Gypsy Trail

by West, Nicole Leigh

  “They’re back! And on your birthday!”

  “What?” Her heart thudded in her chest and she raced to the windows in the schoolroom.

  Wagons and trucks and horses made their way into the field below. Impossible. But the cold glass against her nose proved she was awake and not dreaming the blissful image.

  Her hand flew to her messy hair; she looked down at the crumpled nightgown and rubbed her blotchy face. And, apart from her appearance, if Mr Campbell couldn’t even stand to be in her presence because of her ‘infliction’, she wasn’t going to subject the gypsies to it. I must stay out of their sight until the blood is gone. The thought created a lump in her throat, so huge, swallowing was impossible.

  “Lenny!” she called as she walked back to the kitchen.

  The gardener and Margaret stood side by side, their hands almost touching. Claudia stopped dead. Margaret stepped away from Lenny, her hand almost slapping his as she moved.

  “Well? Why did you call for the gardener? I suppose you want that cat of yours. I thought he was already inside,” she said in a voice more sharp than usual, even by her gruff standards. Her face looked swollen and tired beneath the pink curlers in her hair, but her eyes shone and sparkled beneath the heavy lids.

  “Um, he must have escaped outside.”

  “Well then, man, fetch the cat,” Margaret snapped at Lenny. He nodded and winked at Claudia on the way out.

  “I’ll take him up to my room today, Margaret,” Claudia said. Why is Margaret letting Lenny into the kitchen?

  She wondered if Mr Campbell knew. The strict teacher had always forbidden Claudia to talk to the other servants and she and Lenny had spent months now hiding their new found friendship.

  “Yes, you’re better off there I suppose, in your condition,” Margaret said, before busying herself with the breakfast dishes. “And, happy birthday, Claudia, I’ll bake you a cake for desert tonight.”

  As if cake will make everything okay. Why should I be ignored, when Margaret herself surely suffers the ‘condition’? Don’t all women? A not so Happy Birthday to me.

  For three more days Claudia stayed in her bedroom, only coming out for meals. She could see the gypsy camp from her window, and she felt their energy flowing through her veins. It tugged on her heart, constantly pulling her thoughts towards them. She ached to run into Dane’s arms, to gaze into Brishan’s eyes, to feel the warmth of Oriana’s kind words. But nerves now mixed with the painful cramps. What if the gypsies had changed? What if they no longer wanted to see her?

  What if, what if, what if?

  The blood had finally dried up; she’d seen no signs of it on waking at least, and she felt almost normal again, sitting at breakfast the next day. Normal, with a singing soul and a churning stomach

  “I have some good news, Miss,” Lenny said, his face poking around the back door.

  Claudia felt her heart race. “What is it, Lenny?”

  “I’ve been wanting to tell you for days now, but Margaret said to leave you be.” He looked at the floor as his voice faltered. “Your friends at the camp have been asking for you, Miss. Everyday. They’re mighty keen to see you.”

  Claudia let herself smile for the first time in days. “How will we do it this time, Lenny? How will we sneak down there?”

  The weathered face widened into a happy grin. “I’ve come to an arrangement with Margaret.” He glanced at the floor, fidgeting with an old silver watch on his wrist.

  “What do you mean?” Claudia frowned.

  “After your lessons this afternoon, you’re allowed to visit the gypsies, taking me with you of course. Margaret will keep our secret.”

  “How can this be?” Claudia’s jaw dropped.

  “Best you don’t know for now, Miss.” Lenny chuckled under his breath. “Just enjoy the freedom. I’ll come get you at three-thirty.”

  Claudia leapt up from her chair and threw herself at the gardener, smothering his cheek in kisses. He laughed and, when he hugged her gently in return, Claudia felt herself melting into the embrace.

  “I don’t care how it came about, I’m just so happy it did!”

  “As I am, Miss. But be sure you don’t mention it to Margaret, she likes to keep up appearances. Know what I mean?” He tapped his nose as he left to do his chores.

  Claudia didn’t know what he meant, but it didn’t matter. Nothing matters, not now they’re back for me. She ran down the stag head hall, and the dead eyes lining the wall were invisible to her.

