Once a Gypsy

by Danica Winters

He should have known what would happen. Mr. Shane had warned him.

  Mr. Shane would be upset when he heard they were going to lose Helena—and before she’d even seen her full supernatural potential. His stepfather would take the loss out on him, but Graham would be even harder on himself. He had not only lost the woman of his dreams, but also the only person with the ability to heal his brother.

  Danny needed help. He needed to be lifted out of the murky darkness. He needed someone who could work with him, teach him, bring him back to life—he needed Helena.

  Then again, the place had trapped them all: everyone who worked there, the people who rested in the infirmary, and those who had given their last breaths to make the manor the hovering behemoth it had become. They were all slaves to the paranormal energy that surged within this place.

  At least Helena had seized her chance to get free of the gasping beast. Yet Danny, and all the people she could have helped, would be the ones who would pay the price for her exodus.

  He parked the car in front of his house.

  He’d have to find another way to help Danny…

  He pushed open the door to the kitchen. Almost everything about the simple kitchen was as it had been when he’d left that morning. Same chipped white cupboards, same little black cooker, but sitting at the round table in some of his ratty old clothes was his mother, Rose.

  What the hell was she doing here?

  She looked up at him. Her curly hair was uneven and matted, and her cheeks were sunken and limp from lack of laughter. Something in her dull eyes shifted as she saw him. Her lips quivered, but a smile failed to come, and she gave up.

  “Ah, my wee lad. I’ve been missing you. Thought you’d never get home.” She stood up and walked to the coffee pot. “I hope you don’t mind. I made us a pot. Thought you’d be needing a pick-me-up after your little adventure today.”

  “You mean our adventure looking for you?”

  She waved him off with a bony hand. “I saw you all at the church. I hoped you and your friend were there to pray. There’s so much evil in this world.” Her hands shook against the counter.

  He stepped next to her, ready to catch her if she fell. “We were there looking for you. You can’t be out here on your own.”

  She shrugged. “I was doing nothing wrong, only visiting my church. I needed to take confession.”

  Was she really that confused? The vicar had said he hadn’t seen her.

  “Mother, you broke out of the infirmary.” He put his hand on her shoulder. Her fine bones poked his hand. “We thought you were possessed.”

  “I know. But I had to hide the codex. People were talking about it. That book can’t be found.”

  “The book is already well-hidden. You can’t leave the infirmary, Mother.”

  “I should’ve told them where I was going, but they wouldn’t have let me go.” Rose pulled cups out from the cupboard. They clanked together as she set them down and poured the coffee. “I don’t understand who they are to be thinking they can hold me up in that dank old dungeon. I’ve done nothing wrong. I don’t even know why I’m down there. Why hasn’t John come for me?”

  “Mum, don’t you remember what happened?” Graham took the cup she handed him.

  He wanted to hate her for forcing this life on him, for using Danny. But seeing how weak she had become, he could only feel pity.

  She stepped to the table and collapsed into a chair. Coffee splashed over the edge of her cup, and she tried to mop it up before he could notice. “What are you talking about, baby?”

  He took her bony hands in his and spoke as if he were talking to a child. “Do you know how long you’ve been at the manor?”

  “It’s only been a few weeks since we moved here.” Rose pulled her hands from his and then took a long sip of the coffee. “Have you seen your brother? I can’t find Danny anywhere.”

  “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  “Well…” She paused. “A couple of days ago we decorated the south wing and we found a room. There was a book. The Devil’s Bible. Then I got sick.” Her face blanched. “How long was I in the infirmary?”

  “It’s been almost three years.”

  She stared at her coffee for a long moment. He wanted to tell her more, but he didn’t want to overwhelm her.

  “I thought it was only a dream. I didn’t… I didn’t realize… The book…”

  “Mum, it’s okay. You and Mr. Shane made a mistake, but you didn’t know. You didn’t know the power the book possessed.”

  “Is John… is he alive?”

  Graham nodded. “He’s fine. Running the manor.”

