Epilogue of Gypsy

Gypsy

We know all about your world, about your technology, your discoveries, about every living creature on your planet, including your own species, also my own species, as a matter of fact. The truth is our world is built up in the same way as yours, the same shape, same environment, same animals, except we have the ones you tell stories about, but do not actually believe in, and even more that you can not begin to imagine. We do not have your technology; no electricity, no planes, or trains, or anything similar. We only have one continent, unlike your own world that has split into many. If you are wondering how we know so much about you, well it just happens that your world, and mine, are connected, like thousands of millions out there. Now I may just be a Gypsy, spending my time as the sly, thieving, nature loving, creature that everyone says we are, but I say that our worlds are more closely connected than they should be, compared to other worlds, anyway though, that is nothing to do with me so I’ll leave the matter alone, since we are not suppose to meddle in things that are not to do with us.

And just when I thought that my life would get as exciting and spell binding as thinking of these things, I find out that I have some ancient mark that entitles me to be a servant of some Inner Group of Magic. My life, in my opinion, is taking a turn for the worst (and hopefully I will never have another moment like this again in the rest of my sucky life).

Kayla-> That’s me, the Gypsy. I have dark chestnut red hair that falls in spirals half way down my back, with light green eyes that are almost catlike with long lashes and thin, arched eyebrows. I have a small nose, and thin pinkish lips, with peachy skin. I’m actually quite small and thin, it’s said that I look fragile.

Clothes wear-> well we actually have your type of clothing. But I’m a Gypsy, so we wear whatever we get our hands on, or make things from material that we have. The traditional items of clothing we wear is a shirt type top with flared sleeves, and a long skirt that comes from just under our ribs to our ankles. But I usually just wear jeans and a t-shirt, I’m not that girly girl as the other Gypsy girls. We have our hair full of beads, feathers, etc and we wear charms and bracelets, lots of them! We never wear shoes (except for sandals in winter), because we love to feel the ground under our feet no matter how rough it is.



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-Prologue of Gypsy-
Prologue
I didn’t remember the night clearly, I had been only five years old after all, but I had dreams about it, different each time, so in the end I managed to piece the different bits together and put the story in line, here’s what happened.

We were camping that night; we used to camp all the time, in unusual places, where no one else ever went, so it was just us, my little family. On this certain camping though, we happened to be camping on the side of a mountain (not one of the gigantic ones, but it was still quite big); I don’t know which mountain and I don’t know why there of all places, but we just were and we were together. It was the same as any camping trip we went on, mum was there, dad was there, and I was with them, and we were staying in our dinky, two roomed tent. We were always together, our little family, and we always looked after each other, so, surprisingly, these camping trips brought us even closer together. But that night changed everything; it was freezing cold, and no matter how close we cuddled together by the fire or wrapped up, none of us could get warm. Then the fire started to dim and go out, so mum volunteered to go and get some wood, we all agreed and she disappeared into a small woods not far away from camp.

Over an hour after, the fire had burned to ambers and dad and I had retreated to inside the tent, there was still no sign of mum. I could tell dad was worried, and I wanted mum back as much as him, so I had said.
“Daddy? I miss mummy, will you go and get her, so we can all be together?”
I remember he had ruffled my hair, as if he had known I was trying to ease his suspense of just waiting there, and then he just walked out the tent without saying a word. I know what he would have said though: stay in the tent and don’t move until I come back!
I did wait in the tent, I didn’t even stick my head out the door to see how light it was outside, and shortly after dad left, a storm broke out, it was pouring down with rain so the floor was getting soggy, and the wind was nearly lifting the tent into the air, but I still waited, and they still didn’t come back.

