By AyshaDecember the 30Jeffrey cornered me in the barn today, but I managed to fend him off. I can not let William find out that Jeffrey is after me, for I fear that William would kill Jeffrey.....and then they would hang him. I can not let this happen. I have so far managed to fend of Jeffrey's advances. I do not know why Jeffrey wants me when he can have any regal woman he wanted, or bar-maid, for that matter. But I doubt his father would like that.
His father, Nero the Drake, is very wealthy and someday all that wealth will be Jeffrey's. I guess Jeffrey wants what he can not have, for I am happily married to William four years now. William and I serve Nero like my father before me, who died five years ago. Nero seemed sorry to lose my father and he looked after me until I met William. I fear that Nero knows his son has been chasing me because he has become cold towards me. I know he would not approve and I threaten Jeffrey that I will tell his father, and so far he has done nothing drastic. I would not do this though, for William would surely hear of this from someone. Oh, pray tell, what am I to do?
January 12I write my entry today with a heavy heart, and the stains you see are my tears. Today I lost my beloved William. They told me it was a hunting accident, that William fell down a steep hill and broke his neck. I do not believe it was an accident. I think Jeffrey killed my husband. He came by this morning and invited William to go hunting. He never asked William to hunt before. He never spent time with William. He hated William. I asked William not to go, but he said he could not refuse Jeffrey. I know it was not an accident, for when I was crying over my husband, Jeffrey put his arm around my shoulders. But it was not an act of condolence....it was a sign of possession. He was telling me I was his.
January 14We buried my husband today. It was a simple ceremony. All the workers were there and Nero and Jeffrey. After the ceremony, when the people were leaving, Jeffrey came up beside me. "You are mine now." He whispered. "There is no one to stop me now."
I looked him in the face and told him that I would jump off of a cliff first.
"You will marry me." He replied and walked away.
I dropped to my knees and put my face in my hands. What am I to do? I have no family to help me and no money, but I cannot stay here. Tonight I will leave here using my husband’s clothes as a disguise. It will be easier to travel as a man.
I will call myself Forrest.
April 6It has been tough going, for I had little money when I left. Food has been hard to come by. Some I have had to steal, and some I was given by other travelers such as myself. I have had to switch my identity from man to woman and back. It is easier to get food as a woman.
When I was two days gone, I heard from a fellow traveler that Jeffrey had men looking for me. I kind of expected that. But I also learned that Nero had men looking for me. They are to be sure that I do not come back. I have to be even more careful now.
June 1Tonight I find myself in the company and protection of a band of gypsies. Today I overheard some men talking about attacking the gypsies and running them away from their town. They did not want the gypsies anywhere near them. I did not think this to be right, so I warned the gypsies and they left before any incident occurred.
They were grateful and said I could spend the night with them. I revealed to them that I was a woman and told the woman, whom I believe to be the leader, my story. I asked if I could travel with them for protection. She said that although I was a "gadjo", I showed a good heart by warning them. I thanked her and settled in for the night.
I let my gaze wander around the group. The leader’s name is Dulcinaya, a striking woman with long black hair. There is one other gadjo, a man called Elphin. I think he is in love with Delia - they are sitting off by themselves.
I had heard stories about gypsies, and I believe that these people have been misunderstood, but then I have only been with them one day. Only time will tell, I guess. I am just grateful that I now have someone to travel with and someone to watch my back.
August 15I have been with the gypsies for a few months now. I am really beginning to like these people. They are not at all like the stories I had heard about them. Elphin is teaching me how to fence and protect myself. I hope that I do not run into any of Nero’s men, but I want to be prepared if I do.
We have traveled to a large gathering at the Pennsic War. I have never seen so many people in one place before. We stayed in the "Court of Miracles" with other gypsies. We had a problem with thieves (and they call gypsies thieves!).
Anyway, there were all kinds of tournaments going on for light fighters, heavy fighters, and archers. Dulcinaya and I dressed up as men and registered so we could fight. I was so afraid we would be caught, but Dulcinaya had done this before and showed me what to do. We participated in a melee but lost.
That night, we went to the barn and danced. I like to dance! I danced with Alwyn Feather the Foolish, the tribe’s jester...he knows many dances!
The next day, we did some shopping. We didn't’t have much money,. but it is fun to look, anyway. That night we went to the square so Dulcinaya and Delia could tell fortunes and Alwyn could juggle and hopefully make some money. Tsigane, Dulcinaya’s sister, kept a watch out for guards, for it is illegal for gypsies to tell fortunes. We were sitting next to where Alwyn was juggling fire.
