Unspoken

Chapter 30 Nighttime conversations

The night was dark and cold. She could barely see a thing.
carefully, Milena edged forward. If only she could reach the fire of the kumpania. It wasn't far now.

In the distance she could already see her brother. She smiled and called out to him, but no sound escaped her lips. Her eyes went wide in shock and she clawed at her throat. Why? Why could she not speak?

Her feet started running to catch up to him, but it didn't seem like she was making any progress.

A gaps escaped her lips when she tripped over something in the dark. When she turned, she realized it wasn't a thing she had tripped on, it was a person.

Milena shivered and started shaking her head to get rid of the image, but the body was still there. And it looked an awful lot like her brother.

With trembling hands, she turned the body over to look at his face.

That was when she realized it wasn't her brother at all.

She was staring in the vacant eyes of Ramiro.

Milena gasped when her body hit the ground. For a moment she could not move and she started to panic, when she realized the reason she could not move was because she was tangled in the sheets.

Carefully she crawled out of the blankets and took a few deep breaths.

Ramiro.

She had dreamed Ramiro was dead.

A shiver ran up her spine. It was because she had seen Carmen's horse. The kumpania would not have sold it to gadje unless something had happened.

Was Carmen still alive?

Tears started streaming down her face and her breath became more rapid. Air. She needed fresh air.

Milena opened her door and headed down the stairs to the front door, but it would not open.

Desperately, she clawed at it, but it was definitely locked.

She started banging her fists against the wooden frame as if that would somehow magically make it disappear.

"Hey, hey shhh it's alright." Gentle hands turned her away from the door and suddenly she looked into Daniel's eyes.

He looked at her concerned. "What is it Leah? You shouldn't go out at this hour."

Milena shook her head and pulled her wrists free from his grip.

Immediately Daniel let go and held his hands to show her he meant no harm. "It's okay," Daniel said again, "did you have a nightmare?"

Milena only looked at him. She was still trying to control her breathing.

Daniel sighed sadly. "Come," he said softly, "let's go to the kitchen and have some tea for you to calm down. It's grandmother's remedy for unpleasant happenings." He offered her an encouraging smile and held out his hand.

Milena stared at his hand, but couldn't bring herself to accept it.

Daniel's hand dropped down to his side. He smiled at her sadly. "I wish I could understand what's troubling you."

Milena swallowed the lump in her throat. She wished she could tell him. He had been nothing but kind to her. He had defended her and protected her. She knew she could trust him, but she was not sure he would understand.

"I only wish to help you," Daniel said.

Milena closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"Good," Daniel smiled, "come. I'll make some tea."