by Barb Hendee
Then, we boarded the barge, Cooper pushed off, and the original quartet of us was once again drifting down the river’s current.
Sitting at the back, I looked up at Cooper standing over me with his pole, and I marveled at the strange luck that had tied me to this man—and him to me. I was becoming more aware that we didn’t know each other well, but time would remedy that.
The air had been growing colder each day, as winter was not far off. I was glad for the wool dress on my back. Between it and my cloak, I was more comfortable. In the afternoon though, it began to rain, and Cooper set up our tent and told me to get under cover. He said that he and the twins were used to working in the rain.
I knew this must be true.
Inside the tent, I didn’t see much of the scenery we passed, but the world outside did appear to grow darker. When the rain stopped, I emerged to see the forest on each side of us had thickened to the point of long, moss-covered branches reaching out over the water.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“We’ve crossed the border where the river takes a turn north into Stravina.”
“Stravina?” We were in another country. I could hardly believe it. “Do the people here speak our language?”
“This close, most of them do, but once we get farther in, don’t worry, I speak Stravinian and Belaskian.”
Cooper spoke two other languages? I seemed to be learning more about him every day.
Not long after this, Gregor turned from the front of the barge and called, “Trading post ahead.”
Cooper looked down at me. “We’ll stop here for the night. There’s no village, just a small trading post, but it’s safe.”
Safe? What did that mean? Then I realized that there had been evenings when Cooper and the twins pushed on into the night so that we could dock in a populated area. Perhaps he feared thieves if tied off somewhere along the river and spent the night on our own.
Several docks stretched out into the river—half filled with other barges. Harlan and Gregor guided our barge along side the nearest one to an open spot, and I looked around.
There were a few small buildings that appeared to be dwellings, a few others that looked liked storage sheds, and a large faded building with a trickle of smoke rising from a single chimney. Rough-looking men walked the docks. Some of them went in or came out of the large building. A number of the men had dogs at their sides. I knew some bargemen kept dogs, but Cooper did not.
“Can I build a fire along the shore?” I asked.
“I’ll do it,” Cooper answered.
As we made our way down the dock and onto the shore, I saw a wide road stretching into the trees, and there was a clearing to one of side of the road. Inside the clearing was what looked to be an unusual encampment, a collection of wagons with small houses built on top—like rolling homes. There were horses grazing on scant grass at the outskirts of the camp and chickens pecking the ground around the wagons. Perhaps fifteen people milled about the camp. Some of the women were putting vegetables into a large pot hanging on a hook over a fire pit built in the center of camp. Everyone was dressed in bright colors of scarlet or royal blue or purple, and most wore bracelets or rings in their ears, even some of the men.
At the sight of them, Cooper stopped walking. “Elena, you stay away from that camp. I mean it.”
I had no idea why he thought I’d venture over at all, but he sounded so stern, I couldn’t help asking, “Why?”
“Those are Móndyalítko, gypsies.”
“Really?” Now I was curious. “You don’t like them?”
In my life, I’d met only two people with possible ties to the Móndyalítko, and they had both been dangerous, but they had neither looked nor lived anything like these people.
“They’re vagabonds,” he answered. “Parasites. Stay away from them.”
I found this somewhat hypocritical on his part. Weren’t we vagabonds? I suppose Cooper would have more likely described himself as a traveling merchant. Still, I was learning to choose my battles with him carefully, and this one was certainly not worth fighting, so I put it from my mind.
He found a clear spot along the shore and built us a small fire. I went to the barge, gathered an arm-load of supplies, and went back to the fire to make dinner. Using a sharp knife and a wide board from the top of a broken crate, I boned the trout and cut it into chunky pieces. Then I chopped onions and potatoes. Once that was finished, I placed the iron hook over the fire and hung cauldron. I made tea first and poured it into an urn with a tight fitting lid—while making a mental note to buy a teakettle at the first opportunity.
After rinsing out the pot, I heated more water and dropped in the trout, potatoes, and onions. I added some basil. When the fish and vegetables were cooked, I added a little flour and goat’s milk to make the chowder creamy. Then I sliced bread and called the twins to dinner. The barge was only a short distance away.
“Bring bowls, mugs, and spoons,” I called.
They both came quickly, and Gregor brought a few small crates for us to sit on.
Cooper had been gathering more firewood, and he came to join us. I passed out mugs of lukewarm tea, bowls of steaming chowder, and slices of bread.
Upon taking one bite of the chowder, Harlan closed his eyes and said, “Oh, Miss. I’m so glad you’ve joined us.”
“I think you can call me Elena,” I answered, but I smiled.
Cooper wolfed down his dinner and nodded. “Good.”
I realized he was not terribly interested in food and tended to view it more as fuel than as something to be enjoyed, but I didn’t mind. At least he’d eaten decently. After dinner, as I began to clean up, darkness fell.
Gregor wandered over to the trading post, and Cooper and Harlan remained by the fire chatting about the next few stops. It seemed we only had two more before we would start back upriver—where we’d have to be pulled against the current by mules.
I’d finished washing the dishes and had put everything away on the barge and was walking back to the fire when Gregor came out of the large trading post. I fell into step beside him as we approached the campfire.
