused once again, as he was hardly in a hurry to get anywhere.

No JCB's, barriers, or hard-hats, just men grunting as they struggled to move each heavy timber into place, then another cart arrived with further supplies and the men gathered to unload the cargo of large beams, the horse attached to the cart was startled by something at just the wrong moment causing a timber to be dropped. A heart rending scream issued from one of the workers, as the others lifted the beam from his obviously broken leg.

Thomas didn't give it a moment’s thought being an advanced first-aider; what he hadn't in fact done for real, he had at least practised in simulations. Whether it was his demeanour or his mode of dress, those standing around were used to taking orders from their betters. By some miracle the skin was unbroken although the thigh-bone most certainly was, and while the man was in shock he felt for blood vessels in the lower leg to assure himself that the femoral artery was undamaged.

Confident he could manage the situation he ordered someone to bring back staves which were no thicker than three fingers as no thoughts came to mind for any sort of measuring system. He then asked someone else to locate several strips of strong cloth the length of his outstretched arms. Thomas overheard a few comments as how the unfortunate man would be dead within a span of days, giving no thought to the poor chap who could hear what was being said about his zero chances of survival.

A man who appeared to be the foreman showed-up, apparently from the tavern nearby where he'd been enjoying an extended liquid lunch. From the hygiene standards Thomas had observed so far he wouldn't be drinking there himself any time soon. Thinking back to all those science-fiction stories the entity responsible for moving the protagonist to some distant realm usually ensured the hero was immune to local bacteria or diseases, though he wasn't willing to take that chance never having met the alien being or whoever was responsible for his sudden unannounced dislocation in time and space – or whatever.

This new character was more concerned that work had ceased rather than the fate of the unfortunate man with a broken femur, seemingly quite belligerent, used to throwing his weight around when sober, probably worse from having a few drinks. As Thomas couldn't do much until he had splints pads and bindings he stood to address the newcomer causing the chap to back away. Aside from being better dressed than the locals, he was at least a head taller than most of them, and obviously fit and healthy.

The general sentiment was why bother as he's going to die soon anyway, but as Thomas struggled to find the words for some sort of apothecary, their word for herbalist came to his lips, asking if one lived in the neighbourhood. Another person was sent on that quest as people returned with the staves and cloth he'd requested. Having cowered the foreman to clear-off Thomas explained to those gathered round that he would set the ends of the bone together, then with padding, splints, and bindings enable the entire limb to be held fixed in place for several weeks until the bone naturally knitted back together again.

He warned Nathan it would briefly be painful as he set the ends straight, though when it healed over the course of two moons he'd walk again once he regained his strength in the leg muscles which would weaken from lack of use during this period of healing.

He had his fellow workmen hold the man down as he prepared to straighten the thigh bone, holding up his splayed fingers to say it would happen on the count of five, but upon reaching three he pulled against the contracted muscle and the ends snapped into place to the accompaniment of a loud scream. This 'entertainment' had caused a crowd to gather, and Thomas soon found himself introduced to the herbalist who wanted to know why he'd set the leg on three, instead of five as stated.

“An old medical trick from my lands, Nathan would likely tense his muscles on the count of

five making my task harder, therefore surprise was in my favour to reset the bone.”

“Now my friend do you have any Feverfew for that will help prevent blood clots, and some garlic as that is a good general aid against infection, and finally a decoction of willow-bark to reduce Nathan's pain.”

Seeing as these words immediately came to mind, Thomas realised the locals knew about these plants, but he still had no clues about whether he was on some analogous earth, in some alternate dimension, or even what country he might be in. Truth was none of those things really mattered though he did need to learn more about his current location, details concerning their social structure, the economics so he could survive comfortably, and their knowledge about metalworking together with all the other fields considered 'cutting-edge' in this apparent medieval state of development. It was quite possible that their progress in some areas might be more advanced than in others which would be dependent on a list of variable factors he couldn't even begin to imagine.

He did imagine John the herbalist was probably among the most educated people he had met at that point, needing a vast wealth of knowledge if he was any good with remedies for ailments that were treatable with commonly available plants. While the guy couldn't be called clean, he was certainly less filthy than everybody else, so possibly he might be the first person with which to cultivate a friendship, they could exchange useful information to benefit them both.

Thomas realised that living in such filthy conditions these people might have a more active immune system if they were to survive, but seeing as their were no breaks in the skin he wasn't going to make a fuss about washing the leg before he arranged the splints as John observed the process and asked reasonable questions. It seemed 'medical practice' was in their realm almost non-existent, in fact Thomas had to define the words in terms that this fellow could understand, the study and application of the art of healing the body.

From necessity Thomas maintained the story he'd travelled from a far distant place where many things were very different, and that he was halting his wanderings for a time to see if this was somewhere he might choose to settle down, or if he'd later move onward again.

Nathan was transported to his home on an old tabletop to be cared for by his wife, while they relied on the charity of neighbours who seemed keen to learn if he might live or die.

Thomas during those first few weeks astounded the locals in that he lived in his tent that he'd pitched some distance outside of the town, although John had offered him lodgings in his own meagre dwelling.

Seeing as each morning Thomas woke to find the surroundings hadn't changed, he had to reconcile himself to the fact, that fate or some alien entity was playing some party trick of 'move the human' into another environment for their own strange amusement, and he just had to play the cards he'd been dealt. He hadn't immediately sought to seek an audience with the local Lord of the Manor, wishing to orientate himself, gain additional knowledge of his situation rather than make some stupid error which could have unforeseen results.

Of course John had provided a wealth of information about their society in a dialogue that had useful data passing in both directions, the man eager to learn of strange foreign types of medicinal practice while he filled the holes in what Thomas knew of local commerce and in the geopolitics of the land called Honalee, and this particular fiefdom was controlled by the Lord Roth. From what he could gather the Lord's Manor House was a fairly large grand building with many surrounding buildings in a defensive perimeter. To his estimation from what he learned was an hour's walk from the town, all their measurements were imprecise

as the roughly circular kingdom was about a six day walk to the border in any direction.

The distance any one person could walk in a day varied a good deal, but supposing that he took it as twelve miles which wasn't overly far for a population who walked everywhere most of the time rather than on carts or horseback. Six days at twelve miles gave a radius of 72 miles, scratching the numbers on the ground he estimated that enclosed just over sixteen thousand square miles. His best guess made that an area twice the size of Wales. From what he'd learned about population density, the spread of farms, mines, and that of industries as much as they existed it truly was an undeveloped area, although it provided a good deal of wealth for Lord Roth who collected a tribute from all of his subjects for his own coffers, and to fund an irregular force to defend that realm from the odd incursion or raid from neighbouring Lords.

John knew nothing much about what lay in those lands beyond, suggesting the merchants travelling around selling and buying goods might have knowledge about places which they visited on their wanderings. These things Thomas discovered for himself over the years, but he felt well enough informed to meet Lord Roth when the opportunity arose, learning that the normal hereditary line was through the male heirs, but as one son had been lost through sickness and another in battle, his daughter was the only legitimate line because all his bastard offspring didn't count even if they were male.

John had become fascinated with 'germ theory' tiny monsters too small to see who might attack a person through an open wound, thus the need for cleanliness, and washing with water which had recently been boiled, but had then attained a comfortable temperature without being tainted by the addition of cold unboiled water. He had also been transfixed

watching Thomas try to recreate a basic type of all-purpose lye-soap made from rendered animal fat and ashes from a fire pit.

The first batch had proved far too caustic for general use but further experiments proved gentler, more user friendly, even better with the inclusion of lavender or sweet herbs, and even extracts of Soapwort. They knew of the two foot tall plant with it's distinctive pink flowers, though until then only used it for the processing of wool along with Fullers earth, or later to occasionally wash a few items of clothing, though not for personal ablutions.

Religion and superstition as much as it existed locally was a veneration of the sun, moon, and the spirits of the earth, but not in any formal or organised fashion. Thomas realised he stood out as being foreign, firstly he was possibly amongst the tallest of men, secondly his clothing was finer than anyone else, then he was clean shaven, whereas all adult men had trimmed whiskers if they weren't sporting the more regular full face fungus. He knew his own pack of replacement blades wouldn't last that long, and he had worn a neat beard himself in the past, so with modern scissors he'd be far better groomed than the locals.

While John had accepted the notion of hygiene, he still baulked at the thought of actual immersion in water, as drowning was a common death from people slipping into ponds or rivers, being dragged down by the weight of sodden woollen clothing. Aside from roasted haunches of freshly killed meat Thomas declined offers of hospitality, still unsure if his own immune system had been hardened to this environment, although his stomach and guts hadn't rebelled to that point, having run out of freeze dried camping supplies.

To pull his own weight economically so to speak, he'd set out snares near his camp for the odd rabbit or hare or unidentifiable creatures contributing to John's table. At least the laws allowed people to feed themselves from the local wildlife, having no laws against poaching the Lord's deer or whatever. The local economy relied heavily on barter although a locally based coinage existed which was controlled by Lord Roth's treasurer. Strong free yeoman or labourers might earn up to three coppers a day; ten coppers equalling one silver, but the general coinage didn't go higher than that because few people had any accumulated savings. The quarters were quite literally coppers which had been roughly divided into four quadrants, and one of those would buy you a large flagon of ale or two bread loaves.

Tenant farmers paid a levy from all their crops and livestock, while many of the labouring surfs received little more than their meals and some form of communal shelter from the elements. Those people having a trade or profession were considerably better-off, John the herbalist saying he'd recently been far busier with Thomas around, as this inevitably raised his own standing too because Nathan hadn't died as yet.

Having visited the guy himself a couple of times, he'd provided his wife with some of the milder soap, and given instructions on the care of a bed-ridden patient. The man himself seemed surprised to be alive, a little restless obviously, thankful the pain wasn't worse as it would have been without the broken leg immobilised in splints.

During those first few weeks Thomas had discussed all manner of topics with John all the while thinking of products or practices he could introduce which would firstly make himself a comfortable living, then secondly raise-up the local hygiene standards because he simply couldn't imagine living with the awful stench for the rest of his days. The next major event was the arrival of the birthing woman, what he'd call a midwife. She had called by John's dwelling to collect some of the fresh herbs she used in her trade, on the way to attend the birth of suspected twins.

Beth and John both looked mournful at the prospect, bearing one live child wasn't without it's difficulties, but a multiple birth increased the danger to the mother and babies making a successful outcome far less likely. As in many primitive cultures birthing was considered an all female affair, so Beth could hardly believe the in-depth knowledge Thomas showed about a subject which in their society was at best obscure to menfolk who might've seen cattle or sheep give birth in the fields.

Beth at first proved reluctant to even consider the idea of Thomas coming along to assist with his foreign medical ideas, but in setting Nathan's leg he'd gained a mysterious aura as somebody having esoteric healing powers. He lied outright saying many men in his region were full time midwives, and he'd studied birthing as just one aspect of the medical arts alongside bone mending among much else. From Beth's perspective she would be given at most three coppers if the woman survived, though if the mother and both her infants got through the ordeal alive she might earn a whole silver from the Lord's Steward who was a very wealthy man.

John walked with them though he had no wish to be in attendance himself, having bought along a good deal of his astringent herbs, and several unexpected additions that Thomas said might be useful. During their walk Beth learned a little about germ theory, and why it was common for women to suffer from womb fevers and die after giving birth if conditions weren't considerably cleaner in the birthing room for mother and infants alike.

Despite scepticism Thomas attended the birth, ordering pail after pail of boiled water, Beth taking on the task of bathing the woman thoroughly below the waist, her breasts, and her hands and arms for when she handled the babies herself. The general air of pessimism on any health related subject was endemic to their mindset, get ill and probably you'd die, at best quickly, rather than a slow lingering and painful death.

Thomas had startled Beth concerning his knowledge of moon-times, most men shunning their wives at their monthly bleed when they couldn't have sex, asking whether they used sphagnum moss in their loincloth arrangement as he'd learned was common among those ancient or primitive societies for which there had been any recorded information.

By the time both babies had been delivered Beth and the mother herself were impressed that a man could be so aware of female health problems, and to have so many practical solutions which would likely spread throughout their own local region. Thomas didn't know what a midwife from his own time would've said, but a mouldy slice of bread as an initial towel to stem the flow of bleeding once the afterbirth had been expelled at least bought a minimal dose of penicillin into contact with the woman who probably hadn't been so clean in as long as she could remember!

Henry the Lord's Steward was overjoyed to learn he still had a wife and twin sons into the bargain, giving Beth two silvers for the extraordinary outcome, Thomas refusing any part of the payment stating he was only present to assist a fellow medical professional, and to share knowledge of their subject as learned in different localities.

It shouldn't have come as any surprise when that same Steward called at John's dwelling just a few days later with an invite for Thomas to accompany him to meet Lord Roth.

On the hour long walk he listened more than spoke himself, gaining additional information about the Lord's household and the workings of being a Lord over such a large holding, as he pondered the fact he'd only seen horses used as draft animals, and not ridden.

Because Henry was in such high spirits from the successful outcome of the birth for which he held Thomas mainly responsible, Thomas asked further questions that might have been

considered somewhat cheeky under normal circumstances. Lord Roth's wife although she was in good health was thought to be past her child bearing years, so while Lord Roth still indulged himself with numerous local wenches any male issue from them were ineligible to take his place when that sad day arrived, therefore it would rest upon choosing a suitable high-born outsider to wed his only daughter to follow-on as Lord over the Roth domain.

Apparently she was of a marriageable age, second or third born noble sons from several of the surrounding domains having already visited with thoughts regarding an alliance.

Thomas saw a window of opportunity opening, providing that she wasn't so hideous that he was unable to rise to the occasion and produce a further generation of legitimate heirs.

The people here didn't know him from Adam, not that they'd ever heard of Adam anyway, but he could purport to be anyone he wanted, and there was nobody who could dispute a thing he said because he felt he could outwit the cleverest of these uneducated medieval people who certainly needed help to move their society forwards.

By now Thomas maintained a closely cropped beard and moustache which was far neater than the facial hair of the locals, while separating him from adolescent lads who awaited beard growth to arrive, although his tall muscular body attested to his adulthood alone. Henry had mentioned Lord Roth would be interested to hear of where Thomas came from and about his family background simply because he was such a distinctive stranger.

Thomas thought a 'Stranger in a strange land' but nobody there would connect such an SF book reference, in fact they didn't have a developed writing system, just the odd symbolic notation for 'shop signage' as might be found in an illiterate society. A drawing of a barrel outside the Ale house, and a boot outside the cobblers workshop. Since arriving something over five weeks ago he had learned it wasn't quite Earth, while countless things were the same, there were a few animals which had never featured in any wildlife documentary and numerous plants that had no direct equivalent as far as he was aware. In all it made this entire transference more spooky in that it was so similar yet held these alien differences.

Without actually dissecting a local he'd be hard pressed to say they weren't human, really the proof of the pudding as to their similarity to himself might be through breeding to test if they were genetically compatible. They were both crazy thoughts, he wouldn't want to perform an autopsy, he was an engineer not a pathologist, as for knocking-up some local woman she'd need a damned good wash first – probably several before he'd feel the urge.

He'd been winging-it ever since that first morning, as for the meeting with Lord Roth, he'd play it by ear finding solutions as he went along; so no change there then.

Drawing closer Thomas saw the group of buildings enclosed in a kind of wooden stockade, the central Manor House was the largest single dwelling to date, a footprint of maybe 75ft by 20ft with a true second floor rather than cramped rooms stuck under the roof slopes, a tiny window slot at each end as he'd seen elsewhere. Henry asked if Thomas had a family name or some form of title, sheepishly apologising for not having enquired previously, but he wanted to introduce him formally to Lord Roth.

Thinking on his feet devising something he could remember till he wrote it down he told Henry, but using 'English' words to fill the gaps in the language made it difficult for him to follow. Thomas said he'd introduce himself and explain those terms that were foreign here because there were no equivalents.

If Lord Roth had been the first person of this domain Thomas had met, he would've said the man was unkempt and shabbily dressed, but by local standards that wasn't the case, being less dirty with clothes made of better 'sackcloth' though he was no fashion expert.

Leading Thomas forward Henry introduced his liege as Lord Roth, head of the Roth family and ruler of the Roth estate, then gestured to Thomas to make his own introduction.

“My Lord Roth, my name is Sir Thomas of Yorkshire from the country of England which is far across a great ocean. Aside from my birth to a noble family from which I'm the second son, I'm an emeritus professor of the three great Sciences, and a practicianer of advanced medicine.” That was mostly bullshit, he wasn't born in Yorkshire neither did he live there, but it sounded far better than Croydon, besides that had been his point of departure, the other points were only true when compared to the local population of the Roth domain.

They sat down to a civilised glass of wine, Thomas having already discovered it's alcohol content probably killed most of the bacteria it contained, while he elaborated on his titles and qualifications, stating people from his family aged well, so he was older than he might at first appear.

Lord Roth had heard of royalty in far off lands, so understood the concept of further titled noble families and the difficulties of being a second son, the rest of his spiel Thomas then explained in simplified terms.

“I shall tell you of the three sciences, firstly Chemistry which concerns the study of metals, minerals and other such materials to learn how to make them pure, and how they react or combine usefully with one another. The science of Physics explores the forces and laws of nature to thus create safer stronger buildings and bridges, or better mechanical devices.”

“A third science is Biology, a study of all living things be they plants or animals of any kind, of course the practice of medicine is closely aligned to this science, because knowing all of the bodily systems provides any healer with a greater understanding about how to treat ailments that afflict either people or livestock.”

Lord Roth was curious to learn more, he wasn't stupid merely uneducated like everybody else Thomas had encountered. First impressions were important, and Thomas intended to impress this man and keep in his good books as he was the absolute ruler of these parts.

Fortunately he was blessed with the intelligence to ask the correct questions, such as how a single individual could learn so many diverse skills and remember everything as some of the domain's artisans took several long years just to master one trade alone.

This was his opening...

“Writing and Books my Lord Roth”, he'd had to introduce another two English words then describe how a person could record a message or some new discovery which somebody else could then read for themselves any time they wished. Knowledge could be passed on and copied so that many people could read about basic or specialist skills. Although it was a surprise visit, sprung on him at a moments notice, he had thought about this like some sort of 'first-contact' scenario with an alien race, which to an extent it was.

Because in the village Thomas had been regarded with a mixture of reverence and awe it had kept anyone from approaching his campsite, which had remained undisturbed, though he always carried about his rucksack that contained all his important personal possessions which were irreplaceable. A polymer banknote would only cause confusion, but a couple of coins from his nylon and Velcro camping wallet would do nicely to verify his story of being a nobleman from an advanced country that lay beyond some far distant ocean.

Local coinage were merely stamped circles of metal, the five and ten pence pieces passed across the table were a level of artistry and sophistication that Lord Roth had never seen previously. Thomas explained sometimes a Queen was the head of state, and sometimes it was the King although that varied from country to neighbouring country in his own part of the world. He pointed out the lettering saying how that was the name of the monarch and how the symbols on the other side were for counting showing the 5 for one hand and the 10 for two hands. On a roll he retrieved a seven sided fifty pence coin, then explained how numbers could be expressed in units, tens, and hundreds using base ten rather than their crude method of counting in hands.

With a pencil and sheet of paper he did some infant school sums, adding, subtraction and multiplication. Another rummage and he found a printed flyer concerning tours around one of the local micro-breweries he'd been planning to include during his fatefully interrupted holiday. He ran his finger below the words as he read most of them to his host, because a few were beyond explanation in a medieval society – like phone numbers and a website.

Lord Roth had a host of questions; for Thomas a quote came to mind from some science fiction writer about the future already being here – but just unevenly distributed, and from what he'd learned in a mere five weeks taught him technology as it existed in this strange alternate dimension was very much swings and roundabouts. Regions within and beyond the domain in which he found himself each had their own guarded specialities like mining, viniculture, metalworking, pottery, even glass production. Everything seemed to be run on a small scale with little investment or thoughts of efficiency, furthermore rumours spread that one of his more powerful neighbours had ideas of raiding later into the summer.

From that day onwards Thomas found himself visiting on an almost daily basis being paid to teach maths to Lord Roth's Treasurer, and the dozen or so Stewards like Henry based in those areas closest to the Manor House. The great meeting room in which he taught class was a double height affair open to the underside of the thatch roof with a mezzanine level connected to all the upstairs chambers walled-off with openings having reeded screens.

On several occasions he got the distinct impression he was being watched from above as a faint shadow or blur of motion indicated someone was overlooking his lessons while they were in progress. Aside from teaching maths, he'd taught the kitchen staff and servants a little on germs and personal hygiene. A week later the malodorous miasma surrounding the Manor was noticeable by it's absence, and after surveying the kitchen together with all the staff working there felt it was reasonably safe to eat the food they now cooked.

The lack of standardised measurements made accounting a nightmare, because although goods might come by the barrel, coopers in each town and region would make differently sized vessels, the same went for grain sacks. Teaching numerals 1 to 9 and zero was a far cry from teaching a twenty-six letter alphabet, as those sitting there repeated the letter sounds by rote as he pointed to the large slate on which he wrote the chalked symbols.

He'd spent much of his time learning which reasonably pure minerals he could obtain over the past few weeks, and rather than common chalk of calcium carbonate, he'd discovered a source of magnesium silicate, a little harder, able to make finer makings on a wide range of surfaces. Ground to dust it made talcum-powder, and was often known as French chalk. Slate was a fairly common local mineral allowing him to locate usefully sized work tablets.

It was very much like 'A for apple' but substituting their own words, and Thomas deciding how each of those nouns, adjectives etc would be spelt when it came time to produce a dictionary for the local tongue. At first he thought there was an echo in the room, but the higher voice hadn't emanated from any of the fellows taking his lessons, instead he was fairly certain that it came from the floor above. By learning how the Stewards worked he learned that distant regional sub-Stewards reported to them up a sort of command chain, and from there he saw a crude map marked-out on a cured animal hide with symbols for the various important holdings within the Roth domain with coloured areas beyond which denoted each of the adjoining domains.

While the map showed roads, rivers, hills, and heavily forested areas, the scale accuracy was at best dubious, plus he wanted to ride out to the more interesting mineral deposits or the industrial hubs while he checked the southern border area at risk of conflict. Thomas ensured that he was never parted from his rucksack and the treasures within, and swore Lord Roth to secrecy before offering to show him how cartographers produced maps from the realm of his own birthplace.

