A Gypsy woman.

Chapter one.

Because of My connections to his son of course, and for my talents as a child.

You see there is one more thing I feel I must explain, the Gypsies are all for girls working as children, of course! Why waist those innocent eyes and air of angelic perfection when you can use it to con easily those dim witted enough to simply trust a pair of wide eyes and a small voice.

But once you’re a woman, once you turn 19 you are expected to give up the work, you must ready yourself for marriage and child bearing for the betterment and future of the family!

 It is bred into us as children, the place of a woman. Who we must be and what we must do. We have our roles and we tend to accept them silently and without fight.

But I am not as most girls are.  There is an unease within my soul! An urge for adventure and reckless fun!

It has been hard however to convince Dee to let me pursue my ambitions. However close I may be to him, I am not close enough to be unfearful of his wrath.

I dare not test him, for after all, he is the king of thieves, and as the head of our family, he has done things in the past to keep us safe.

He is to be respected! He is to be feared and treated as the highest order around here.

His word is final! His opinion key! And his wrath fearsome! He can banish you! Leave you out on the curb with nothing!  And you are nothing without family! That is a value we are bred into and one we hold close to our hearts!  Only the desperate leave, and only the taboo are kicked out.

But here I go down the rows of carriages and tents to his Great Violet patched up tend at the end of our lane. I walk slowly, trying to gain courage. For I’m going to risk today my place in this family I so love. Of course I’m going to do it the right way.

In my pocket I have two thousand Dollars, my life’s savings. I plan on paying it to Dee as my respect, hoping this will gain me at least consideration for my plee.

As I get closer to the tent door, I see the two Men standing outside of his home watching, and guarding.

I take a moment to get myself presentable. I looked down at my bright red skirt the thin patched fabric falling in waves down to my feet. It was a bit dirty, I tried to dust it off as best I could.

I then took attention to my top, the flowing white sleeves looked a little tan from age and wear.

And My hair, god my hair, Long and black and as always just a little messy. I wasn’t worried, it was a common style in gypsy camp. Messy braids here and there, waves hanging down my bag and one precise braid on the left side, with the Ribbon Lian had gotten me tied perfectly.

I inhaled deeply and called on that ribbon to give me strength as I stepped forward.

Within a few steps I was stopped by the powerful arm of a large man I knew well.

“Good morning Eli!” I say brightly looking up at him with an innocent smile.

He matches it with his own nearly toothless one.

“Morning my Sprite! Having a lovely day I hope?” he says keeping his arm up.

He calls me sprite because everyone dose. Because that’s what my mother called me. She said the day I was born she looked in my eyes and said I had the beauty of a sprite, like a mythical woodland sprite, I didn’t even need the wings, my eye’s held magic in themselves.

So as he uses this pet name, my heart is stabbed with the memory of my long since passed but impossible to forget mother.

“Be lovelier if you’d let me in to see Dee” I say batting my lashes at him. He laughs and hold a hand to his heart as If he’s been hit with a bullet.