A little while after that I must have dozed off because I started from a dream I had been having. And now that I was awake, I looked and searched throughout the tent, but I couldn’t find them, my parents were nowhere to be found. I went to pull the door of the tent open, but I didn’t want to disobey my dad, but I shook the thought away and pushed my way outside. The first rays of the sun were just beginning to beam down, and the storm had died away, the air had that freshness that every morning carried, and I couldn’t help smiling as I breathed in. The first main thing I noticed was it was bright, I mean brighter than it should have been for that early in the morning, but there was something dimming about the light at the same time. The second thing was that there was smoke everywhere, no wait, it wasn’t smoke, it was fog, and I couldn’t see a thing through it.
“Mummy?” I’d whimpered, hoping for a response, but not even getting birdsong. “Daddy? Where are you?” I left the shelter of the tent and moved further into the fog. I tried to remember in which direction mum had wandered off in, and headed (in what I hoped was the right direction) to the right.

I must have wandered for ages, then suddenly the ground began to feel soft under my feet, and a little further on I could actual see the long grass around my ankles. The fog was thinning and soon I came out of it completely, that I finally could see the morning sun shining in the sky and all the scenery around me. It was a shock to my system being out in the open again, after being stuck in the thick fog, not being able to see anything, it felt like being let out of a small room with no windows. As I looked behind me though, the wall of fog was gone and there was just hill after grassy hill, all identical to the one I happened to be standing on. It wasn’t anywhere I had been near before, for a start, the mountain I had been on was gone, nowhere in sight. It was while I was looking around, puzzled, that I spotted the tents, the tents that were sitting far at the bottom of my hill. They weren’t like any tents I had ever seen before, they were made of a thick material, and there was many different peculiar things hanging from the outside walls. Each one had a different feature, like a marking or some type of writing, and they were different colours. There was a lot of commotion coming from the camp, people were running about, shouting to each other and then I saw one of the tents collapse and I realised they were packing away and leaving. Without thinking, I ran down the hill at full speed, slipping at times and sliding halfway down. It must have taken me about ten minutes to reach the edge of the campsite, and by the time I did, another three tents had come down and smoke was snaking into the air from a large extinguished fire. But I didn’t really notice these things to detail, because as I arrived, someone appeared through the crowd of people and smoke, and walked towards me. She had long, straight, black hair that ran down to her knees, there were features and beads and things I couldn’t identify plaited into it. Her eyes were dark blue, and at the same moment black as well, and they were staring right at me, without focusing, clouded over and distant. She was short and large, in a cuddly, warm, mother like way. She wore a long, dark green dress; the sleeves fell down the same length as the rest of dress, making it look like a type of witch costume for Halloween. There were also bead necklaces and charms hanging from her neck, and different shaped rings on her fingers. Over everything, she wore a brown hooded cloak, which swept behind her as she walked along towards me. But her sudden stop, pulled my attention away from her appearance, she had stopped only a few feet in front of me, and slowly raised one shaky hand to point at me.
“Kayla. I have been waiting a long time for you to arrive so I could meet you and welcome you to our Gypsy camp!” The voice of the Mother, Wiseone, First Tree, She, Mynx, was a mere whisper, but it was sharp and powerful. From that moment on, the after effect from crossing the barrier between my two worlds caused me to lose all memories of my past life, but I still had my dreams about it, but I never thought about them and for now, I would never know what happened to my old parents.



