The Heart Of A Gypsy (20 page)

The man pointed his finger in the direction he planned to go, then he turned to Ion “Would you two fellows like a ride?” the farmer asked.

“Yes, thank you…we would,” Ion said.

“Hop on the back, then, and I’ll take you as far into town as I’m going.”

“Thank you,” Christian said as he helped Ion up onto the wagon.

They shivered from the cold, but at least they had a few hours’ rest in the back of the horse cart. But when the peasant slowed down to turn onto the main street, into town Christian asked that they be allowed to depart. Christian explained that they were headed home to a farm just a little way from where they were. He thanked the farmer for all of his trouble, and then said that they would walk the remainder of the way. 

After several miles on foot, they saw an arm band with the yellow Star of David abandoned along the side of the road close to the forest. Neither of the men wanted to say what they thought aloud, but each in their own way wondered if the former owner of the arm band had found freedom or been slaughtered. Ion and Christian moved along towards their destination, side by side and totally dependent upon each other. The profound friendship that the two men had developed grew even stronger as they faced this death-defying journey together. While they continued to walk, Christian stole a glance at Ion, his dear brother. How Christian longed to unburden himself and tell Ion the terrible secret that burned like bitter bile in his heart, but the words would not come to him. If they both died before they ever reached camp, Christian decided, his undisclosed disgrace would die with him. He could not bring himself to reveal his secret.

The following night, unable to continue without rest, they lay down close to each other to keep warm. The danger of surrendering to the seductive power of sleep was ever present in their minds. They knew that if they slept they could easily freeze to death. Still, as hard as they tried, the force of their fatigue took over and they drifted off to sleep. Dreams of Nadya filled Christian’s mind; so clearly could he see her face that he felt as if she were with him. After an hour of much-needed rest, it felt as if she shook him, awakening him with a new resolve to survive. A light flurry had fallen while they slept and it covered them like a white shroud. Christian blinked hard as he found his eyelashes had frozen together. Then he turned to Ion, whose face was ashen, and shook him. For a long time Ion did not move and Christian feared that he had frozen to death. He put his hand against Ion’s neck and felt for his pulse. Although faintly, Ion’s heart still beat. Christian rubbed his hands together to warm them and then put them against Ion’s cheeks. He breathed hot breath in Ion’s face until finally, a dazed Ion awakened.

“You gave me quite a scare!” Christian said and he smiled at Ion. Then Christian rubbed Ion’s arms briskly, trying to get his blood flowing. “Today, I will hunt and make sure that we get some food,” Christian patted Ion’s shoulder.  The dream of Nadya gave him strength he’d thought he’d lost. “Come, brother, we must keep going. Every step we take is another step closer to home,” Christian said as he helped Ion to his feet, and together they began again.

As the sun rose, a jackrabbit ran across an open field. Ion, spotting it, lifted his gun. He was weak and still injured, and he missed the shot. Ion glanced at Christian then bowed his head in shame. “I am sorry. I wasted a bullet,” Ion said.

“Don’t worry, well get the next one,” Christian told him, although he was not sure if there would be another chance.  The afternoon was the warmest part of the day, and that made it the easiest time to navigate. As Ion and Christian walked on higher ground, they passed a deep gully where they saw a man lying dead. From where they stood, they could see that he’d been killed by a gunshot through the heart. His shirt had been ripped open, and with careful precision, a swastika had been carved into his chest. His hair and face were brushed with snow, and his gray striped uniform was covered in blood. As they went down to where he lay and looked more closely, they saw that the uniform had an imprint of an arm band that had been torn away. So this was the owner of the yellow armband with the Star of David that they had seen earlier. Saddened to see that this poor soul had lost his battle with the Nazis, Ion and Christian looked at each other and then continued on.

Almost eight days without real food or water had passed when the men finally saw the outskirts of their camp, and the glass surface of the Bug River. Laughing with joy, they embraced each other with red, frostbitten fingers as they walked as quickly as their freezing feet would allow them to, toward home. The hard snow crunched beneath their boots as they limped, sliding and falling in the drifts.

C
hapter
45

As of late, the puppy Lil had begun venturing farther into the forest when she left the wagon in the mornings. Often Hanzi would carry on with concern for his dog until Nadya put a plate of scraps together and took them outside. As soon as Lil heard Nadya’s soft call, she knew that the food would be outside the door of the
vurdun
, and to Hanzi’s delight she would come bounding through the snow.

It was on such a morning that Nadya walked outside the
vurdun
door with a blanket wrapped around her against the bitter morning chill. As she turned to call for the puppy, she saw two disheveled figures hunched over and holding tight to each other as they ambled towards the campsite. The dish fell to the ground, breaking into shards of glass as her hand flew to her mouth in shock.  All of her hopes were realized as she ran toward her husband and her brother with her arms wide open. Tears froze upon her face as she reached them, crying and laughing all at once. Christian nearly fell into her arms, holding her close, breathing in the sweetness of the woman whose memory had kept him alive through this ordeal. 

“Come, both of you,” she helped them back to her wagon and covered them with blankets.

Although it was against the rules to start a fire in the campsite, among the Romany these rules could sometimes be over looked.  As long as the fire was kept very small and did not send smoke up into the sky, no one complained. Nadya started a low fire outside of her wagon to help warm the men. Christian was too tired to argue with her about building the fire so close to camp, and so he just sat beside the smoldering wood, not questioning her judgment.

Next Nadya went to the river and returned with plenty of fresh water. Both men drank their fill. Then she gave them dried meat, which she had left from Christian’s last hunting trip.