Unfolded 'sheet 98' Wensleydale and Wharfedale was a metre wide and not quite as tall, as he could hardly have chosen a map outside of the Scottish highlands having any fewer man-made features aside from a couple of A roads and two rail lines. While the rest was a spider-web of B or unlisted roads linking the tiny hamlets, with Settle at the southern edge having a population of around two and a half thousand people was hardly a metropolitan centre - unless you compared it to the infinitely smaller towns of his current locality.

To Lord Roth even a sheet of plain paper was a technological wonder, but the finely etched colour printing seemed unbelievable especially when seeing on the cardboard cover it was only one of 204 such maps that designated this land called England from whence Thomas had come. Those 204 maps strictly speaking included Scotland and Wales although it was hardly germane to their conversation.

If Thomas carried the more detailed Leisure Series maps at 1:25,000 he would've needed two sheets as his intended route meant crossing back and forth between both, instead it had been simply more convenient sacrificing detail for a single map where he'd walk in the central area. That was a mute point now as 1:50,000, 1¼ inches to the mile, or 2cms to 1km might not mean anything in this realm, but Lord Roth understood the principle that either the building they stood in, or the vastness of his own lands could be represented at varying scales and how useful it would be to have such an accurate map.

The key down one edge gave a reference as to how landmarks, buildings and geographic features were illustrated on the map, but even an illiterate person – once they understood the numerical system could make use of grid references to find a location on the map as Thomas explained PH or Inn meant ale house, and then demonstrated a six figure method for how to describe it's exact whereabouts. The example he chose near the edge of the map was north of Ingleton, although the adjacent caravan symbol wasn't translatable!

Contours, roads and rivers were understandable and useful for both traders or soldiers as it gave an inkling as to the difficulties of moving through the terrain, or the best places in which to set an ambush on your enemies. This wasn't surprising as the Ordinance Survey had once been a part of the military.

During his visits to the Manor Thomas hadn't met the Lord's daughter, he didn't even know her name, but he noticed a maid servant sneaking off with a few of his French-chalk sticks and discovered she was the girl's personal maid. From John he learned that the high-born women lead very separate lives, hardly ever mixing with the common folk, rarely if ever seen outside of the Manor grounds. He'd begun to suspect the Lord's daughter was behind the reeded screens on the floor above overseeing his 'classroom' following the lessons.

Generally speaking ordinary married women spent much of their time caring for infants, once there were no small dependant children clinging to their metaphorical apron strings they worked the farmland like the majority of the population. Few occupations were open to women like, Ale-wife in charge of brewing, Midwife, or harlot, though Thomas still had issues even thinking about touching a local woman no matter how great his need because while better, local hygiene had yet to improve by any significant degree. The one area that had surprised him was dental care, people using crushed twigs to brush their teeth even if they had nothing in the way of toothpaste.

John had taken over the soap production, and now it's use was slowly rising, particularly after people had discovered although it stung any cuts and scrapes it mostly stopped them from becoming infected. To hasten output John had taken on a young widow Ruth who'd been on hard times, though she and her little boy were living at John's dwelling, having taken on all the usual wifely duties. This was of little interest to Henry as Steward of the district, though for any younger couples looking to become wed, there was the issue that Lord Roth might want first dibs on any comely young wench before her wedding night.

Thomas recalled this from history, Droit-du-seigneur, whereby the feudal Lord screwed the bride before her intended groom if the lass took his fancy, or sometimes just because they could. From what he'd heard that didn't stop Lord Roth sticking his Lordly knob in any lass that raised his interest.

While the people were illiterate they did employ tally sticks to an extent to keep numeric records, four vertical lines crossed-out with a fifth to signify one hand, and he learned of their calender having thirteen lunar months of twenty-eight days. Either their year was a day or so shorter, or they'd notice a drift over time, though he later discovered they had a year lasting 364 days. The moon and stars otherwise looked the same, the one and a bit missing days merely simplified their calender. Another aspect of them being illiterate was a popularity for oral history and story telling which further informed him of his new world.

Lord Roth upheld the local laws, and ruled over any disputes which couldn't be resolved by his Local Stewards, although that might come at some heavier penalty. The laws mostly concerned either property or rights, covering a fairly limited scope. While any man could have more than one wife it was uncommon due to the expenses of having a larger family to support. Lord Roth himself had never considered taking a second wife because he had all the pussy he wanted without the responsibilities, and Henry had whispered of rumours that Lady Roth had never liked the idea – and was considered an expert on poisons!

Investigating further Thomas discovered seniority of wives needn't be the order in which they were acquired, as he'd wanted this issue resolved thinking if he wasn't 'at home' any longer he'd fulfill his personal desires to the maximum which his current situation allowed.

To any woman in the district who wasn't married, and even some that were he was ideally placed as husband material. Healthy, tall, exotic, and of noble birth with strange skills from far away places, plus he was in favour with Lord Roth.

He was certain if he fell over in the street, young ladies would throw themselves under his body legs akimbo to provide a sample of what he'd been missing. Although Lord Roth by their rules had 'first rights' he felt due to their friendship, together with the fact he was almost treated as an equal made Thomas suspect the old boy wouldn't pull rank.

The reason this had come to the fore was Ruth suggesting Sir Thomas might wish to meet her younger cousin while he was eating one evening at John's household, Ruth together with her son were now adherents to improved personal hygiene, which might be expected as she was heavily involved in the soap making. John seemed annoyed accusing Ruth of overstepping her place because Tina was practically an old-maid at three hands without any sign of a suitor over the past few years. Thomas said his friend shouldn't scold Ruth because she was only trying to be helpful, on enquiring why Tina had been passed over he found she held fanciful ideas, and had trouble paying attention when handed tasks of work even if she wasn't really lazy, she was easily distracted.

He wasn't even sure if he'd be interested, after all she was incredibly young, though in this world she wasn't, she was seen as past her prime, he needed to reset his own thoughts to align himself with their local attitudes towards personal relationships. At home they might well label this girl ADAH or some such nonsense, people not fitting into the expected social pegboard got stuck with labels, more to the benefit of big-pharma, almost being victims of a system which somehow hadn't existed before the days of chemical interference.

When he did meet Tina he imagined she'd been forced to wash by her older cousin Ruth in an attempt to make her more appealing to his standards of cleanliness. Even through a mop of unkempt dishwater-blonde hair and residual grime she was attractive, but it wasn't surprising the local men found robust women more to their liking with so many physical tasks to be performed on a daily basis. Pretty features counted for nothing if a girl couldn't carry two full milk pails or whatever else that might be deemed useful locally.

He wouldn't have classed Tina as stunning, though queuing for the bus to school back in his own realm her fellow male pupils, and many a grown man would've surreptitiously had a second or third look at her perky form and pleasant countenance to fuel their fantasies. Just like people everywhere she made an effort to comply with local expectations putting on a front which he explained was unnecessary as he was an oddball character himself so he wanted her to tell him truthfully her feelings, and if it was boredom or something else that caused her attention to wander from a given task.

It took a while to gain her trust, that these weren't trick questions he was asking, as soon he came to discover her innate curiosity caused this lack of concentration which often got her into trouble. Her mind frequently screamed 'why' but she came up with few answers, and nobody else seemed to care, so she'd stopped asking questions as she tried to figure out things for herself with scant success.

Thomas talked about the three sciences and of medical practice as he'd explained to Lord Roth, then he asked Tina if she'd like to become his first apprentice. While she was very keen to learn from him, she seemed despondent that he didn't consider her as a possible wife, her thoughts being she was by now too old for most men.

He wasn't going to mention in his own realm she was considered too young, hell he'd find himself in deep shit – but that was there, and this was here.

“Tina I do not think of you as too old, many of my ideas will seem strange to you, but you have an open enquiring mind, and providing you are willing to examine and evaluate new thoughts about everything you've ever imagined then maybe you could become my wife.”

He'd never seen anyone so excited, she appeared bursting with joy as she clasped onto his body, the top of her head not even reaching the height of his own nipples such was their difference in stature. Being so curious about the world, and knowing Thomas would be willing to provide answers caused her to ask many questions on their route to John's dwelling, as he had to explain the concept of an argument of sorts where answers could be nonsensical without gaining some other piece of knowledge first. At her frustration he likened it to being unable to build the roof of a house until you'd first laid the foundations, then put the walls in place beforehand.

John actually lived right towards the edge of the town/village nearer to the meadows and the woods that provided his raw materials. Not crowded-in with nearby dwellings his yard area now held several barrels and half barrels for both the soap making process, plus one that was reserved solely for bathing. Tina's single garment, her dress, was clean by local standards, although by now those who knew Thomas understood his own ideas of clean were considerably more stringent than their previous notions of that concept.

While they had no taboos regarding nakedness, women might nevertheless be reluctant to expose themselves for fear of sexual assault in unfavourable circumstances, but in light of what might be considered a proposal, Tina meekly assented to him removing her dress as Ruth topped off the tub with some freshly heated water. Thomas was likely to have a good soak every other day, his friends maybe not so often, with Tina sitting the water reached her chin as he repeatedly ran soap through her hair and rubbed it into her scalp relieved to find she wasn't infected with the lice that were a fairly common complaint.

She was perhaps a little skittish at his personal attentions, but accepted this as a ritual of his people to which she should become accustomed as he washed and touched her where only she had touched herself before. Tina had rarely seen a comb, and never one which had unbroken teeth, though this one was neither wood or bone, able to bend without fear it would snap into pieces.

Thomas had to reassure Tina he owned a good many things which might seem strange to her, but they were irreplaceable products from his unimaginably distant homeland that he would never be able to replace. She was to regard all these things as secrets which could not be shared with anybody else unless he said otherwise. In setting some ground rules for what he hoped to be a successful partnership he told her that he wanted to establish himself in a powerful position due to his 'foreign' knowledge, and that he'd maybe gather a few more wives along the way, and he expected them all to get along nicely together if they didn't want to incur his displeasure.

He'd put the coins he'd earned so far to good use, aside from the purchase of the barrels and tubs, he'd acquired the best cloth he could find, and a small though growing stock of all those minerals available in a reasonably pure quality. One cloth he employed to dry his much cleaner looking blonde sprite, her hair now the colour of ripened corn. He couldn't decide whether her original dress needed to be washed a dozen times or burnt as wearing it again after bathing wasn't a sensible option. He had her hold her arms aloft as he used one of his poly-cotton T-shirts to clothe his – bride!

The soft material draped very nicely over her perky breasts, a modest B-cup by his best estimate although that wasn't really relevant in a world without fitted bras, in fact only the most endowed of women thought to arrange some winding cloth to keep an ample bosom in place to prevent discomfort. Tina on the other hand offered an undisputedly fine display of stiff nipples which gave away her excited state through the thin cloth the like of which they'd never seen before from any nearby district.

Truthfully speaking Tina was less than half his age, but he only appeared maybe a hand or so older, and it was considered the usual practice locally that men always married younger brides. Marriage itself didn't require any ceremony, but the intention to wed was usually announced one moon in advance of the couple moving in together – thus giving the local Lord of the Manor a chance to have his jollies first. Thomas intended to remain a law unto himself, and local tradition be damned in this particular instance, he had no intention of sharing his personal toys.

Ruth and John were delighted to learn their news, Ruth being fascinated by Tina's dress which Thomas found amusing because their local language had no concept or words that related to fashions for either clothing nor anything else. He'd began to wonder how many

words and concepts he would introduce to these people during the coming years, and how long that might take to filter across into nearby Lordly domains.

Part 2 – Thomas, his first wife and onwards.

Locally they did have a concept for a light travelling shelter, although an old sackcloth held up over a convenient tree branch hardly qualified as a tent, providing almost no protection in wet weather. His tent was erected a few hundred yards from John's place in a carefully chosen spot having free drainage with no danger from falling tree limbs. As they walked the short distance Thomas mentioned this was merely his temporary travelling shelter, and that he intended to build a substantial family home with workshops and storage buildings once he'd found the ideal location.

Many newly-wed couples involved in farming would have nothing other than a straw pallet inside a barn shared with numerous fellow farmhands, so his tent wasn't as humble as it might be viewed within his own realm, almost like a homeless person. It was usual for the people locally rising pre-dawn, and retiring past dusk, so they were returning somewhat early with ample light for Tina to view this home made of strange fabric, the most foreign item being the zippered doorway.

By good fortune – or interference by a friendly alien, Thomas had no idea he'd accidentally packed a double sleeping bag which was in an almost identical stuff-sack from when he'd taken a previous girlfriend camping – although she'd only been on the one occasion!

This was Tina's second example of a zipper, although he didn't intend they sleep just for the moment, instead opening-out the bag while they both got naked and became better acquainted. He'd learned much from John during their random conversations including the fact oral sex was practically unheard of, hardly surprising, it made him gag at the thought considering their normal levels of hygiene. While unpractised, kissing wasn't something to surprise his young bride, in fact she soon became enthusiastic, then not complaining as he made a meal of her firm perky breasts licking and nibbling upon her turgid nipples.

Women of this realm were certainly more subservient, doing as they were told because in all aspects this society had an expected pecking order. He suspected that while Tina might know the basic mechanics of sex in 'animal' or in 'laying down' positions that was probably her limits as he'd heard those terms used. Without religion 'missionary' had no meaning or the associated connotations regarding prudish behaviour. Sex here was about men having a good time, the eventual results of mating as inconvenient infants who may or might not later grow-up to become another generation of labourers.

They had no term that equated to 'making love' merely several alternatives that all meant fucking, simply altering in crudeness or context. Tina's body certainly seemed like familiar ground, all the normal parts in the correct places, and she was squirming and making all the right noises for a young woman in the throws of passion, therefore he thought to warn her she might experience a rush of good feelings at some point as his mouth replaced his busy fingers which had been toying with her squishy pussy.

Instead of those sickly artificial scents from the cosmetics counter, her body only exuded a fresh feminine musk, with a faint lingering hint of lavender soap, her time in the bathtub well spent, as he wouldn't be getting this close and personal with any local female without them striving to improve their personal washing habits. He wasn't that surprised she didn't have a word for orgasm, so he introduced her to both the reality - and the term itself.

He found her reaction amusing on hearing she could have further orgasms if she behaved herself. While he intended to catch-up after a fairly long dry-spell from both prior to, and following his relocation, Thomas reckoned he'd let Tina play cowgirl for their first romp but that was another new concept, as female superior didn't seem to be popular enough to be worthy of any local descriptive term. She was certainly ready neither fingers or tongue had encountered signs of a hymen, plus she was easily producing a mess of her own lubricant.

If any of the regulars at his pub had suggested he'd be balls deep inside a teenaged virgin during his 'holiday' he would've thought they were merely taking the piss, though that was how he found himself, unable to recall any former girlfriend with such a wonderfully tight pussy which seemed to pulse so hotly around his cock as she slowly posted up and down following his instructions. It didn't take long to blow his wad under such duress, so shortly afterwards feeling strangely energised he gave Tina additional sex lessons, this time about how it was her duty to suck his cock, either for re-entry to her snug pussy, or for cumming in her mouth like for when her moon-time bleed came around.

Rather than get a mouthful of attitude as had happened a few times in the past with those modern assertive women, it was very much a sweet purring sound, and an agreeable tone towards his wishes. After cumming twice in her pussy and once in her mouth he was well fucked, pulling her to his side and flipping the sleeping bag across to cover them both. Waking-up beside his little blonde nymph confirmed it wasn't a dream within a dream, but his continued presence in this odd land that went far beyond any imaginable dream.

He shared his toothpaste, a little dab each for a hint of minty freshness to alleviate their morning dragon-breath. Her startled expression surprised him, the toothpaste wasn't that amazing, but it wasn't that at all, more his comment about dragons!!

Apparently she seemed to think these creatures were real, living in some far away place near a distant misty sea. Thomas gave this some thought, because when any concept or equivalent word existed in both realms these were abundantly clear to him, whereas he needed to introduce words for concepts which didn't exist as they hadn't been discovered as yet in this particular reality. Locals on the other hand had very few terms for practices alien to where he had come from, just a few minor celebrations or irrelevances to his own way of thinking.

Putting the dragons on hold for the time being he asked if she was sore, her cute blush answered that question, so he offered to apply a little topical ointment from his first-aid pouch after she'd cleaned-up. Like the toothpaste-tube his former medicinal supplies had a finite shelf-life, although the toothpaste would run out long before its expiry date - leaving him to think it might take a while to calculate where he was relative to his former calender. Would his nominal thirty-eighth birthday occur during the tenth or eleventh month of their lunar based calender, not that it really mattered one way or another.

He'd discovered while youngsters were defined by the number of summers they had lived through, by their later teenage years and onwards people became less certain of how old they were. The concept of knowing the particular day of which lunar month you were born hadn't ever occurred as relevant in an illiterate society.

Thomas reckoned his current wife, and all future wives should receive the most intensive education above all others because they would learn more of his secrets, and be mothers to his children. His choosing of Tina would've seemed hasty in any other setting, though it was her innate curiosity he felt which made her an ideal match.

He recalled a quote from an American woman, Dorothy Parker – “The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.” Tina's mind had simply been stifled by the age in which she lived, whereas he meant to unlock her hidden potential. He wasn't misogynistic although to some from his own times that might've appeared the case, though that paled into insignificance compared to attitudes in his current location, so it felt quite ironic that the highest flyers of science and engineering in the coming years would be his own wives. It would be foolish and arrogant to think he could manage alone, and who better than the ones closest to him to fill those important roles that would rise in importance over time.

He didn't think it arrogant either to make these predictions, as he couldn't imagine he had arrived in his current location by accident, so because of his educational advances it would be negligent not to cause some beneficial changes thus improve the lives of everybody in the region. He'd noticed his own mind was analysing the best ways to introduce new ideas to these people, remembering a wealth of quotes like that of Arthur C. Clarke.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

While these people believed magic existed, it didn't loom large in their lives thinking it was mainly something that happened in distant places, for now he concentrated on the beliefs and fears of his new bride. Not having arranged to visit the Lord's Manor, he spent the day talking with Tina, answering many of her questions about nature as they walked towards one of his own favoured spots having a lake he thought might be warmed by geothermal activity. Her fear of rivers and lakes was fairly common, so he'd bought along a few props to provide a useful science lesson to precede her swimming lessons.

Relative weights, density and buoyancy. She could understand the basic principle that a stone would sink, while a piece of wood floated, then he explained displacement because the small wooden plank sat at a certain level in the water equal to how much it weighed. Next the small clay pot when submerged on it's side sat on the sandy bottom because it was heavier than water, yet when sat upright it floated like a boat despite being heavier.

Once they were both naked he demonstrated that a relaxed person could float without too much difficulty, and swimming was the next stage onwards.

At first her innate learned fears wouldn't be overcome, but the promise of a few orgasms to a willing pupil helped her concentrate. By the afternoon she was fearlessly embracing a new freedom as she discovered a childish joy of playing like an otter. Thomas snacking on her sensitive pussy being a great incentive to learn and practice new skills, though he did get the odd pubic hair in his teeth. She only had a smaller juvenile bush, but he imagined the natural condition of every woman would be far more hirsute than from his own realm.

With their level of metalworking he wouldn't trust their blades on his face, they'd certainly be too crude for shaving more delicate regions.

He had to concentrate on the benefits of local women instead, with so little clothing they'd be ready to go out instantly, they wouldn't spend an age on hair and make-up either, but a woman from his own location would only complain they couldn't go out looking like that. Old songs frequently popped into his head, Eleanor Rigby who kept her face in a jar by the door which was a Beatles number from god knows how long ago, but it defined a state of mind. In a more basic society many things from his own past were an irrelevance.

Tina so loved her new 'dress' she would probably want to wear it throughout the summer even though at mid-thigh it was shorter than customary. It was a quality promotional one from his local pub, a grey-blue colour with the pub's name 'The Crown' topped off with a simple drawing to match. He'd seen a few dyed garments locally but the colours showing through the grime were insipid and dull compared to this rather ordinary T-shirt.

He explained to Tina now that she was married to a nobleman she too had a title that of Lady Tina wife of Sir Thomas, and her sister wives would also be designated as Lady this or that, so she was to behave with dignity and follow his lead on their visit to Lord Roth.

Before they set off Thomas decided to empty-out his backpack as the contents had settled causing something to dig into his back.

It was fairly surprising he hadn't fully emptied the pack previously, just reaching inside for whatever he needed. On reflection he had packed it rather hastily, probably the reason he ended up with the more fortuitous double sleeping bag. He occasionally used that same pack for train journeys into the city leaving both hands free, which explained the presence of a book he'd bought for his neighbours son, then forgot to remove. Josh having passed his A-levels had decided to do a bridging course at the local Technical Collage as a boost in advance of later attending University.

Thomas gazed at the book in utter disbelief thinking he couldn't have chosen anything of greater use if he'd been given prior warning of his unexpected relocation. Basically it was mostly about science, a collection of those informational charts from websites regarding a diverse range of topics combining factual information and 'how-to' guides. Everything from the Periodic Table through to butchering the cuts of meat from a carcass, the best way to cure bacon, or tie a range of knots. If his new existence were to have a bible this would be it, without doubt his most valuable possession, and he'd not even realised it was there!

The form of a book, and the printing in pretty colours were enough to fascinate Tina, as Thomas tried to convey just how incredible it would be throughout the rest of their lives because it held vital knowledge of his own homeland. Having briefly reminded himself on the contents it would be difficult deciding in which order to pursue the ideas which it had now bought to mind, but he reorganised the pack finding no more unexpected surprises.

As they walked towards the Manor he would occasionally grope or pinch her cute bottom through the fabric of the T-shirt receiving no complaints though Tina would skip forward a step on being pinched, it didn't do her much good with his longer stride. He was able to answer the questions that came into her head, or at least comment about saving that for a time she'd learned other things beforehand.

At that time he couldn't have said he loved Tina, though being a cute snuggle-bunny who would willingly lift her tail for a good seeing-to at the merest hint was a loveable quality as far as Thomas was concerned. Sorting his priorities he needed to think about a location to build a 'starter-home' with plenty of space for expansion later-on. He also wanted to visit a growing list of locations within Roth's domain in search of craftsmen and various minerals. His hand having again taken up residence in groping his teenage bride he thought about a nice comfortable bed to enjoy recreational activities with her and additional playmates.

He couldn't miss the sparkle of lust in Lord Roth's eyes on seeing his freshly washed bride in her flimsy attire, feeling bold enough to say that between Noble gentlemen it was rude to eat off another man's plate, his underlying meaning clearly registered with Lord Roth. While on a roll he pointed out Tina was wearing the Crown symbol of his own family much as Lord Roth might remember a similar adornment to the Monarch as on the coinage from the realm of his homeland which he'd viewed previously.