  The day’s lessons dragged on torturously. She tried her best not to stare out the window towards the bustling camp and Mr Campbell seemed pleased with her apparent concentration, after so long a break.

  Three o’clock arrived and Claudia raced to her room to change. She would wear one of her birthday presents — a knee length, red dress with ruffles that fell over her shoulders, just like she’d seen on flamenco dancers in her books.

  She brushed her hair until the ebony waves shone and raced downstairs to look in the hallway mirror. Her waist looked small beneath the shoulder ruffle and she spanned her hands around it. Brishan’s fingers would meet together if he did this. Her skin glowed bronze from her time in the sun, highlighting the black of her brows and eyelashes. Excitement made her hands shake and her spine tingled with nerves as she stepped towards the kitchen.

  Lenny waited with his elbow pointed towards her. She gripped it, squeezing hard, and followed him through the afternoon shadows engulfing the chateau, down to the valley below. A small group of people, frozen like the statues in the garden, stood on the fringes of the camp.

  She stopped, unnerved by their very stillness.

  Her heart missed a beat as one figure broke free.

  Before she could think, she was encircled in Dane’s strong, spiry arms. She breathed in the scent of him — grass mixed with spices — and looked up at his face. A few extra lines seemed to crinkle as he smiled.

  “Claudia, my little lady of the glass house. Let me look at you, it’s been much too long. Do you know how much we’ve missed you?” Dane frowned as he scanned her body. “Lenny said you were sick?”

  “Oh…I just felt unwell. But I’m much better now.” Claudia looked down at her feet, hating the heat creeping over her cheeks.

  When she looked up again, a tall, muscular man stood behind Dane, his black hair blowing in the breeze, framing startling green eyes. Claudia’s stomach flip-flopped as the longed for, lopsided grin transformed Brishan’s face. He stared into her eyes, unblinking, eyebrows raised, and beckoned with his hand.

  Seconds later, his arms replaced Dane’s. She sank into his tight embrace, almost fearful of her thudding heart, but savouring the goose bumps trailing down her arms.

  “You’re no longer a little fairy, you’ve grown into a beautiful temptress,” he whispered into her ear, causing shivers to run from her legs to the top of her head. “I’ve been waiting for this moment, just to see you again.” He pulled back to catch her face in his hands, a slight frown forming as he slid his palms gently, slowly, over her arms to snake about her waist.

  She fought the trembling that threatened to turn her legs to jelly. “You’ve grown also.” What did I just say? Stupid. The muscles in his arms tensed beneath his brown skin as he pulled her close, so close her hip bones pressed into his thighs.

  His frown turned into a deep crevice as his eyes flicked between her face and the horizon over her head. “I just didn’t think…”

  “What?” Claudia instinctively stepped back.

  His mouth opened to respond, but instead she felt his hands slip reluctantly from her waist as Oriana and Brishan’s own parents, Eamon and Selina, swooped in to hug her.

  It was all the same. The wagons, the dancers, the screaming laughter, even a feast set out in her honour. Deliciously, gloriously the same, like a dream, frozen in time, simply waiting for her to fall into it again. As they gathered in the clearing, all feelings of loss and heartache disappeared under the glow of the sunny afternoon and th
eir love.

  The slight pressure of Brishan’s thigh against her own kept her heart racing and she found herself holding her breath each time he moved, his very touch waking every nerve ending beneath her skin. Every so often, he would wink at her, or squeeze her hand playfully, staring into her eyes before dropping his own to study her lips, raising them quickly again to catch her gaze on his.

  Yet, the frown would reappear whenever he watched the dancers. Especially two teenage girls; hips swirling to the drumbeats by a fire in a rusty black cauldron. They glanced at Brishan from under their black lashes and stared at her whenever they thought she wasn’t looking. Each time she felt their attention, prickles crept over her neck, keeping time with the goose bumps. One girl, in particular, with light hazel eyes, smiled whenever Brishan looked her way. A smile that disappeared as quick as it came, and never reached her eyes.

  Suddenly, Oriana was rubbing her shoulder, startling her out of her thoughts. “Tell me why you were sick, sweet one, Dane and I would like Cosima to look you over.”