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-Chapter One of Gypsy-
Chapter One
Light poured onto my face from the window, I couldn’t have shut the curtains properly the night before, oh damn it, and I was hoping for a change, to be able to sleep in for once! So, with a grumpy moan, I hoisted myself out of the feather filled bed, with its silky quilt and pillows, but stopped short when I noticed there was another figure in the room.
“Morning young missus! The Lady of the house ordered for breakfast to be brought up to you.” He was dressed in a black suit with white cuffs, his grey hair was a mere wisp on his nearly bold head, his skin looked as if it had been stretched across his skeleton, his bones and joints showed clearly, the only thing alive about him was his eyes, they were clear blue and had a secret spark to them. In his bony, skeleton hands was a golden tray, filled with the most delicious smelling food I had ever seen (or smelt) in ages.
“Is that for me? There’s loads!” I laughed, remembering to say thank you as he placed the tray on my lap and unfolded a napkin, tucking it under my chin. “Do you work here?” After I reminded myself not to seem impolite, because if I was then it would wreck everything and everyone would be pissed at me when I got back.
“My young Lady! I am the Butler of the house; I live my life to serve the Lady of the house, and please her always! You have been living on the outside world haven’t you?” He answered politely, smiling as I got embarrassed and turned red. “Now I will leave you in peace to eat, the Lady will be up in a little while to see how you are.”
The minute the Butler left the room I had slices of toast in my hand, stuffing them down my throat as fast as I could swallow, along with bacon, sausages, egg, and everything else that people devour with their breakfast. By the time I was finished, the plate was completely clean, not one drop of moisture on it, I mean, I didn’t get food like this every day, I might as well make the most of what little time I had with it. I placed the golden tray on the bedside table, swung my legs over the edge of the double bed and wandered over to the window. The town was alive with people running about, going to and fro their business, calling to people they recognized. This was one of the five towns that believed they were higher than the rest of us, because they wanted to move on in life, they wanted to discover things, make things more easy for their living, but we are just happy the way we are, and so are many others, that’s why there is only five towns that were advance, we call them the Higher Set. Oh, of course, I don’t actually belong here, I come from the outside, I hate it in here, but it was my job role to come here, so I have choice, plus I am honoured, at the moment I was playing an important part in a Gypsy Raid (and the food isn’t that bad either). There came a knock from the door. In my life, the person would have just opened it (if there even was a door!), but then I remembered where I was, among Highlanders (a name that they called themselves) and they would wait for permission.
“Err….. Come in?” Was all I could think to say, and it most have been appropriate because the door opened a second after my words. The woman that entered through the door was probably the most beautiful old lady I had ever seen (apart from Mother of course). She had long, silvery hair, falling straight to her hips, and, alike the Butler, light blue eyes as pure as crystals. Her skin looked as soft as silk (a main trade item of a Gypsy), she was tall and thin, and was wearing her nightgown at this very moment.
“Morning, lovely! I just came to tell you that all the clothes in the wardrobe will fit you, they belong to my daughter who is off travelling, so they haven’t been worn in ages. Don’t feel shy about trying them on, just take a look and pick something you like.” The Lady of the house smiled at me, then gently shut the door to let me get dressed. Curious (and slightly annoyed that I wasn’t going to be getting my old clothes back), I wandered over to the two huge oak doors in the wall opposite the bed. Looking from afar the doors looked heavy, but after gathering my strength and pushing, I found that the doors swung open at the slightest touch, and I ended up tumbling forward deep inside the wardrobe. The only problem was, it wasn’t a wardrobe, it was a room half the size of one I had just slept in, there was rails and rails of dresses (most included as much lace as possible), and draws of who knows what? I puffed my cheeks out in disbelief and started wandering down an aisle, looking for anything that didn’t include lace.
“Mother above, thank you so much!” I mumbled as I reached the end of the last aisle and found a pile of normal looking dresses. The Gypsy girls will be happy, new dresses, I thought to myself, sighing slightly. I picked a dress that was the longest (I wasn‘t a dress person more like jeans and a simple t-shirt, anything that wasn‘t girlish), it was dark green with silver thread swirling round the rim, the collar was in a v shape, the sleeves were large, smothering my arms and the hem fell just to my ankles. There was many high heel shoes sitting in a row, but I disliked wearing shoes and if I had to, it would only be sandals, and I was lucky enough to find a silver pair that had two ribbons that tied up around your legs. If I hadn’t know that the girl lived among the Highlanders, I would have thought she was part of a Gypsy camp to own shoes like these.

