The gypsy people moved silently through the night. It was late enough that even the bats who flew through the barns in search of a midnight snack, were asleep. There were several adults and a toddler that still clung to her mother's side. Even though it was winter and there was a fresh coat of snow on the ground, the gypsies walked barefoot and the only sound was that of their gold bracelets clinking together.
They walked through the alleyways of their beloved city. The city who rejected their very existence but also supported them with the kindness of passers-by. Paris. The city of love and knowledge. The city of magic and wonder. The city that was run by politics and a king who was more concerned with his next wife than the well-being of his subjects.
The gypsies heard the sound of hoof beats in the still of the night. Despite their sleuth, they knew it would only be a matter of seconds before the king's men would be upon them. As they scrambled, the child and her mother ran. They sprinted into the street and continued down an adjacent alley. The small girl couldn't keep up so her mother picked up her light body and continued at the same pace. She was determined to keep her daughter alive. They ran until the alley came to a dead end. She could hear the sound of running horses behind her. To her left was a metal railed balcony that overlooked a Parisian marketplace. As the horses grew closer, the mother grabbed her child and, wrapping her arms tightly around it, leapt off the small balcony and into the fresh snow below. She hit the ground, a bit dazed, but immediately returned to her feet and ran. The child had escaped her grasp but her arm had been hurt in the fall anyway, so she wouldn't have been able to continue holding her. As she rounded a corner, she came face to face with a tall brown Clydesdale with a very ominous man on top. He was dressed in the military uniform with several ribbons attached, leading everyone to know that he was a decorated officer. The woman skidded to a stop and tried to run back, only to find herself cornered between the shops. She looked around, searching for her child. Realizing that the toddler was hiding in a haystack by one of the store fronts, she did her best to keep the man's attention on her.
"Where is the girl?" He questioned at her in French, "where did you hide her, tramp?"
"You will never find her, as long as I live that child will be safe from you." She hissed back in a thick French accent.
"I'll give you one more chance." The officer said coolly.
"Death first!" The woman screamed and spat at him. With that, the officer threw a large knife that landed in the woman's chest. She made a low gutteral sound as she fell onto the ground and her blood stained the pure white snow.
The child whimpered at the sight of her mother's murder. She clamped a hand over her mouth, she knew better than to cry and risk giving herself away. She could cry later but right now she needed to survive..for her mother.
"Search the area." He commanded and several other soldiers began to canvas the area. The tiny child hid in the hay until the coast was clear. No one thought to check the small hay stack as it was surely too small even for a child to hide.
She waited there, shivering in the freezing cold, until she heard a kind sounding man call out, "Little one, you are safe now. Come out, child of God."
