The Untamable Rogue (14 page)

T
here was a
violent knock at the door. Ivo looked up from his carving. Who was in such a hurry to speak with him? Had something happened? It shot through his head that it may be to do with Liz and he leapt up. There was a hammering on the door again.

“Open up this damned door! I know you’re in there!” he heard the angry voice of his father shouting.

“I’m coming,” growled Ivo, on his way to the door to open it for his father.

Santino’s face was red with anger and he glared at his eldest son from black eyes. Without waiting to be asked, he stormed into the waggon. Ivo closed the door, shrugging his shoulders and turned calmly to the leader of the clan.

“So what’s so terribly urgent that you’re visiting your wayward son?” he asked coldly. It was extremely rare for his father to honour him with a visit. It had only happened three times during the last few years.

Without any warning the older man smacked the younger man in the middle of his face. If Ivo had been of a smaller build he would have been thrown to the ground by such a blow, however, instead, he just swayed a little and shook his head.

“Wayward! – Oh yes, you’re right!” snorted Santino at his son, who was wiping blood from his nose in disbelief. It had been a long time since he had seen his father so angry.

“Have you lost your mind, old man?”

“I’m not yet too old to tan your hide!” roared Santino. “I curse the day I conceived you! You’re a disgrace to the whole clan. This time your mother is not going to save you. I’ve watched your goings-on for a long time but now that is enough!” Santinos’ voice cracked.

“What the hell have I done now?” Ivo roared back. He was afraid that it was to do with Liz.

“What have you done? – You want to know what you’ve done? I’ll tell you! First you get her pregnant and then you don’t have the decency to accept it’s your brat and legitimate the whole thing!”

“Liz is pregnant?” gasped Ivo, confused. But they had only …

The colour drained from Santino’s face. In disbelief he looked at his son, then his expression changed to horror.

“Are you telling me that you’ve mounted the little one, too?” he asked dangerously quietly. “
Answer me
! Have you assaulted this innocent thing that is under our protection?”

Now it was Ivo’s turn to grow pale. Something was terribly wrong here - if his father did not mean Liz then he was in a whole lot more trouble. Gradually it dawned on him who his father was talking about. – Jelonka!

Ivo swore quietly. This little snake had clearly got it into her head that she was going to snare him and it seemed that she had been successful. Ivo was the sort of man who often disregarded the rules but leaving a pregnant woman in the lurch offended his honour and that was sacred to him – even if it meant that he had to marry this witch. For a moment he wished that it was Liz who was pregnant, but he pushed that thought away quickly. Dazed, he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“I was not an innocent lamb, either – I’m not trying to say that – but what you get up to …”

Santino sighed and he suddenly looked a lot older. Ivo went to the shelf and took out a strong, home-made, fruit brandy and two glasses. He poured two glasses and passed one to his father who emptied the glass in one go and Ivo re-filled it. Ivo emptied his glass, too. “Sit down, father!” said Ivo in a more placatory tone.

They sat down and Ivo re-filled the glasses.

A
s I left
Grandmother Aneta’s waggon the next morning I found the camp in complete upheaval. Most of the men were missing and the women were rushing around busily. They were washing, cleaning, cooking and baking. I walked aimlessly across the area and looked somewhat bemused at the bustle, clueless. A little way from the camp I came across a group of women who had barricaded themselves behind a few hanging blankets. Curious, I approached them. In the middle of the circle of women was the young gypsy, Jelonka, who was clearly being fitted for a new dress.

“What’s going on?” I asked innocently. “Can I be of any help?”

An old woman who, I knew, was called Baba, turned round to face me.

“If you can sew then we’ll gladly accept your offer of help. We’re making Jelonka’s wedding dress.”

Oh! So who’s the bridegroom?” I asked and my heart began to drum uneasily. I had a pretty good idea when I saw Jelonka’s spiteful expression.

“Ivo is the bridegroom. Our little one here has managed to tame the wild wolf,” answered Baba.

The colour drained from my face and my legs felt as if they would give way below me. Ivo! So I was right.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” laughed Jelonka and demonstratively stroked her belly. “We’re going to have a baby soon.”

This news completely threw me. Why had he not told me that he was to marry soon? This scoundrel had pestered me, almost dishonoured me, despite knowing that he was soon to marry another.

I staggered backwards a few steps, turned and ran away blindly. My vision blurred by tears, I staggered across the clearing and ran into the forest. I hardly noticed the branches hitting my face. A few times I nearly fell over, but somehow stopped myself again and again. Not until the stich in my side became unbearable did I slow my pace and simply fell onto the forest floor.

I did not know how long I had already been wandering through the forest. I knew only one thing for certain – I never wanted to return to the Sinti camp. The fact that I had nothing on me, let alone money, did not come into my mind in my confused state. I simply kept on marching straight ahead, putting one foot mechanically in front of the other and I only altered my course slightly to avoid obstacles. I washed my hot face in a stream and drank the cool liquid greedily. I ignored my growling stomach, and once I had rested a little I marched on. Only when it got dark did I realise that I had no idea where I should sleep. In every direction there was still only forest. I tried not to think about the dangers that might await me in the dark. In the last steadily fading light of the sun I found myself a fallen tree under which a sort of low cave had been created. I crawled under the trunk and rolled myself up like a baby.