He came over to soak his sticks in oil, when all of a sudden, a fireball erupted out of his oil pot. Alwyn jumped back and Tsigane and I rolled out of the way very quickly! We think the fumes ignited when he reached to put the hot stick into the oil. No one was hurt, but he cleared the square! Alwyn threw water on the small fire before it caught a vendor’s tent on fire. The vendor started yelling for the guard, so we quickly left! But we stayed on a few more days without another incident.
September 25Elphin gave me a blue scarf today. I also noticed that he gave everyone a gift. I found out at feast why. He asked Dulcinaya for Delia’s hand in marriage. Dulcinaya granted his request. There is to be a wedding!
October 9We stopped at a village today. All day long, we were harassed by a constable named Oengaes. He was convinced that we were gypsies on our way to Jerusalem. Dulcinaya had me write up some passes and sign King Logan’s name to them. She then smudged, smeared, and tore the papers where Logan’s name was so you couldn’t quite make out his name. Oengaes wanted to search our belongings. Santiago, Delia’s cousin, told him to leave us alone, but mocked Oengaes’ Scottish accent. I thought we were dead! Dulcinaya turned her head to hide her laughter, but fortunately, the constable didn’t notice. He gave us a warning and left.
Later that night at feast, Constable Oengaes again accused Dulcinaya of being a gypsy. Baron Corwin came over and swore on his honor that Dulcinaya was not a gypsy. But when he removed his hat to swear the oath, coins fell out! The constable called out "Bribe!" and started after Dulcinaya! She jumped up and ran from the hall. We blocked his way just long enough for her to escape. Then we ran out the other direction. We lost them in the woods, and met up with Dulcinaya a little ways out of town.
We waited till just before dawn and snuck back to our small camp and gathered our things. I can not believe they did not have someone watching our stuff. What luck!
October 29We came to a village today that was having fun and games and a To The Point Tournament. Some of us too part in the tourney. We lost badly! Oh, well, great swordsmen we may not be, but we keep practicing.
November 3Dulcinaya’s reputation preceded her at the next place we came to. We found wanted posters nailed to trees leading to the village. They had a very good drawing of her. Dulcinaya did not want to risk getting caught, so she stayed in camp while we checked out the village.
Elphin and I were watching the fencing tournament when Dulcinaya’s brother Kazimir came running up and told us that Delia had been arrested for stealing. We followed Kazimir to the interior of the village. There we saw a constable leading Delia away! We waited until there was not one around and we snuck up behind the constable with swords drawn. Elphin hit him on the back of the head. He fell to the ground in a heap. We grabbed Delia and ran off to gather up every body to flee the village. This is beginning to happen on a regular basis, us running out of town.
We met up with Dulcinaya and told her what happened. We hid in a thicket for a while and made sure no one was after us. No one followed.
August 12We made our way back to Pennsic this year. We met another gypsy there who’s name was Rachel the Goatwoman. She has a really nice vardo with two beautiful horses. We camped with the Winged Wolf Tribe down by the stream in the Court of Miracles.
I still can not believe how many people are here in one place. That many people make me nervous!
We had heard that Stephan, the King of Atlantia, had been away taking care of some skirmish, but had returned before the Queen had had her baby (which was only four days ago!) We wanted to congratulate them on the birth, so we made a request to see the Queen, which was granted. We presented her with a gift box shaped like a shell, with a smaller box inside that contained what little salt we had left. She said that she was glad we came because she had been thinking about us traveling through her kingdom with the old torn passports that we had. So she gave us one of the King’s rings, one of only six that he had commissioned. This ring would provide us with safe passage. She also gave us one of her paternosters, saying she had prayed for us. We thanked her and left with her blessing.
That evening all the gypsies got together and we traveled around to different encampments and performed for the people. Sterling dela Rosa, from Tribe Winged Wolf, told stories, Emerald, a friend of Sterling’s, danced, Santiago sang songs, and Ivar (Dulcinaya’s cousin) and I drummed. We had a party of our own one night, and Delia and Elphin told fortunes and earned some money.
August 13Today we went to the royal encampment to see a friend of ours. The guards gave us some trouble and did not want to let us in. Dulcinaya showed them the ring the Queen had given us. One of the guards accused us of stealing the King’s ring, but Dulcinaya assured them that we did not! The greeter came up and told us we would have to wait to see our friend and for us to come in and take a seat and have a drink. We stepped inside to wait. We got tired of waiting and decided to come back another time. Dulcinaya picked up a chair, Santiago picked up a bench, and I took the pewter goblets and we walked out. The guards had changed right before, so the new guards did not know we were inside. We walked right past them with our goods.
We got a good way down the street when the greeter came back and noticed the things missing. He looked out of the tent and started calling us back. We asked him what was wrong. He said we were stealing the furniture! We told him we must have misunderstood him when he said "take a seat and have a drink." We apologized and put the things back.
