Gypsy in Black: The Romance of Gypsy Travelers (31 page)

Ingra greeted Sahara with
a timid smile.  Her eyes darted
quickly to Sahara's growing stom
ach.  It had taken time for the
kumpania to accept Sahara's co
ndition. 
Nicolae
had spoken to the
women, telling them to ignore S
ahara's pregnancy.  Once again,
the mysterious gadjo-
gypsy had c
hanged tradition to include her
gadjo ways. 
“
The broth is ready, bori.
”

Sahara took the ladle from
Ingra, leaning over the pot to
stir the thin liquid.  The
aroma struck her as peculiar. 
Frowning, she tasted some of it. 
Ingra winced, holding back from
throwing the pot's contents onto the ground.  Any other preg
nant
woman would never be allowed to touch food.  It was mahrime.  But Ingra
stifled
her instinct.
Sahara made a face of disgust,
thrusting the ladle at Ingra
. 
“
What is in here?  It tastes
horrible!
”
  Already the rain was falling.  Thunder rocked in the
near distance.  The storm was closing in on them.

“
Just broth, bori.
”

Ingra was lying and Sahara k
new it. 
“
What else did you put
in here?
”

Stuttering, Ingra took a step back. 
“
Some medicine, bori.
”

“
What medicine?  Did I say put medicine in here?
”
Furious,
Sahara tipped the pot over.  The
thin, clear liquid poured over
the dirt, slowly seeping into
the ground. 
“
Put water in here
with pieces of chicken.  Flavor it
with salt and garlic.  Nothing
else!  Do you hear me?
”
  Rubbing her own fevered foreh
ead, she
waited f
or Ingra to nod nervously. 
“
No
medicine!  And hurry!
”
 

Sahara walked back tow
ard the hill.  Squinting in the
increasing darkness, she tried
to see if the men had left the
fortress yet.  But she saw not
hing.  Holding her already damp
shawl, she glanced back at the cam
p.  The tents were fighting the
wind, clinging to the ground w
ith all their might.  Damn you,
Nicolae
, she thought.  Her heart
wept
for Rubba.  If Lee died, the
first-born
son, she would be mahri
med.  It was bad luck.  If only
the
Rom Baro
was here, she thought
.  If only the child could have
proper medical attention.  Cu
rsing aloud, she glanced at the
fortress once more before hurrying back to the child. 

The wagon had already taken
on a sick smell.  Sahara could
smell E Martya lingering in the stale air. 

Bossa
and Slena
were no
where to be
found. 
“
Damn
it!
”
  Kneeling beside the boy,
Sahara pushed his black hair
off his forehead.  He was still
burning with fever. 
“
You will liv
e, shav.  You'll live if I have
anything to say about it!
”
She got up and left the wagon,
searching for the women.  But sh
e found no one.  Even Ingra had
left the dying fire.  The brot
h was barely boiling.  Furious,
Sahara snatched the ladl
e and tasted the broth.  To her
satisfaction, it was exactly how s
he had prescribed.  Lifting the
heavy pot off the spit, she c
arried it awkwardly back to the
wagon.

One of the lanterns had die
d out.  Sahara knelt beside Lee
again and began to pour small
spoonfuls down his throat.  She
held his head up with one hand,
easing the hot liquid down his
throat.  His eyes fluttered on
ce and Sahara thought they were
going to open.  But he remained
unconscious, fighting the virus
battling within his small body with
all the strength he had left.

The wagon door opened and Sa
hara heard the wind roaring
outside.  Slena entered, her
hair in a thick braid under her
diklo.  Her large, flat nose wri
nkled at the smell of illness. 
“
He is getting worse, yes?
”

Sahara shrugged. 
“
It's t
oo soon to tell.  There must be
something else that can be don
e!
”
  Frantically, Sahara stared
down into the olive skinned face
of the fading child beneath the
blankets.  She reached out and
touched his cheek.  Her fingers
lingered on the wool covers.  To he
r relief, they were still dry. 
“
Finish feeding him this.  I'm going to get help.
”
  Slena's eyes widened as sh
e glanced at Sahara's stomach. 
“
You are in no condition!
”

“
No one else will go!  You a
ll hide like chickens ready for the
block!  If Lee were my so
n, I'd be fighting for his life
right alongside him!  Not praying
for his death!
”
  Sahara got to
her feet and instructed Slena how
to feed Lee before she left the
wagon.