  Claudia wasn’t keen to see the witch-like healer again and felt a flush of embarrassment, with Brishan sitting so close. Oriana seemed to sense her discomfort.

  “Come down to the lake with me.” Oriana smiled and offered a hand to help her up.

  Momentarily silent, they sat side by side and stared at the gently rippling water.

  “I think I might know what ailed you. I can sense you’ve changed,” Oriana said.

  Claudia’s heart leapt. Could the awful blood have such a lasting effect?

  “Oh, my darling, please don’t look so petrified. You’ve become a woman, haven’t you?”

  “I don’t know. It was just…blood.” Claudia stared at her feet, embarrassed to look into Oriana’s eyes, afraid of the disgust she might find there.

  “It is reason for celebration, darling! It’s your ancient connection to the moon and Mother Earth, come into its own.” Oriana’s eyes glittered as she extended both arms towards the sky, as if thanking Mother Earth.

  A celebration? No, she doesn’t understand.

  “No. It’s dirty and gross and Mr Campbell didn’t even want to give me lessons while I had it. He didn’t want to be in the same room as me.” Claudia thought about the gatekeeper, and how the blood had even kept him away.

  Oriana’s chocolate brown eyes widened and she frowned, bitting her bottom lip until it glowed dark pink. With a sigh, she caught Claudia’s shoulders between her arms, hugging her tightly. “Do you know why you bleed, Claudia?”

  “It’s the reproductive system.”

  “Yes, but do you understand what that means?” Oriana asked, her tone softening.

  “No.” Warm tears ran down her cheeks and she swiped at them with the backs of her hands.

  “Oh, sweet one. Be happy! It means you can give birth! It’s Mother Earth’s greatest gift to women.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes! Just as the moon has cycles; new, waxing, full and waning, so do women. The moon’s phase’s move through your body, readying, filling and emptying your uterus. Menstruation is a time of great psychic wisdom and power for women.”

  “What’s a uterus?”

  Oriana laughed and nodded. “If ever you feel bad about anything, you must tell yourself it’s probably because of ignorance. All things can be explained, just as this can. Never live in fear simply because you don’t have all the facts. Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  For long, exquisite moments, Claudia gaped in awe at the information spilling from the older woman’s lips. Sex, birth, death, the inner workings of males and females, sperm; all words Claudia had never known. Her mind swelled with the empowerment brought by knowledge and her heart filled with the connection she felt to the gypsy woman giving it to her.

  “There you are, my lovely ladies. What have you two been whispering and laughing about for so long?” Dane appeared behind them and Claudia jerked in surprise, losing her balance as she scrambled to her feet.

  Oriana winked at her before turning to Dane. “Oh, just secret women’s business, but you needn’t worry, we were about to come back to the party.”

  “Good, I’m missing you both and I want nothing more than to talk to Claudia, surely it’s my turn now?” Dane beamed at Claudia, then kissed Oriana full on the mouth.

  Linking arms with them both, he led them back to the clearing, bombarding Claudia with questions. She tried to listen and answer carefully, distracted by the knowing glances Oriana and Dane shared. What are they thinking?

  She was thinking it would be the best thing on earth if they were her parents; life would have been so different. How lucky Brishan is to belong here.

  Back at the clearing, Lenny stood next to Brishan, deep in conversation. Brishan bestowed a smile on her, so stunning, that she found herself catching her breath in one, muted gasp.

  “Lenny has kindly said he’ll let me walk you home. Just as far as the tall trees in the garden, so I can’t be seen, of course.” He caught her hand up in his own and Claudia gazed at her fingers entwined with his.

  “Brishan!”

  The high-pitched voice was unfamiliar. Claudia turned towards the sound and her gaze met that of the teenage girl with the glowing hazel eyes. The girl stood by the fire, her purple painted nails glistening as she beckoned to Brishan with a long, graceful finger. The glowing embers framed the dark scowl twisting her face.

  Claudia spun to face Brishan. He had lowered his head, and an odd twitch pulsated at the corner of his mouth. His fingers tapped a violent tune on his thigh and his body was rigid and straight.

