Gypsy in Black: The Romance of Gypsy Travelers (34 page)

Half an hour passed before Sah
ara heard someone approaching. 
Pulling the blankets around her,
she stared intently at the tent
opening. 
Nicolae
threw it back, his e
yes briefly meeting Sahara's in
the faint light from the lantern
.  His face looked strained and
tense.  Startled to see Sahara aw
ake, although silently pleased,
Nicolae
sat on the end of the trunk,
pulling his boots off with much
effort.  Within seconds, he ha
d removed his clothing and laid
next to Sahara in the dark. 

Brushing her hand against
his bare shoulder, Sahara asked
softly,
“
What has happened,
Nicolae
?
”

Leaning on one elbow,
Nicolae
l
ooked down at her face, faintly
illuminated in the shadows of
his mind.  Damn her beauty, he
thought as he reached out to pus
h a piece of her raven hair off
her cheek. 
“
A good wife would no
t ask, S'hara.
”
  He could sense
her smile in the darkness. 
“
But
then, when have you been a good
wife, yes?
”

“
I've done the best I could for you.
”

Nicolae
ran his hand down her
chin and traced a line from her
throat to the large swell of her s
tomach.  The warmth of her skin
excited him.  They had not s
hared love since the day he had
learned of the pregnancy. 
Gypsy
c
ustom forbade it.  While Sahara
had managed for the gypsies to b
reak other traditions, this was
one
Nicolae
made no attempt to change. 
“
Ah, S'hara.  You have done very well indeed!
”
  He leaned
over and kissed her forehead. 
Sighing,
Nicolae
laid back into the m
attress and pulled the blankets
up to his chin.  The chill of the night scared him. 
“
You have a
sked me a question which I mu
st answer.
”
  He hesitated.  How
would she react? 
“
There are storms brewing quite close.  We will
not escape winter as I had hoped
.  Too many things happened and
we have gotten caught in a very
scary situation.  Tomorrow, we
must pull up and get the hell o
ut of here.  If we do not reach
camp within two weeks, we may as w
ell go back up north.  It would
serve the same purpose for we wi
ll die.
”
  He paused, waiting to
hear Sahara's reaction.  There was none. 
“
We are going south. 
No stops except to rest the h
orses.  The
Rom Baro
and I just
spoke for a long time with tw
o gadjo that have come from the
north.  Already blizzards curse t
he north, the land covered with
snow and freezing winds.  The gadjo
warned us to leave at once
but I convinced the
Rom Baro
that we wait
‘
til the morn.
”

Sahara knew from past experi
ence how terrible the blizzards
could be.  Every winter, men had t
old horror stories about people
lost in the snow storms, only to be found fro
zen to death
afterwards.  Visions of the entir
e gypsy caravan being lost in a
storm haunted her.  She knew they
haunted
Nicolae
too.  She wondered
if his hesitance to leave might
have something to do with her. 
Holding her breath, Sahara whispered,
“
We should
leave
immediately.
”

Nicolae
shivered as a cold wind snuck into the tent.  That was what his father had said.  Bu
t waking the gypsies would only cause unnecessary
panic. 
“
We should but...
”

Suddenly Sahara sat up, reach
ing for his hand.  Clutching it
to her heart, she cried out,
“
I
don't want to worry anymore!  I
want to move.  I want to ge
t there and rest!  I'm tired of
travelling!  I'm sick of praying w
e get there!  Every day I worry
about how we will survive if a bli
zzard should hit.  Every night,
I fear for the children.  They a
re not as strong as they should
be.  They can't run and play. 
Instead, they sit in wagons all
day until we stop for the night.
”
  She hesitated, taking a moment
to catch her breath. 
“
I will dri
ve a wagon through the night if
I must.  But I will not watch these people freeze to death!
”

Nicolae
wrapped his arms aroun
d her.  She let him hold her as
she fought the tears that ca
me to her eyes.  Her arms crept
round his neck, startled at the
amorous feelings aroused in her
by his bare skin touching hers. 
Unknown to Sahara,
Nicolae
felt the
same physical emotions. 
“
S'har
a, do not worry.  I would never
let anything happen to you or th
e kumpania.  Get some sleep and
we will leave first thing in the
morn, yes?  Everything will be
fine.
”

