"Oh no!" Jill exclaimed, a worried frown creasing her pretty face. She had just enough money to rent a cheap apartment, to eat, and to buy the necessary books and supplies for her studies. If she had to hand over a lot of money to an agency, she might have to give up eating until next month's check arrived. "Is it really that bad?" she asked in a sober voice.

"I'm afraid so. It's hard enough to find a place to live even during the winter, but in June the city's flooded with tourists." Erik Mortensen enjoyed watching the independent girl's self-composed mask crumble to pieces and delighted in her new found vulnerability. "But maybe I can do something for you…"

"Oh, Mr. Mortensen, I wouldn't want you to go to any trouble," she protested weakly.

"No trouble at all! I was just thinking of the building where I lived when I was a student. The landlady's an old friend of my family's, and if there's anything available I'm sure she'd let you have it if I come around with you. It's nothing fancy, but it's only three hundred kroner a month and ten minutes walk from the university." He paused, then grinned, "And please don't call me 'Mr. Mortensen' – it makes me feel like an old man!"

"Okay, Erik," Jill smiled thankfully. "It sounds just perfect! I'm so grateful to you."

There was a sudden slight bump as the plane landed, causing the young girl's heart to leap in a joyous thrill of anticipation. She was about to set foot for the first time on European soil, about to start a new life!

In a daze of excitement she followed Erik out of the plane and down a confusing maze of corridors to the baggage and customs area. Though she didn't like to admit it to herself, the usually self-reliant girl realized that she would have felt lost without the handsome blond man there to lead the way and carry her heavy book-laden suitcase. As she listened to the voices around her babbling in strange-sounding Danish, she knew that her language records with their slow, well-pronounced phrases had been of very little real use. Jill turned in bewilderment to the helpful English-speaking Dane waiting beside her in the quick-moving customs line.