  He drew a deep breath. “I’ll be back in a moment to walk you home, if you’re willing to wait for me. Please say you are.”

  Claudia nodded before any thought entered her mind.

  Brishan dragged his eyes from hers to face the gardener. “Lenny, I promise I’ll see her home safely, you can go if you like.”

  Lenny simply smiled and squeezed Claudia’s shoulder, before turning to walk up the hill. Dane emerged from the twilight shadows, wearing a deep frown as his head tilted towards the girl at the fire. Brishan stared intently at his uncle for a long moment. Claudia shuffled her feet and started to pick at the skin around her thumbnails.

  “Just be honest. It’s all you can do,” Dane said, placing his hand on Brishan’s shoulder.

  Brishan lowered his head again, thrust his hands in the pockets of his jeans and strode towards the fire.

  Claudia stared at Dane, desperate for explanations and fearful of the hazel-eyed girl for reasons she couldn’t understand. Dane still watched Brishan, and so she turned again, in time to see Brishan take the girl’s hand and lead her into the trees. Swift anger pooled in her stomach. I must not cry, not now, not when the gypsies have finally returned.

  Dane touched the tip of her nose with his pointer finger. “This is not for you to worry about, precious one. Brishan has…fires he has to put out. Brishan will always battle fires, as he learns to accept his path.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I know, nor do you have to just now.” Dane looked over her head, as if deep in thought. “I don’t think he expected…after all there’s never any way of knowing…” He placed his hands on her shoulders, holding her at arm’s length. “We left you a curious, bright, spectacularly gifted teenager and now we find you fully grown into a beautiful young woman. You’ve made quite the transformation, sweet one.” He smiled, tweaking her nose with his thumb and forefinger.

  Claudia breathed deep, trying to still her barrelling stomach. For endless moments, they stood in silence, Dane’s soft touch on her arm coaxing the worry away with peaceful energy.

  Leaves rustled on the ground as footsteps approached.

  “Ahh, you see? Here he comes, to walk you home. Think no more about this, I promise all will be well.” Dane hugged her as Brishan returned, the green eyes already seeking hers, penetrating her soul as he closed the distance between them.

  Th
ey walked, ever so slowly, towards the chateau and his fingers drew circles inside her palm. They stopped behind the trunk of a giant, old oak tree. Dappled, pink twilight covered the ground and the air was quiet and still, so still that all she heard was the roar inside her chest.

  Brishan turned her to face him, gently tugging on her arms. His fingers searched her face, caressed the smooth skin of her neck. She closed her eyes and felt her lids flutter as his warm breath tickled her cheeks. Feather light, he kissed the tip of her nose, and all thoughts disappeared as shivers trailed her spine.

  A thumb ran over her mouth, putting slight pressure on her lips. She parted them in surprise and, with a stifled groan, he pressed his lips to hers. Gasping at the emotions flooding through her, she remained motionless until she heard Brishan inhale — sharp, quick, loud — as his mouth began to move slowly on hers.

  She melted into the soft, wet movement, trembling as Brishan’s hands explored her back, her shoulders, his fingers delicately weaving into her hair and ever so slowly gliding over her arms. Claudia’s palms pressed into his muscular back as he lowered her, softly, to the ground.

  The sound of leaves crunching beneath them filled her ears as their bodies melded into the grass. He lay beside her, hand cradling her face, staring at her with a smile playing on his lips. Claudia wondered if any jewel was brighter, or clearer than his forest green eyes.

  “Can I kiss you again?” One peaked, black eyebrow quirked. His smile stretched — dazzling, tender, teasing.

  Can’t breathe anymore. Can’t talk. Instead, she simply closed her eyes and nodded, magnetised by the closeness of him. The cool, evening breeze caressed her legs, her arms, her face, as she felt his warm lips close over hers once again. Her hands reached for his neck, her fingers pushed through the thick, black hair. Her breath came in short, quick bursts, faster and faster until she clung to his shoulders, trying to anchor herself against the surge of unfamiliar feelings.

  He moaned and the sound vibrated through her lips as the tip of his tongue touched hers. She gasped, struggling to sit, to escape the building pressure.