Sniffling back the tears,
Sahara rested her cheek against
his chest, wishing
desperately
they had already reached winter
camp. 
“
Oh
Nicolae
, what are we going to do?
”

“
We will be fine.  It is only
October, yes?  By the time the
first real snow falls, we will be out of danger.  I promise you that.
”
 
Nicolae
held Sahara in his arms, soothing her as a tear escaped from her eye.  He felt the wetness against his cold skin.  A shiver ran through him as he gently caressed Sahara's back until she finally fell back to sleep.  Sleep d
id
not come to
Nicolae
that night.  Instead, he laid
awake, his arms wrapped
around Sahara as he stared into the darkness, wondering if that was the first promise to Sahara he would unintentionally break. 




   




Emilian
watched
Amaya
.  She sat with the Rom Baro, leaning close to him and laughing at his soft words. The Rom Baro was happy, happier than Emilian had ever seen him.  At night, they would dance together, the rest of the kumpania disappearing before their eyes.  Emilian knew that the abiav ceremony would happen soon and then there would be no going back.  He also knew that there was another danger, one of which no one spoke.  If Amaya had another child, a son, with the Rom Baro, he would be of stronger blood to lead the two kumpanias.  Emilian would be stuck with an infant bride and no kumpania to lead. 

He waited until she left the Rom Baro’s side.  He presumed she was going to check on the child.  Slipping into the shadows, he followed her, his heart pounding inside his chest as he glanced over his shoulder to insure that he, too, was not being followed.  But the Rom Baro had not moved and the rest of the gypsies were dancing and eating, ignoring the silence beyond the fires.

It was when she started to return to the fires that he grabbed her.  With one hand, he covered her mouth.  With the other, he pulled her against his chest.  He was stronger than her, despite the four-year difference in age between them.  He could feel her flesh under his hand and he realized that he had never before touched a woman.  The warmth of her skin and the floral smell of her hair caused a warm sensation to flow over him.  For a moment, his mind wandered and he darted his eyes toward the fire.  No one would know, he thought.  And she would never speak of it or risk losing the Rom Baro.

She struggled in his arms. 

He lowered his voice and whispered in her ear, “If you move, I will break your neck, Amaya.  First yours and than your bastard child’s!”

Immediately, she froze.  He could feel her pulse quickening.  For a moment, he let his hand wander, feeling the skin of her shoulder and arm.  He shut his eyes and breathed.  The air was warm and the music overpowering.
He let his hand slip down to her breast.  He shuddered and held her closer to his body.  He could feel her shivering, a fear sweeping through her body.  It aroused him and he continued to explore her flesh.
“I could take you right now, Amaya.  And you would not wed the Rom Baro,” he hissed between clenched teeth.  “But if you leave, no one will ever find you.  You disappear with that child and I will never
be able to touch either of you again.”

He flung her away from himself.  She landed on the grass, her back to him.  Quickly, she straightened herself and started to jump to her feet.  But he knocked her down.  “And if you tell the Rom Baro, he will not believe you and I will kill your child.”  He stood over her, his hands on his hips as he glared at her.  For the first time, he saw her as a helpless woman.  Her confidence was gone and he could smell the fear, the anger.  He felt powerful and alive.  Excited.  Without another word, he quickly retreated into the darkness, leaving Amaya to collect herself and decide what she was going to do.

The overcast sky frightened S
ahara.  With a stiff upper lip,
she tightened the reigns of t
he horses.  They were tired and
fought the bit as much as they
could.  One eye remained on the
horses, the other on the wago
n ahead. 
Nicolae
lead the caravan,
riding a friend's chestnut m
are with a white
blaze down the center of her
face.  His own
horse, a magnificent white stal
lion, had fallen a week before,
breaking its foreleg.  With much grief,
Nicolae
had
to put the horse out of its
misery.  Several men had quickly d
ragged the horse's body off the
road and the caravan had travelle
d on, not even a second thought
to the beast.  The wagon lurched t
o the right, causing one of the
horses to stumble.  Catching h
er breath, Sahara cursed at the
animal and tried to keep her mind on what she was doing.