About half an hour later, I was creeping down a hallway outside the bedroom, the dress did fit nicely, but it didn’t feel right without my charms that usually hung from my neck, and the feathers and ribbons I slid into my hair. Plus in my normal life as a Gypsy, we didn’t usually wear things like this, I mean the dress was fine for when we were travelling, but when we were in a village, we had to wear a single top with flared sleeves and a long skirt that reaches to the ankles, with a black silky cloth round the waist as a belt; and we would wear no shoes until winter came round and we have to use sandals or any small shoes we can find (it was a typical Gypsy thing, just to keep the meaning to our name). Then there’s the typical bandanas, and the charms and things, the elders sometimes wear shawls as well, but us youngsters ’burrow’ them all the time. I didn’t remember the hallway from last night, but I was half asleep when I turned up. Yeah, I had arrived here last night looking for shelter, looking like a right state, and it was all part of the plan of course, usually I’m quite happy camping out under the stars. I wandered along until I reached a steep, wooden staircase; I could hear voices from below, so I headed down towards them, hoping to grab a catch of what they were talking about.
“I’m telling you now; we should not let her stay! She is from the outside, and most likely from them Gypsy or Smugglers groups, that travel all over the place! I’m warning you now, my Lady, no good will come from letting her stay!” The voice was of an angry man, he sounded tired though, as if you worn out, to me he sounded old, and I guessed he was the Head of the house, the Man.
“She might be from the outside, but I think she is an antique, we could learn about her life on the outside, which could help us in our research. And then we can teach her about our ways and see if we can……improve her. If we can teach their young to live like us, we might be able to create a new future for the Highlanders. If possible, we can teach their young to have a life like ours, then soon enough, they grow out of their ways of living and their old lifestyle dies out.” This was the Lady of the house that spoke, and I was disgusted to hear what she was saying, she thought she could kidnap the children of the outside and brainwash us, in her dreams, none of us would do it, and I certainly would not be the first one. “Now I’m going to fetch the young dear and take her to the market, I’m sure she will enjoy herself!” I could picture the old woman smiling to herself, thinking of the beauty of her idea, and how I would react. I quickly skipped down the last stairs and entered the room where they were talking; they must have heard me come through the door because they turned to face me, instantly falling silent.
“Um, I hope you don’t mind, I was just exploring your lovely house, I wish I had a home like this, it’s huge!” I mumbled quickly, trying to act shy and innocent, while not laughing because the man was glaring at me and I knew he knew that I had heard everything they had said.
“Of course not darling! My home is just as good as your home now.” The Lady smiled yet again a false smile and walked over to give me hug, this gave me time to stick my tongue out at the man who was looking at our embrace in disgust. “I was just saying to my husband that I should take you down to the market, and you can help me pick some flowers that we could paint.” I nearly snorted with laughter, in my opinion flowers were for growing and defiantly not for picking from the ground and painting them in some enclosed room. I mean okay, Gypsies sometimes pick flowers for medicines and to decorate things, but we give back to the Earth, we grow flowers and care for them, and we do not destroy them for any reason at all, plus we worship the Goddess of Nature and the God of the Wind.
“Of course! I would be honoured, and I’m very thankful that you will put up with me. How will we travel?” I said, hoping my face looked enthusiastic, while secretly hoping we would not be going in one of those automobiles that some of these Highlanders had created.
“See it’s such a shame, we have the most amazing automobile, but it’s in a garage at the moment for repair, so we will have to take the horse and carriage which is hardly as glamorous!” The Lady sighed, leading the way to the front door, and thinking of my manners, I held it open for her. “Thank you darling! Fredrick isn’t coming with us, so just pull the door too, it might need a little tug, but should shut easy enough.” This time I didn’t manage to hide the giggle fit that leapt to my throat, but I managed to turn it into a coughing fit instead, which hid the fact that I found the man’s name very amusing. Luckily the Lady was heading down the stairs and was unaware of my sudden outburst, so I calmed myself down and pulled the big oak door shut, she was right, it did a bit of a tug, it got stuck and inch from closing and it took all my effort to get it to move. When I finally closed the door and headed down the steps to where the Lady was waiting, there was a carriage sitting patiently for us. The carriage was completely black, a door each side with a large glass window, and a seat up front for the driver who was seated as still as the pure white shire horse he held the reins to in his gloved hands. It was while I was staring at the horse I wished the Lady’s automobile had been working, because the way they were treating the poor thing was horrifying. The horse’s head was pulled up straight so they could not look in any direction; they had a symbol burned onto their hind quarters, and it was strapped so tightly to the carriage it was amazing it could move. The Lady must have noticed my mouth gapping open in complete horror because she said to me.
“Are you alright? Of course, you’ve probably never seen such a magnificent creature, it is only used to pull the carriage, my husband and I don’t ride so we rent the carriage out so they always get exercised!” She sounded so pleased with herself that I just wanted to shout at her “that’s why it’s in this state then! You stupid old woman! It shouldn’t be trapped like this, it needs to run around, be able to move! Us Gypsies would never treat it like this!” But of course that would have blown my whole cover, so I bit my tongue and replied politely, “they are lovely, and beautiful, I bet they are lovely to ride!”
“You ride do you? Well maybe before dinner you can have a ride in the meadow behind the house, would you like that?” I climbed into the carriage after the Lady, carefully thinking about how I replied. I managed to get away with not answering by admiring the inside of the carriage. Alike the outside, everything was black, the leather seats, curtains, floor and roof, and something I hadn’t noticed from the outside was even the windows were black. The door shut behind me and I sat down opposite the Lady, the seat squeaking slightly underneath me. Her eyes were upon me, waiting for an answer, so, careful not to give away anything about me, I said. “Well. Where I came from before, we had horses, and I loved riding them, especially bareback. I was quite good at it, so I would love to ride one of your well mannered horses!”
“Then it’s settled. You ride before dinner, the meadow is lovely, there’s even a small woods there as well, but I will not have you riding bareback!”
I didn’t bother to reply, I was too busy staring out the window. The Lady’s house happened to be on the outside of town, so the further the horse trotted us on, the closer the buildings drew together. Most of the people in the street were heading in the same direction, the ones that weren’t were carrying bags and sacks, clearly they had been to the market. Then our carriage came to a halt.
“Sorry my Lady.” The driver mumbled as he opened the door. “The street is packed and the horse can’t go any further, else it’ll get stuck.”
“Never mind! We can walk. You are lucky it is only around the corner! Come now, we have not got all day!” The Lady even snapped the last part at me, and climbed pass the driver, shoving him slightly. I followed, shutting the door myself and feeling sorry for the driver. This street was full of people rushing to and fro, and at least five people ran into me as I closely walked after the Lady. She turned the corner before me, so by the time I did, she had disappeared into the crowd, but I was too mesmerized by the sight in front of me to worry about that.
It was smaller than the markets Gypsies go to, but the items of trade made me feel at home. There were silks, cotton, and many other fabrics, fruit and veg, clothes, jewellery and other items that were unimportant. Most of the things were placed on stalls and tables, but there was one art seller who had his paintings spread out on the floor.
I felt someone grab my arm, and as I struggled, another set of hands clawed my free arm. I shouted and kicked, but my voice was lost in the surrounding noise and whoever had hold of me dragged me to a nearby alleyway. I got pushed against the wall that caused a dead end, but the hands let go of me and I whipped round. There were two boys standing there with grins on their faces, they were about my age, wearing hoodies and baggy jeans with no shoes.
“Bring it on then!” I roared, and after my words, the two boys took a step forward and leaped into the air, pouncing right on top of me.