“Lady Tina is of course aware it is customary for my Noble linage to have multiple wives in her being the first does not mean she will be my primary wife, that should really be a lady from another significant Noble family to secure an alliance. While my own kin reside at the furthest distance imaginable, I wish to establish numerous industries that will bring untold wealth into the region where I decide to settle permanently.”

Greed was a basic imperative that could always be relied upon, and while their own folk tales didn't include a Golden Goose, old man Roth couldn't fail to realise the foreign skills which Sir Thomas possessed exceeded that of anything encountered in those surrounding domains of rival Lordships. He'd not only introduced astounding concepts like 'technology' he'd also established, letters, words, and writing as a means to communicate or store new forms of knowledge, even if they were still floundering around at kindergarten level.

Technology as it existed was basic metalworking of various alloys and of crude wrought or cast iron, limited mechanical devices like watermills, and the weaving of homespun fabrics. If it could even be described as chemistry there were a few alchemists who were groping in the dark, mostly finding unexpected results accidentally through chance.

While he still knew nothing of Roth's daughter who would be his sole heir, he suspected she was the shadow at the upper floor screen following his lessons, so he laid-out some further bait mentioning that it was common for women from his home realm to be highly educated, and it was a practice he intended to follow with all his own wives. They'd all be important figures in the future as would all their well educated children.

Above a long narrow table beside the wall, he now had several slates arranged being his classroom blackboards, one remained covered with the alphabet, the rest as a changeable workspace to show words or sums dependent on his own whims. While the Stewards had been chosen for their intelligence and resourcefulness, they still had to struggle with 'the cat sat on the mat' infant school lessons before moving to anything like messages which were of 'State' importance.

As he taught he also learned, discovering information about the surrounding lands, finding out the variety of terrain, the minerals, plants, and how some regions even faced what he might term 'micro-climate' conditions which accounted for plant species which he would've expected to otherwise be spread between temperate and semi-tropical parts of the globe. While they'd never seen a banana, citrus fruits were available in due season along with a host other products not adversely affected by travelling for a week or two overland.

The Stewards who'd turned up for their lessons were distracted by Tina's mode of dress in that they'd never seen such sheer material previously. He'd given Tina some simple maths problems to work through as he helped each of his other pupils. He noticed that the maid who kept stealing the French chalk for Lord Roth's daughter stopped by to speak with his new bride, though he found out what that was about later, interest in her dress together with enquiries about Thomas himself, interesting he thought!

He couldn't spend every day teaching, and his pupils had their 'homework' practice to do in between lessons. His next shock had been talking with Lord Roth before leaving, just a causal remark about borrowing a couple of horses for riding to some of the nearest towns, holdings or mines so he could view for himself aspects of the regional economy.

Lord Roth at first assumed Thomas meant a horse-drawn cart, then disbelieving the idea about someone riding on the horse itself, because any jolt would cause a person to fall off.

Thomas couldn't believe they didn't have saddles or stirrups, he wasn't sure when they'd come into use within his own time-line, but he felt it was in BC civilisations, this was a real topsy-turvy revelation as to the things he'd expected within the apparent local time-frame. He'd had to improvise with rough blankets, leather straps and crude stirrups fashioned by the village blacksmith, he still couldn't think of the local hamlet as a town. All the horses he'd seen were domesticated, well used to being handled, never having been ridden they were a little skittish at first, though they were used to the traces used on carts or wagons to control their direction of travel.

Having proved horses could be ridden Thomas thought to strike while the iron was hot as he introduced the concept of copyrighted patents, seeing this as his surest route towards accumulating riches in the shortest possible time.

“So you see my Lord that any blacksmith can make a nail, or a weaver make cloth, though new untried ideas could be spread around for many artisans in your own lands to produce new items for some agreed tariff to the person having the idea to build something totally original, then a fine or penalty might be levied against anyone stealing those secrets.”

The thought that this would increase internal and external trade to make extra revenue to the Lord's own coffers was central to the argument Thomas put forwards because quite frankly he couldn't imagine people other than himself coming up with any ground-breaking

ideas any time soon if they hadn't already. Knowing Roth followed all the writing lessons so as to keep abreast with his Stewards Thomas pulled his master-stroke on remembering where he'd recently seen the words 'Crown Copyright' - printed on the cover of his map!

Lord Roth could see it was the same word as below the crest on the clothing Tina wore, therefore the family of Sir Thomas must own the sole copying-rights to all the maps made of his own distant homeland meaning they were indeed a very important linage.

Thomas had an odd thought he was now effectively 'Thomas Crown' although he bore no resemblance to either Steve McQueen or Pierce Brosnan, while even people from his own background might scratch their heads a moment regarding that particular linkage.

Having practised himself and taught Tina another new skill, that of horse riding he was set for a brief tour of the region having obtained some suitable saddle bags to supplement his own rucksack, as his dismantled tent would be their shelter for the short journey ahead.

Thinking in broader terms of a life journey, he looked back to his former existence, though more about the lives of his contemporaries. So many had a string of failed relationships, in their cases marriages, making him wonder if too-much equality had been the major cause.

A car couldn't have two drivers, that was sure to result in an accident, though he couldn't think of Tina as merely a passenger, nor any of his future companions. He would consult each of them if he wanted a contented household. Back in his former life he hadn't known any Mormons or anybody else practising polygamy, but it still existed, and had existed in a fair few countries across a wide swathe of recorded history.

Each of Lord Roth's Stewards carried an amulet, a sort of badge of office which they wore on a cord around their neck, Thomas having been granted one for his travels to be sure he was at least recognised for his connection to the domain, rather than spying for somebody from an adjacent holding. Having had little faith in the regional map he'd seen Thomas did not expect to redraw the original any time soon besides he really wanted to know whether the area had the potential for development which he was beginning to suspect.

Those settlements he visited were of a similar size to Roth's main village or 'capital' being as it was nearest his Manor House. There seemed to be a natural limit for the settlements beyond which they probably got buried in their own filth, as each place had similar awful standards of hygiene to those he'd first encountered. In fact he was starting to appreciate how much 'his' settlement had improved in the eight weeks since his arrival.

After the fifth new village he was delighted to discover each Smithy either had their own localised dig for metal ores, or ingots of various alloys were sourced from those travelling merchants that passed between the Lordly domains. He suspected these traders weren't averse to acting as a spy network passing information about good crop yields at summer's end, or anything else useful to rival holdings. Apparently mid to late autumn was the best time for raiding because it removed an enemy's resources at a crucial time before winter, thus they'd be unable to retaliate for a year or two afterwards as they rebuilt vital stocks.

These people wouldn't know of Sun Tzu, or his legendary treatise, so Thomas would have Lord Roth's current enemy believe what he wished him to believe was true, then trounce the raiders gaining himself massive Brownie points later in the year. While he'd never been that keen on texting Thomas missed his smart-phone for it's ability to store either written or verbal notes, then again it wouldn't have been possible to recharge the damned thing.

It had been his deliberate choice to cover that segment nearest the rival who was thought to be planning an incursion, learning the lay of the land in the border region, speaking to the nervous local Steward about the situation and the most likely attack routes. Apparently there was little choice in that respect because they'd need wagons with all their supplies for the raid, then leave together with stolen wagons of plunder returning the same way on the obvious main route. It seemed local skirmishes were more noughts and crosses rather than Grand Master chess tournaments.

His zigzag route had included the most interesting prospects in that triangular segment as he travelled through the few remaining places of interest on his own return route wishing to avoid wasting time visiting any settlement twice. For Tina each day encompassed many new lessons on a wealth of subjects beyond the limited scope of village life she'd known to that point, never having been anywhere else before, never having the need nor reason.

A soft sheepskin topping her riding blanket made the motion bearable, for her pussy had seen frequent action every evening and during a few midday rest-stops for the horses, but she couldn't understand why many village women thought sexing as a 'wifely duty' rather than the delightful activity it was in truth. After having given the topic much thought she recalled the frequent times she'd heard the brief rutting sessions between couples in the darkness, often hearing a man finish, roll-off, fart, then start snoring a short while later.

Her man knew so much more than everybody else, explaining things with great detail that nobody else had ever mentioned, therefore was it not obvious he knew more about rutting than all the local fellows. At times he seemed like an Eagle amongst pigeons, but what did that make Lord Roth, a falcon possibly, an elderly one having lost many flight feathers.

To say something so disparaging aloud about Lord Roth would see her punished publicly in the stocks, flogged, then left for all men to have her repeatedly for who knows how long. There were many things best left unsaid.

Thomas had been using his optical range-finder as the opportunities arose, sighting from one landmark to another to get a better idea about the size of the Roth Estate, to his way of thinking he'd probably overestimated originally on how far these people would walk in the course of a single day, besides they were shorter – with shorter legs!

He stopped to imagine how his transition might've gone if he'd been an avid adopter of all those whiz-bang electronic marvels. Instead he carried a good reliable magnetic sighting compass having a combined inclinometer to gauge steepness of slopes, a visual binocular range-finder, plus a classic old divers chronometer – not a chip or battery between them. Thank fuck he had a real map as it had proved very useful politically even if he wasn't in Yorkshire, a dead electronic alternative with scrolling map and GPS would prove less useful than a small rock.

He'd made forward and back sightings, checked the compass bearings, the distances, and while rough he re-ran the numbers as the border was closer to 60 miles rather than 72, so using π x r² eleven thousand square miles, with a border of around 380 miles because it wasn't likely to be circular. His 'back of an envelope' estimates were mostly guesswork, but

these figures were actually scratched into the dirt at the roadside. The fiefdom was around thirty percent smaller than his initial guesstimate, but that was still a massive area, maybe just a little smaller than Belgium. All the numbers were crap anyway assuming Roth Manor to be at the geographic centre, which it probably wasn't, with all the distances measured by foot over many differing types of terrain.

His cogitations were shattered by the sound of a scream, they'd been resting the horses at the roadside, taking time-out for lunch before approaching the next hamlet on their route.

A terrified girl was running in their direction, her dress torn at the shoulder being pursued by an unsavoury looking ruffian even by local standards who was plainly intent on capture and rape from the few utterances he caught as the man drew closer. He looked to Tina as words were hardly necessary, as by now she knew about his abhorrence of force against those who were least able to defend themselves.

As Tina beckoned the girl, he watched as the guy drew nearer slowing down, catching his breath from the chase. Thomas took charge asking who the fellow was, and what he was doing chasing the poor girl. Her recently dead father had owed him a debt, so he wanted the girl as his slave in payment.

“Stay put, don't move I'll ask the girl her side of the story.”

“She's a merely a girl, what she says doesn't count.”

“It does to me, and I carry Lord Roth's amulet.”

Tina had been whispering with the girl, and now encouraged her to speak-up as Thomas learned the man had cheated her father, and she suspected that he'd been involved in his death to seal the outcome of her enslavement. The girl was now an orphan with nobody to take her in, with her fate sealed she saw no alternative to escaping to some other town as far away as possible from her assailant. He listened to each side although the truth was plainly evident as he questioned Elle if she had any keepsakes or possessions in her home.

“Hogan, I'm Sir Thomas, and you'll stand there quietly as I deliberate on this matter, feet apart, hands clasped behind you, head up just so.”

It was a ruse as the man assumed the position, failing to see the solid kick, a hiking boot landing with such force in his groin it lifted him from the ground. He wouldn't attempt any rapes within the near future – or maybe never!

They gathered the horses and continued towards the hamlet leaving the puking Hogan to gasp and clutch at his injured parts, the incident settled as far as Thomas was concerned. They walked the horses the remaining distance while Tina spoke with Elle, now knowing the kinds of information her man found most useful about the places on their journey, the type of artisans, the minerals in the surrounding lands, even if she didn't yet understand all the processes for which they might be useful.

They halted just before they entered the settlement to ask if Elle had any further clothing, Thomas unsurprised to learn other than a sort of winter cloak the dress comprised her one garment. Pulling out his first aid pouch he removed the largest of three safety pins while he demonstrated to both girls how it opened and closed before he secured the torn dress.

The village leader was sort of Mayor and Sheriff combined, a level down from Stewards, as they were responsible for administering to a wider area containing numerous settlements.

Having become accustomed to the general stench of the people and their villages Thomas curiously noted young Elle's hands and forearms were cleaner than normal, discovering it was the trade of her and her father to produce cheese. He found himself feeling like Ben Gunn with a hankering for a piece of cheese, previously quite wary of anything produced in such unsanitary conditions, now perhaps he could educate his own personal dairymaid.

He'd developed the idea of gradually surrounding himself with competent artisans of every sort, and who better than youngsters who had less mistaken information to un-learn as he taught them 'modern practices' to drag the region forwards kicking and screaming. Maybe he was exaggerating, they weren't really resistant to changes, merely they were unused to changes happening in such rapid succession. On seeing those people he thought useful he had placed a few orders, paying for materials that would be delivered back to his town on the next wagon heading in that direction, so probably accompanying the regional Steward when he next reported to the capital.

He noted the girls chattering away like old friends as he conducted his business amongst those artisans or local traders having any stuff he found of interest. Aside from numerous worthwhile deals he'd struck along their journey of discovery, he'd also learned about the geology and geography of one relatively small slice of the Roth domain. It certainly wasn't another version of England, nor even that of Europe, geothermal activity caused countless areas of excellent pure mineral deposits, which together with desiccated ancient lake-beds provided a cornucopia of delights for the amateur chemistry student.

Hardly wishing to stay overnight it was their practice to camp well beyond the settlements which they visited, living from the land or being picky about the foodstuffs they bought in any community. While equally reticent about bodies of water as any other people Thomas had met to date, Elle did know of a hot-spring on their route which had ample grazing for their horses close to hand. Tina was swift to undress, carefully laying out her much prized Pub T-shirt before testing the water temperature, then happily jumping-in, encouraging a rather timid Elle to join her in the small heated waist deep pool.

Thomas had to assist with the safety pin with it's sharp point, now seeing much more of the red-headed girl, who Tina had discovered was all of thirteen summers. Thomas having got over himself and the conditioning of his former society felt he could appreciate her fine little pointy breasts, and each freckle that adorned her body without guilt, it now seemed so foolish that these blossoming young creatures were hidden almost in purdah in Western society, well maybe not quite so bad as some Eastern countries – yet!

That was no longer an issue he needed to consider.

Some European holiday venues weren't so uptight, but PC attitudes meant the covering of young chests that didn't even sport breasts as just silliness personified. He didn't think in Lord Roth's domain they had even a dozen laws all told, and as yet they weren't in writing.

“Thomas my husband, come along in to join us, and please bring the soap and the comb so I can tease-out these knots. You can help by washing Elle everywhere else!”

Despite being new to this marriage lark, his relationship with Tina was shaping-up nicely as she diligently saw to all his needs, having no qualms about his plans to find additional wives – it looked as if she was already helping with that enterprise if he was receiving her signals correctly. Before Elle had timidly stepped into the water, on the assurance it got no deeper he saw the matching collar and cuffs, the small tuft of hair above her muff being the same flaming red as that on her head.

He found Elle totally compliant guessing it wasn't from fear, as he was the person who'd saved her from servitude to a despicable individual, he assumed it was Tina's doing in that she'd accepted the concept of a polygamous union being a public demonstration showing a family of wealth and power. Arriving at settlements on horseback was another signal that indicated they were notable if unconventional people.

Tina helped support Elle while he washed her legs and feet, but after her tiny cone shaped

titties he spent an inordinate amount of time ensuring her undercarriage was bathed to his satisfaction, at the same time noting how she pushed back against his questing fingers as they toyed with her ass, clit and labia. Before arriving in this peculiar medieval realm he hadn't touched an 'under-aged' girl since he'd been a fumbling clueless teenager himself.

Given a kind of second chance he was employing years of experience, even if those sexual escapades during that time hadn't been as frequent, nor of such brilliant youthful quality as his current encounters. The microfibre towel with his wash-kit seemed miraculous with its ability to wick away water from their skin, something he'd miss when it finally fell into pieces as was probable. They mostly air dried after their wash, Tina continuing to whisper in Elle's ear as she unrolled the tent setting out the parts which she'd learned to assemble, while he brushed-down the horses and checked their hooves for stones or damage.

He didn't eat Tina's pussy every day, almost using it as her reward for doing well in her lessons, though without being mean. He always otherwise ensured she was wet willing and ready for a romp with Thomas junior. In the local vernacular rutting a wench wasn't any indication you intended to become a couple, but women realised the outcome of that mode of indiscriminate behaviour. According to John and Beth the midwife, a decoction of one plant 'mother-not' was their local method of contraception, though he was amazed to learn local women rarely got pregnant before their later teenage years however actively they played hide the sausage with or without their special 'mother-not' tea.

As they encouraged marriage at a younger age Thomas imagined these peculiar biological differences in delayed receptivity ensured the birthing process was safer having a pelvis in later teenage years better developed for delivery. His inherent moral values caused him to reject the concept of fuck-them and forget-them, while that might be more tempered with having contraceptive measures, unlike Lord Roth he wouldn't get a women pregnant then just walk away from his responsibilities, leaving little bastards all over the place.

Having eaten, bathed, and then curry-combed the horses, Thomas was left in little doubt how Tina wanted to end the day as he spied two splay legged girls side by side waiting on the opened sleeping bag beside the erected tent. That view inspired the resurgence of his earlier woody, as Tina suggested he should eat her pussy first to prove to Elle that it was a really enjoyable activity – the things he did for the sake of education!

Thankfully that thermal pool had been plain spring water, others had a chemical taint that made bathing unwise, but as he teased Tina by first licking her breasts then the soft skin around her pussy he only tasted freshly bathed girl with a rising hint of musky excitement.

In his enviable position he wondered if the lads down The Crown would be cheering him onwards, or whether some bastard would be calling the police! Not his problem as Tina's hands tried to direct his attentions now she had more experience with regard to oral sex.

He saw Elle curiously watching closely from the sidelines, each swipe of his tongue holding her attention while she listened to the sounds made by Tina, convinced by now about the pleasurable aspects of this strange unheard-of activity. She wriggled about like a stranded eel, till he eventually allowed her release, the shuddering and sounds of her climax by now a familiar occurrence. He moved up her body kissing her with passion sharing the flavour of her teenage muff, then at her urging leaned across to kiss Elle too.

He was thankful that at least they practised oral hygiene before his arrival or he would've had halitosis to deal with besides their generally rank body odour. At least those people in his immediate social circle were listening, somewhat afraid about those 'little-monsters' in the form of germs which would cause a nasty pus ridden death. In a ripple effect people who now practised better hygiene passed onwards the things they learned as he wouldn't be the sole person doing the teaching when Tina took Elle off to do their business.

Freshly bathed was another matter entirely, and aside from kissing Elle seemed eager to have Thomas lick her pussy also. He wasn't in any rush as he played with her tiny cones, in a way fascinated by their firm pliability resuming their pretty shape as he released each from his mouth. Her stomach the closest he'd seen to a six-pack outside of some athletics competition, a reminder of how hard these people worked – even the youngsters.

Those people who were well, were also generally quite fit, only those folk closely involved

in cooking, or those who were wealthy had anything resembling a pudgy waistline. Blacksmiths and others involved in strenuous physical work built-up muscles which were relevant to their profession, but overweight people were indeed a rare sight.

How could his mind suddenly take a detour when he had such pleasant diversions below him and to one side as he zeroed-in on the wet crease beneath the sparse red bush that indicated his destination. He could tell she was nervous as he began his explorations the thin lips of her portal testament to her youth although pregnancies among adolescents of her age or younger was a recurring problem from his former world, so it wasn't as if filling that entrance with his cock was beyond reason. For the moment he restricted himself to exploring her with his tongue and fingers, otherwise he'd be little better than the fellow on the road earlier that day; if and when - it would be down to Elle to make that invite.

After pleasuring both girls orally his face was practically glazed with their girlish fluids but neither girl seemed to object to further kissing. Thomas had no fears he'd be left high and dry, Tina eager to demonstrate her man riding abilities as the cowgirl position allowed her new friend to clearly witness their conjugal connection as Tina rode her favourite steed all the way to a happy conclusion. He was surprised Tina included a commentary as she rose and fell, talking of the rising pleasure similar yet so different from when his mouth rather than his cock had been providing the stimulation.

Lifting herself from his spent cock, Tina spoke of both liquids, her own plus his spunk that she lapped-up, offering Elle a taste from his wilting cock, then scooping the drippings from her own pussy as if to confirm it was all perfectly edible. Thomas on having discovered the local females remarkably amenable encouraged Tina to do an oral clean-up before using a damp-cloth - followed by more thorough ablutions when that was more convenient.

With both girls taking turns sucking his knob clean, or sharing it together it quickly revived returning to its rigid form. Naturally he suggested Tina give Elle a lesson in blow-jobs then she would see the spunk shoot out for herself so they could share the proceeds between them before they retired into the tent to sleep.

Three naked bodies snuggled into the sleeping-bag kept any evening chills at bay because Thomas slept soundly, a very satisfied guy. Next morning each girl visited the bushes then had a quick wash of the parts which had got sticky the previous evening as Thomas took a look through the available clothing, wishing his rucksack had a more Tardis like capacity.

His transition to this realm had been preceded by a series of unrelated coincidences which had proved convenient – so perhaps they weren't accidents of fate. Fortuitously including a double sleeping bag, the wide ranging science book, the loss of his phone, and now he'd come to realise that he wouldn't normally have carried a dozen T-shirts. He remembered a fleeting thought about multi-layering, though previously he would've done that using less items with a range of thickness towards meeting the same end.

For himself he chose the plain black T-shirt, a line, a triangle, with a rainbow stripe really making the band name superfluous. He awaited their return before making his proposal, another one of his Pub T-shirts in green to match her eye colour and compliment that of her hair. As a few of his younger friends might've said the question was a no-brainer, both these girls delighted that he wished to expand his harem with a second wife. While he was aware there were still a only few places left in his former world having an Age of Consent as low as 12 or 13, top among them until recent times having been the Holy Vatican City! Bunch of damned hypocrites.

Although he was sorely tempted to consummate their union there and then, he thought it could possibly hinder their progress if Elle felt tender afterwards as they were only a day's ride from their home providing they left soon, merely approaching via a different direction.

To date only Tina knew of his watch, to anybody else who noticed, it was simply a type of oddly shaped leather wrist strap, not realising the shaped cover held by a press-stud was to protect the face of his mechanical timepiece. She had seen him both wind-it and looked at the magical hands which told Thomas the passage of time.

He sat Elle on the horse behind Tina, instructing her to hold tightly. He'd unkindly thought the two girls together hardly outweighed his previous girlfriend, while their combined age was still a few years shy of Jacqueline who'd been thirty-one. In terms of pussy there was no comparison, maybe it was their youth, or possibly the females here were all that much hotter, tighter, and wetter; definitely grounds for further research in the name of science.