I spent a restless night during which I hardly closed my eyes. I froze miserably and the hard ground hurt my limbs – the sounds in the darkness almost frightened me to death. More than once I regretted my hasty decision to flee. If only I had at least taken the time to bring the most necessary things with me, above all my horse, then I might now be out of the forest already, spending the night in a warm barn instead of on the bare earth. How had I managed create such a mess out of my life? First I had lost my parents, then my home, my heart, nearly my innocence even and now I literally owned nothing more than what I was wearing. I hugged my knees with my arms and rocked myself back and forth. I felt so helpless and abandoned – I no longer had anyone who cared for me. My only relative wanted my inheritance – perhaps even my death, and Ivo had only wanted my body, whilst he had long since decided on a life with another woman. The thought of Ivo and Jelonka, united in intimate embrace hurt. I saw Jelonka clearly before me, enjoying her triumph. I did not understand myself – why it was hurting me so much. I had known that the gypsy was not the right man for me. A union with him was completely and utterly out of the question. We belonged in quite different worlds.

‘What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Where should I go?’

I crawled out of my hiding place and stood up. It was still cool – the sun still had no strength and a light morning mist was lying heavy and dense on the ground. I rubbed my arms, shivering, then I began to brush the dirt from my dress with my hands. As much as I could I removed leaves and twigs from my hair and sorted it. My stomach was aching with hunger and because of being thirsty I had an unpleasantly dry mouth. I had to get out of this forest quickly and somehow get food. With stiff limbs I set myself in motion and carried on marching through the forest.

After an hour I reached a small stream where I could at least quench my thirst. I knelt down on the bank and scooped the cool liquid with my hands, greedily drinking it. The fluid also took away a little of the intense hunger and I felt somewhat strengthened. With new hope I set off on my way.

When the sun had reached its summit I sat down on a moss-covered tree trunk. The forest still seemed to have no end. It was not particularly dense but I still had not been able to find a way out. Gradually the hunger became unbearable. What if I still had not found a way out by nightfall? Was I perhaps going round in a circle? At that thought I felt very low. I could not even return to the gypsies because I had wandered through the forest so aimlessly and had therefore lost all sense of direction.

“Oh, damn it! What am I going to do? There must be a way out of this forest somewhere!” I complained in frustration.

Suddenly I heard the neighing of horses. I froze and listened hard. Truly. Now I could clearly hear the clatter of horse-shoes and the snorting of horses and it definitely came from my left. I looked hard in the direction from which the sounds were coming and some distance away I could see a small group of riders between the trees. As I did not know what sort of people they were I ducked, for safety’s sake, behind the thick tree trunk that I had just been sitting on. Once the riders had passed by I stayed in my hiding place for a while in case there was a group following, but there was none. Still quietly and carefully I stood up and knocked the dirt off my dress, then I went in the direction in which the riders had passed by. There must be a path there leading out of this forest – where to was of no importance to me right now – the main thing was to get out of the forest.

I nearly broke out into loud jubilation. A path! And it was quite a wide one that looked as if it was used a lot. If I were to follow the path in the same direction as the riders had just gone I would doubtless come to a place of some sort. I could have cried with happiness. With renewed courage I set off and although I was exhausted, hungry and thirsty, I felt elated in a way that I had not done for a long time. After a while the path forked and at first I was at a loss as to whether to go to the left or to the right, but then I decided to follow the right-hand path because, judging by the fresh hoof marks, the riders had also gone in this direction.

When I got out of the forest it was already twilight. I went passed a few fields so I must surely find a village nearby. The path was now leading uphill and I really had to gather my last bit of strength to even keep on walking. My feet were wounded and painful blisters were now torturing me with every step. My hair was hanging in my face, tangled. When the path finally led downhill again I spotted the village. It was now almost dark, and candle light and chimney fires were burning in the houses. It was such a lovely sight that I stood still for a moment to take in the peaceful image. Painfully I became conscious of the fact that I no longer had a home, no peaceful place to which I could return. My childhood home was in the hands of my guardian who may have designs upon my life, and the comfortable bed in Grandmother Aneta’s waggon – I would probably never set eyes on that again, either.

In a meadow at the edge of the village was a huge barn full of sweet-smelling hay. I made the hay into a bed, but before I lay down I wanted to find something to eat. I crept up to one of the yards and helped myself quietly from the well. From a dairy room I stole a little cheese that was not quite matured, but it gave off such a delicious aroma that I became quite giddy with hunger. I quickly moved away with my booty and hurried back to the barn. The cheese tasted heavenly and, with relish, I licked clean my fingers which were sticky from the cheese. At least the huge hunger had now subsided – now I just wanted to sleep.