  “And the two of you?”

  Since the day he’d met his stepfather, they hadn’t exactly had a warm relationship, but since the accident they’d been forced to rely on each other—though most of the time they tended to avoid one another. “We’re good. Doing the best we can. Do you want me to call him?”

  “Is he looking for me? Is Danny?” There was hope in her voice and his heart sank.

  “Mr. Shane’s been busy with the hospital, but Danny’s… he’s had a rough time of it.” He rested his hand on hers. “When you used the codex to alter his powers it… it destroyed him. The doctors are saying he’s catatonic.”

  “Danny… My sweet angelic boy… What did I do?” Rose stared down at the table, and the tears slipped down her face.

  Graham had done the same thing at this very table, more times than he could count.

  “There’s hope, Mum. My friend, Helena, she might be able to help Danny… and you. She’s a healer.”

  A knock on the front door made Graham jerk. “I’ll be right back, Mum.” He stood up and his chair thumped against the floor. “Stay here.”

  He made his way to the front door, silently begging that the person waiting would be Helena.

  Graham unlatched the door.

  “What the feck is going on?” Seamus stormed in.

  “This isn’t a great time.” Graham glanced at the kitchen. Rose couldn’t be left alone.

  “What the bloody hell did you do to Helena? She came to me crying. Sayin’ she quit.” Seamus pressed his furious face into Graham’s. “I gave my blessing and ya made her cry? What the feck did you do? You better not ’a laid a single finger on my gra.”

  Shite.

  “I didn’t touch her.” They’d only shared a handful of kisses, and that didn’t have anything to do with what had transpired between them—no, that had all been thanks to Angel.

  “Then why’s she upset?”

  “You need to talk to Angel. We went to see her in Rathkeale. Then the next thing I knew, Helena was quitting.”

  The door from the kitchen opened. Rose poked her head out. “Helena?” his mother asked in a dazed voice.

  “The woman from the church… my friend,” he answered.

  “We need to find her. She needs to go to the infirmary.”

  Graham’s heart leapt into his throat. He shook his head at Rose, silently imploring her to be quiet.

  Seamus glared at Graham. “I thought you said you didn’t touch her.”

  “It’s not what you think.” Graham’s stomach twisted into one solid knot of fear. Seamus couldn’t know the truth. “This is my mother, Rose.”

  She stepped out from the kitchen and proffered her hand, as if she felt none of the tension that ran between him and Seamus. “We need to find Helena.”

  Seamus shook Rose’s hand briefly. “I’m sorry, but why do you need Helena?”

  “She needs to go to the infirmary,” Rose said matter-of-factly.

  “Mother, stop.”

  “No.” Seamus put his hand up to Graham. “What infirmary?”

  “The infirmary under the stairs.” Rose walked to the loveseat and gracefully sat down.

  “What’s she talkin’ about?” Seamus asked.

  “I’m sorry about my mum, Seamus. She’s confused. I need to get her back to the facility.”

  “I’m not going back!�
� Rose shook her head, and a matted curl fell into her face, making her look every bit a mad woman. “You can’t make me go back!” She trembled. “I hate that place.”

  “This isn’t a good time.” Graham put his hand on Seamus’s shoulder and led him to the front door. “I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

  Seamus stopped and turned. “Is that the woman you had me looking for?”

  Graham answered with a tight nod.

  “We have to find her,” Rose urged. “We have to help my son.”

  “Wait. How does all this involve my gra?”

  “Adare is involved with a local infirmary,” he said, trying to lie in order to cover his mother’s slip. “I tried to find Helena a job there, but she passed.”

  “She didn’t mention no job.”

  “Maybe you need to talk to her.”

  “There’s something you ain’t telling me. She wouldn’t be that troubled over just passing up a job.”

  Graham maneuvered Seamus to the front door. “Like I said, you need to talk to your daughter. One minute, Helena and I were doing pretty good and the next… well, you saw her.” He opened the door and Seamus stepped out.