“There’s a game going on inside, Cooper,” he said. “Looks promising.”
Cooper looked over, “Are they drinking?”
“Yup.”
“How long?”
“Long enough, and they’ve all got money.”
Cooper stood up. “Harlan, douse the fire.”
Harlan jumped to do as he was asked, and when the flames were fully out, Cooper motioned me to join him. “Come on.”
Puzzled, I followed him, and the four of us went to the large trading post and passed through the front door. The first thing to hit me was the smell, and I couldn’t help putting my hand to my nose; the mixed odors of pipe smoke, burned stew, dog urine, and unwashed bodies permeated the air.
The vast, open room was filled with tables, men, and dogs. A long bar covered one entire side of the room, and shelves behind the bar were cluttered with jars, urns, and small casks. The floor beneath the shelves was lined with larger casks. Several men behind the bar were haggling with other men standing in front of it.
Cooper ignored all this, and he didn’t seem to notice the smell. He scanned the tables until his gaze stopped on five men playing cards. There were numerous tankards on the table.
He studied the men for a few moments, and then turned to Harlan. “You’ll watch out for Elena?”
“You know I will.”
Cooper looked down at me. “Stay with Harlan.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked, more puzzled now.
“Play cards for a while,” he answered.
With that, he walked over and spoke to the men at the table. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but after exchanging only a few words, he sat down.
“Don’t worry, Miss,” Gregor said, standing to my right. “He’ll come home with a good deal more money than he brought.”
I was stunned. “He’s a gamble
r?”
Both Harlan and Gregor shook their heads adamantly.
“He’s no gambler,” Harlan said quietly. “He only plays with men who are well into their cups, and he never loses. That isn’t gambling.”
I absorbed this for a moment. No, perhaps he wasn’t a gambler, but it appeared he was someone who fleeced weaker or impaired men for their money. I wasn’t sure what I thought of that. It somehow seemed immoral—or at the very least unfair.
Several men at a near-by table glanced over at me, and Harlan glared at them. They looked away.
I became self-conscious at being the only woman in the place. Along our travels, I’d seen other women on barges. I’d even met a few who owned barges. But apparently, none of those women were here tonight.
“Come to the bar and I’ll buy you a cup sweet wine,” Harlan said.
With little else to do, I followed him, and Gregor sauntered over to watch Cooper play. I had a feeling we were going to be here a while.
The bar had no stools, probably because this was a trading post and not a tavern, so once Harlan ordered our drinks, he and I stood while I sipped at a cup of wine and he had a mug of ale. I had no idea what we’d do with our time once our drinks were finished. Harlan certainly spoke a little more than his brother, but not that much more.
I wondered if this trading post had a teakettle to sell.
When my wine was half gone, the door opened, and I glanced over. Three people came inside, two men and a woman… all Móndyalítko. The men had dusky skin and dark curly hair down to their shoulders. They both wore daggers on their hips, and they looked about warily, as if expecting trouble. But the woman caught my interest the most. She was perhaps forty years old, with long black hair just beginning to show a few strands of silver. Her face was unlined though. She wore a sleeveless dress of royal blue that laced only halfway up her bosom, but she wore a long-sleeved, low-cut white blouse beneath it that exposed her collarbones and some of her shoulders. She had bangles on her wrists and silver rings in her ears.
I found her lovely.
A number of men watched them come in, but no one spoke to them, and they walked smoothly, rather like cats, over to the bar. The woman spotted me almost right away, and she stopped a few paces away.
I held out my hand. “My name is Elena, and I must say I’m glad to see another woman in here.”
Surprise crossed her features, and after a brief hesitation, she closed the distance and took my hand. “I am Marika.”
She spoke Droevinkan with a slight accent I couldn’t place. Up close, I could see that her eyes were lavender.
I had some of my own money in the pocket of my dress, so I said, “Would you join me for a cup of wine?”
Carefully, she moved up beside me. Both men with her stiffened, watching Harlan, but Marika waved them off.
Harlan’s face however shifted to alarm, and he glanced over wildly to see if Cooper was watching us. “Miss Elena…” he stammered.
Cooper wasn’t watching. He was absorbed in his card game, and I ignored Harlan. Marika, however, followed his gaze across the room to Cooper.
“Is he yours?” she asked me. “That stern-face one?”
I pondered the wording of her question. “Yes, I suppose he is mine. He’s a good deal of trouble, but I do love him.”
All caution vanished from her face, and she smiled at me. “I would enjoy a cup of wine.”
For a moment, I thought Harlan was going to swallow his own tongue, and I couldn’t fathom what the fuss was all about. But Cooper had gone off to amuse himself and left me for the most part on my own—as Harlan didn’t count much as company. I saw no reason why I couldn’t do something interesting, and speaking to Marika struck me as beyond interesting.
Both of the men with her moved to a place a short distance down the bar and began haggling with one of the men behind it over purchasing some tea and ground oats.
Marika stayed with me. Once she had her own cup, she sipped at it, and we began conversing easily of small things.
“Are you heading up river or down?” she asked.