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Chapter Two
But I was too fast for them, I swiftly stepped aside and laughed as they tumbled into each other.
“You two never learn, do you? You will never be fast enough to catch me! Plus grabbing from behind is unfair!” I giggled as the two boys rubbed their shoulders and staggered to their feet.
“Oh ha ha Kayla! You’re only saying that because you couldn’t get us off you!” Muttered the taller and broader of the two furiously. He lowered his hood to reveal scruffy, jet black hair that was tied in a short ponytail, emerald green eyes and pale skin, this was Chaz, part of the Gypsy camp I came from. And then there was only one person the second hooded figure could be, Eli. A bronze skinned lad with owl like, amber eyes and sweeping, sandy brown hair that ended at a point just below the ears. And my suspicions were confirmed as he pulled back his hood, mimicking Chaz’s actions.
“Anyway! Why are you out here by yourself? Aren’t you suppose to be taking over a rich family’s house?” Eli scowled at me, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall.
“I was with the Lady of the House, but then you two happened to jump me and now I’ve lost her! If you have blown my chances in this Raid, I’m going to kill you!”
“Not to fret pal! We’ll find her for you, just tell us the important news, are you going to be able to get us into the house anytime soon?” Not sure who spoke since I was looking at the entrance of the alley to make sure no one was watching us, I answered quietly. “There’s a woods, just behind the house, meet me at the edge just before sundown, and I’ll be able to get you in easily. Now can we please get going before I’m reported missing?” We left the alley together, I mentioned that the Lady was suppose to be going to a flower stall, so we set off to find that instead. We didn’t walk exactly together, we spilt up and separated into the crowd, still insight of each other, but no one would know we were together.
It wasn’t until we reached the eastern side of the market, that we found anything like we were looking for. It was Eli that signalled for us to look at it, but even he hesitated slightly, and I understood why. It was a flower stall, and there were flowers, but there was nothing….. Life like, about either of them. I spotted the Lady among the vases, and signalled back to Eli and Chaz to back off a bit.
The Lady was standing beside bunches of white lilies, she was bent down close to them, as if she was inspecting a crime scene, I looked to, and found that the flowers were wooden, this shocked and disgusted me, but I ignored it.
I must have stood there for five minutes, and she still did not notice me. I cleared my throat, making sure she was aware of me, and then I spoke. “I’m sorry you lost me, you disappeared in the crowd and didn’t wait” She straightened up slowly, it felt like it took as long as a bent tree to grow straight again.
“Correction. You lost me! You disappeared in the crowd and didn’t keep up with me!” The Lady’s voice was calm, but she made sure she stressed the words ‘you’ and ‘me’.
“Um, sorry my Lady.” She ignored me completely, bunched together different coloured ’lilies’, shoved the money in the stall owner’s hand, and dashed back into the crowd the way we had came through it.

