Chapter 9

Their sudden appearance from the forest didn’t seem to startle the people gathered around a large fire nor the musicians who continued to play their upbeat tunes. Chloe was immediately impressed by the size of the camp. Several Gypsy wagons were scattered around and from the size of the group there were more people than could fit in the wagons. The group looked poor but the gathering was laid back and almost cheerful.

     Phillip allowed Chloe to right herself but he possessively held her close to him. He had both arms wrapped around her small waist and she could feel his hot breath on the back of her head. More surprising was the beat of his heart that thudded at her back. He tensed a little as he gazed around the camp and the smile left Chloe’s face.

     The large group of people was divided into three noticeable sections. Most men were to the left dressed in loose black pants and equally loose white long sleeve shirts. Over the shirts they wore various dark colored vests and coats and most wore dark hats.

     Women of all ages were gathered close to the fire and sat lazily on the ground chatting and laughing. They were dressed similar to the men in white loose fitting blouses with full white underskirt that were more a stained off-white color. Every woman wore a different colored apron that was rectangular and had unique colored patterns woven on the bottom. The older women had scarves covering their heads and a large number had toothless smiles. The younger women had their hair pulled back into different styles of braids and sat closely to an older women counterpart.

     The last group was the children. This group tugged at Chloe’s heart. Despite their dirty and torn clothes they ran about playing tag and various games of ball. Some children sat in a circle playing paddy cake or braiding another child’s hair while others held hands and taught each other how to dance to the music.

     Several men were gathered around a large overturned wash pan. Small round objects were lying on the rusty top and the men seemed to be arguing over who had won some game that was unknown to Chloe. Despite their loud arguments the men wore large contagious smiles on their faces.

     A tall man stood out from the rest, mostly because of his stature. He was about a foot or two taller than everyone else, had a long red beard and matching long hair neatly pulled back from his face. His tight red shirt and blue pants indicated that he was not traditionally part of this particular group.

     Chloe was stunned when he lifted his head up and met her gaze. He had piercing blue eyes that made his complexion seem intensely pale under the red hair and long beard. There was something about the way he looked at her that unnerved Chloe. She felt as if he was stealing something from her soul. There was a darkness pulsating from him and she couldn’t ignore it.      She wanted to turn and look in another direction but she was caught in his gaze and couldn’t seem to control her body. She tensed up at this realization and was relieved when Phillip pulled her away leading her towards an elderly woman. It seemed that he had not even noticed the red haired man.

     “Nama,” Phillip said releasing Chloe and reaching for the old woman. She sat in a rocking chair just outside one of the wagons and Phillip reached down wrapping his arms around the woman in a loving embrace and Chloe stood awkwardly at his side.

     “Nama, this is Chloe, a dear friend. Chloe, this is my grandmother, Nama.” Phillip gestured to his grandmother who still sat in the rocking chair looking up at her with a curious expression.

     Her leather skin was a dark creamy color from years of sun exposure and her eyes had many layers of bags. White locks of curls escaped from under her black head covering and she wiped them from her face with a frail thin hand.

     Chloe extended her hand intended to shake the woman’s but Nama pulled her into an embrace just as tender as the one she had shared moments ago with Phillip.

     “It’s agood to see my Phillip with a woman. You will see that you love it here. We are good people and we are family, all of us.” Nama spread her arms gesturing at the people around them.

     “No, Nama, I am taking Chloe to see Nikolai. She is not my woman, simply a friend.”

     “Hmm, we will see about that. A woman does not follow a man to get answers about him if that man is a simple friend. Time will reveal all its plans when it is ready.” Her thick accent was strange to Chloe and she pondered the woman’s origins.

     The mention of getting answers left Chloe wondering if there were others like Phillip. Was she sitting in a camp full of people like Phillip?