  “I’ll get to the bottom of this. If you did something to hurt my gra, I’ll be coming back for your head.”

  “I would expect nothing less.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The campfire crackled as its orange and red fingers tore away at the embers. The flames coalesced on the wood, burning away the outer flesh of the tree, only fulfilled when they had taken everything the wood had to give. It struck Helena how much she was like the ash, with all of her life sucked from her, destroyed by the force of another’s will.

  Gavin’s laughter, and the sound of the neighbor kids’ voices, echoed from the line of trees next to the trailers. Rionna slammed the door of the trailer shut and stomped out to the fire.

  “What’s wrong?” Helena asked.

  Rionna dropped into the little camp chair next to her. “Mam said I ain’t gonna go back to school.”

  Even if Helena fought to let Rionna stay in school, it would do no good. It would only get Rionna’s hopes up for something more, something better. She would end up like Helena; hope would lift her up, and life would beat her down again.

  Rionna picked up a stick and poked at the fire, playing with its deadly force. “Do you like it, Helena?”

  “Do I like what?”

  “Do you like traveling?”

  “Sometimes.” Her thoughts flashed to Angel.

  “When do you think we’re gonna be moving again?”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know.” Rionna stabbed at the fire. “I guess I like it in Adare.”

  Tightness grew in her gut. “What about school? Don’t you want to keep going?”

  “It’s all right. I wouldn’t be staying in too much longer anyways, I guess, so why worry about it. You know?” A bit of ash flew up into the air and got caught in the light evening breeze.

  Helena wanted to shake her.

  The door to the trailer opened behind them, and Da stepped outside. “Rionna?”

  “Aye?” Rionna asked, putting the stick down.

  “Go look after your brother.”

  Rionna stood up, brushed off the dirt from her knees, and walked in a wobbly line toward the tree line. For a moment Helena caught a glimpse of Rionna’s future—looking after children.

  Da sat down next to her. There was a brown paper bag in his hands. “Mary asked me to give you this.” He handed her the bag.

  Helena pulled open the top and peered inside. She was met with the faint scent of onion and tomatoes: the smell of the kitchen. Inside the bag sat the book Graham had bought her.

  “How’d ya get home, gra a mo gris?”

  Helena put the paper bag down on the ground. “I walked. It felt good to stretch my legs.”

  “Graham told me about the infirmary.” Da nodded and took a penknife out of his pocket.

  “What… what did he tell you?” Helena stammered.

  He scraped the blade under his fingernail. “Is there something you need to tell me, gra?”

  Her heart leapt into her throat. Graham must have revealed her secret.

  “I’m sorry, Da. I should have told you before. Ogak Beoir told me I had the gift. I should have told ya, but I’d been hopin’… I guess, I thought maybe the forshaw would go away.”

  Da looked up from his hands. “You thought what?”

  Her heart dropped as she realized she had outed herself. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to find the right words to make things go back to the way they had been only moments before.

  “You have the fecking shaw and you didn’t tell me?” He pitched his pen knife into the dirt.

  The silence sat between them like a thick kettle of soup, just waiting to boil over and burn them.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” He looked up, and where anger had been only moments before, there was now understanding.

  “I’m sorry, Da.”

  “You don’t got to be sorry, gra. This has to be hard on ya.” He waved her off. “But tell me, does Graham know about… your ability?”

  She nodded.

  His face was contorted with confusion and worry. “I shoulda known… No wonder they wanted to hire us both.”

  “The forshaw had only just started, but Graham knew about it… He knew that I had the gift. He wants to teach me how to use it, Da.”

  He scowled. “Do you trust him? Really trust him?”

  Helena looked down at her hands. “I do, Da. Besides, they need my help.”

  “When you saw Ogak Beior, did she speak of this?”

  She nodded.

  Da gave a resigned sigh.

  A mud-covered lorry pulled into the campsite, kicking up dust. Da stuffed his penknife into his pocket. At the sound of the car, Rionna and the rest of the children poked their heads out from the trees.