He'd completed the trip in eight days, which might've otherwise taken four or more weeks on foot, often fitting in two or three settlements or mines in one day. Covering the ground himself proved far more useful than 'human-intel' as those he spoke with had no concept of the things which he considered important. They'd rest-up for a couple of days while he got more familiar with his new bride, then it would be time to visit Lord Roth with news of his discoveries, and set his mind at ease regarding the autumnal raids for which he had already devised a neat low risk ambush solution.

He skirted the village, he still couldn't think of it as a town even though it was supposedly the capital being near the centre of Roth's domain. They stopped off at John's dwelling as Tina wanted to see her older cousin Ruth and introduce Elle. While the girls were talking he spent time with John discussing the changes inside his home, bought about by a round of tidying-up by Ruth. Thomas could see they were merely mock complaints as everything looked more organised, rows of clay potion jars, dried herbs or whatever as he curiously poked around the motley collection enquiring about some of the more peculiar exhibits.

If not exactly wing of bat or eye of toad, it wasn't far removed, the herbal remedies being far closer to something Thomas might consider stocked from a physic garden of old times. John recognised all his nostrums by smell or sight, maybe the odd marking of his own on a few containers to help with identification.

“Be careful handling that one my friend, it's not often of much use, but it is powerful.”

“Does it burn, or is it poisonous John?”

”By the sun and moon no, it causes no irritation, but is sometimes useful for head wounds as it causes the hair to fall-out making it easier to treat the cut. Most men do not wish to look older before their time, and no woman would thank me for a bald patch that lingered around for moons on end.”

“Is it difficult to prepare?”

“No, it's made from a common enough plant.”

“Would it rid me of my beard?”

“A beard is perhaps a little stronger than head hairs, so maybe it would need to be used a little more often, but why would you loose your beard to look like a young greenhorn?”

“It's a common practice from my people to remove face hair with sharp blades the like of which I've not seen on my travels, although the Hipster Tribe think differently shaping and oiling their own fanciful facial adornments.”

“As a friend I would advise against this, your short trimmed beard while a little odd gives you a distinguished appearance being fitting to somebody of noble birth.”

“I value your sage advice, but nevertheless could you humour me by supplying a quantity of that ointment to perhaps aid defining the edges of my beard growth, also for another little experiment I have in mind.”

As they moved to other subjects John sheepishly remembered the trader who'd stopped by the previous day dropping off some ingots Thomas purchased from various blacksmiths towards the start of his journey. The first of these samples had arrived, his own scratched markings as to their properties, hard, brittle, mailable, etc. He was generally unimpressed with his current local village, though it did have the work to support two Smithies, neither of which had filled him with confidence until finding others on his journey were no better.

As there were no internet connections, metalworking was the 'white heat of technology' in their neck of the woods, and that was a game where he had a thousand year advantage more or less. Even if he were unable to replicate the finest Damascus Steel he could make a fairly good stab at it, together with other suitably adjusted iron, copper, or tin alloys. Basically his mind was bursting with ideas, but he had no need to reinvent the wheel as it was already available, but neither did he wish to build his own Smithy workshop to begin with, so he'd offer to assist both local guys in making improved metals, and from there to make new and better products.

While there was a chance one or both men might reject his offer, he had the feeling they'd cooperate from his own growing reputation alone, as now Nathan had been released from his splints by John during his absence, having been seen to walk on his 'broken' leg with a temporary crutch. That together with counting, writing, horse-riding, plus numerous other surprises which included his association with Lord Roth placed Thomas in the ascendant.

As the girls between them pitched their tent back in it's former location Thomas marvelled at his luck having gained these two young sweeties. The blonde and redhead easily being the best dressed girls around with only a T-shirt each, ironically he really missed them not having panties, he'd always enjoyed removing that last item of intimate apparel himself.

Sharing a tent with two unrelated underage girls a few months previously would've caused questions followed by incarceration, so he should just consider himself very lucky indeed.

Tina was passing on the skills that he'd taught her, doubtless she'd be passing on counting and the alphabet next. He could teach each of his future wives a different skill which they could share amongst themselves in a round robin fashion in a hothouse of learning unlike the slower spread of 'germ-theory' or other issues which were dissipating through the local region gradually by word of mouth. Effectively he'd have a 'smart girl universe' on his very own doorstep, wives he would nurture, who in turn would educate all their children.

By now he was getting to know Tina fairly well, endlessly curious about everything, flitting from one thing to another like a butterfly, whereas his journey with Elle had barely begun although he intended to know her in the biblical sense very shortly. Ideas he shared within his expanding harem would set the course of his future, introducing them to those aspects of his former realm which appealed, leaving out those that didn't. It was interesting as he explained how it was acceptable for sister wives to express their affection for one another in many similar ways as they did for their husband, with kissing, touching, and oral sex, to both excite each other, and make them primed ready for mating.

He loved the idea of having bisexual playmates, because if his harem grew as he thought it might, he knew his own physical limitations could become an issue, besides seeing them munch down on one another would certainly restart his engine. With Tina the experienced

partner she joined him bringing Elle to a slow boil, then allowing her to take over solo, as he whispered into Elle's ear about turning herself around in order to pleasure her sister wife at the same time, copying the way Tina was touching and licking her own pussy.

Having his own live 'stage-show' certainly outpaced anything he'd ever viewed online as it was the full-on sensory experience, with him providing the encouragement, stroking their bodies and urging them on. He would've been hard pressed to say who might've enjoyed their sisterly bonding session the most him or them, though he was certain if Elle wasn't ready to meet Thomas junior by now she never would be!

He wasn't going to explain the term 'cowgirl' for now it was just a term from his homeland for a girl sitting-up riding his cock which Elle had witnessed for herself the evening before, so with Tina's assistance she assumed the position. Thomas felt another teenager, actually a girl barely qualifying for that label pushing herself against his raging knob, her abundant juices easing the process. Thankfully it was accomplished without any pain or distress as his newest spouse took directions from Tina, who by now considered herself the expert in all things sexual.

He wasn't sure 'virginity' as such held the same significance in his current society though it had been a fine maiden romp for young Elle because he'd explained the role of the clitoris to Tina who'd kindly aided Elle's stimulation during the ride, causing a little disruption to her rhythm which had been to his own advantage. A sudden wealth and frequency of tight teenage pussy was a revelation, making his former sex-life seem even more lacklustre as if that had been possible, maybe several times a month when he'd been in a relationship, as opposed to several times a week and twice on Sunday, actually he was joking; it was far better than that!

Thomas was well pleased with his new playmate, even if she was too young to appear as the 'Playmate of the Month' in any legal publication, again not his problem any more as he snuggled and praised Elle as they rested from their exertions, Tina kindly doing a clean-up to them both with her agile tongue, sharing some of those combined fluids with her sister wife while Thomas regained his strength for a second round. Despite Elle being two years younger than Tina, she assured them both she wasn't at all sore, in fact she wished to try it again other than thinking it unfair to deny Tina the chance of a good poke.

Thomas had his own solution having the girls side by side for a dose of doggy style, or as it was called locally animal position. He lined up with Tina, easing himself slowly forwards into her snug passage feeling secure that he could survive having taken the edge-off from round one. He alternated between the two girls feeling like some alpha male wolf, thinking if he had a tail it would be wagging, instead his dick was dicking two prime pussys while the girls practised kissing one another.

He felt it only fair to unload in Tina, giving Elle the chance to eat her first cream-pie which he found amusing with her being a Dairymaid. The majority of his humorous thoughts just wouldn't translate being as his current friends and companions had no concept of his own cultural references which would be totally alien and unfathomable to them.

He spoke with both local blacksmiths, neither wishing to be left out in the cold when they could see he was offering them practices from some distant land that would aid making a range of improved products. While they didn't have a 'Military Industrial Complex' they did have a market for weapons, as the defenders in each settlement would be prepared to pay a premium for a sword that would hold it's edge and not snap or shatter in the melee of a battle. They basically understood different batches of metal might have variable properties but held only a vague understanding of the subtle blend of additives that would cause any changes in those often opposing qualities.

A multi-layer sandwich of many metal leaves having different properties hammer welded together between stints in the forge for reheating. Folded, twisted, hammered out, before being folded again repeatedly, eventually forming hundreds of layers that are revealed as a pattern of ripples in the finished blade. It was probably the most valuable item any man of this apparent era would purchase, and considering their lives could well depend upon the quality of their sword Thomas wanted to produce BMW's in a land of Citroen 2CV's.

He was beginning to form business relationships with various local artisans developing a sort of licensing deal on his 'patent products' although the blade issue was sure to realise the greatest revenue which related to both the effort and technology involved. All his deals elsewhere related to improved production methods, new processes, or novel products that were relevant to raising the health, welfare, or general productivity removing the drudgery of many common tasks. He couldn't get where he wanted to be overnight, but through a series of incremental steps which he could see wouldn't be finished within his lifetime.

Thomas was an engineer not some expert on economics, though he could envision a rapid growth in trade 'exports' regionally, then rippling outwards to the adjacent Lordly domains after his local region had gained massively from moving 'forwards in time' from the various changes that he was bringing about. In many cases he would get up to a 'tithe' one tenth of the profits, or one in ten of the completed products if that better suited his own needs.

Thomas was faintly amused the first thing Lord Roth noticed was a second girl wearing a 'dress' bearing the Crown emblem, thinking he detected a hint of a worried frown, was the old boy perhaps concerned that a promising 'son-in-law' prospect might be less amenable to thoughts of a third wife in the form of his own daughter. Although Thomas hadn't ever seen this mysterious girl himself, he thought to quell the man's fears by introducing Elle as his new bride, while stating both the girls knew he intended to increase their marital union until he found himself a female worthy of being his foremost dynastical spouse.

He couldn't be sure if he witnessed a lessening of tension in the man's features or whether it was wishful thinking on his own part, nevertheless he went on to discuss the trip around one tiny segment of Roth's realm, his discoveries, plus his plans to rout the predicted raid in the autumn. Lord Roth was thinking of many hands of men, then rephrasing himself as in terms of twenty or so fighting men from each of twenty or more towns in defence of his own territories. Some 400 part-time militia with all the costs that incurred coming from his own Treasury to ensure people didn't starve through the winter and face hardships during the lean years to follow.

Walking over to one of the slate blackboards Thomas drew a rough map with feint contour lines to either side of the only practical route for the convoy of supply wagons in or out of that area to the adjacent domain. Camouflaged cradles of logs and stones to either end of one ravine-like section when released from high locations would entrap the invaders in a killing-field where they'd recognise their own untenable situation. They could either die or be held to ransom, because usually such an incursion would be commanded by either the first or second son of the Lord ordering such a raid, so they gained leadership experience.

Lord Roth could see it was the perfect strategy saying he should send a messenger to call the local Steward for discussions on how and where to build these defensive preparations, but Thomas had already shown the local administrator, building miniature demonstration models to illustrate the principles involved, with markers on the site for each construction subject to orders arriving from Lord Roth himself to confirm the works. With at least three months available only a dozen men would easily finish the works required, though should the raid be postponed a year the defences would still be viable if they were maintained.

Women generally held a low status, so it was unusual for Tina and Elle to be witnessing these 'matters of state' but Thomas had made clear from early on about how women had greater status within his own realm, thus his own wives and all future daughters would be both well-educated, and become educators and administrators within their own right.

That statement in effect almost a declaration that he intended to become a major player in one form or another, while not threatening Lord Roth himself through their agreements regarding how his system of patents would ultimately benefit the Lordy coffers because the local economy would gradually begin to accelerate.

Lord Roth dispatched a messenger to the border area about the defensive constructions, which more or less stated – make it so! Thomas pointed out how written commands would be so convenient as more of his realm became literate, yet those same instructions for the immediate future would remain unintelligible to outsiders. As literacy became widespread it would simply be a matter of sending coded correspondence thus again keeping secrets of regional significance secret between sender and recipient.

If it hadn't already crossed his mind, Lord Roth quickly realised he'd be a fool to allow this Princely figure from another distant realm to form an allegiance with any of his neighbours therefore he readily suggested Thomas keep the two riding horses, and he would provide another in order he and his two 'current wives' had a mount each. Thomas voiced his own gratitude, then mentioned he was considering building himself a residence within the local area if Lord Roth would grant him permission.

Lord Roth jumped at this chance believing a home, together with a smallholding would aid his scheme to bind Sir Thomas to become a permanent ally and hopefully a partner for his own daughter as the most outstanding marriage candidate. In truth he'd found the second or third sons who'd been sniffing around from his neighbours somewhat insulting, though as yet he'd not taken his daughter's opinion into consideration on this matter. His original opinion regarding a dynastic settlement with an adjacent dominion had swayed in favour of the outsider having radical ideas never seen before anywhere in the land of Honalee.

Settling on those days within the near future which would be mutually agreeable for more lessons, they made their departure via the horse paddock to select Elle's personal mount, once she and the horse received the required training. With Thomas taking that mount on a lead rein from his own horse they took a cross country route towards his favourite warm lake to complete his tentative initial survey of that location.

With the horses tethered in a suitable grassy glade, he walked around the lakeside using the thermometer from his first-aid pouch seeing if he could determine the source of the hot inflow which made it so pleasant for bathing. Again he'd favoured a glass thermometer in its protective metal tube, because he'd surely forget the battery of an electronic version only to find it dead or corroded when he needed the damned thing most.

The water came down a hillside via a series of pools, the highest of which was scoldingly hot derived from some subterranean volcanic source, the intermediate pools being to his thoughts ideal hot-tubs. Further investigation of the hillside slope above the warmed lake revealed a substantial flat area backing onto a short rock-face with a cave entrance which seemed to lead into a series of chilly caverns that would provide ideal food storage.

With the hot-spring close to one side, and fresh water cascading over the rock-face to the other side with thoughts of the power that it might provide along with drinkable water, this location could hardly be any better. Thomas thought if he had been placed here by some alien entity, at least the guy was being cooperative in the resources available locally and in the region as a whole. He knew this certainly couldn't be earth as they had numerous root crops analogous to potatoes, and they had tomatoes, neither of which on earth arrived in Europe until after the conquest of the Americas, so maybe around the late 1500's

The weirder plants and animals around only confirmed his thoughts about this being some sort of parallel dimension with uncanny likenesses and odd differences, although both his girls were certainly compatible in all the right places. About a hundred metres or so below his building plateau was another flattish area with all manner of reeds and bog plants that would make an ideal leach field where he could pipe latrine waste as a bio-digester, then it was several hundred metres further down to the warmed lake itself which shouldn't suffer from any of the naturally processed and filtered run-off water.

The next few days were spent with balls of twine and tall wooden stakes as he taught his girls the rudimentary art of geometry as he laid-out the footprint of their proposed home. He was actually intending a multi-stage build, current living accommodations which would at some later date be usefully subsumed, possibly re-purposed if necessary as the building grew over time. He'd even chosen a splendidly apt name for their home, Cragside which was both amusing and fitting on so many levels which the locals would never understand.

Tracking further around the hillside slope just above the contour line of his build-plateau there was a rocky outcrop laced with fault lines able to provide innumerable tons of nicely squared-off building blocks with the minimum of further dressing. A mixture of Roman and 20th century technology of a hypocaust to the ground floors and hot water diverted from the thermal spring in winter through some form of heating system he and his family would live in comfort whatever the weather.

The two Smithies had been heating, beating, twisting, and folding for several days making it time for Thomas to inspect their work, and move forwards to the remaining processes it would take to impart the right qualities to the two swords in progress. During the course of this process he'd taught both men all he knew (and recently read) about the hardening, tempering, and annealing of metals. Neither unfinished blank looked any better than those of existing blanks if you discounted the time spent on the addition layering involved which now combined countless thin wafers of the original metal samples woven together forming a matrix unlike any seen before in his current realm.

After putting a small section to the grinding stone, Thomas turned the blade on which he'd been working, satisfied it resembled his goal he showed the astonished Smiths who would never have seen the flowing rippled pattern now clearly visible for the first time. He could see both men were frustrated about their normal daily incoming tasks which would delay the many long hours it would need to complete the honing and sharpening of each blade.

Technically all the land of this domain was under Roth ownership, aside from any tracts given over to families for meritorious service, or that of their ancestors, of course farmers had hereditary rights for working the land providing they paid their dues, while a few folk had land rights associated with their various trades. Thomas being in favour was granted a right to build his house and rights to the lake and all the land therein within the length of three bow-shots, from the edges of the lake and the site of his dwelling.

In a land without a decent measuring system there was the vagueness to anything people tried to quantify. A bow-shot might range in length from one and a half to two and a half football fields. While Thomas did have a sort of sentimental attachment to the pint or mile, and might just revive the pint for drinking vessels at some future time, he had to be more practical. He was going to standardise measuring on his own estate, starting with his own home, having sourced a sturdy narrow slab of slate well over two meters long.

Having incised a straight line down its centre he used the used the grid squares from his OS map transferring the 2cm markings to the stone, carefully offsetting the map to then scribe markings too at 1cm intervals. Scratching on the numbers he had his own National Standard Reference, which would save wear and tear on his precious map, meanwhile any workers he employed would have a two metre on-site tape-measure from which to make their own personal gauging sticks.

He and the girls moved their tent to a pitch beside the work-site because with their own horses they could travel anywhere quite swiftly, and take the shortest route that wouldn't necessarily be practical with a horse and cart needing to travel on the 'roads' which were hardly much good anyway. After the rash of hasty negotiations and teaching sessions with local artisans to secure a steadily rising income he was able to spend more quality family time with his two girls. Snuggled between the pair of them he marvelled at the similarities and differences, for a start their were two of them, that was a new experience for him and there were the small personal details he'd never considered before.

He'd never needed to teach a girlfriend about personal hygiene before, even the wonder when he'd helped them trim their nails. They'd seen sheep-sheers, roughly made tong-like sprung metal tools to cut thick greasy fleece, too unwieldy for finger or toe-nails, so little scissors from his first-aid kit, or his Swiss knife were fabulous wonders that shone brightly with their mirror finish that didn't rust. Previously they'd just bitten-off a hang-nail, or they used an odd stone to file-down a rough or broken nail. They weren't photo-shoot perfect, but then they all did hard physical work every day.

In his 'little-monster' germ campaign he'd advised many locals of the necessity of having waste trenches as remote as possible from any water source they used for drinking, and how boiling water killed those harmful little critters. When they dug their own waste pit it was with the folding trenching tool from his rucksack, again another miracle from his own mythical homeland, its hinged locking mechanism seemingly so sophisticated for a simple small shovel, and so much lighter than any local alternative digging tool.

Because he and the girls were together 24/7 each waking hour was time for lessons, thus their progress outpaced anyone else he was teaching, they were numerate up to around fifty when it came to naming those numerals, and could write sums on a slate going up to three digits. They had mastered the alphabet using a limited written vocabulary of three or four letter words that increased each day. He couldn't say if they were that much brighter than average or if they were extending themselves simply to please him.

While both he and they loved their Crown-Pub T-shirts – which like the girls themselves got washed regularly, they'd needed a few more garments for those odd wet or inclement days. This for Thomas was a new area of discovery having thought all the locally derived clothing was made of either wool or leather, garments worn against the skin might be of linen from the flax plant, which also made light cordage. Rougher cloth, sacks, and ropes were made from hemp fibres, but lengthy preparation of any raw material even before the weaving of cloth could easily explain why most people had so few clothes.

The cloth trader did know of cotton, but little of that cloth was ever carried by travelling traders who exchanged goods with those venturing further south to hotter regions, but a few exotic dried foods were transported for the tables of the wealthy. While the flax was a softer finer fabric the stitching itself tended to be course, in many cases like the edges of a garment had been laced together, not surprising with their relatively large bone needles.

He bought the best flax cloth available, together with fibres for stitching then taught the girls how to sew seams with the fine metal needles from his 'housewife' a military term for a sewing and mending kit with a few needles, a selection of coloured cotton threads, and a few emergency buttons to make ad-hoc repairs. He even made a bunch of cloth sleeves Tina could stuff with moss as reusable towels, as Elle hadn't begun to menstruate as yet.

That he'd cared, and that he hadn't made her sleep outside the tent during that first time her period arrived after they were together she'd found surprising, so unlike local customs.

Thomas had also thought of wrapping a warmed stone from the fireside to place against her tummy to ease her moon-pains.

Because the girls now had a more formalised counting system Tina would now know with more certainty the rhythm of her body, instead of looking to the phase of the moon which wasn't quite so clear cut. In a kind of parody with the old Flintstones theme-tune Thomas thought of themselves as the 'Modern Medieval Family' with their odd hotchpotch mixture of old and new. While he didn't know any local adolescent girls aside from his two current wives, the information he'd pieced together suggested puberty for girls started around the same nebulous pre-teen age range of eight to eleven as their bodily contours began their subtle changes, with breast development and pubic hair arriving from eleven upwards.

Periods hardly ever made an appearance below the age of thirteen, even then they rarely conceived till four or five years later which was a profound difference from his own realm, where careless teenagers became mothers long before they were responsible individuals having the level of maturity to cope with raising an infant.

By late summer Thomas was so tired some evenings he fell asleep without the sexual play which had come to define his new lifestyle, the girls usually remedied this lack of attention by waking him with a double-teamed blowjob, causing a sweet agony as normally he had a full bladder at the same time. On relieving that pressure outside they'd often take turns sitting on his cock or tongue to get their own jollies.

He found Tina and Elle to be his best ever girlfriends, or in this case wives, aside from the fact there were two of them, they were totally devoted to him and his needs, not like that of slaves intimidated by the whip-hand of a master, but via their continual demonstrations of affection on a daily basis. While no real ceremony attached to becoming wed, no great bonds kept a man from dropping a wife who became a scold either, therefore women here made more efforts generally from what he understood from his good friend John.

It seemed John had other news to impart, as signs indicated Ruth would bear him a child in the following spring, as Thomas joked about the woman forgetting to take mother-not tea, or John getting his herbs muddled-up. Walking through the village, it now seemed far cleaner than the day he arrived, while still a little malodorous, it had vastly improved over the course of the summer. Somehow it had become common knowledge he was gathering wives, and wouldn't be stopping at two, so now even pre-teen looking girls were eyeing him up like a hungry wolf might salivate over a slab of raw meat, amusing his two girls.

Johns statement about Ruth showed a basic understanding, with her missed moon-times as evidence of her condition, whereas he'd given his own girls a thorough understanding of their cycles, and those times they'd be most receptive. How animals generally came into season once a year timed to give birth during a time of plenty for their young whereas for human females that happened thirteen times a year, although sex didn't always result in a girl becoming pregnant. Over time he talked of the mixing of hereditary parental factors.