The ride back to the House was a silent one, I stared at my lap and fiddled with my fingers; while the Lady watched the view outside. As we drew up in front of the House, the Lady was up and out of the carriage before it had even fully stopped; and carrying the flowers carefully she entered the House as quickly as possible. I trailed after her, reluctantly wishing I was somewhere else.

The Lady had been nowhere insight when I had entered the House after her, so I decided to take in the layout of the House. I soon found that the house had four floors, including the attic and ground floor. The ground floor was mainly made up by the dining-room and kitchens, also it was the floor where the servants slept (the butler and chef). There was a living-room and guest bedrooms sitting on the first floor, I must have been put in one of the guest rooms, because I recognised the room I had been in that morning. And of course the Lady’s and Man’s living quarters on the third floor. There was a master bedroom, study area and a grand bathroom. I didn’t get to rummage around though, because I heard noise from one of the rooms, so I carried on up to the attic, but I should have really called it a library. Shelves, boxes, bookcases, and even the floor was full of books, every size and shape. I stayed there for a while, the books were interesting, and the room was full of sunlight from a window in the roof.

‘Ingrids: merely creatures formed from shadows in deep caves, or places where sunlight never reaches. Feed from heat deep in ground, though if possible, they feed from the heat coming off living creatures. Appear as small, fuzzy balls of light that hang in the air. Even though they admit light, anything brighter than themselves, will destroy them. Ingrids have mainly be known to gather in……’

At that exact moment a dark shadow passed across the line I was reading, glancing to the window, I noticed the sun had dropped out of sight, meaning it was nearly sunset. In a mental hurry, I jumped to my feet, knocking down piles of books I had pulled around me, the ‘Animal Species and Where to find them Guide’ dropped from my hand and disappeared into their midst. Ignoring the racket I made, I leapt down the ladder, and took the stairs three at a time.

