"Woah...my head," Sam groaned as he regained consciousness and slowly sat up. He heard a soft groan next to him. "Penny? Is everything okay?" he asked her gently as he looked down at her and carefully placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes...and you?" she replied heavily as she slowly stood up and put a hand to her forehead. Her skull must have been pounding just as much as his, but the pain slowly subsided. He nodded briefly and, like Penny, looked around. "What happened? What time is it?" she then turned back to Sam when she was surprised to see that it was already light.

"My watch stopped last night," Sam replied as he checked it before checking the position of the sun. "We should go home. The others will definitely miss Mercury." He held out his hand to Penny and they stood up. Penny only vaguely noticed that they were both using their other hand to support themselves on the menhir next to them in order to stand up. The dull pain in their heads now completely subsided.

"Looks like they've already got Mercury," Penny said as they stepped out of the stone circle and looked down the hill - exactly where they had left Mercury during the night.

"Great, and what do we do now? If we have to walk back to the city, we'll never be there in time for the start of our shift, let alone be rested enough for it," Sam grumbled grumpily and Penny couldn't help but laugh.

"A little early exercise never hurt anyone. We're in the mountains. Let's go to the Mountain Activity Center. From there we can take the train to Pontypandy. Garreth goes up to the mountains twice a day."

"As always, you have the saving idea." Sam turned around, paused and turned to the other three directions. "Where is the Mountain Activity Center?"

"That direction," she objected with a laugh and led the way. After two hours they reached the lake, but there was no sign of Moose Hut or the platform for Garreth's train. Sam saw that Penny was confused as she looked around searching. He followed her to where the platform was supposed to be and was no less confused himself. They looked at the ground where the tracks were supposed to be, at the cave wall where the entrance to the mines was supposed to be carved - none of that was visible. "I don't understand it. We're in the right place here," she murmured then lost in thought.

"I think we are, but if your stone circle worked, we're here before 1895."

"What?" She turned to him, visibly confused that Sam was voicing this possibility that she had already thought of.

"The railway won't be completed until 1895. Ore and gold mining in Pontypandy won't start until around 1805, so either we're there before that time or they just haven't discovered precious metals in this place yet."

"So you really think we made a time jump?"

"How else are you going to explain this?" he replied and with a gesture included everything they knew but was obviously missing. "Let's walk into town and see what the city looks like." He took her hand and she followed him, smiling. His sudden enthusiasm infected her, although deep down she felt a fear of what would happen to her in the distant past, knowing that expectations were different in earlier times, especially for women.

They had to take a detour to avoid the gorge, which in their time could be overcome thanks to the viaduct. Since the railway line didn't exist yet, the viaduct wouldn't exist either and they crossed the river well above the waterfall. They arrived late in the afternoon on a hill outside the town and paused to take a look. If they hadn't discovered striking points such as the steep cliffs, they certainly wouldn't have recognized Pontypandy. It was at most half as big as it was in their time and buildings such as the fire or police station were also nowhere to be found.

"We should find out what year we ended up here and how we can get around here for the next few months until we can go home again," Penny noted as she started moving again.

"Months?" Sam asked, horrified.

"What were you thinking? We'll have to wait at least until the next Celtic holiday until the paths between worlds...or rather between times are thin enough for us to travel again."

"Who says it doesn't always work? Let's go back and try?"

"Did you hear anything when we woke up at the foot of the standing stone this morning? No humming or screeching, right?"

"There was no humming, but the screeching noise was only heard when we both touched it and we didn't do that this morning."

"Yes we did. When we got up," she replied, noting with a smile that Sam was almost silently cursing that she was right - but only almost silently. Thanks to Sam, she even faced the worrying living conditions at that time with a certain lightness. As long as he was with her, they would be able to get through anything, no matter what came their way.

They reached the city and walked through the streets that were not yet paved. Very few of the houses on the outskirts of the city were made of stone, as they knew it from their time, but the closer they got to the center and the harbor, the more they discovered brick houses. The people were dressed in ancient ways - the simple men in linen trousers and shirts, the women in simple dresses that were a little reminiscent of the Middle Ages. But the closer they got to the harbor, the more colorful and ostentatious the clothes and hairstyles of the people became - even the men wore wigs. And no matter what class the people came from, they all gave Sam and Penny skeptical looks and examined the two of them. They must have looked pretty out of place in their blue shirts and jeans - especially Penny.

When they arrived at the harbor, Sam froze and Penny also stopped in surprise. The quay wall was only half finished and was still under construction further back, where a wooden jetty jutted out into the sea to which a stately ship was moored. Sam no longer looked at the many people who were strolling and trading between the stalls set up in this alley and between whom he now wound his way. Penny followed him confused, amazed at how spellbound he was running towards the ship. He only stopped at the pier and looked up at it while sailors were busy bringing barrels and boxes onto the ship.

"What's wrong, Sam?" she asked him when she caught up with him again and he turned to her enthusiastically.

