Taming Her Gypsy Lover Read Online Free PDF

we will find something.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    In the morning, the weather had cleared. And after a hurried breakfast of bread and cheese from his pack, Chal had harnessed the mare and they’d begun their journey again. Emma sat at his side, so close that her hip touched his, and the contact made his spirit feel light. Bella had been gone for over a year, and he had forgotten the easy feeling it gave to have a woman beside him, company on his travels.
    He glanced at the beautiful gadji beside him, riding in his poorly sprung wagon as though she had been born to it. Emma Hammond’s eyes were alert, taking in every detail of the countryside as though it was a novelty to her.
    “You spent your life in London?” he asked.
    “Not until this last year.” She smiled. “Until Robert died, I lived in a small village in Kent. And then my family wanted to help me.” She was frowning now, as though the help had been more of a hindrance. “They meant the best for me, I am sure. But it was cold charity to have no say in my own future.”
    And then Emma put it behind her, smiling again and hugging herself. “But to be in the country again, when the weather is fine like this?” She lifted her face to the sky, and he saw the first freckles of sun on the bridge of her nose. “I have missed it, very much.” She looked at him. “Thank you for taking me with you.”
    It surprised him to see her so happy. She had no clue as to what might become of her at the end of the journey. But she did not mind it. In his experience, the gadje buried their roots deep wherever they were planted and clung to that patch of earth to their last breath.
    This woman was either exceptionally stupid or merely exceptional. He would know soon enough.
    He read the patrin at the side of the road: scraps of ribbon tied to tree branches, left as an indication that a tribe of Rom were in the area. “We will be stopping soon,” he told her. “With my people.”
    “Your family?” she asked.
    “In a sense. Not by blood. But they are Roma. They will shelter us for a few days, give us food and clothing, and advise us on the safest routes north.”
    He found the little camp on the edge of a field, nothing more than a gathering of tents and cooking fires. But the sounds of music and work and laughing children made it feel like a homecoming.
    Emma looked around her with polite curiosity, trying not to stare. It made him smile to see her widened dark eyes. Each sight was like the first to her, as though she were an infant, new to the world and still amazed by it.
    Chal spoke quickly in Romany to the head of the family, outlining the reason for their journey and his choice of companion.
    He was offered a place to set up his tent, and promised a fine meal in the evening. Then they found him a girl of about Emma’s size, and he explained his companion’s wish to travel in comfort.
    The Romany girl examined the interloper with narrowed eyes, trying not to show her covetous desire for the fine dress Emma wore, and gave a small, disinterested nod. Chal beckoned her closer, and the girl reached out to touch Emma’s sleeve.
    Instead of flinching, Emma smiled encouragingly at her and held out her arm as Chal haggled with the girl in Romany until they settled on a fair price.
    When they had reached an agreement, he felt for his knife, and Emma stepped back in alarm. He held up a finger to assure her. “We are keeping two of the buttons. They are worth much more than the cost of a few Gypsy dresses. Before you run from the life you knew, you had best learn to appreciate what you had.”
    She glared at him in answer. “I know what I had, and it is not as much as you thought. I would sacrifice all my buttons to get away.” She glanced at the Romany girl, and he could see the dawning light in her eyes that the girl they bargained with might know English. “But not for a few Gypsy dresses. As you say, the buttons are worth more than that. I wish to make a fair trade for them.