Miss Morgan and the Gypsy

Four: Traitor?

The cockney fell to the ground dead and Kappi jumped in time, landing perfectly in the woman's lap. Nicu went over and checked his pulse, spewing out Romani curses at the confirmation. He turned to the young woman who was staring at Kappi with wide eyes. Kappi simply looked up at her with his little nose twitching as he smelled her. Nicu sighed knowing she was about to have a breakdown from having a coon in her lap.

The woman surprised him by petting Kappi and even though he could barely see her shadowed expression, he sensed her smiling in gratitude.

"You were very brave," came the woman's soft and now calming voice. She stood and turned her attention to Nicu as Kappi stood on his hind legs watching her. "Your coon has more of a moral compass then you, Mr. Rowe."

Nicu snorted, "I had everything under control until your little scene."

The woman said nothing as the candle's almost vanquished glow played across her delicate features. She was shadowed and Nicu was unable to get a full picture of her, but what he could see was soft eyes and translucent hair that absorbed the fire's glow.

She shifted her attention to a small body crumbled by a tree. Nicu hadn't seen it earlier. He had arrived just as the man grabbed hold of the young woman. She moved in an awkward fashion and bent to the tiny, crinkled body, stroking the child's hair in a motherly concern. 

Nicu stepped toward them, "Is she alright?"

"She's dead."

He crouched down next to her and verified the verdict, and the young girl was indeed gone and had been for some time.

"Did they do this?" Nicu questioned as a venomous breath slipped through his teeth.

The woman shook her head. "She was ill before the fire. She tried to fight it, but..." the woman didn't have to finish and Nicu scanned the area, realizing that she had been about to bury her.

"What was her name?"

She stroked the once pretty young child's golden hair that no longer seeped life. "Gracie."

Nicu glanced out into the dark forest surrounding them. He had to give this iridescent beauty credit, despite how frail she looked, she had made it this far and didn't faint during the commotion, which most woman would have.

"And yours?" he asked.

"Harriet Morgan."

"Are you a teacher?" He continued, and she nodded in response. "Can you explain to me what happened?"

Her face drifted to his and their eyes met through the darkness that enveloped them as the candle burned out. Nicu had a hard time discerning her eye color, but he could see the signs of distress. Her almond shaped eyes lifted a little at the corners in an appealing way, but she had dark circles, and the little upturned ends were red. He could tell she was struggling to see in the thick blackness and was trying to adjust her eyesight as if she was looking at a fogged mirror.

"I failed her," she whispered in the air between them.

He shook his head. "I doubt that, little one. She must've been a fighter to have walked this far?"

Harriet said nothing, but Nicu noted how weary she appeared and took a shot in the dark. "She didn't always walk, did she? You carried her."

Again silence, but Nicu had gotten his answer. Harriet looked over at the men where Kappi was busy scurrying through their pockets. "What happened to them?"

Nicu glanced back at them. "I call it the suicide pill. A poison made in a capsule that if broken will kill a man in a matter of seconds. Whoever hired these men, didn't want it coming back to him."