All in all, it was a good Pennsic!
The Following Year
August 13Here we are at Pennsic again. It’s becoming an annual event. We camped with two other gypsy tribes. The leaders of each tribe got together and named the camp Court of Miracles. They are good people.
We sought out Rachel the Goat Woman and the Drunken Mariners and had a gypsy-pirate party. Rachel took Dulcinaya aside and said she had a gift for her. She gave Dulcinaya a length of rope. Someone said it was a leash for Santiago, but it was a lead rope for a horse. Rachel presented one of her horses as a gift to the clan Painted Wheel. Her name is Silvermist. She is very beautiful and is our most prized possession. We were so proud of our new horse that we paraded her through the streets and the merchants area. We had to convince a few people that she was ours and that we did not steal her.
Thursday, The Same WeekWe had our gypsy party tonight. There was drumming, dancing, singing, and someone juggled fire. We were having a really good time until a man from the next camp came and told us we had to be quiet. He said if we did not stop drumming he would call the guards. We told him to go back to his camp. He called the guards and they threatened to arrest us if we did not quiet down. We did not want to leave Pennsic yet so we complied with their wishes. We will have to find a way to get rid of this man who complained. He made a lot of enemies this night.
Friday, The Same WeekI had a fright today. While we were out walking today, Geldemar heard some men asking about me. This is as close as they have been to me. I did not know if they were Geoffrey’s men or Nero’s men. If they were Geoffrey’s men they would not hurt me. If they were Nero’s men, they would kill me. Geldemar told us to go hide while he tried to find out who they were. Later, he told us he followed them to the Crafty Celts booth and asked Vortigern if he had seen me. Vortigern asked them “Who wants to know?” They replied “Nero the Drake.” Dulcinaya decided it was time to leave. So we packed up and left Pennsic until next year.
So far they do not know that I with the Painted Wheel gypsies. And I pray that they do not find out. I dod not want to put Painted Wheel in any danger. I have cut my hair and I dress like a gypsy, so I am hoping that no one will associate me with the person they are looking for. Only now, I need a gypsy name. I will ask Dulcinaya for a name.
I am so excited. We were having dinner tonight when Dulcinaya called me over. She agreed that I should have a gypsy name. From now on, I will be known to the outside world as Aysha. I think I am starting to fit in with these people now. I feel a little bit more at ease, but I still have to keep my guard up. They are still looking for me. Will they ever stop?
Well, an uneventful year has gone by. We have managed to stay away from any of the men looking for me. We have made it to Pennsic XXX. There are more people here than ever before. They had a hard time finding places to put everyone. Fortunately, we were able to get our old spot by the stream. It was very hot the week before we arrived but has cooled off a bit.
Monday 13thToday we went in search of our friends the Drunken Mariners and found them in their old spot. We were all happy to see each other. They told us they were lucky to be there. On their way to Pennsic they were attacked by some highwayman. They fought them off with little difficulty, but Max’s wagon caught fire. They lost a lot of their supplies. One thing they did bring with them was the is strange, big box that keeps cold on the inside.* They would not tell us how it worked. They said it was magic. It kept their food from spoiling. I have never seen anything like it before. We thought this magical box to be most wonderful. We gathered around the box to examine it. The pirates drew their guns and told us to stop away from the box. We backed away telling them we were just looking at the box. We were not going to take it. We are your friends,” we told them. They lowered their guns and said they were sorry. They were still very nervous. We all had a good laugh about the whole thing.
Wednesday 15thFor a few days now I think I have been followed. I keep seeing a certain Frenchman every where I go. I am not sure if he is following me, but he makes me very nervous.
Thursday 16thWe were out walking our horse Silvermist when we were stopped by the constable. He said that Silvermist belonged up on the Serengeti. What were we doing with her?** We told him that she was a gift from Rachel. He did not believe us at first but this nice lady named Katherine came up and told him we were telling the truth. He still looked skeptical, but he let us go, warning us to stay out of trouble. Dulcinaya was thanking the lady when the Frenchman I had seen came walking up. Katherine introduced him as her husband Vincent. Katherine asked if they could walk with us and Dulcinaya agreed.
Vincent said “That is a very fine horse. You could get a lot of money for her.”
“Oh, we would never sell Silvermist.” Dulcinaya told him.
I do not trust this Vincent. After all, he
is French.
Note* These hedonistic people had a propane-powered refridgerator, complete with a freezer, delivered to their camp. And they filled it with popsicles. At Pennsic. This is so wrong.
Note** Even at Pennsic ya get hassled by The Man……