"Pen, do you know what that is?" Her gaze followed his outstretched finger before she turned back to him with a shrug. "That's the Ruby Red. It's my great-grandfather Admiral Jones' ship."

"Really?" she said in astonishment and looked up at the ship again, searching it with her eyes until she found what she was looking for and pointed to it near the bow. "Then that must be the legendary cannon that Professor Pickles spoke about." The black wheeled cannon with rich fittings highlighted in gold made an imposing impression on both of them.

"Do you know what that means?" he turned back to her, his eyes shining with excitement. "We must be here somewhere around the year 1700. We'll see my great-grandfather and Pontypandy Pete in action, see if all of the Legends and stories from my childhood are really true. I... Hey!" Sam protested when someone bumped into him and they turned to the man, who now turned to them as well. He froze, as did they both. He looked Sam up and down as they also examined him in his pompous outfit of immaculate white trousers, shiny leather boots and a long red coat - called a skirt in those days - with many gold buttons on it. His red hat - a tricorn hat with a long white feather and a golden yellow neckerchief that was puffy in the collar of his white vest and the white ruffles that peeked out from under the sleeves of his coat gave him something kitschy and yet stately. But none of that, not even his white, curly wig with hints of red hair peeking out from under it, didn't distract from the fact that he looked exactly like Sam, and Penny had to stop herself from laughing out loud for a moment. This, however, drew the man's attention to her and his gaze changed immediately.

"You are dressed strangely and you are extremely inappropriate for a young lady with your beauty. Who are you and where do you come from?" he now objected as he bowed a little to her and took her hand and gave her a kiss on it to breathe. Wow, she once called that gallant.

"What makes you think we're not locals?" Sam now objected.

"No woman in our country shows so much of her figure if she is from here and comes from a fashionable household. Not even whores would dress like that." Penny sucked in a sharp breath as he casually explained this to Sam before turning to her with another short bow before giving her a look that made her more than just uncomfortable. "Forgive me for that language, Madame. I can see that you are not one, so I let myself be able to speak carelessly. So where do you come from?" Penny looked for help at Sam, who was desperately searching for a plausible excuse. He also knew that the truth would certainly get them imprisoned at best, and probably a witch trial at worst.

"We've come all the way from Scotland and are looking for a ship to join. We're experienced sailors," Sam now objected and Penny looked at him in shock. She wanted to go back to their time and not go to sea on a frigate.

"I always knew that the Scots were a strange people, but don't they wear tartan and the women also wear skirts instead of skin-tight trousers?" he objected skeptically.

"Well, normally, yes, but it causes too many laughs, or in her case, too much distraction for the crew, when we climb up the rigging in our usual costume, if you know what I mean," Sam said now grinning and winking at his ancestor, while Penny secretly rolled her eyes at this primitive humor, which nevertheless amused the admiral.

"I could still use good sailors, but we serve our majesty and have to protect the ports of all South Wales from the pirate rabble. Forgive me, but women are not welcome at sea."

"She's the best you can find in the whole kingdom, sir," Sam now objected.

"I may believe you and since you are still alive it confirms your statement, but I would have to explain this to my crew and I wouldn't know how. Besides, a woman on board only causes unrest and I couldn't guarantee her safety if she did ..."

"Believe me, I'll take care of her safety," Sam now objected and she was surprised to see that he was clenching his fists.

"Permit me to ask this: Is she your wife?"

"No!" Penny replied, standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, annoyed by the fact that the two men were talking about her as if she wasn't even there. But she turned to Sam in surprise when he answered with a quick "yes" at the same time as she did, which made the admiral look at the two of them suspiciously.

"We are engaged and will get married as soon as we get back home," he explained to his ancestor and blushed while trying to avoid Penny's gaze. They both knew that she would have a difficult time as an unmarried woman during this time. He just wanted to help and hoped Penny would understand.

The Admiral looked them both up and down again before turning and gesturing for them to follow him. Sam smiled enthusiastically at Penny before pulling her with him.

"Sam...what's all this about?" Penny whispered to him now, when she was sure that the Admiral couldn't hear her.

"If what you say is true and we have to wait until the next holiday to get home, then we will need room and board for at least 5 weeks. I doubt the money we have in our pockets will be of any use for us here. So why not pass the time with some history lessons and genealogy research and we'll still be practically supplied?!"

"Practically," Penny simply commented to him as he held out a hand to help her onto the gangway. She ignored him and climbed the step herself before walking past him. "You take care of my safety. I can find a safe step on my own...sweetheart," she objected sarcastically and in the next moment looked up at the Admiral, who was waiting for them on board of the ship and laughed at her words.

"You've got a really tough woman there. I understand that you've fallen for her," the Admiral now objected. As Sam blushed, he summoned a man who stopped them both in their tracks as he stumbled to a stop in front of them. "This is Elmar Cridlington. A most zealous one of my men, an old friend and First Officer. He will give you suitable clothes below so that you don't cause more attention than you already do," he said and the two of them thanked him as they smiled and followed a man who not only looked surprisingly similar to Elvis, but also almost exactly was so clumsy.

To be continued...