Up ahead, two riders approa
ched the caravan. 
Nicolae
held his
hand up and one by one, the wagon
s stopped.  Straining her head,
Sahara tried to see what was goin
g on.  Finally,
Nicolae
trilled his
tongue and the wagons began movin
g. 
Nicolae
headed down the line of
wagons, quietly talking with the
drivers as he rode alongside. 
When he stopped by the wagon ahead
of her, Sahara tapped her foot
impatiently.  He should hav
e come to me first, she thought
selfishly as she watched him talking.  His dark curly hair hung over his shoulders, gently blown
by the breeze.  His skin, still
tanned bronze from the summer
months, shimmered with beads of
sweat.  In the past few days,
the air, although not warm, had
lost the bitter chill of dang
er.  Still, Sahara could feel a
storm brewing nearby.  The air, th
ick with the scent of rain, was
cold enough for it to turn to snow as the night fell.

“
Ah, S'hara.  You should not frown so.
”
 
Nicolae
smiled. 

Ignoring his comment, Saha
ra questioned him,
“
Why did you
make me wait so long?  What did those men say?
”

He laughed again, teasing h
er gently with his eyes. 
“
They
were admiring your beauty.
”

His jovial mood angered her
.
She was tired from the long day and her body ached.  The sweat poured down her neck and back.
“
Answer me!  What
is the news?
”

“
Cheer yourself, S'hara, or I shan't tell you anything!
”

Her hair was tied back in a thick braid
down her back.  Thin
wisps
hung around her cheeks.
They waved in the breeze.  Her
dark eyes shot arrows at him.  Th
e anger in her face amused him.
For the past ten days, her agi
tation had
increased,
as had her
discomfort. 
“
The men said we are a day away
from Wichita. 
Probably a day and a half with t
he caravan, yes?  That means we
are little more than a week aw
ay from camp.  Does that please
you, my nasty mooded bori?
”

“
It would please me more,
Nicolae
, if we were already there!
”

He cocked his eyebrow, lean
ing forward to rub the mare's
neck. 
“
That is so, yes?
”
 
“
You will taste my temper
soon,
Nicolae
, if you continue this
conversation.
”
  Among other things, hiding
Emilian
's behavior from
Nicolae
was wearing her nerves
thin.  She only restrained from
informing
Nicolae
to keep peace among the travelling caravan. 

Someone called
Nicolae
's name
from behind.  He looked in the
direction, waving his hand to
acknowledge he had heard.  The
people in the back were anxious to hear the news from the gadjo riders. 
“
And I have much bett
er things to do than anger you,
S'hara.  We will talk later, yes?
”
  He didn't wait for her answer
before nodding curtly and swinging the horse's head
around to
continue down the wagon lin
e to spread the good news about
Wichita.

Later that evening, when the
horses were unhitched from the
wagons and the cooking fires ha
d died down to embers,
Nicolae
kept
his promise to Sahara.  Seve
ral men crouched around a fire,
drinking their rakiya as they la
ughed, talking about the summer
months.  It occurred to Sahara that
once they had escaped the
threat of being caught in bli
zzards, the general mood of the
gypsies had lightened.  Sah
ara lingered at the edge of the
warmth, shivering as she pull
ed her shawl tighter around her
shoulders.  The memories of summer seemed too far
away.  The days
had been so carefree and full of l
ife.  Moving by day, dancing by
night.  She sighed to hersel
f.  She longed to dance again. 
After she had learned of her pregn
ancy, her dancing days had been
curtailed.  She loved the child she carried but how she longed to be rid of it. 
“
If only I could dance again!
”

“
I didn't realize you missed it so, bori.
”

Startled, Sahara jumped.
  She hadn't even noticed
Nicolae
's
presence was missing from the
circle of men seated around the
fire.  She wondered if he had b
een watching her the whole time
she had stood in the shadows wat
ching the men. 
“
You frightened
me.
”
 