  The lorry came to a stop next to their car. An older man stepped out. “Ya got the banknotes ya be owin’ me, O’Driscoll?”

  Da stiffened and a look of pinched anger returned to his face. “Aye. Come inside and I’ll get ye what I got.”

  “Don’t got all of it, eh?”

  “I’ve only been working a week. These legit jobs don’t pay like your business, O’Donoghue.”

  The man gave a deep, dangerous laugh. He leaned down and looked into the car where a boy waited. “For someone on the dole, ya’d think they’d be a little more thankful. We could’ve taken all they got, but no. We just got a girl. They ought to be kissing our feet. Isn’t that right, Brian?”

  Helena leaned as far forward as she could in her chair. The door of the lorry slammed shut as the young man got out. He had a narrow chest and thin arms. She recognized him as the man from her vision, the man who’d taken Graham’s place. He had full lips and well-kept hair. Most women would probably slobber over the man, who was thin but good-looking, but not her; instead she felt only the bitterness of dislike.

  The old man stepped beside Da and, for the first time, seemed to notice her. “Is this the lass we traded for?”

  “If I pay you the whole amount, with interest, do ye think we can call the deal off?” Da’s expression hardened. “Her mam was off her face when she agreed.”

  The old man snickered. “Already pullin’ out of the deal, are ye? I shoulda known. You and your fam ain’t nothin’ but beggars.”

  Helena stood up. “We ain’t no beggars.”

  Brian stepped around the lorry and peered at her. “Helena?”

  “I don’t know if you want this filly. She’s got a mouth on her.” Brian’s father glanced down at her chest. “But she ain’t a bad looker. If you want, you might be able to train it out of her.”

  “Don’t bite her head off, Pap,” Brian countered as he smiled at her.

  “This boy…” The old man huffed. “We’ve been living near Dublin and he ain’t done a lick of hard work in months—yet he’s thinking he be some
kind of man. That he knows better than his old pap.” The man motioned threateningly at his son, but Brian didn’t seem to notice. “You two’ll make a good couple. She’s got a big mouth, just like you.”

  Brian didn’t speak again.

  “O’Driscoll, why don’t you go get me that roll of banknotes you owe me and a glass of scotch? We have business to discuss about the dowry.”

  The man looked back at Brian. “Why don’t you stay out here, visit with your bride a bit.” He snickered as the door slammed shut behind him and Da.

  “I’m sorry about me Pap.” Brian motioned to Da’s empty seat. “All right if I sit down?”

  “Aye, go ahead.” The ache in her gut tightened the nearer he came. “Do you want a cup of tea or a bit of beer?”

  “Nah, lass. I’m fine.” He motioned for her to sit back down.

  She was a mix of emotion. It was wrong to share a campfire with her enemy, but then again, the enemy was going to be her husband—soon they would be sharing far more than the flames.

  “So you’ve been livin’ in Dublin?” Helena plucked up the courage to start a conversation. If they were to be married, she should at least know who he was on paper.

  “Aye, we were working up there on a construction job. I don’t much like construction.”

  “Is that right?”

  “A while back I wanted to go into business for meself. I wanted to open my own shoe shop, but my dad didn’t think that was a fitting profession for a Pavee man.” He shrugged.

  A twinge of empathy flickered within her.

  “Were there many women where you lived?”

  “Aye, there were a few Traveller girls, but none as fine as ya. And oh, Dublin was filled to the gills with country girls.” A wide smile spread over his lips. He leaned in as if he wanted to tell her a secret. “Half of them don’t even know what a mop looks like.” He chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. “What’s a man to do with a woman like that? They ain’t of no use if ye ask me.”

  He gave her a smug grin as he leaned back. “I wanted to get me a nice Traveller girl.” He looked over at her with a gleam in his eyes. “So Pap set this meeting up, wanted me to get started like a real man. I’m just glad you’re a fine thing. I didn’t want to be getting married to a woman with a face like a pig licking piss off a nettle.”