Juggling so many schemes at once in advancing the 'technologies' employed by artisans of the area, and with work on their home, he shouldn't have been surprised by the summons to visit Lord Roth because the students of his household and staff felt left behind as they had no homework assignments or new tutorials even if those weren't their actual words. Anybody holding a position of responsibility, and those wishing to better themselves here craved education for both the new knowledge, and as the means to share information.

A ridden horse travelled at a far swifter pace than one pulling a cart restricted to the road system, so on arrival at the Manor stables he noted the new tack that included many pairs of stirrups which allowed the Stewards to become more efficient spending less travel time between their visits across the region. They could count accurately then write down all the numbers with words to say what they were recording with less chance of forgetting details from each individual tour of their own district.

The girl's wardrobe had increased over the past few weeks to include clothing never seen anywhere locally, like their knee length linen breeches which made horse-riding less chilly if rising into a canter. Thomas could say it protected their modesty, although conceptually that was something which hardly existed within this realm. Forewarned of his visit he had a full classroom of attentive students, he went around dealing with their difficulties while repeatedly answering the same questions time and again feeling more sympathy towards infant and junior school teachers from his own background. He realised in the near future some of his more able fast-track students would need to become teachers themselves to absolve himself and his wives of the burden of those lower rungs of education.

He was kept so busy it wasn't until approaching 'home-time' he noticed Tina and Elle were missing, but it wasn't as if they could come to any harm within the Manor-House where he and the girls were welcomed visitors. Any momentary concerns were groundless when the two appeared just as his students were packing away their personal slates into the leather satchels which had become quite popular for that purpose. They seemed quite coy on the subject of their absence, as he guessed it might have been some girly-chat among all the female staff regarding the tall handsome Sir Thomas, which doubtless included aspects of their own nocturnal activities. He imagined gossip topics were the same everywhere.

Unknown to Thomas at that time, his thoughts were only partially correct, as his girls had only been talking with one girl and her maid.

Part 3 – Life becomes more interesting, and crowded!

In any other situation Thomas might've put aside greater savings, but in this realm instead he converted that cash into labour, employing skilled masons and carpenters to hasten the building of his home. The most surprising addition to his crew had been Nathan of broken leg fame. Towards the latter part of his convalescence convinced he would survive he had with the aid of his wife secretly contacted John about learning numbers because he could do little else at that time. From simple sums he moved on to learning his alphabet then on to learning words like those higher born Stewards.

From humble lowly labourer he'd become a numerate site foreman well on his way toward becoming literate, adding new words to his written lexicon on a daily basis. He was first on the site each morning, and last to leave each evening showing great diligence and having a painful personal understanding about the importance of site safety. It wasn't quite hard hats and hi-vis jackets, but firm scaffolding, pulley-systems, levers and wedges without a single worker standing in some position where they'd come to harm if equipment failed.

The strange quality building using novel techniques naturally attracted those curious and skilled artisans from the surrounding area, willing to work hard when thought was given to their welfare, being paid a premium - and on time. Learning went in both directions as he purchased dried oak from every possible source for those longer beams needing stability, as more readily available fresh green oak was liable to movement and shrinkage. He took advice regarding where to use various species of timber while discovering the limitations of those basic tools used by the workmen.

For slicing planks from a freshly felled tree it was placed over a saw-pit, a lengthy iron saw was too flexible for the push pull motion, therefore it had a wooden handle at both ends. One man stood on top to pull the saw upwards, while another poor fellow stood in the pit below pulling it down again so it always remained in tension rather than bend and buckle.

The senior man above was called the top dog, the man below the underdog, so Thomas introduced better stiffer saw blades fashioned by his Blacksmiths and simple mechanised reciprocal systems with a large hand crank to saw these timbers more effectively, anyway as best he could arrange without a circular saw, being for now a step too advanced.

Some workers bought their wives or whole family, the women and children tasked with all the fetching and carrying, or mixing mortar, older sons apprenticing to their father's trade. Wishing to start as they meant to continue, latrines were dug and well maintained right from the beginning. Thomas could hardly say cleanliness was next to godliness as they weren't theistic people, but at least that was one less pointless burden for their society to cope with, as estimates suggested the church in Europe slowed scientific discovery by over 400 years through its constant persecution of people with inventive or enquiring minds.

Aside from being the current employer of the many workers building his house, they also recognised his 'foreign' noble status calling him Sir Thomas, and by association Lady Tina and Lady Elle, or simply Milady. Before marrying Thomas the most likely route for crossing paths with nobility was being screwed by Lord Roth prior to a life of drudgery wed to some local guy of lowly origin. The former mysteries about everything that nobody could answer were being revealed to Tina, causing her to want more, Elle wasn't far behind, though she did miss a few aspects of her former life. Thomas had promised once their home became habitable he'd establish a farm, a bakery, a brew-house, plus a wonderful dairy where her cheeses would be the best in the land, probably better than his own homeland.

He hadn't been joking, while bespoke or artisan products could be found, more often than not the consumer received inferior items simply because it suited the the suppliers goals. The supermarkets selling overly wet cheese or ham as a 'consumer preference' - nobody had asked him, and if he asked for a better product he was told there wasn't a demand!They were selling you water by weight, and that dampness caused a miserly shelf life, this being the exact opposite of the original intention to provide storable food, suppliers didn't care because you'd have to buy more of their wet product when it went-off in your fridge.

His thoughts had set his mind off on a rant about the inadequacies of his old society which was rotting from the inside with many forms of corruption. His new world might've smelt a bit rank in places, but he'd discovered it had much in its favour.

While he'd originally thought this setting as Medieval, there wasn't a direct comparison, so maybe early Medieval would've been closer. For although their level of technology might've equated to dates anywhere from the ninth to fourteen centuries, their development of any armaments seemed less advanced, possibly due to a lack of wars based on any theological belief of my god is greater than your god argument. Ironically many religious conflicts had been responsible for the development of siege engines, improved weapons, and armour in order to provide better protection measures. Unintended consequences or plain stupidity?

Both his girls loved adventure, aside from Stewards or travelling merchants, few people of the realm would venture beyond their nearest neighbouring village, many never managing to travel further than a few miles radius from their own home. While only having done one extended eight day tour of a segment that reached a bordering domain, he'd now been in various directions to visit those settlements within a day's ride using the tent and returning the following day. This had increased his knowledge of the artisans and traders within an area closest to home, seeing people and being seen as a person other than Lord Roth who was wealthy enough to purchase quality goods or services.

It was strange those things that would make him reference his former society, like the self build programs on TV with a presenter banging-on about people ordering all their specially sized windows too late, messing-up the building schedule. Glass generally was uncommon although Lord Roth's Manor boasted windows made of small rippled glass panes secured into leaded frames, and some tableware, though most bottles were in glazed ceramics.

Thomas realised those people making higher end products were either in the village local to the Manor-house or clustered in those settlements nearby where they sourced materials for their own respective trades. Having checked the fact sheet in his science book Thomas wanted to strike an alliance with only glass maker he'd located, Roth's Stewards saying to him there wasn't that much demand, therefore the nearest other source would be in one of the adjacent domains.

Henry the glass-maker was carrying on a family tradition with two sons apprenticed to him working the bellows and stoking the furnace as they picked-up their father's skill, because the temperatures needed were horrendous, higher than that needed to melt iron. As they talked, even though it was between production batches, the furnace remained fierce as it would take ages to achieve the required temperature if allowed to cool down too much. The artisan was interested to learn Thomas knew of ingredients to lower the melting point as he already knew himself loading in old broken pieces of glass helped with that issue.

Thomas knew modern float glass would be problematical without an inert atmosphere, but it would produce remarkably flat sheets of a far more practical size than those currently in use which were hardly bigger than the palm of his hand. He imagined Henry might end up with poor quality mirrors, which would still be outstanding, or be left with workable sheets of glass which needed several hours of cleaning to remove the tin residue of the process.

Whereas there were many things he could do, it was simply more expedient having a local expert move forwards with his 'back-from-the-future' concepts which he was presenting in the form of collaborative 'licensing' deals. He had no explanation for how he had arrived in this realm himself, it was easier saying his homeland was an unimaginable distance away.

Henry had heard gossip about this recently arrived foreigner of a noble family, and about a whole host of new ideas in metal production, in ways of counting, and about new symbols which allowed a person to write any form of message that others could then understand.

Thomas was loath to show anyone products from his own realm, his clothing and boots alone being plain enough anomalies, he thought people looked more at the girls than the outrageous T-shirts they normally wore, although he could've been biased from thinking how hot they looked in those 'short dresses' and linen breeches. His sighting compass was made of 'exotic' materials, the baseplate and rotating bezel marked with accurate divisions while also having a mirror no bigger than found in a woman's compact makeup case.

It hardly mattered the mirror was barely 50mm by 75mm it gave a perfect reflection that had Henry spellbound, ignoring the 'magic-needle' which always pointed the same way no matter how much you moved the compass about. It had the smooth coldness of glass but without the expected bubbles or imperfections. Thomas knowing the man was hooked as he produced the tin ingots he'd bought along, further discussing the methods which were to himself merely theoretical, effectively stuff he'd read from a book.

While the men were talking Tina and Elle had been playing a game with Henry's family as one would whisper a word for Tina to scratch in the dirt, then Elle would say the word out loud to everyone's amazement, a batch of symbols that had more clarity than some poorly drawn picture of a cow or cat. Until that time pictograms had been as close to writing as anyone got to visual communications. Henry's wife and offspring were truly puzzled until Elle then scratched letters of the alphabet pointing out each shape represented individual sounds that made-up a word.

Henry agreed he would experiment with the ideas Thomas had raised. Of course if it were to prove successful every nobleman the length and breadth of the land would be coming to Henry for 'big glass panes' to replace their dull glass windows with fussy lead-working.

Thomas would quite happily purchase the experimental pieces for his own house while his new friend perfected this novel skill, in fact his own home could well be a showroom for so many of the products he was having developed.

Thinking their discussions concluded Thomas thought they'd easily make it home before nightfall not paying attention to the discussion between Henry, his wife, and their young daughter Clara. It didn't last long as they didn't live in a democracy, every man being the king of his own home.

Thomas was offered Clara as a wife to seal their deal in a show of good faith!

Lost for words initially, he excused himself so he could talk privately with his current wives about this extraordinary offer. He wasn't surprised they accepted the idea, believing that it showed status the larger their family became. Shortly he learned creating marital bonds in between the better-off artisans and traders was commonplace to prevent later feuds, but it hadn't occurred previously because it just so happened none of those partnerships were with people having an unwed daughter available.

Looking back to the family tableau, proud mother and father standing to either side of the coy girl who couldn't have been as old as Elle. His wives informed him she was born of the autumn therefore really she'd be twelve very shortly by his own way of reckoning her age. While from an anthropological or historical perspective from his former past he'd known a girl reaching menarche deemed her to be of marriageable age, although here pre-teens of this region weren't considered ineligible to become brides.

He'd thought Tina young, then Elle sort of fell into his lap, an orphan stray of thirteen that was pushing boundaries, now this younger raven haired beauty was barely twelve though she had this sly predatory look from under her lowered eyes, almost ravenous.

Everyone else standing around the yard seemed to take it for granted the deal was done, and he'd sweep this girl off and have his wicked way with her... Sod it he couldn't upset a local custom just because it was at odds with legal codes or moral values of a hypocritical and corrupt society where he was no longer a citizen anyway. He'd live here by local rules.

“Well Henry I'm truly honoured that you would offer your daughter to become a sister wife alongside Tina and Elle, but I'll only accept once I hear how Clara feels about this, though whatever her opinion I will still keep to our bargain with no hard feelings providing she is happy regarding the outcome.”

It turned out Clara was very happy to become his third wife, quickly bundling together her things to join them for the trip home, fortuitously having a horse to herself as they'd come with an extra mount to carry the the iron tray and tin ingots for the glass making process. Tina and Elle took turns riding at her side giving instructions while answering many of her questions about Thomas, in particular Thomas as a husband.

The man in question still somewhat shocked to discover he'd acquired another wife when he hadn't been looking, well not actively, it just sort of happened. One thing he did know was they'd be taking a large slab of soap to their favourite 'hot-tub' pool among the chain of pools that descended from the thermal spring source near the house. While still a work in progress the smallest of the four rooms under construction was habitable although not the one intended as the 'first-stage' bedroom. The intended bedroom would have both hot and cold water plumbed-in, and clay pipes taking waste-water to their leach field system.

A local plant which he'd re-christened the 'pipe tree' was fairly similar to bamboo though it had a continuous central hole without the blockages at each node like its earth equivalent.

By sharpening one end and reaming the other to form a socket they could be joined with a little tree resin glue which fed the house by gravity from the hot and cold sources a little higher up the hillside. He didn't intend to add proper taps, as by just partially blocking the outlets it ensured the hot didn't cool through standing still, while the cold remained cool, fresh, and fine to drink.

Ceramics was a highly developed art, providing pottery tableware, big storage containers, as well as bricks and roof tiles. Making toilet pans with an S shaped bend to form a water trap hadn't been too demanding providing he wasn't fussed by the naturally coloured clay. His days of squatting over a slit trench were numbered, he wanted indoor plumbing even if it meant flushing with buckets of water until he found time to solve just one more issue.

At the forefront of their minds after their journey was getting cleaned-up, because his first two wives had begun to appreciate how pleasant it felt to bathe regularly, to be clean, and the intimate additional benefits that accrued from being fresh all over.

Clara was a little stiff as she was helped down from the horse, often having ridden in carts before she liked the view from higher-up, but sitting astride a horse was different in that she felt it move beneath her thighs. For the last couple of moons rumours had been doing the rounds regarding the newcomer, a mysterious nobleman from a distant foreign country who bought with him strange ideas. Some people had even mentioned wizardry or magic, but these things were all tales from distant places, fanciful travellers stories, the stuff sung of by minstrels, or drunkards in taverns.

She'd missed her sister who was older by two summers, her marriage was an alliance with a local lead-worker as it was only natural to draw their two families closer together. It was certainly a shock to be married so suddenly herself, but she couldn't argue with her father, especially in regard to forming a bond with such an important individual. Her thoughts on the matter hardly counted, although Sir Thomas seemed to indicate he did care if she was happy about their union. Tina and Elle looked to be very happy about everything going on in their lives, especially their wifely duties.

Using this new counting thing she was almost twelve, therefore only the lack of a suitable match with another artisan family to date caused her to be unwed. The high status of her own family in this case had become a stumbling block in finding herself a husband, though any man willing and able to support three wives was a person of considerable substance. She'd even heard rumours Lord Roth favoured Sir Thomas as a partner for his daughter as that would make him the Lord's eventual successor. Her own mother often said gossip was cheap, but rumours suggested several suitors from nearby domains had been dismissed.

While any girl her own age would know about wifely duties, her two sister-wives seemed to imply their own family activities were much bolder in surpassing that of ordinary marital relations. She'd also heard some men liked to poke both holes down there, but this wasn't what her new sisters were talking of, laughing at their secret joke, saying she would love the things they did within their own marital union.

Thomas had noticed the whispering between the girls, doubtlessly filling Clara's head with all manner of new concepts, though he imagined most were of a personal nature if their grins were any indication. The slightly warmed lake below the site selected for their home was what had initially drawn him to this location, fortunately it held various species of fish and molluscs, and soon nuts would be coming into season so he'd have the recommended nutrients and vitamins for a healthy sex-life, frankly it looked like he might need them!

On long tethers the horses could graze the lush pastures, though he was having a fence of sorts built enclosing a section of meadow to give their fast expanding herd more freedom to move around. Relieved of their tack, stirrups and padded makeshift saddles he gave the horses some grain before letting them graze, patting their manes, and rubbing their faces affectionately, knowing he'd be washing the dark flowing mane of his newest partner quite shortly, hoping their relationship would become as affectionate as that which he shared with his first two girls. While he'd known married guys who had some pussy on the side he hadn't met anyone previously with multiple wives, so he was pretty much flying blind.

As he walked together with his girls to their favourite hot-tub they crossed the line of the backfilled trench carrying the buried hot-water feeds towards the house, simply one of the umpteen new concepts his building crew were learning during the course of construction. With so much going-on his mind often raced off in many directions, so quality down-time with his girls certainly helped him relax leading to a blissful night's sleep.

He noticed Clara had no issues getting naked with the rest of them, though she did seem wary of the pool, heated water flowing-in then spilling out in a rivulet to each successive pool until the remainder of that stream got lost in the abundant lush foliage near the lake. The joyous way Tina and Elle jumped-in then vigorously began splashing one another had the desired effect showing the relatively shallow water wasn't so frightening after all.

Thomas stepped into the pool offering Clara his hand, telling the other two to behave and fetch the soap. Aside from the solid slabs, Ruth was now making a liquid version that was ideal as shampoo, another word he'd introduced into the local vocabulary. He'd had a few sillier thoughts about words he could add, maybe giving them a more suitable meaning, as he could substitute 'politician' to mean taking a dump. He sat on a smooth rock just below the surface, having Clara sit on his lap as he applied soap everywhere above the waist first then rinsing it off with one of the clay beakers they'd left beside the pool for that purpose.

Naked she looked even smaller, it wasn't in the realms of Gulliver's Travels, but the people here rarely matched his stature, therefore the adolescent girls to him looked even younger than their stated age. Clara was ticklish wriggling about a lot so he tried to restrain himself from too much teasing in order to bathe the youngster, having her stand while he explored the rest of her slim body, cute little bum, her tiny almost hairless cleft, and lithe limbs, all with the express purpose of ensuring she was squeaky clean. He was allowing her hair to soak a while longer before attempting to tackle the knots he would surely find, permitting himself another protracted tour of her body because it was an enormous pleasure bathing such delightful young females.

Her nascent breasts were very shallow mounds, the nipples only now becoming visible as they were hardly noticeable when she first got naked. It wasn't being unkind to think more in terms of 'training bra' rather than A-cup, but he was sure many girls that age from back home varied from flat to modest A-cups. He'd always preferred smaller breasts so selfishly wished none of his young ladies blossomed too far in that department as they got older.

From an initial ingrained fear of ponds, lakes or rivers, his first two partners had become veritable water nymphs who would swim whenever they had the opportunity or bathe till their skin wrinkled. Fears, superstitions, or ignorance created cultural behaviours which he thought had maybe restricted particular activities or lines of enquiry that would've seemed more commonplace given his own background.

Clara had been intimidated at the sight of the pool, worried about its depth or the swirling currents, although Tina and Elle claimed they bathed every day, they even claimed to like swimming as otters. Their favoured pool was more constrained, and to her great relief not that deep or frightening as she had imagined. Her new friends; her new sister wives said most drownings were caused by thick woollen clothing becoming heavy and waterlogged which caused such dangers, whereas bathing naked made them feel light and free.

She was still dealing with the shock this Princely noble giant was now her husband, in that he towered above her like a tree, though his large strong hands felt so gentle, even to the extent his lighter touches tickled her. As much as they'd washed at home, it was mainly for respite from the constant heat of their furnace and the smuts from that endless process, it involved simply scooping water from a half barrel that was topped-off from their well. Watching as Tina and Elle fearlessly immersed themselves was a revelation, and that both of them enjoyed it as perhaps some childish game of hide and seek amongst the woods.

Her new sisters had mentioned Thomas loved to help them wash, and how they enjoyed it as a precursor to the intimate husband and wife activities which usually followed. For now these were merely tales from other girls in wedlock, beyond her own personal experience. Now these things were becoming a reality, his hands not merely splashing on a little water but the constant touching, rubbing, caressing even, and most especially about her private places which she thought of as unclean, though from his thorough repeated washing with this soap stuff she began to wonder if she might be loosing a layer of skin.

Outside of these new concerns were the strange new feelings this caused in her body, the sort of glowing warmth of expectation which confused her, recalling her older sister spoke of brief pleasant feelings from night-time couplings with her husband. While Thomas had not entered her body with his large sturdy shaft, he was touching her mating hole, one of his fingers playing in circles near where her woman hair had just begun to appear.

Thomas concentrated upon his newest partner, he remembered having heard that the vast majority of females never orgasmed from straight sex. He imagined maybe their partners were too lazy to apply the groundwork, also there was the theory it was almost a learned response among women as they became more attuned to particular forms of stimulation as opposed to the inevitable conclusion of a male when ejaculating. He'd always tried his hardest one way or another to ensure his girlfriend of the time received her reward, if only to guarantee his own continued supply of pussy.

He was becoming an expert at multi-tasking having two girls in his bed, while for now he concentrated on kissing Clara, as one hand played with her nascent chest, like a pair of fried eggs, and below he toyed with her cleft discovering her responses to his varied ways of stimulating her clit. Her increasing wriggling and agitation seemed to indicate she was feeling the effects, sexual arousal perhaps something she rarely explored for herself.

Sitting on a comfortable ledge beside the pool her legs dangling either side of his own left her wide open to his questing fingers, able to determine it was her own oily wetness that he felt rather than the slickness of any soapy residue. Perhaps sensing some impasse Tina and Elle came over to join-in, their hands stroking Clara's legs and body, adding to all the stimulation, creating a symphony of foreplay, an overload which finally tipped the balance.

As they left the pool Clara still felt woozy, shaken for sure, Tina and Elle laughing, saying it was merely the first of many times she would have that overwhelming thing happen to her body, the waves and shudders of joy that they called an orgasm. She had almost taken up the offer Thomas made to carry her back, but she needed to walk to prove her shaky legs would still work. Thomas kept an arm around her shoulder the four of them walking naked back towards the house in the fading light carrying their stuff as was their custom once all the workers had left.

Thomas had been wrestling with his conscience all afternoon since his latest addition to the family. He needed to get his head straight, while his girls might appear both physically and chronologically small, they weren't too young, neither were they underage within the place which was now his home, he must simply think of them all as - fun sized!

Two oil lamps which had been lit earlier were in their corner-mounted safety wall sconces backed with faceted metal reflectors to amplify their light output. Egged on by her sister wives Clara timidly inquired whether she too would have a dress with the family crown to display her new status. Laughing Thomas sorted through the assorted coloured T-shirts as he was struck by the thought he didn't recall buying that many, neither did he remember them being available in that many shades – his amiable alien once again??

The burgundy colour complimented her skin tone and straightened shiny raven locks, her once greasy tangles having been tackled by all three of her partners. Thomas wondered if the 'catwalk' thing was wired into the female genes as she twirled and displayed her dress to them, dress being quite the operative word because with her diminutive stature it came down to her knees, almost tent-like hanging in folds. He thought she looked cute, time to take it off again as they retired to their straw pallet covered in sheepskins, topped with the opened-out sleeping bag.