Barely could she see his reac
tion in the faint glow from the
fires.  From his low and slur
red voice, she suspected he had
drunk
more than his share of rakiy
a. 
“
Did I?
”
  He stared at her,
his dark eyes taking in her silhou
ette.  Her long hair hung loose
ov
er her shoulders, shielding her more from the cold than her
shawl did. 
“
You are beautiful this evening, S'hara.
”

A laugh escaped her throat. 
“
Not
long ago I was beautiful
to you every evening.
”

He reached a nervous hand ou
t to touch her cheek. 
“
So damn
beautiful.
”
  He whispered the word
s more to himself than to her. 
He seemed lost in thought, as
if thinking back to their first
days together.  The silence leng
thened.  Softly, Sahara cleared
her throat and broke his thoughts.
  Quickly, he snatched his hand
away. 
“
You have bewitched me, you have.
”
 

The change of his tone
frightened her. 
“
Nicolae
?  What's
wrong?
”

Nicolae
lifted the bottle that he held in
his hand to his lips. 
When he pulled it away, he laughed.  It rang evil and froze
Sahara's heart. 
“
My
dear bori as
ks what is wrong, yes?  Well, I
shall tell you!
”
  He took a drunke
n step toward Sahara, steadying
himself before he bumped into her. 
“
For
seven months, I have
loved you!  Seven dreadful months
!
”
  He shook his finger at her,
rakiya spilling out of the bottle.
 
“
Never once have you loved me
back!
”

Sahara held back the confus
ed laughter that snuck into her
throat. 
“
Never once?  I find that hard to believe!
”

“
You lie!  When, tell me,
when have you ever told me you
love me?  When?
”
  His voice raised
into a furious bellow, causing
Sahara to shrink away from him. 
“
I see how other men watch you. 
How they talk about you.  You thought me blind, ye
s?  Well, I'm
not!  And I'll have no more!
”

“
What are you talki
ng about,
Nicolae
?  You're speaking
nonsense!
”

Nicolae
reached for her th
roat but snapped his hand away,
thinking better of it.  Turning
around, he took a final swallow
of rakiya before throwing the bottl
e down. 
“
Late walks at night. 
Kindness toward the others.  Quiet conversations with that
damn...
”
 
Nicolae
didn't finish the s
entence.  He didn't have to for
Sahara knew of whom he spoke
. 
Nicolae
whirled around, his eyes
slanted and envious. 
“
I see the color rise to your cheeks when
he speaks to you!  No longer do y
ou argue with me when I have to
leave your side.  You welcome it!  As you do that man!
”

Her hand shot out
, slapping his cheek so loudly that
several people at the fires glanced at them.  Quickly, S
ahara covered her
face with her hands, crying as
if she had been the one slapped
instead of
Nicolae
. 
“
How dare you! 
How dare you accuse me of being
unfaithful to you!
”
  Her tear
s wet her hands as she sobbed. 
“
I've tried.   Tried and tried to please you!
”
  D
ropping her
hands from her face, Sahara stare
d up his dark figure, unable to
see his reaction. 
“
You always s
ay how good a wife Duda is, how
she doesn't question the
Rom Baro
or argue with him.  Well, damn
you,
Nicolae
!  I've been just as good a wife as she an
d look what I
get!  Look at yourself!  Haven'
t touched me in months.  Hardly
talk to me unless you have to.  Ne
ver bring me things when you go
off with the other men!  Maybe I'
ve never said I loved you but I
certainly have shown it more than you have!
”
  Sh
e sniffled,
tossing her head back. 
“
As for
your brother, he, not I, is the
one you should look at with suspicious eyes!
”

Her last sentence
caught his attention.  Sobering
immediately,
Nicolae
grabbed her
shoulders in his strong hands
and shook her none too gently. 
“
W
hat is this you speak of?
”
  The
terror in her eyes answered his
question.  Even in the dark, he
could see her face pale and he f
elt her body tremble.  She knew
she had said too much in order t
o defend herself. 
Nicolae
gave her
another shake. 
“
He hurt you, yes?  He
touched you, yes?  You
answer me, S'hara or I shall
torture him even slower than I
plan!
”