Gypsy in Black: The Romance of Gypsy Travelers (27 page)

Sahara sighed.  She couldn'
t see herself as the next Amaya
of the gypsies.  Sahara knew
her mother had tried to express
herself but failed because of the restrain
ts her culture pressed
upon her.  That was why she had run away. 
“
Did she love me?
”

“
To death,
”
Duda admitted.

“
And my father?
”

Duda shrugged. 
“
A man.  A l
ucky mortal somewhere in
Europe
fathered you while Amaya's kumpania travelled to the coast to sa
il to America.  But
many had sa
id a god fathered you.  Perhaps
Moshto himself.
”

Sahara smiled to herself.  S
he hadn't known people spoke of
her in such light.  It was an hon
or to have people think Moshto,
one of the great gods the gypsies believed in, was
her true
father. 
“
And now Moshto's daugh
ter is married to the Machwaiya
kumpania's future leader.  Cert
ainly gives this gypsy tribe an
advantage over the others.
”
  At
the winter gathering, she could
only imagine the stir her presence would create. 
“
Nicolae
is a lucky
man then, yes?  A half goddess
for a wife.
”
  Sahara chuckled,
shutting her eyes and enjoying
the motherly attention Duda was
bestowing her.

The chair creaked loudly as D
uda rocked backwards. 
“
You are
a difficult woman for
Nicolae
, yes?
”

“
What did he expect?
”
  Aft
er Duda's description of Amaya,
Sahara knew
Nicolae
wouldn't have wanted her any other way.

“
He expected to love you ver
y much, S'hara.  And he does.
”
 
Duda remained silent for several
minutes as she rocked.  Sahara
had always been kind to her, esp
ecially after the first week of
her travels with the gypsy trib
e.  In truth, Sahara was Duda's
daughter-in-law but Duda tended
to look at the misguided gypsy
girl as her own flesh. 
“
Maybe the
Rom Baro
was wrong in pursuing
you.  Maybe he was wrong for listening to
Emilian
and
Nicolae
.
”

“
Emilian
?
”
  Sahara lifted her
head. 
“
What does he have to do
with all of this?
”
  Duda sighed as she
reminisced
. 
Emilian
had not been mahrimed
then and the kumpania knew he
was to be the future
Rom Baro
. 
“
You were his before
Nicolae
's, bor
i.  But
Emilian
was cast away and
Nicolae
took over everything his bro
ther's life stood for.  That is
what happens when you are mahrimed for life.
”

“
I didn't know that, romni.
”

“
Now you do.  But,
”
she war
ned. 
“
You must be careful with
such information.
”

Sahara shut her eyes. 
A lot of things made sense now.
Emilian
's obsession with her was out of fury rather than love.
Nicolae
's love for her was pure, nat
ural, and honest.  He was proud
of her in a way
Emilian
could neve
r be. 
“
That's why
Nicolae
hates me
to befriend
Emilian
.
”

Duda breathed heavily. 
“
S'
hara,
Nicolae
does not wish for you
to speak with
Emilian
because
Emilian
is dead.  He is mahrime, bori. 
He committed a crime so
dear, his own father killed him
spiritually. 
Emilian
has
nowhere
else to go so he follows o
ur
Rom Baro
.  No one speaks with him.  He
is no longer one of us.
”
  Even
as Duda spoke, she knew it was n
ot the truth.  In so many ways,
many gypsies still considered
Emilian
the future leader. 
“
No one
is to acknowledge his presence.
”

Sucking in her breath, Sahar
a dared to ask the inevitable. 
“
And his crime?
”

“
Duda!
”
  The word was spoken
sharp and crisp. 

“I should not have said so much,” Duda whispered then, standing up, she lowered her eyes
to the ground as she stood before the
Rom Baro
.  His lower lip trembled as he
faced his aging wife.  When he loo
ked at her, he saw his own life
slowly fading away as death c
rept closer. 
“
You have my food
ready at once!
”
  Duda bowed bef
ore her husband and walked away
backwards.  The
Rom Baro
looked
after her, waiting for Duda to
disappear into the wagon she sh
ared with him to gather the rom
baro's bowl to serve him.  Slowl
y, the
Rom Baro
turned his head
around, his eyes boring a hole
into Sahara.  Fearful for Duda,
Sahara wondered how long he ha
d been standing there.  The
Rom Baro
tortured Sahara with his
eyes for several silent minutes
before lifting his chin. 
“
You have nothing to do, bori?
”