Clara was unsure what would happen next other than she was likely to get poked, but her two new sisters had assured her during their journey here she would love everything that happened in their sleeping chamber. It wasn't just kissing Thomas, they were all kissing as she had practised a few times with her older sister this wasn't too much of a shock. Up till now only Thomas had touched her pussy, spending a great deal of time washing that and the rest of her body, but with so many hands touching everywhere rather than worry she just enjoyed the rising sense of pleasure.

It seemed Clara was no less shocked at seeing or being the recipient of oral sex guessing this was the surprise Tina and Elle hinted at earlier, perhaps why they liked to wash first. Having two practised role models she followed their lead, whether it was licking between the legs of the other girls or the shaft of their husband, then trying to take the plum sized head of that stalk into her mouth as they did. The wonderful orgasm at the bathing pool wasn't her last of the evening, in fact counting was far from her mind within the pile upon their bed. Naturally she was anxious about her first time, although like any girl of her age she knew, or thought she knew everything about wifely duties of sex in 'animal' or 'laying down' with an idea that second position might cause her to be squashed.

Thomas having had time and practice already with two 'fun-sized' lovers decided it best for Tina and Elle to give a brief demonstration of riding cowgirl style. The tricky issue being to get them to relinquish their ride in order for Clara to take the saddle, as they joked about it being her second horse-ride of the day. While Thomas might've felt manly pride in being compared to a horse, thankfully despite his generally taller build, he wasn't overly built in the cock department, never having had any complaints, besides a porn-star appendage if anything would've been a hindrance, and probably painful for his current partners.

With three of them having spent time at the Y licking her little muffin Thomas reckoned it was unlikely Clara could be any more ready as she was poised above his cock, but first he had her sliding back and forth on his cock as it lay on his stomach, spreading the oils of all three girls along its length and all around her own tight looking portal. His other two didn't need instructions as they helped her slide a little too far forwards then rock back again as before, though this time bumping into the head of his knob.

Widespread legs were soon joined by widespread lips as he engaged with the entrance to her adolescent vulva, amazed at her determined wiggling motion, instinctively adjusting the angle of her hips, then bit by bit taking his cock into her slim body. Hoisting herself up on her arms she sat there with a look of triumph – see I can do the same as my sisters!

All three girls got themselves a ride eventually, and Clara got to taste cream-pies from her two sisters which only seemed fair as they'd tried their hardest to suck all the manly fluids from her own tender deflowered pussy.

“One, Two, Three, Lift!”

Thomas woke with a start, they'd somehow overslept as he heard the workmen busy with manoeuvring materials outside, his girls were no better, having all collapsed into a pile as they'd exhausted themselves the night before after a long weary day of travelling. Soon all three were headed to the women's toilet block, having his-n-hers facilities with walls then a gap before the roof provided ventilation and light without too much of a draft. The most radical addition being the heated water outlets allowing for new standards of hygiene that were slowly being adopted around their neighbourhood.

Not wishing to ruin John's livelihood as the local herbalist, aside from being the first soap producer in the district, he was now learning first-aid as the precursor to further education related to better healing practices. He was kept exceptionally busy in his teaching rounds as it was mostly one on one verbally, while also trying to establish literacy, for the sooner people could read the sooner they could help themselves from written notes he left them.

Having learned of those plants, trees, and the 'industrial' waste products that were locally available, he'd done some rough and ready experiments at paper making, the fibres of all sorts of various plants, mulberry tree bark, plus waste from linen manufacture. By now he had a few basic recipes that needed toying with, and he had a process using rush screens on which to pour the pulp, what he didn't have was the time to spend on any one project.

What he had found was a village lad willing to try something different, having the sense to see writing paper would be in demand with a fast growing interest in reading and writing. This lad being small for his age wasn't best suited to heavy farm work, though fortunately he was keen to learn a trade, and doubtless as people became named according to their own special trade it was inevitable he'd eventually become known as Little Jackie Paper.

Thomas had long since accepted this place was vastly different despite initial similarities to his former home. There were numerous plant and animal species that wouldn't be found in geographical proximity to one another a Millennia ago on earth, and he suspected that countless species hadn't existed on that planet then or now. He wasn't complaining, happy that it gave him a better hand to play rather than be concerned about those things that he might otherwise imagine to be half-way around the globe.

The two village Blacksmiths were no longer in competition with each other, now more akin to branches of one company – the Thomas industrial complex. A friendly rivalry existed as a useful spur to increase and improve their skills at producing exotic new metal alloys that would have a beneficial impact on all manner of local occupations. Their higher grade iron based derivatives would gain interest from further afield for which he'd expect handsome rewards, as in cartloads of those raw materials rarely found within his local region.

Having the sole monopoly of any product or manufacturing technique had inherent risks of rivals either spying or using military force, so aside from better metals Thomas had looked into the improvement of bows, and the development of crossbows. The latter required less innate skill or strength, but fired less rounds-per-minute. He knew at various time periods it had been compulsory for men and boys to do archery practice every week which caused the longbow men of England and Wales to be a feared adversaries.

For Clara married life was far different from her expectations, that was due to her strange husband and sister wives because they plainly didn't conform to regular behaviour inside or outside their home, a home that was rapidly expanding in line with the plans scratched onto a large slate. Tina and Elle passed on endless lessons Thomas had taught them such as the germ monsters, keeping her body active, something he called exercises, there were so many new foreign words for his peculiar foreign ideas. They even learned about how to defend themselves, individually and working as a group, as he insisted girls could do any task done by a man using their clever resourcefulness in place of brute force.

His new bride had been a member of the family for just over a week when a Steward from the south rode rapidly towards their home startling everyone by his haste. He came to see Thomas even before reporting to Lord Roth such was the urgency. A merchant who felt no love for their neighbours had noted the gathering of a raiding party two days march from the border, obviously awaiting additional militia-men and supplies before launching a raid as the harvest had come in early, the stores of threshed grain filling to capacity making an ideal target. This was the area Thomas had visited previously having made preparations to thwart rumoured plans of an attack, which explained why the Steward called on them first.

Thomas had expected another three weeks leeway, but wasn't flustered as he handed out instructions as to the work needed during his absence, and the party required to follow-up behind when they were mustered to deal with the prisoners. Prisoners was a word which he needed to explain, as previously raids meant dead and injured, not whole groups who surrendered and were captured. Again Thomas was faced with their lack of measurement, as he was the only person with a watch, most other people said before or after noontime, and then maybe after supper. They were mounted, provisioned, and away within an hour, having a spare lightly loaded horse each for swapping about during their swift journey.

At their various stops to water the bushes, eat, or rest and feed their animals, Clara learnt of the expected raid, how preparations for an ambush had been supervised locally from the plans devised by Thomas. They needed to reach that ravine ready to spring their trap before these pillagers passed that location which would make defence of their region that much more difficult. It took them a day and a half of hard riding to reach their goal where they faced worried people from the nearest settlement hearing news the enemy had now crossed the border and would certainly arrive the next day.

Thomas displayed such a calm assured attitude it prevented all out panic, saying if there'd been any significant danger surely he wouldn't have bought his three wives to witness the total defeat of these foolish looters who'd come to steal the yield of their bumper harvest.

He went to check the two 'avalanche' sites praising their work while suggesting just a few minor adjustments to ensure the tumbling rocks and logs would provide decent stoppers at either end to trap their prey leaving them totally vulnerable to those locals who would be stationed safely high above to rain-down either rocks or arrows.

Having handed out instructions to all the able-bodied locals, he had them repeat what they were meant to do on his signals enforcing the point once the enemy were contained they'd be powerless to fight back, effectively trapped in a pit caused by the two blockages.

Logs and rocks would tumble down from several piles set at either side of the ravine, front and back of the raiding party, set-off in sequence from the lowest cache first, then the one above, and so on. Each subsequent avalanche of material would likely displace even more loose rocks or debris during its descent, forming the desired road blocks.

Having handed out instructions Thomas left it to the local village leader to organise how to best deploy his own people to provide support services to those 'troops' now stationed on the high-ground above the trap site. He and the girls commanded one side of the ravine at the forward post giving the best view of the approach road using his sighting scope hoping to see a glimpse of the invaders through the lightly forested ground in that direction.

Early the next morning he spotted smoke a few miles away, it wasn't a camp fire, this was something much bigger, asking one of the locals he learned there was a small hamlet off in that direction, it wasn't directly on the route, the man didn't know if those people had been warned of the encroaching danger. Thomas hadn't known of any settlements in that area because he wasn't local, he was still learning about regional geography and politics which meant he had a long way to go as yet. Whatever the fate of those people he would stick with the plan, because there was nothing to be done now to aid that settlement.

Garth the Younger felt the destruction of that hamlet a good omen, just the initial skirmish of a raid that would see him returning victorious, merely first-blood to make him worthy in the eyes of his father for whom he was named. First born son and better than his younger brothers as this raid would prove, cowering adjacent domains as they would all pay tribute to him when he eventually seized these weakened lands from old man Roth who only had a daughter left to follow him on. For the moment he had two captives that would provide some evening entertainment, planning to gain more women when they raided those larger settlements ahead which would've finished the winnowing of their wheat harvest by now. These fools will have done all the work to ensure his father's own people had plenty of bread throughout the winter.

While he had bought along a chain of wagons for the sacks of grain, he would take-up all the local wagons, their best draught horses, and maybe some of their better livestock too. He felt a shiver as he lead his men into the ravine for the sunlight didn't warm the place as it did the more open landscape. He sat beside the driver of the lead wagon, while some of the men rode in the backs of the wagons, others remained on foot ready to face any form of attack mounted by the local peasants.

The shrill whistle was loud, not the likes of that made by man nor bird, followed shortly by the most dreadful sound as rocks, logs, and debris tumbled down the ravine from either side ahead of the horses causing them to rear-up in panic. This was certainly no accident as the billowing choking dust and dirt also stung his eyes, he could detect alarm spreading throughout his men. He needed to regain control, have the men clear the blockage, not to be thwarted by this attempt to halt their mission – then he heard a second avalanche that was to the rear of his column!

The jumbled piles of debris near each end of the ravine were precariously unstable, thus would be difficult to climb, impossible with either a bow or sword in hand, the raiders had become trapped, and they now knew it. Worst still firing arrows upwards towards the men above they'd be more likely to injure their own people from the arrows falling down again.

Thomas did a quick count, twelve wagons, twenty-four horses, about sixty-odd men, but he was most concerned by the two diminutive figures with hands tied at their backs with a rope tethering them to the final wagon. It became a long tiring day, chivvying all the men to the front end of their wagon train, commands enforced with a few near-miss arrows to ensure they followed instructions. He had them place all their weapons into a basket that was lowered down on a rope numerous times until he was convinced they were mostly disarmed bar a few holdouts they might have concealed between them.

Once he was certain the captured raiders were fully engaged with the prospect of looming death from above if they didn't comply with the commands they were given, he took his girls back to the rear end of the wagon train. The enclosed trap was the length of maybe seven football pitches, therefore virtually out of sight to their apprehensive captives such that none were concerned with their own former captives which Thomas untied, then with the aid of his wives helped them scramble over the blockage keeping mostly close to the rock-face where that climb was easiest.

They learned first-hand about the terrifying raid where their hamlet was massacred crying as they spoke of the horrors, the only survivors, and dreading their own fate to be shared amongst the men, in all likelihood fucked to death. Thomas was angry, at that point quite willing to exterminate the trapped vermin, but he'd already discovered they held an ace in their arrogant band leader being the first son of the Lord ruling the neighbouring domain.

Laws were what the Lord of any domain decreed them to be, but decrees from Lord Roth meant a four day round trip for a fast rider, and few enough people as yet rode horses, he'd sort this out himself being as he carried Lord Roth's amulet as a sign of favour, much like Stewards did who acted remotely on his behalf throughout Lord Roth's domain.

He returned to where the sorry looking captives were gathered with their leader, shouting down to those below, his words meant for Garth.

“Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste, I'm Sir Thomas, but you don't need to hear my long list of titles, merely to know I'm the one man who governs your fate, deciding whether you might live or die.”

He asked Garth the Younger what he thought his father might pay for the return of his first son, then he consulted with the locals, then he trebled that ransom, sending a man Garth chose as the messenger with instructions to hurry and not be short on the payment lest all the raiders, and especially Garth would face a long and very painful death.

He didn't want to kill sixty men, but he would be sending an extreme message that would allow the two girls some payback for the death of their parents and friends. By the time a party with the wagons of ransom goods arrived the captives including Garth were fastened in leg irons, something their own people would need to resolve, he'd also had them clear the ravine to neatly stack the rocks and logs for later use. The returned captives had also been gagged, as Thomas issued instructions none of gags were to be removed until they were well inside their own border because he was sick of hearing their whining.

The 'treasure' wasn't unloaded Thomas simply confiscated all their wagons and horses to join those he'd already acquired. He'd chosen a couple of wagons plus eight prime horses for himself, many were to be distributed locally with preference to any kin of those killed by these interlopers. Garth the Younger wouldn't be succeeding his father simply because Giny and Mandy had tightly tied string around the scrotum of each of the invaders, none would become fathers of any children, other than any they already had. The messenger probably didn't realise how lucky he was to be delivering the bad news, escaping such treatment.

The men Giny and Mandy dealt with fought hard against their fate several men tying them in turn to a tree to receive their punishment. Being close to the land they knew of gelding stallions, or castrating sheep, once they'd been tied for a short while nature would take it's course as they fell-off, untying the string beforehand would cause an agonising death from blood poisoning, pointless as they'd never regain the use of their blood starved dead balls. However large the incentive offered no militia would ever be persuaded to enter the lands of Lord Roth to seek retribution!

Giny and Mandy weren't sisters but lifelong friends and neighbours, well as lifelong as two eleven year olds could be. Girls who were of prime marriageable age by local custom, but now homeless orphans who Thomas saw his own girls had adopted. Taking care of them and introducing them to family customs like bathing at the nearest hot-spring and finding them newer cleaner clothing which was thoroughly washed first so as not to soil their own newly washed skin. The local Steward had returned from passing the original news about the invasion to Lord Roth, arriving with additional bowmen that provided another message about the strength of the Roth domain by the time the treasure was delivered.

The return home for Thomas was somewhat slower with his newly gained wagons plus all the extra horses. One wagon lined with straw and fitted with a canopy was quite cosy of a night - especially with five girls crawling over his body, his existing wives insisting that it was the best solution for all concerned. By the second evening of their journey there were two less virgins among the party.

Thomas realised he couldn't head straight home after an 'international-incident' reporting in person to Lord Roth being the only sensible option to give a first-hand account of how it went down, while delivering a portion of the treasure, all the useless stuff like gold plate! With his own moral values he considered it only right to take Giny and Mandy as wives for it's what the others wanted, and a caring husband always takes note of his partner; under his own circumstances that was a growing number of voices.

Seeing as they were limited to the speed of their wagons, those among the returning Roth militia must've spread the word for they received cheers of welcome at every place which they passed through on their journey. Although Lord Roth was ready and waiting within the great hall of Roth-Manor, he seemed a little shocked to see Thomas was now flanked by five wives in their distinctive Crown dresses!

It appeared he wasn't the only person to be concerned by this sudden wifely increase, as a startled cry could be heard from the screened-off balcony of the floor above as that odd shadowy space provided a mostly one-way view of the hall below. This noise was swiftly followed by the sound of movement in the upper-floor passages, then a most unexpected statement from Lord Roth. “Oh! Damn, I think I'm in trouble.”

Shortly afterwards a young girl stepped into the great hall, two women stood just behind her, one whom Thomas had discovered was the personal maid to Lord Roth's daughter, and by the similarity of features the other must've been the girl's mother Lady Roth.

It seemed cleanliness and hygiene had really taken hold as the girl was adorned with light brown hair that fell in natural curls, her mother's hair while a more restrained elegant style showed no hint of grey. He remembered the old saying to look at a girl's mother for some indication of how she'd look in thirty years time. Never having seen mother or daughter before, he felt it a pity more people didn't see their beauty. He'd been somewhat startled by the tableau that appeared at the base of the stairs, till Tina poked him in the ribs with a stage whisper telling him to bow. He realised at that point he didn't know the names of either one, or how he was expected to address them.

Thomas noted Lord Roth was about to make the introductions as the girl started to berate him...

“Father this charade has gone on long enough, can't you see how many wives Sir Thomas has acquired already, would you have me die an old maid? You know well enough all those second and third sons who've come seeking my hand were knaves merely wanting to get their clutches on our domain, and would treat me as part of their goods and chattels.”

As the formal introductions were made he discovered Lady Roth was called Margaret while her daughter was called Alice, Alice in turn introduced her maid called Ann who curtsied to him and his current wives. Thomas noted Alice already seemed to know Tina and Elle who had the grace to blush at his raised eyebrow, they'd undoubtedly talk about that later as he was curious about the plotting going on behind his back.

Even Lord Roth had a first name – William, though with few intimates of high status it was rarely spoken aloud. As they were moving to a less formal family room Tina whispered into his ear once again, this time much quieter, looking to his other partners they all nodded as if they knew what Tina had just said.

He'd whispered back how she was very young looking, Tina replied Alice was certainly old enough at ten, being as potential suitors had been calling for almost the past two years. There was an air of anticipation once they'd reached the family parlour, as if everybody in the room expected Thomas to say something...

Fuck it!

“Lord Roth, I; I would like to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage.”

His other wives had all arrived in some unconventional ways, Tina he'd first considered as an apprentice, upon seeing her disappointment asked if she really wanted to be his wife.

Elle, Giny, and Mandy had all been orphan strays who'd just wandered into his orbit, while Clara had been presented by her father to seal a business deal, this was as close as he'd come to following conventions as maybe viewed from his grandparents generation.

There followed a great celebration because it seemed Alice had fixated on the tall foreign nobleman from the first time she'd seen him. Hugging him tightly her head barely reached his ribcage, but she looked up with lust in her eyes, his girls crowded around making him wonder what stories she may have heard from Tina and Elle.

While none of his partnerships to date had involved any form of pomp or ceremony, bonds in the highest ranks of nobility required a little more formality. Messengers would be sent to every settlement throughout the Roth domain making the announcement declaring his daughter's betrothal as a sign of stability, a continuance of order upon his own eventual demise, by having another generation prepare for that future role.

With the progress made by numerous Stewards, they'd now be able to ride the length and breadth of the Lord's domain on horseback, each reading the same announcement to all of the citizens of the land. Some would also travel as envoys to make that declaration to each of the noble Lords ruling adjacent domains – with one exception to the south!

With matrimonial matters now settled, his father-in-law and others present really wanted to hear a first-hand account of how the incursion had been trounced. While all those men present squirmed at the horrors of the treatment dished out to the prisoners, it was felt to be a sure method to discourage any further raids as long as minstrels repeated the story about what had occurred. Thomas himself had yet to hear any local minstrels, though he was certain that was how news had been passed through a form of oral history.

Thomas related how he'd put on an 'entertainment' of his own to the assembled bunch of captives, so they'd go home with stories of Roth domain superiority, using his own sword to snap and shatter several swords taken from those enemy invaders. He'd demonstrated a longbow too, firing an arrow maybe twice as far as most archers, the captives possibly too stunned to realise being that much taller, his own bow was far longer, the pull-weight that much greater, making the invaders bows look like children's toys by comparison.

When they left later that afternoon he thought the kiss from Alice chaste and sweet then at the last moment her tongue slipped out to caress his lips, her face blushing red.

His girls laughed at the way he'd tried to discreetly adjust his raging hard-on as they left. Their home was maybe an hour's cart ride from Roth's Manor, even less on horseback, but they arrived to see work had progressed, others taking care of the horses, meanwhile the proud Nathan showed them the much awaited bedchamber with en-suite facilities now all ready and complete for their occupation.

While three of his wives had seen the drawings and watched the build progressing for two of his little darlings the bedroom had been stunning, the bathroom unfathomable till they learned the purpose of the pottery 'thrones' and those outlets which provided hot and cold water. With such brilliant natural hot-tubs within a short walk of the house, their washing facilities included a family sized shower, warm rain falling from strange fittings attached to the walls that were covered with pretty squares of glazed coloured pottery.

After their travels and adventures it was good to feel clean again, passing the soap while they all helped wash one another, though much effort was spent ensuring their husband also felt clean and pampered. He gave as good as he got, which would be followed by a taste-test once they reached their new and even larger bed. The kissing and foreplay just became more distributed with extra participants, Thomas encouraging his young wives to excite each other with exploring fingers and tongues.

Aside from praising their efforts to bring their sister wives sexual satisfaction, if they'd had two or three orgasms already, he'd more easily bring them additional orgasms from his own actions when they'd been nicely warmed-up beforehand. With five, and soon to be six

girls, he needed to conserve his ammunition, although he'd discovered he had far greater staying power, plus more rapid recovery than in former times. He hadn't ever put sex on a par with other exercises but his stamina had grown to fill his needs and their expectations.

This level of comfort and luxury were unknown elsewhere, his latest girls Giny and Mandy were on the receiving end of most of their bedroom games, the newcomers having plenty to learn now they had more cozy private surroundings in which to play. It wasn't as if they hadn't made love during their time away, but rough travelling conditions made any sexual forays more perfunctory, merely sex to take the edge-off their bubbling desires.

After shafting both his newest wives to a staggering conclusion they'd messed around for a while longer, watching the others lap-up the cream-pies till Thomas had them all line-up bottoms in the air doggie-style. Working his way along the line easing in, stroking in and out, then moving along to sample the next in line, the girls doing their hardest to squeeze his cock with their pussy muscles, each one trying for the prize as he went around several times taking them in sequence. Although Clara might've won, Tina and Elle swore Thomas was good for two more rounds, and by the time they fell asleep she'd been proved right as each girl had received a dose of his spunk.

The next morning Thomas felt somewhat relieved his cock wasn't tender from the workout of the previous evening, but he was fighting fit and ready for action, in actual fact he'd felt remarkably fit since his arrival both physically and mentally, aside from the shock caused by his original displacement. He stood at his personal urinal, looking over at the two toilet bowls that were currently unoccupied thinking they weren't bad first efforts for advanced plumbing. As he intended to modernise without the use of poisonous metals like lead he could maybe rename plumbing as the term derived from plumbum, the Latin word for lead which was traditionally used in water supply pipework.