Each raindrop chilled her a
s it pelted against her hunched
over back.  But Sahara trudged ac
ross the grassy meadow, heading
for the fortress.  Certainly t
here would be doctor there, she
thought.  The rain fell harder n
ow, blinding her as to what was
ahead.  Her head swooned as she
held her shawl around her body,
her back bent toward the rain and
wind.  Sahara walked quicker. 
The wind pushed her back.  Frustra
ted, she began to run.  Thunder
rumbled in the distance
and a thin streak of lightning
illuminated the sky.  Rain soa
ked her hair and her clothing. 
Dear God, she prayed, let Lee live but don't hurt my baby.

The strong hands on her shoul
ders startled her.  Looking up,
she met the terrified gaze of
Emilian
.  He opened his mouth to say
something but she only heard the s
torm berating her in her ears. 
Shaking her head, Sahara pushed h
im aside.  She didn't have time
to scream into the howling win
d.  The fortress, she thought. 
Lee's only hope.  Quickly, Sah
ara continued walking, her head
bent toward the storm. 
Emilian
fol
lowed her, grabbing her arm but
she shook him off. 
Emilian
grab
bed at her arm again, this time
holding onto it until Sahara turned around.  In a frenzy, Sahara screamed into the wind,
“
I must
find
Nicolae
!  I must find the
Rom Baro
!
”
 
Emilian
frowned at her word
s.  Unsure if he had understood
her, Sahara began to scream
again but he nodded his head. 
Hesitantly,
Emilian
let her go, k
nowing she would never risk her
life or her child's if it was an
ything less than an emergency.

The rain stabbed her face
as she squinted, urging herself
to keep going.  The thunder rumble
d from behind her.  Frightened,
she whirled around, half-
expecti
ng to see a streak of lightning
coming toward her from the sky.  A light flickered and she
winced, waiting for the lightning to
strike.  It didn't.  Sahara
was imagining it.  Her head spun
.  The rain no longer fell from
the sky but rose from the ground.  T
he ground spun in a wild
circle around her eyes.  Sahara
shut her eyes, waiting for the
earth to steady.  It didn't and
she felt herself falling deeper
into the darkness.  Frightened, Sa
hara silently prayed for God to save Lee and
spare her child as she collapsed to the ground.

Vaguely, she felt someone t
ouch her shoulder.  She thought
she was dreaming.  Someone
lifted her into the air and she
realized that she must have died
.  Lightning cracked overhead. 
The hands around Sahara's large waist were strong
but gentle. 
She could hear the storm roarin
g fiercely in her ears.  Or was
that someone screaming?  Sh
e opened her eyes, surprised to
discover a man was carrying her o
ut of the storm and into a dark
room.  He laid her down on somet
hing soft then left.  Partially
delirious, Sahara jumped to her f
eet and burst out of the room. 
She stood outside, looking around.  Something shielded her head from the rain.  Confused, she
looked up to see a low overhang
protecting her.  With a wild thrill of accomplishment, sh
e
realized she had reached the fortress. 

Racing along the building,
she called out for help but no
one heard.  She turned the co
rner, banging on doors.  No one
answered.  Her eyes fell upo
n a pair of swinging doors.  Of
course, she thought.  The saloon.
  Where else would the gypsies
gamble?  She ran to the doors, pu
shing them open.  The room fell
silent, all eyes upon her drenched body. 
“
S'hara!
”
 

When Sahara heard her name, s
he jumped.  Turning around, she
sought
Nicolae
in the crowd.  But her eyes cloud
ed over.  The crowd
multiplied before fading away. 
“
The boy.
”
  Her voice was barely
audible as her knees buckled
, not finishing her sentence or
completing the dangerous mission
she had embarked on.   Someone
caught her before she hit the floor.  Sahara fe
lt like she was
floating.  Weakly, she put her a
rms around his neck, afraid she
might float further away.  Her chee
k rested against his shoulder. 
The cloth underneath her skin was soft and silky.  It stunk of
musky cigars.  With much effort, Sahara rolled
an eye open, half
startled to recognize
Nicolae
as the
man holding her.  She tried to
smile but her mouth felt too heavy. 
“
Nicolae
...
”

“
Ssh.  Don't try to t
alk.
”
  His terrified expression
startled her as he carried her o
ut of the saloon at a soldier's
urging.  All the color had drained
out of his cheeks and his eyes
were large and frightened.

Sahara wanted to say something to reassure him that she was
all right
but the words never form
ed on her tongue.  Instead, she
mumbled,
“
Send a doctor to the boy.
”
  The room
spun.  Closing her
eye, she sighed.  Mission accomp
lished, she thought with silent
satisfaction.  The other men
in the saloon murmured to each
other, staring at the half unc
onscious gypsy in
Nicolae
's arms as
they left the saloon.  The soldiers mumbled about h
er beauty, the
gypsies about her insanity.  But Sahara heard nothing.  On
ly a b
uzzing noise that echoed in her ears as it grew louder.