Standing, Sahara faced the
Rom Baro
.  Her own fear of him passed
away as she noticed the
tired wrinkles under his eyes. 
His back was growing crooked with
each new day.  He is but a man,
she thought.  An aging, nasty old gypsy man. 
“
And if I do not?
”

“
Then find something!
”
 

Sahara straightened her shou
lders.  She would not allow him
to intimidate her anymore.  S
he met his steady gaze, feeling
extremely ill-tempered toward
him this evening. 
“
Rom Baro
, I
have done
Nicolae
's wash. I have
straightened the tent, not that
there is much to clean.  I have
never fixed his meals nor do I
have any children to tend.  Perhaps
I should walk into town then? 
Busy my idle time by fighting th
e scorn of the town people?  Is
that what you suggest?
”

The cloud lifted from the
Rom Baro
's face.  His reaction startled Sahara, reaffirming the m
isgivings she felt toward him. 
He tried to hide his amusement.  But the corner of his mo
uth
trembled ever so slightly, a hin
t of a smile forced away. 
“
You
fight the scorn of the town people
, S'hara?
”
  He took a slow step
closer, reaching out to grab h
er arm a little rougher than he
intended.  His voice hissed at her,
“
What would you do if yo
u had
to fight the scorn of the kumpania?
”
 

Her eyebrows twisted toget
her as she leaned away from the
Rom Baro
's words.  Softly, she whi
spered,
“
What do you mean?  Why
would I have to do that?
”

The cold hearted cackle
that crawled out of his throat
frightened Sahara.  Frozen wher
e she stood, Sahara watched the
Rom Baro
as he mocked her ignoranc
e.  The
Rom Baro
tapped her arm
with his crooked fing
er.  The touch sent chills down
her spine and she jerked her arm a
way from him. 
“
Perhaps one day
you will find out, wild S'har
a with the legendary past.
”
  He
laughed out
loud as he turned to l
eave.  She could hear him laugh
as he walked toward the cooking fi
res, ready to eat the meal Duda
had prepared for him.

Sahara realized as he disappeared that she
was scared. 
Obviously he had heard the ent
ire conversation she had shared
with Duda.  He had heard and did n
ot like it.  Her hands trembled
as she stood there, staring int
o space.  What was he planning,
she wondered.  What was the
Rom Baro
going to do to
her?  His
curiosity
in her had been frightening.  Sahara would look up from the fires and see him wa
tching her.  Even after she had
noticed his attentions, he wouldn't tear his eyes away. 

It wasn't often that Sahar
a saw the
Rom Baro
.  On the few
occasions Sahara had spoken wi
th him, their personalities had
clashed.  If he wasn't o
ut
horse-trading
, stealing from
neighboring towns, or cheating
men in card games, he stayed in
his wagon.  No one dare
d to bother him unless
Nicolae
gave
permission.  Rarely did the ku
mpania's problems go that far. 
Except in title, the gypsies knew
that
Nicolae
was the real decision
maker of the kumpania. 

Still upset by the
Rom Baro
's eerie words, Sahara searched
for
Nicolae
.  Off in the distance, s
he could hear the dull smacking
of an axe against a log.  A couple
children chased a small puppy,
laughing as it slipped through the
ir fingers each time they tried
to grab it.  Passing by a wa
gon, Sahara smiled at two young
unmarried girls she had befriende
d several towns back.  They did
not return the smile but ignored S
ahara, much to her confusion.  
A horse neighed from the other s
ide of several wagons.  A sharp
crack and the horse neighed again
.  The men must be training the
horses, she thought as she heade
d in that direction. 
Nicolae
would
certainly be overseeing the brea
king in process and making sure
the younger men were taking proper care of the horses. 

The younger men were standi
ng in a circle, watching as the
bare
-
chested
Nicolae
held the end of
a rope tied around a brown and
white mare.  Marks, a man around
Nicolae
's age, cracked the whip near the mare's head while
Nicolae
tried
to steady the horse.  The horse
jolted forward, trying to escap
e the nearness of the startling
noise.  The muscles in
Nicolae
's a
rms hardened as his hold on the
rope began to loosen.  He calle
d out something Sahara couldn't
understand and several of the younger boys ran forward, grabbing
two other ropes hanging from the
horse's neck.  They pulled the
ropes tight until the horse couldn
't move.  The mare continued to
fight until the rope
Nicolae
held sna
pped.  Surprised,
Nicolae
stared at
his empty and bloody rope-burned
hands as the horse raced away,
dragging the unfortunate weak boys after it.