As he was introducing the concept of indoor plumbing he'd call it what he liked, besides he had already used the term in front of his workers so plumbing it would remain. All told by now he'd added thirty or forty words to a language which hadn't contained those concepts he'd wanted to introduce to so many areas that he was pushing forwards. While each one of his girls got involved following his plans, they'd each developed new individual interests which he actively encouraged. Those more advanced in reading or numeric skills teaching the others, which in turn would allow them to progress in those subjects they liked best.

He hadn't been joking about the idea of his own wives and their children in turn becoming academics, engineers, or specialists over the coming years. Nathan once a basic labourer by dint of study was now effectively his Chief of Works, running the construction projects associated with this building complex that was destined to be the Manor of Sir Thomas. The stables with grain and hay storage, a bakehouse, a brew-house, and a dairy were just the beginning, space having been allocated for numerous workshops for existing and new technical trades.

Linked to these ideas of an improved future for everyone, he'd returned to discover a large stack of paper, evidence Little Jackie Paper was making good progress, now he'd arrange to boost the level of paper production with extra people and equipment. That morning he showed the girls printing, something which hadn't taken off till Gutenberg around 1440 in his own time-line, kick-starting the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment.

He began by carving a back-to-front letter into half a potato, staining it with dye and then pressing it down, as he'd probably done in infant school. “Now if I had several potatoes or something more hard-wearing, and fixed them in a line, I could print a whole word, maybe a sentence, or much more.”

He showed them the printed flyer about tours around a Yorkshire micro-brewery that he was never going to visit, but they could see the lines of regular letters, and they could see the simple line diagram illustrations could be formed in a similar way. Having bought very little from his own realm, even a basic flyer conveyed powerful messages about the things which were achievable. They wouldn't be printing wedding invites, but they were heading back to Roth Manor with the paper to write, then copy the wedding announcement which the Stewards could read aloud in proclamation of the imminent event.

Thomas was also very aware of the subtle political message this would impart; that being the Roth domain stability, plus they had the ability to transfer complex information via the use of written symbols.

“Lord and Lady Roth are pleased to announce the betrothal of their only heir and daughter Alice to the nobleman Sir Thomas of Yorkshire from the distant kingdom of England.”

Normally they might only have said Lord Roth, but William didn't object when Thomas said by inference it also raised the status of his daughter similar to the Kings and Queens from his own homeland getting equal billing; well he could bend the truth however he liked.

One sentence was a bit mean for such important news, so they added some more flowery paragraphs to follow, and while Thomas would've liked to include the names of his other five partners, this was in essence a political statement. While their recently disgraced and defeated neighbours to the south wouldn't be getting an official envoy reading the news it wouldn't be long before their noses were rubbed in the dirt on learning of this wedding, as the second son from that family had previously been rejected as a suitor.

In just over five months by their local reckoning Thomas had stuck his finger in just about every sort of industrial or agricultural process, but the spread of his 'little-monster' theory on germs had caused the most visible and nasal changes to their surroundings, as locals now wrinkled their nose at the approach of some unwashed traveller passing through.

Lord Roth thought it unlikely curious Lords from neighbouring domains would attend their wedding, but might each send a Court official as a courtesy. As the day neared several of the returning Stewards were accompanied by envoys from adjacent domains, who were perhaps feeling like bumpkins or country cousins mostly having ignored any advice they'd been given with regards to the differing levels of personal hygiene within the Roth domain.

The Roth Manor had received several upgrades in advance of the wedding, like the glazed pottery toilets replacing the pit type jakes, newly glazed windows having 'enormous' clear sheets of smooth glass, at least by their own standards, and indoor running water which for now was supplied from water-butts atop a tower, filled-up by a rota of servants.

The girls approved his idea of decorating the Manor's main hall with flowers, while without the hassle of any religious nonsense, it was mainly about him and his bride making vows to each other in front of his new in-laws and various guests. Following was a feast where he'd had the kitchens add pizza to the menu, after teaching them how to make it in their bread ovens. An odd wedding feast to be sure, roasted meats, roasted or steamed tender vegetables, and slices of variously topped pizzas.

His latest bride looked resplendent in her white dress/T-shirt, and beside the other girls it was now obvious to their 'foreign' guests Thomas had six very affectionate wives wearing dresses of some exotic material bearing his armorial Crown symbol and this new writing.

The party was okay, but Thomas, his wives, and especially his latest bride were anxious to retire to their own residence as soon as it seemed polite to leave!

Alice hadn't had much practice horse-riding, so she shared her husband's mount with solid proof of his desire pressing against her back as they rode off. Although Alice now joined in the habit of bathing daily, she still looked forward to the warm-rain shower her new sisters spoke of, not that she'd become dirty, more so because they spoke of the joys of this thing called foreplay where Thomas would ensure their readiness for mating. Not living in such crowded communal environs as most people did, she'd not witnessed the nocturnal habits of any married couples, her own knowledge coming from her mother and Ann her maid.

It was plain how small the girl in front of him felt pressed against his thighs seeing as her head barely reached his chin allowing a clear view in front. He'd already been through this argument with himself regarding their age, or the apparent age of his existing brides due to their stature, but he had to remind himself some Asian races were fairly diminutive but it didn't cause any difficulties when marrying a western guy. He wouldn't try persuading his girls he had some lower limit for fear they might take it as a challenge, but he thought he had enough brides for the time being.

Alice's maid Ann would arrive the following day with her mistresses trunks of possessions, and would join the growing numbers of staff Thomas now employed. The big staff-wing of his Manor House was in fact an entirely new concept with individual or shared bedrooms which even allowed for husband and wife couples to be employed. His roaming thoughts came to an abrupt halt as they'd arrived, more pressing issues to address as the grooms lead away the horses, his girls using the new mounting blocks that made it easier getting up or down from the tall animals.

His wives egged-on by Tina loved to tease him, perhaps a behaviour that would've been deemed less acceptable if they'd had a traditional local husband. Stretching out the wait it was suggested they give Alice the full tour of her new residence before they all retired to the bedchamber. He was patient, he could wait, besides it was still fairly early, and all the builders had been given two days paid leave for some peace and quiet, an unheard-of idea which made him even more popular with his employees if that were possible.

They'd do the private family wing last, but he pointed to the path leading to their favourite

outdoor hot-tub, back past the stables, showing off the staff quarters, then each of those specific buildings for the brew-house, bakery, and dairy. The next group of buildings were set further from the main residence, what he though of as a group of workshops or maybe laboratories, his own version of Menlo Park, though considering his own heritage a blend of the many Oxford and Cambridge research facilities, or tech start-ups.

While most work had concentrated on their grand home, wealth from various schemes had been accruing at such a rate he'd had the water and drainage pipes laid-in as the footings and foundations were established for his industrial area where he'd reinvent the products and processes that were possible with what he had available.

Inside the main residence there was a grand reception room, a family sized lounge, plus a family dinning room adjacent to the oversized kitchen, then another large room with slate panelled walls and large glazed windows that would be a classroom. Opposite the master bedchamber were several smaller bedrooms for the inevitable brood, which would feel odd when they arrived as he'd thought previously that possibility had been slipping away.

The tour concluded Alice was shown around their bedchamber with en-suite facilities, then his girls stood in a line allowing him the pleasure of undressing each of them, leaving his newest bride till last. He decided he was definitely going to insist the local cloth merchant seek out and import some fine cotton cloth so that he could invent panties simply for the sheer pleasure of removing them at bedtime. Until arriving in this realm he hadn't thought he had any fetishes, but he realised how much he missed the garment that wasn't there!

Taking their riding breaches off while still fun somehow wasn't quite the same.

Shifting a few cleverly devised levers diverted a flow of hot and cold water to the shower area, thinking the time involved in perfecting the temperature balance as well spent for all the enjoyment he and the girls derived from this local plumbing miracle. He looked on as Alice held out her slender arm, feeling the warm-rain for the first time, her slim body held no hint of the changes that would surely occur during the next few years. He justifiably felt very proud of the bathroom with its rustic looking glazed tile walls, a few tiles molded to have a shelf for holding bars of soap or pots of liquid shampoo. It was hardly surprising his wives felt so pampered now they truly appreciated the benefits of personal hygiene.

Soon they were cavorting about under the endless natural shower of heated water, calling for him to help soap their bodies or wash their hair, though he knew where they liked his hands best of all. It was like some perverts wet-dream of viewing a school locker-room as a bunch of mixed age adolescents showered after netball practice. They'd quickly grown to learn those things which pleased and teased their husband, and would doubtlessly teach Alice all their naughty ways, although they'd all previously agreed the evening was mostly about her being the centre of attention.

After a little slap and tickle with all his girls he concentrated on his latest bride, kneeling as that helped in reaching all those parts with which he wanted to become familiar. Her light brown hair only adorned her head, no sign of even angel hairs on her smooth mound or at her armpits, she was smooth all over; he was sure because he kept rechecking, his hands looking so huge against her small frame almost able to cup both her bum cheeks at once. If it weren't for the fact she was enjoying his touch, begging for more, he might think he'd be charged with molesting the girl. He had to remind himself those laws didn't exist here, but in his former realm they wouldn't have listened to any pleas from the girl herself that she was the one wilfully encouraging such activities.

The hillside hot-tub, the bedroom, and now their newly commissioned shower were places of great joy, filled with gleeful sounds of young girls enjoying themselves with or without his help, though they professed to prefer his ministrations. Having thoroughly investigated his latest bride from head to toe under the fine pretence of introducing her to the pleasure of using their en-suite shower, she wasn't shy regarding her own investigation of his male parts with an ongoing commentary from her new sisters. Crowded by six eager and willing youngsters it wasn't that surprising he warned them of an imminent shower of a different sort, Alice having her face and chest splattered with the first spunk of her acquaintance.

As by then they were standing beyond the reach of the shower-heads, the girls scooped it up offering it to Alice or licking it up for themselves, a truly inspiring sight. Shutting off the shower supplies they dried themselves and each other, their round-robin drying technique so much more fun then any solo experience.

Before even reaching their bed he'd discovered both the sexuality and sensuality within a girl he would've previously thought too young to express or relate to erotic stimulus, but it was evident her unassuming nipples, and all those normal trigger points were as sensitive as those of her older sister wives. If he imagined one of those cartoon tropes from films a devil would be sitting on one shoulder, an angel on the other, the latter whispering Alice is only ten, the other guy shouting she's only a tad younger than Giny and Mandy, and they both love a good stuffing of man-meat. Fortunately he didn't hold with religion!

He hadn't seen that much of Alice since he'd proposed, the 'State Wedding' preparations had consumed his time to ensure any visitors picked-up on the not so subtle changes that were there to convey a message. Now he had - they had, Alice to themselves, kissing the sweet girl, learning she wasn't at all experienced, the first parting kiss something Tina had taught her. He loved eager willing pupils whatever the subject.

When he moved on to kiss her nipples he had to replace Elle, meanwhile Tina took over by kissing her face and lips. Moving onwards he didn't need to replace any of his girls as they were letting him have first dibs on her pussy. Unlike maybe Tina or the former adult ladies of his acquaintance her pussy didn't dominate the area between her legs, she was almost doll like as the smooth skin curved around, the tiny groove and little hooded clit causing him to wonder if the imaginary cartoon angel hadn't been right.

Her legs sprang apart like some junior gymnast, obviously listening to whispers from her sisters, her soft pink skin hardly causing any movement to her impossibly narrow groove that showed a rosy hint of colour peeking from inside. Also visible a wetness that wasn't a result of her recent shower. Thomas was drawn forwards, his thumbs stretching her skin to either side revealing more of that colour, more little bubbles of juicy girlish delights as he zeroed-in for a taste.

He felt he was a kind sommelier, instead of fine wines he was becoming attuned to all the subtleties of delicate adolescent pussy juices, having light heady aromas differentiating it from the more robust vintages. While he'd go for either, he hadn't previously had a chance to sample these formerly forbidden Beaujolais-nouveau flavours himself. Leaning back for a moment he smiled to see all her 'big' sisters were focusing on Alice, even if all they were

doing was to hold her hand in a show of unity.

His thumbs now held her wider apart, and although she still appeared small, it no longer seemed like mission impossible for his cock to gain entrance, as he'd had similar thoughts with both Giny and Mandy. He investigated with a finger, two knuckles disappearing, then after a while of stirring the pot he tried a second, by now Clara moving in to lick the clit of her newest sister to keep her on the boil. Her juvenile channel was unused to invasion but her muscles soon adjusted, probably from the overall onslaught of stimulation.

Thomas had given a good deal of thought to the mattress construction together with their bed platform height. Standing at the foot of the bed he drew his newest bride toward the edge, bending her legs and grasping her hips, his other girls immediately guessing what it was he intended although he'd never taken any of them in a similar manner. While he held her tiny frame, he had no need to position his cock, helpful hands intervening wiping his knob up and down his target spreading their combined fluids as he prepared to deflower yet another young virgin bride.

During his 'other-life' he'd never been with a virgin, it never having been a goal when he'd been a horny teenager, though he'd been relieved that none of his young brides from this realm suffered during their initiation. Although he remembered seeing images of what the hymen looked like, on his own intimate inspections of these girls when down there eating he'd never seen even the remnants of any thin partial blockage. In truth he was happier if no such barrier existed in this realm, as it wouldn't detract from their first sexual coupling.

While Alice might've dreamed about, or more truthfully dreaded some future relationship with a prospective husband because she'd become the future of her father's holdings, she could never have imagined such a wonderful outcome. Not forced into an alliance simply by choosing the least-worse candidate - the awful second or third sons of those domains hugging their borders. She had despaired at those who'd come a courting, being on their best behaviour, but any thoughts about her happiness furthest from their minds.

Mercifully her father was still healthy, therefore hadn't been forced into making some hasty decision regarding a suitor. If both her elder brothers hadn't died the situation would never have arisen, although everything she'd learned of Thomas made her glad that he was now her husband. Her five new sisters had been so right about his generosity in all things, they were also very giving, making her wedding night unlike any she'd heard of before.

She felt his prong pushing squishing against her baby hole, her pussy, as she was a grown woman now, well a married woman even through she still had plenty of growing yet to do.

The junction of their bodies felt so hot, and so wet, she knew what happened having seen a few beasts mating in the fields, but this was... Oh! She, she felt stretched, stretched and strange as she felt his prong, his cock move. It wasn't so much moving against her crotch any longer, it was somehow inside her, as his large fingers had been just a short time ago.

Thomas grinned on seeing her look of wonder, just like his girls said ten wasn't too young. His former shower-room 'netball team' seemed to have changed roles, now 'cheerleaders' as they celebrated his true joining with Alice. Thankfully while snug her delightfully creamy pussy wasn't any tighter than his two eleven year old blonde wives recently rescued from the border area of the Roth domain. When he eventually filled her with a creamy deposit of his own his five other girls took turns trying to suck it all out when they weren't licking the same mixture from his own cock....

When he awoke the next morning he was convinced the entity that had placed him within this alternate reality had done more than mess with his chronological appearance, because even during his peek years he'd never managed to cum seven times in one day, much less in a single evening. Aside from decorating Alice in the shower with a pearl necklace he had made love with each of his girls the previous evening, something he would've thought to be impossible, even for a raging young stud. He'd thought he deserved a medal on finding the capability of satisfying his former five girls on a nightly basis, but as he'd speculated he had in fact developed the ability and stamina to fulfill all of his husbandly duties!

Part 4 – Thomas prepares for the future.

When the building had commenced on the 'Thomas Estate' he'd expected they'd manage a half-finished residence before poor winter weather halted work. Instead he'd been able to employ far more artisans and labourers, as they'd been willing to travel in order to become involved in a well paid and interesting project. It didn't compare to those builders flocking to erect the cathedrals of Medieval Europe, but it was a far cry from normal cruck framed building designs which were the previous pinnacle of local house or barn construction.

Nathan estimated much of the main building would be completed and weatherproofed well before the time outside work would become untenable due to the cold weather. This was a good reason to delay the internal finishing, thereby keeping their gathered expert team of men busy during what would otherwise be a slack season. Retaining this band of grateful happy workers would pay handsome dividends through not scattering a bunch of people who'd just started to gain the useful additional skills of numeracy and literacy.

With Nathan as Chief of Works Thomas had made a few alterations to the master building plan to ensure this guy had his own 'family apartment' attached to the staff quarters, also he made provision for several more people who'd effectively become departmental-leaders for those projects he would launch when the opportunities arose. He also saw that it was advantageous to convert another near finished shell into a block of flats, as he explained it to Nathan as a multiple family dwelling house where the domestic duties of childcare plus communal cooking could be shared-out making those tasks easier for everyone concerned.

As this was already a building destined to have diverted geothermal water pipes for winter heating, adding a number of flimsy walls to create separate family spaces would make this the epitome of luxury in comparison to their former cold hovels which they wouldn't miss.

With need only to light a couple of fires for common cooking below a flue arrangement the air inside would be free of smoke, and they wouldn't have a long trek to work each day. Effectively they'd be an on-site village of craftsmen some of which Thomas freely accepted would be women, having never joined the PC bandwagon previously people had thought him out of date, whereas in this setting he was outrageously progressive.

His own house-staff together with the women and children from his little village would be amongst the first beneficiaries of his schoolroom that was large enough to hold a number of different lessons simultaneously. The builders would end-up taking classes as and when they could in their downtime due to weather conditions or gaps waiting on another trade.

As his own Manor-House staff increased his wives ensured the first lessons they received were concerned with personal hygiene, the kitchen staff told the story of Typhoid Mary in a form they could understand, instigating a rule everyone washed their hands each time they entered the kitchen, then receiving 21st century advice on food preparation or storage to ensure they all avoided food poisoning.

By the time winter set in he'd developed the storm-lamp with the aid of his metalworkers and his glass-maker father-in-law, a piece of late 1700's technology, thinking a few years further on he'd have a pressurised version able to provide an even brighter light. As each new invention was developed into a product that could be manufactured by those selected craftsmen to whom he'd granted licensing rights, the curiosity of his wives grew about the underlying principles involved in creating a diverse range of items.

His girls each had their own pet interests, though of course their education exceeded that of anyone else because they spent more time with Thomas gaining hands-on involvement with the projects he was pushing forwards. They could all read and write fluently in their own tongue which now contained numerous words for concepts that originated from their husband's homeland, therefore it wasn't a massive leap for them to learn their own secret family language of English. Thomas had realised from early on the Science book he found held vital knowledge that would be lost on his death if nobody could read the text beside each of the pictures or diagrams.

There was one of him and six of them, therefore it made sense; once they could read this book for themselves, the more that knowledge could be applied even though they needed to ask him many questions. He didn't egotistically assume his girls were any brighter than the general population, merely that they received more mental stimulation which became an echo chamber encouraging them to always enquire further. While he intended English to remain solely within his own family, his girls were themselves teaching numerous young women who'd go on to become teachers to disseminate learning across the Roth domain.

While it was acknowledged it would become his own family domain on William's death, he wished the fellow good health for a long time to come, because for now he was too busy dragging the whole region forwards making it a realm he would become proud to inherit. Realising their abundance of wealth might cause problems in some quarters he'd begun a process of improving and straightening the central road network to those nearest villages with whom he did the most internal trade. Each successive year he wanted this to advance towards their own borders, a military lesson in transport links learned from the Romans.

While he employed a little black powder or more advanced explosives for quarrying rock or minerals, he wanted to keep a close-lid on that particular menace. Instead he worked on portable versions of several siege-engine designs, a trebuchet hurling a basketful of loose rocks would be sure to discourage any raiding party who imagined they were still beyond the range of most projectiles. Hand to hand combat would produce untold nasty injuries for which he didn't want to feel responsible, he much preferred instead the ideology of – speak softly and carry a big stick!

With the inlets and outlets to his 'warm lake' nearer to one end, the calmer water furthest from that disturbance soon froze as the temperature dropped allowing another of his ideas to be set into motion. Ice blocks cut from that end of the lake were transported by cart to the cave near his Manor-House which further-in opened up into several useful chambers which would act as an ice-house being cold anyway, thus providing natural insulation that would see a large volume of ice last well into the summer months providing him a freezer to ensure less food wastage. He spent time with Elle his own personal dairymaid, teaching her the secrets of making icecream, while a strange novelty in winter, on learning that the ice would persist well into the summer it was obvious she and her sisters would love that treat during the hottest months of the year.

He tried to spend individual time with each of his girls, both in pursuing those topics which they each found interesting, and on a rota of individual 'date-nights' where one girl would have his undivided attention. Once a week meant a six week turnaround, the remainder of his harem practised their muff eating in varied pairs, or in a daisy-chain. He hadn't really inquired whether they had any sexual taboos after discovering they were unconcerned on the age issue, but his girls gleefully took to an active bisexual lifestyle like ducks to water.

When spring arrived the economy took-off with traders moving freely between regions to turn a profit by taking commodities to where they were scarce. While they dealt in some coin, it was mainly barter, then shifting their replacement goods using the same principle. Not wishing to miss an economic opportunity he managed to place a few youths from his estate in apprentice positions with the traders. Being involved with unique products meant the traders were inclined to accept his proposals.

Strong young lads able to fetch and carry were always welcome, but of course the traders wouldn't necessarily be aware these youngsters could read and write, so their primary task was to sketch maps and record what they learned of neighbouring regions. Information on the strengths and weaknesses of potential friends or foes would be a vital economic tool in future negotiations, or if Thomas entered into the freight business himself.

The first of his MI6 agents returning from their southerly neighbours bought news of much discontent in the land of Lord Garth. Rumours that the Lord's first-born Garth the Younger had been rendered impotent through castration had disseminated throughout the land as with around sixty others similarly treated for their incursion it could hardly be kept secret. Aside from losing his balls, he'd also lost the possibility of succeeding his father, that would now pass down to the next in line. Any hardships faced in the region were placed squarely at the feet of the Garth family, suggesting the peasants realised taking yeomen from their farmlands to steal the food from another man's mouth would only bring forth bad luck.

Thomas hadn't fully taken into account how many stories traders and wandering minstrels passed between each of the lordly realms, as it appeared news of that disastrous mission had spread across the whole land over the course of the autumn and winter months when people travelled less than during warmer seasons. Despite how many times it must have been retold, it wasn't a case of Chinese Whispers, as from every direction the basic facts remained reasonably accurate as these people until now relied only on verbal traditions.

Of his six girls Clara most enjoyed writing, so she was compiling the Thomas family history which was in part a diary, but also a round-up that included details of all the innovations being introduced locally and their effects on daily life. Because his girls remained central to everything he did, they attended all the important meetings, including those with his own personal 'MI6 spy-network' having the ability to catch the importance of some trend which he might overlook without their local insight, because sometimes he was at the wrong end of the telescope.