Five minutes later I was making my way around the side of the house, which happened to take a long time since the house was huge. But round the back I stumbled across the stables, and they were extremely small. There were only two stalls, one occupied by the horse I had seen pulling the carriage, and the other was full of stacked straw, a bale of hay, and other tools and equipment. There was a man checking the girth on the saddle that was strapped to the horse. As I approached, I realised it was the carriage driver; now I had time to look, I noticed he was quite old; grey hair and a slight beard, with many wrinkles hidden underneath.
“Ready for your ride then?” He asked politely, his voice was ruff and strong for an old man. I nodded, opening the stall door and slipping in. I walked over to the left hand side of the horse, mumbling to keep him calm, and I realised I didn’t even know the horse’s name.
“Now, now, Perspe. It’s okay, she’s nice, just like me.” I heard him mumble close to the horse’s ear.
“Perspe? Is that his name? His gorgeous, he seems to love you!” I smiled, silently loosening the girth one hole, trusting the horse willingly.
“Not as much as he seems to like you!” The man had a little twinkle in his eye, and the corners of his mouth twitched, I wondered if he had noticed what I had done. “Perspe accepts me because I treat him better than the Lady. When she goes out for the day, or longer, I let him out into the field for a while, he loves it, plays like a foal again, after all that hard work he does, he deserves it as well”.
He started to lead Perspe out of the stall, I quickly moved out of the way and opened the door for him.
“Ta! If you just open the double doors and I’ll run the stirrups down and then we can get you on before it gets too dark!” The man chuckled, starting to pull the leathers down. I ran over to the two huge, wooden doors, I pulled the metal ring down and pushed them open together. They swung forward easily and I turned to find Perspe standing right behind me and the man a few steps behind that.
“Looks like he’s eager to go! I don’t know what he’ll be like to ride, you think you can handle the big fella?” The man patted the horse lovingly on the side on the neck.
“I’ve broken foals before, so I should be okay.” Then I suddenly thought about what I was wearing. “You haven’t got any trousers I could change into, have you?”
The man smiled and answered. “I think I have something that will fit you perfectly!”

The man was right, as I sat in the saddle, the jodhpurs made me feel a lot more comfy, the long sleeve, black v-neck top fit me perfectly and I was also told I couldn’t go anywhere without a riding hat (which I regrettably agreed to wear). The stirrups were exactly the right length. “How did you know-”
“I had a very different life before I came here!” He interrupted me, with his rumbling chuckle again. “Actually. I didn’t even belong here, I came from the outside. Everyone called me a Horse Whisperer, but really all I did was handle the horses with love.”
“Oh my goodness! You’re Billy Frai! The Horse Whisperer that could cure any horse, no matter what state it was in!”
“Ah ha. So you’ve heard of me, though, only Gypsies know me by my real name?”
“Um… You won’t tell anyone will you?”
“Of course not! I was made at home by all Gypsy camps. But I’m guessing that you being here means you are on a Raid?”
“Yes I am. I’m meeting the rest of the group in the woods, I’ll bring them back here after that.” I saw no point in lying, Billy knew Gypsies just as good as if he was one, but he did hesitate.
“Promise me one thing. Take Perspe with you and look after him. I came here to try and get the people to treat their horses right, but I’ve had no success.”
“Of course I will!” He will be treated just like any horse should be!”
“And can you also promise….. To keep an old man well fed and set up with a good job in a Gypsy camp?”
“Oh my! Are you serious! You’re coming back! I mean of course! It would be an honour! People will be glad to hear you’re back!”
“Well that’s nice to hear! Now hadn’t you better get to the woods, they’ll be wondering where you’ve got to! I’ll meet you at the front door, now off you go!”
I nodded in understanding, and nudged Perspe to walk out the doors. At the same moment a large shadow passed in front of us, unidentifiable with the sun shining behind whoever it was, but the voice told me everything.
“Hello Kayla. Mind if I come for a ride?” The Man of the House had a voice of stone, completely different from earlier, and I had defiantly heard a huge sneer in it.



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