“Down for two more stops and then we head east to Kéonsk for the winter.”
She nodded and took a good swallow of the wine. “We’ll head north in a few days, further into Stravina. There are a number of towns along this road where the people have coin to pay for entertainment.”
“Entertainment?”
“That is how we earn our living, playing music, telling fortunes, feats of magic.”
I found this fascinating. Cooper had called them parasites, but it seemed they worked for their money just like we did.
“Miss Elena…” Harlan said in my ear.
I wanted to swat him away when I realized Cooper had seen us and his entire body had gone stiff. Marika followed my gaze, and at the sight of his face, she looked back and smiled again. “I fear it’s time we left, but I do thank you for the wine and the welcome. Tomorrow, let me repay you. Come to my wagon, the one with the blue trim, and I’ll tell you your future.”
For some reason, my heart jumped at her offer. Could she tell my future? If so, I badly wanted to hear it.
Over at the card table, Cooper stood up.
Marika moved away from me, toward the door. “Come and see me,” she said.
The two men followed her with their purchases.
Slowly, Cooper sat back down, and Harlan sighed in relief.
·····
The night crawled on slowly. As predicted, once I’d finished my drink, there was little for me to do—and I didn’t see a teakettle anywhere behind the bar.
“How long can Cooper go on winning before someone at the table gets angry?” I asked Harlan.
“Oh, he won’t win every hand. But when he loses, he won’t lose much.”
Again, this seemed rather… calculated, and I was beginning to wonder if Cooper did anything that was not calculated, but I also couldn’t stop thinking about Marika and her offer to me.
“Do you think Cooper would mind if we went back to the barge? It’s been a long day.”
Harlan perked up at my suggestion. Perhaps he was tired of this vast, smelly room too. “No, Miss, I don’t think he’d mind. You stay right here.”
Quickly, he slipped between the tables and chairs over to the card players, and he leaned down to speak in Cooper’s ear.
Cooper nodded in response, and Harlan came back to me. “Let’s go.”
The instant we were back outside, I took a long, deep breath of fresh air. “Oh, that’s better.”
“Agreed,” Harlan said. “Most of those men aren’t too fond of bathing.”
“All the pipe smoke was worse.”
The night was dark, with only a half-moon. I could just make out the small buildings around us, but I could see the docks and the river more clearly. When Harlan started for docks, I stopped him with my hand.
“Did you hear Marika’s offer to me?”
He tensed. “What about it?”
“We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning, and I’d like to go to her wagon. I’d like to hear my future.”
“You don’t believe in all that, do you?”
I had seen and lived through a number of unexplainable things in my life, and I had learned to discount nothing.
“Perhaps I do, but I’d like to at least hear what she has to say, and I’m sure she’s still awake. Will you take me to their camp?”
He wavered. I knew he’d grown fond of me, and he’d very much appreciated the dinner I’d cooked, but his face closed up. “No, Miss. I can’t. Cooper would have my head if I took you to see those gypsies. I hate to think what he’d do.”
Did he fear Cooper? In recent days, I’d felt a number of unexpected emotions toward my new husband, but I’d never once been afraid of him. I opened my mouth to speak again, and Harlan cut me off.
“Don’t ask me to do this. Please.”
I relented and fell into step beside him.
As we approached our ba
rge, I couldn’t help asking, “Why does he hate them so much? Have they done him wrong?”
Harlan appeared much more relaxed now that I’d stopped pressing him, and his face grew thoughtful. “No, I don’t think he’s ever had any dealings with them. It’s his mother. She has very set ideas about things, and she calls them ‘indecent’. I think a lifetime with her might have rubbed off on him.”
A cold feeling passed through my stomach. This was the second somewhat unpleasant hint regarding Cooper’s mother. “You and Gregor know Cooper’s parents?”
“Course we do. We winter in Kéonsk too, but we don’t stay with Cooper’s family, and I don’t spend any more time there than I have to.”
He seemed to realize he might have shared too much because his face closed up again.
We’d reached the barge.
“You’d best get some sleep,” he said. “I’ll be in my tent at the other end, but I don’t think anyone will bother us.”
I nodded. “Good night.”
We each went to our respective ends of the barge, and I disappeared into the tent I shared with Cooper. I didn’t sleep though. I didn’t even remove my cloak or my boots. I sat on our blanket fully clothed, and I waited.
Time drifted by, and soon enough, I heard the sound of even breathing from the other end of the barge. Slipping out from my tent, I stood and peered over the top of the cargo. Harlan was out of sight and still breathing evenly.
Silently, I stepped onto the dock and made my way to shore as quietly as possible. At this hour, there was no one else about. Everyone was either asleep or inside the trading post.
Once on land, I walked faster, heading to the clearing to one side of the northern road. There I could see a campfire still burning. Several people sat around it, including both of the men I’d seen earlier. One of those men stood up as I approached, but his expression was not unfriendly.
“Is Marika still awake?” I asked.
He studied me for a moment with his dark eyes, and then motioned me forward with one hand. I followed him through several of the gypsy wagons, and he led me to one with blue painted trim. The near side sported a window, and I could see light glowing through the glass.