News about riding horses, unbreakable swords, new forms of burnished iron, fine pottery, and large sheets of glass had spread far and wide. With their lack of good measurements he found it amusing the panes of glass which now came as large as 14 inches by 2ft were compared to a bench on which two people could sit – they'd need to be very close friends to pick out the resulting shards of glass if they were being that stupid!

Knowing a set of standard measurements were crucial to advancement he'd arranged their first production line during the winter where men, women, and some of the older children had been making measuring rods 30cm long and a metre long, marked-off at cm intervals which was good enough for most purposes, only the skilled assistants chosen for his own development workshops would have need for finer tolerances. For now he'd gift these to those local artisans of the district, later each village and every teacher would own one.

Building a good pair of scales and measuring a precise volume of water had given him the basis for developing an accurate set of brass weights, and he'd continue along that same path as a background project. More important were his plough blades, thinner, lighter, and sharper than anything already in use therefore increasing farm productivity. Once a region was more able to feed itself, the more people were released to develop other useful items that would boost the economy.

Life with his girls was joyfully erotic, that being his best description of how they'd snuggle up against him like cats whenever they felt the urge, or they climbed onto his lap wiggling about till they got the expected reaction. Workers on the Estate were used to seeing their master with one of his ladies slung over his shoulder squealing or laughing as they headed towards the bedchamber at any odd time during the day. Rutting during the daylight was as close to scandalous as one could be when most people worked from dawn till dusk.

A large iron-bound chest sat near one wall of their bedchamber, the two locks for show as a distraction. Besides being very heavy it was secured to the floor, and being more like a Chinese puzzle-box there was a trick to opening his secure locker as it held his rucksack at times when he wasn't travelling, together with a few other rare items he'd acquired.

Once the snow cleared he'd begun making fairly swift forays in every direction to become more familiar with the territory, always taking his wives, and always well armed, though it had been made known he didn't have the spare time available as yet for travelling beyond the Roth borders. The underlying message being that anyone wishing to meet him would need to do it on his terms – they could come to the mountain.

Lads of his spy network had been told they should speak freely whenever they reported on their return from each trip 'abroad' to the neighbouring domains, one seemed a little hesitant in the company of the ladies, but told them anyway. Thomas had gained a sort of reputation far and wide known as – The man who makes with many wives.

Thomas was curious if it was spoken with or without a pause, an inventor with numerous wives, or alternatively a chap constantly shagging several wives. The red faced lad said he thought they meant the former, although he was well aware of local talk about the latter.

A week later he'd gone to his locker to retrieve his sighting compass with inclinometer, and his binocular range-finder as he was teaching Elle cartography, thus they were beginning by making an accurate map of the Thomas Estate. His girls knew the secret way to open the box, so he thought they were playing some trick as his rucksack seemed a little heavy as he lifted it out to find the gear he wanted....

Neatly rolled into a bundle were over a dozen Crown Pub T-shirts in a selection of colours!

These were new, ironed, what's more they hadn't been there before, and nobody in this realm would've been able to replicate anything remotely similar. When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

His 'friendly-alien' for want of a better term maybe thought his wives deserved some new additions to their wardrobe. Elle having often seen the contents of that backpack seemed stunned herself, Thomas short of rational answers put it down to magic by some friendly but unknown distant wizard. Reaching into the rucksack again he felt yet more cloth, this time being three dozen pairs of cotton panties in three size ranges age 9-11, 12-14, 15-17.

Thomas was starting to believe in the power of prayer, or at least in wishful thinking, was his mysterious entity some kind of mind reader?

All thoughts of surveying forgotten he stripped off Elle's top and breaches, holding in place a few pairs of panties till he'd found the perfect size, that's when he noticed an age-range label 12-14, as he slid them up her legs, smoothing the soft cloth against her bum, then pulling on the fabric to form a camel-toe. For a while he enjoyed a forgotten pleasures of rubbing a female through her underwear, raising the tensions in both of them until those now stained wet panties got hauled down again, hanging from one ankle as he ploughed her wetness as he stood at the foot of their bed...

The rest of his girls loved these new novel garments so soft against their skin, the delicate fancy elasticated edging in pastel colours around the waist and leg holes in contrast to the white panty fabric, many also having little coloured flowers, puppies or kittens. They were almost certainly the finest items of clothing anywhere within their realm, but aside from his girls he'd be the only other person to fully appreciate them.

He pondered the appearance of the clothing, he didn't really care that he wasn't included as his modern clothing would last for years providing they only used the mild type laundry soap he'd devised. Thomas became obsessed with the notion these gifts were some kind of performance bonus, somehow achieving a set of goals he'd been unaware of, in fact he was still in the dark about his entire dislocation, he was just doing the best he could.

In those fantasy stories he'd read if an alien moved somebody it could be as mundane as their own version of a reality entertainment show, or it was their philanthropic attempt at helping resolve issues on a backward planet where they couldn't interfere themselves for some unexplained reason. Thomas didn't really expect to find an answer, in all likelihood he'd never discover the explanation, then again he didn't care. He rose every morning to another interesting day, solving problems that stretched his ingenuity, he also spent most of his time in the company of wonderful loving girls whom he stretched with his cock, life could hardly get any better.

Of course the other shoe had to drop.

Within a week of the gift package he learned the Lords of at least three adjacent domains were sending official representatives, ambassadors of their own realms in all probability to discuss trade on more direct terms. Of course they'd got delayed because it would've been unthinkable not to pay their respects to Lord Roth first while in his fiefdom. Thomas felt it amusing, when they came to him it would be like three car buyers arriving at a dealership all wanting the same vehicle, then fearing a bidding war where whoever won would pay well over the odds. It wasn't his intention to upset these callers, because he'd offer them all similar terms to create a staged spread of newer technologies.

One of the first new roads built to improved standards to set an example had been a fairly direct route between his own Estate and Lord Roth's Manor-House. While Thomas moved between his various laboratories and workshops organising work on current developments Alice greeted one of her father's messengers who'd been sent to inform them all three of the ambassadorial parties would be arriving shortly, she also learned more of the make-up of these groups causing her to gather her sisters together and head for their bedchamber to change into fresh clothing, and arrange their hair styles. Before the widespread use of soap hair generally tended to be greasy and matted, but with clean manageable tresses each of the sister wives alternated between the 'foreign' styles favoured by their husband.

The first Thomas learned of this imminent arrival was when Ann, Alice's maid told him that all his wives needed him to get changed to receive official visitors. All wise men know for the sake of harmony to keep a partner or partners happy, his various work teams having been chosen for their qualities of self motivation would continue on without his presence.

He was certain his girls were wearing freshly laundered shirts, different to those they had been wearing earlier that day, also gone were their breaches or leggings, just bare lithe legs of differing lengths, it was really their overall height which determined how much of their legs were revealed. Tina's dress appeared the shortest at mid-thigh in a world where dress lengths usually varied from the knee to ankle, he also had a quick grope to check if they were all wearing panties. He was chided to behave as they had guests coming while the girls selected what he should wear to greet the diplomats, he should've realised that this was too much fuss just to talk with a few guys who were basically trade negotiators.

Yana was seated in the lead wagon, therefore the first to view the wide array of massive buildings at the heart of the Thomas Estate, although she'd never travelled this far before it was truly impressive. She noticed Ewan her father's chief councillor couldn't suppress his own awe at the magnificent Manor House set to the left of the other buildings, though she couldn't guess what those odd buildings were as they didn't look like any normal barns. The members of her own party, and those of the other two parties were equally impressed and puzzled, already having thought Lord Roth's Manor to be genuinely outstanding.

She'd been bitterly disappointed on discovering two rival domains had sent parties having the same aims as her own father, but they could hardly squabble about the situation, their only option was to behave in a civilised fashion and let the dice fall as they might, though it was troubling to learn the rumours they'd heard of Sir Thomas confirmed by Lord Roth.

While the staff had been forewarned of an influx of guests, the number was greater than they'd expected, but their kitchen could handle the problem by using meat from their cold store, then replacing it with frozen joints from one of their deeper ice-filled caverns. Providing fresh vegetables wasn't a problem having ploughed more than adequate ground since late the previous summer in testing their new improved farm machinery that put far less strain on the horses, allowing for more earth to be tilled and planted in record time.

Thomas liked the broad stone steps leading to the main ground-floor entrance, it was both practical for the heating and service pipework under the building, and was psychologically impressive in comparison to existing 'grand' architecture. He stood beside the open double doors looking down on the assembled wagon train carrying the necessities for weeks of overland travel, together with all their guards and functionaries.

Yana was swift to dismount the uncomfortable wagon, Ewan hastening around in order to present her to the man they'd come to meet. His Manor looked even more imposing now they were closer, Sir Thomas obviously the giant man flanked by three girls on either side who from their outrageously short though exquisite dresses must be his wives that she'd heard about. She felt her confidence ebbing away from seeing their appearance, her fine ankle length dress looked somewhat dowdy in comparison to their own vibrant colours.

There followed a lengthy round of introductions, Thomas learning one emissary came from

the south-west, adjoining both the Roth and Garth domains, the next party came from the area directly to the east of the Garth domain, while the third group bordered that of the second being next-door neighbours. The first two sharing borders with Lord Roth's nasty southern neighbour also found him irksome having had trouble with cross-border raids. This being the case it was hardly surprising they imagined even blood-ties were unlikely to alter the aggressive mindset of the current Garth dynasty.

The way his girls had been giggling earlier about the composition of these visiting groups forewarned him they saw this less of a threat, more as an opportunity, because long term stability was often maintained through familial bonds. It appeared nobody was that keen to marry into a family they all disliked, and like the cells in a honeycomb each domain had a number of neighbours, unlike the six of a honeycomb cell it generally varied throughout the land from three to seven adjoining domains with whom they'd quite often intermarry.

While nothing had been said along those lines as yet, each of the three ambassadors were accompanied by daughters of their respective Lords, one having sent two daughters being only one year apart aged nine and ten. Alice knowing a little of dynastic politics mentioned beforehand regional gender imbalances of available noble family partners was a recurring issue which had at times sparked conflicts. The Garth dynasty had considered marriage to Alice as the simplest route to taking over her father's domain without having to fight thus wasting resources from both regions in order to secure a greater local dominance.

Effectively being 'Princesses' the spoiled daughters of noble Lords, they were pampered to an extent, and therefore cleaner and better dressed than say the artisan or merchant class

who were next down on the social scale. Ewan, Merek, and Rowan were the ambassadors sent to cement trading relations; and marital relationships if that could be arranged at the same time. Unlike Lord Roth these were families with sons to continue the family line thus the marriage of their own daughters wasn't of dynastic significance – more of an alliance.

Normally a nobleman gained wealth through charges levied on tenant farmers and various artisans who practised their trade within the lands he controlled. For now Thomas was not a massive landowner like a Lord, he was an 'entrepreneurial inventor' while neither of the terms existed in their local language everybody realised he utilised concepts and materials from another realm, but not in the way they understood that term. He fully intended that these guys saw the newly available goods, but he wasn't giving away any secrets of how most of them were made, the exception being soap production, they could send people to learn that art from John and Ruth, who could charge for their fairly short apprenticeships.

His father-in-law through Clara more than tripled the size of his glass-making enterprise, taking on numerous staff freeing his sons from the labouring tasks to become masters of the art themselves with the new techniques making their product more practical to use. While the price had risen, it was now far easier to fit the larger pane sizes, also the blown glass funnels for storm lamps could hardly be made quickly enough to satisfy demand.

Thomas saw no need for modesty, he was bringing them the future, and eventually it was his family that would rule the Roth domain when William passed away, therefore the men who'd come to negotiate really wanted to cement good relations with him, leaving just the one common aggressor within the region over which they could all agree. Feeling his own wives might become bored, he suggested they take their four young lady visitors on a tour of the house, followed by a visit their favourite hot-tub which they'd probably appreciate after all that time they'd spent travelling.

They'd recently added some woven wicker hurdles, and planted willow saplings that gave their preferred hot-tub a sense of privacy, reserved for the family, while the staff and other workers were actively encouraged to use any of the lower pools.

Yana had been devastated to find they were not the only party visiting the Roth domain on a mission to meet his heir apparent - Sir Thomas, a man surrounded by pretty wives that proved the rumours true. While in competition with Inga, Sophie, and Sandra, she couldn't help but like them, as they were all in similar circumstances – in need of a noble husband.

She'd been overwhelmed the wives of Sir Thomas proved so friendly, even showing them the private rooms of their house, against which her father's Manor looked insignificant.

Young Sandra asked if it wasn't cold in the winter without a fire in every room, when they were told heated water pipes, or hot air passed under all of the floors, making them very comfortable when snow lay deep on the ground outside. She'd heard fanciful tales about palaces in distant lands, but the wonders she saw surpassed those stories. Yana on seeing their bedchamber was shocked by the enormous bed, thinking perhaps each of the wives would visit him in turn, but the raised pallet could accommodate a dozen wives, her face glowing at such an image in her mind.

Lady Alice, said as they were all nobility they should drop the titles, suggesting their three ambassadors could share one bedroom where new pallets were being placed, then asking if the four of them were happy to share a room together. They'd shared several overnight camps since they'd met on the road, and countless times crouched behind bushes at the roadside, so sharing a bedroom wouldn't be any hardship. Back outside Yana discovered a good deal of the additional buildings were various types of workshops, some of which her hosts called 'laboratories' a foreign word for a place where new discoveries were made.

Yana realised Inga, Sophie, and Sandra were also puzzled and impressed because they'd obviously seen nothing similar anywhere else. Moving back past the Manor House the path headed up the slope towards the sound of flowing water where it looked like tree saplings and various flowers had been planted deliberately to obscure a pool which had formed in among the rocks along the course of a natural hot-spring. Her six hosts were soon slipping their fine dresses off over their heads, revealing another tiny garment worn underneath. She'd rarely seen cloth so pure white, some decorated with tiny coloured patterns, smaller by far than any typical loincloth, these items the girls called 'panties' were discarded also as it was now plain they intended to enter the water!!

Inga the tall willowy twelve year old blonde was the first to follow their example, the two sisters ten year old Sophie, and nine year old Sandra weren't far behind, their caramel skin and straight dark brown hair denoted beautiful ancestry from southerly realms where the sun shone more brightly. With the wives of Sir Thomas demonstrating how safe it was she could hardly refuse to join them all, although she still worried lest her secret be revealed to the others, as racial taunts could be so hurtful. Her worries were soon forgotten as they splashed about getting used to the novelty of the waist-deep pool which didn't have the unpleasant rotten egg smell which surrounded some hot-water springs.

She discovered they used the pool regularly, they even had containers nearby holding two different kinds of soap which had become popular across this region, while another held many thick cloths with which to dry themselves afterwards. It was remarkably comfortable just relaxing in the hot water listening to the conversations.

“Married life is far more interesting and exciting than I was lead to believe, and not simply because I have additional sister wives with which to share Thomas.”

“That's true, he always has countless things to teach us; and I'm not just talking about in the bedroom,” which was followed by much laughter.

With the various girls moving about, standing, changing position, it didn't take long before a comment was made regarding the older girls having no woman hair, soon learning that their husband preferred them that way, this caused even more comments about his special skills, to further rounds of laughter. Tina explained a herbalist friend made this ointment which caused the hair to come away and not grow for some time afterwards, Thomas had tried it to shape the edge of his beard, then taking hair off his ball-sack before thinking it safe to use on their own tender skin.

All their talk of nocturnal activities had Yana feeling rather agitated, so she didn't object as one of these wives began smoothing the runny soap they called shampoo through her hair in a pleasing way; so much so that she forgot her normal caution...

“Oh my, what pretty delicate ears you have!”

By the sun and moon, they knew! They were all looking, though surprisingly she saw no signs of disgust, repulsion, rejection, just friendly smiles, acceptance. Her own mother had been subjected many snide comments regardless of the fact she'd married a Lord, maybe it was because she'd married well, though she herself had suffered some prejudice even if she was only a half-cast.

Meanwhile Ewan had overcome any fears he might be in competition with Merek or Rowan

as Sir Thomas had openly stated he would happily trade with those who came to his table with honesty in their hearts; they'd all heard of how he'd dealt with roguish knaves.

Their own regions each had natural resources in which he seemed interested as payments for the many wondrous products being made by those artisans with whom he shared his exotic foreign secrets. Furthermore he'd spoken about this thing called a 'licensing-deal' a form of tariff for their own skilled men to make some items locally using his secrets, thus avoiding the long distance carriage of goods, by making a form of tithe payment.

Thomas himself mentioned somebody could cheat, but in doing so they'd never be offered any future licensing-deals, then find themselves served last whenever surrounding regions wanted further new products he was planning to make over the coming years. They hadn't as yet touched on the subject of alliance, that could well prove tricky never having heard of a man willing to endure such a household where jealous bickering was sure to ensue.

The subject of jealousy had been raised at the pool, his six wives soon learned after a few brief spankings that Thomas expected them to play nicely and to respect one another if they didn't want to be excluded from their regular nightly activities. Unlike most men of power, including the father's of the new girls present it seemed Thomas lived by a stricter moral code, not abusing his underlings or having his wicked way with any wench who took his fancy. As he also paid for goods and services fairly promptly, he was well served by all the local tradesmen and merchants who'd in return make the extra effort to fill his needs.

Thomas showed the three men their fully plumbed accommodation, explaining a gong was rung a short while before the evening meal, so they could join his family along with their own respective charges after they'd had time to wash-up and relax a little. The people of their entourage like the guards, drivers, and servants would be looked after by the Manor House staff, providing them meals and somewhere comfortable to sleep during their stay.

Thinking he ought to wear a favourite Band T-shirt for their 'formal' dinner after he'd had a shower Thomas found himself heading for his rucksack in the locker instead of his rail of hanging clothes. He paused for a moment to consider his action, unable to explain why he had felt this sudden compunction, when his day to day gear was readily available outside of that secured box. He was shocked to see his rucksack was now squeezed to one end as the chest was filled to the brim with new clothing!

There were a few masculine items beside the rucksack, some new socks and boxer shorts, mostly the remainder was feminine apparel, not just practical outer garments, but also a range of fancy girly underwear. Again it was nothing that could be made within this realm, but neither was it from his previous home either – no washing instructions on the garment tags, only an approximate age range. They say 'assume' makes an ass of U and me, but it could only be the entity who'd booked his travel arrangements that had sent this second bunch of clothing. If the penny hadn't already dropped that he should increase his harem he now noticed four white garments, tailored Crown Pub T-shirts that would be more form fitting than his originals, but each of these also had name-tags matching his new guests.

Fortunately it was the young female guests and not the ambassadors along the corridor!

He quickly closed the lid when he heard excited voices of his approaching wives, Thomas began to wonder if 'harem' was a collective noun, not that it mattered he could develop his own rules on spelling and grammar. His wives hardly asked him for anything, perhaps that was because he was a thoughtful generous husband, or maybe because they had few real material needs, their cajoling was usually to get him to agree to one of their schemes. He noticed how they were praising the beauty and character traits of the guests they had been entertaining for the afternoon, grinning inwardly at their lack of subtlety, having now settled on the idea that their large group marriage was a sign of incredible status.

He made non-committal comments when asked of his opinion about each of these various girls, which seemed to increase their frustration, doing everything they could in the hope of hearing some positive remark, short of saying outright he should marry the newcomers. Thomas didn't want to appear too eager, but unseen forces together with his current wives all desired the same end, so he eventually allowed them to think they were propelling him towards the outcome they were seeking. He said they shouldn't openly push their agenda, because they'd gain more political capital through the ambassadors making the first move.

The ambassadors themselves were still uncomfortable bedfellows metaphorically speaking, each representing the interests of their master's, their bedchamber and beds were beyond any they'd seen previously, the jakes inside an adjoining chamber that weren't smelly, with hot and cold water constantly available. They were spies as much as negotiators, learning all they could of the Roth holdings which were undergoing rapid changes with Sir Thomas being the prime mover in many different enterprises. Since there was nothing to be gained in fighting one another, they'd play their hands in unison perhaps persuading this strange powerful man to take on a daughter from each of their respective Lords.

It soon became obvious that to those Lords with sons, daughters weren't of any real value besides sweeteners to the pot in forming trade or political alliances, Thomas being certain he'd treat his own offspring of either gender with greater regard to their wishes about any choice of life-path or partner. That was the future; he dealt with the now firmly convinced that these girls were pleased about the eventual outcome.

A few days later he waved-off his visitors, feeling it crass to make a choice between a pair of pretty sisters Sophie and Sandra were staying, as were Yana and Inga – so now he had ten girls to share his adventures. Life in the bedroom would never become boring and he'd discovered Yana's secret which had fascinated all his other wives, she was an actual Pixie, or at least half-pixie half-human. Pixies with their characteristic slim bodies and pointy ears

suffered some racial abuse in the lands to the west nearer their own homelands, attitudes had been changing recently, now Thomas intended to see an end to that discrimination.

He discovered why the Pixie population was so low, it was their love of anal sex, thus their birth rates barely enough to keep their pure-bloodline from declining, but she loved having her ears nibbled as he took her doggie-style in either orifice. It wasn't that he needed any further proof he wasn't on earth, but those sensitive Spock-like ears weren't the product of any make-up department. While Yana was eleven years old if it wasn't for the elasticated waistband of the panties meant for girls from 9-11 would keep falling down, as it was they looked baggy on her, as his fingers easily slipped into the leg openings to play with her hot wet pussy.

Having reconciled himself to the moral climate in previously accepting Alice as a wife when she was merely 10 years old, Sophie at 10 wasn't too difficult, which made sending Sandra home alone seem so unfair, therefore he also had a bride of 9 whose waist and hips were not that different from his Pixie bride, although Yana was taller and had nice small boobs, whereas Sandra was yet to show any development in that area. He discovered from Yana that Pixies never grew pubic hair, Sophie had so few pubes anyway that it didn't interfere at all with eating her pussy for the time being, therefore only Inga became a new user of the ointment which denuded her of her tiny blonde pubic bush.

Epilogue

For now we leave the any-when of space-time and dimensions with the possibility of some future visit with Sir Thomas to follow his busy life. A nameless energy based entity whose realm is beyond our imaginings remains nameless because a human couldn't say the name even if it could be vocalised. Back on earth in a long-term care unit two nurses spoke.

“Shall we tell the new nurse or leave it as a surprise?”

“She'll need to know why the guy in bed 42 doesn't have a standard catheter, ejaculating several times a day for someone in a vegetative state is unheard-of. Anyway with an active brainwave status they'd never be allowed to pull the plug on him. I wonder if this guy will ever make a recovery and come back to us?”

Would you?