“Now I will put up a soup.” She took the kettle and hung it over the fire. “In a few hours you will both have hot food to eat.” Then she put a bottle of the cherry liquor that the gypsies love in front of the men.

As she busied herself cutting the vegetables and placing them in the cauldron, Christian reached out and took her hand. He held it firmly in his own, and then rubbed it against his lips and cheeks.

“God, how I missed you... When I thought that I would die, it was only the vision of you that kept me alive. Nadya, my darling, my love...” Although he was unbelievably tired, Christian stood and took her into his arms. She felt the fire rise within her, and she longed to lie with him.

Then remembering her brother, Nadya gently loosened herself from Christian’s grip and walked over to Ion. With a warm hug she welcomed him back.

Shmul saw the fire and the footprints in the snow. He followed the tracks to Christian’s
vurdun
. “Welcome back. We’ve all been worried about you.”

Ion nodded.

Shmul continued, “The Polish resistance has been here almost every day. I think they got word of a problem that you incurred on the mission, and they were concerned for your safety. They also mentioned that they need all of our men to help them with another project that they have in the works.” Shmul reached over and drank from the bottle of liquor.

“What problem? What happened? Tell me, Christian…”  Nadya asked, her eyes filled with concern.  The rest of the
kumpania
had been careful to keep all bad news from Nadya until they had confirmation on what was fact and what was just rumor. So, until now, Nadya had heard nothing of what had happened on the mission.

“Nadya, please, it’s all right. I’m here now…Ions here now, and everything is fine,” Christian patted her hand, annoyed with Shmul for talking so candidly of the dangers  he’d faced in his wife’s presence.

“It’s not fine… I was terrified. I haven’t slept since you left. I was so worried,” Nadya glared at him.

“I know love… I’m sorry to have put you through all of this, but Ion and I were never in real danger,” smiling, he glanced over at Ion who smiled back at Nadya.

“Don’t smile at each other like that. You think you can fool me? I am nobody’s fool. I can just imagine what happened. And as for future projects in the works…I have had enough, Christian. I can’t go on like this. Please promise me that you won’t be a part of this new mission Shmul is talking about, whatever it is.”

“You know that I can’t make a promise like that. But let’s see what they have planned, and we’ll decide together from there. I’m very tired.  For now, please, darling…let me enjoy being with you. I have yearned for this moment.”

“Shmul,” Christian turned to him annoyed. “Please, we have just returned. Let’s talk later.”

Shmul realized that he had made a mistake by opening the conversation in Nadya’s presence. “Of course. Get some rest and then, when you are feeling up to it, we will speak again.”

Nadya glared at him as he left the wagon. “Shmul cares only for his missions. He has no feelings for what we might have to risk. I hate him.”

“No, you don’t, darling. Shmul is a good man. He is just filled with anger and hurt because of what was done to him. His entire life is devoted to defeating the Nazis, to punishing them.”

“I know. But why does he need to get you involved? Why can’t he just do it himself?”

“Well, darling, there are a lot of reasons. But mainly it has to do with how I look. But let’s not talk about this now. Let’s be happy, please? Forgive Shmul; he doesn’t mean us any harm.”

“I forgive him. Right now I could forgive the devil himself because I am so relieved to have you home.”

“Shmul is not quite that bad.”

“No, he isn’t,” she smiled.

Ion was tired. “Why don’t I take Hanzi to spend a few hours with your friend Devorah. I am sure she won’t mind. Then I think I will go back to my own wagon and get some sleep. Wake me when the soup is ready?”

“Thank you, my brother.” Nadya said, and she kissed Ion’s cheek.

“Come, Hanzi… Would you like to find Lil and go for a visit with your aunt Devorah?”

“Yes…very much, Uncle Ion,” the child smiled.

After they left and Christian and Nadya were alone, she undressed him. His body was covered in bruises and scrapes. Tenderly, she kissed each one, until even in his advanced state of exhaustion he could not resist her. He took her into his arms and held her, just cherishing the very feel of her. With one quick motion, he pulled her dress over her head and tossed it to the side. They held each other tightly, crying and laughing at the same time. Their souls locked together, joining as one as they lay in the warmth that generated between their naked bodies. Unable to be so close to Nadya without the passion rising within him, Christian began to kiss her ears, sucking on her earlobes. With soft butterfly kisses, his lips grazed her neck; then they moved down to her throat and her shoulders. He licked her skin, tasting her…drinking her in. Christian worshiped her breasts with his lips and tongue. He ran his hands through her hair and up and down the smooth velvet of her skin. When his fingers found their way to her womanhood, she gasped with wanting. Although the hunger to be inside of her almost consumed him, he forced himself to slow down, and gently manipulated her clitoris until she climaxed so hard that her hips rose up. “Oh Christian…I want you inside of me,” she whispered in his ear, and he felt the electricity shoot through him as his hard throbbing manhood ached to fulfill her needs. He moved to get up on one knee, but she pushed him back down. “No….this time…let me.” She got on top of him and slid him inside of her. Now he touched places within her body that she never knew existed, filling her totally…completely. He reached up and held her tiny hips with his hands. Then he began to move beneath her, slowly at first, but then harder, with more intensity, and she thought she might die of pleasure. The wetness of her love rained down on him as she reached her orgasm. When her insides gripped on to him, he shot his warm life force inside of her. She wanted to hold him there forever, safe inside of her body. But once it was done, she fell upon his chest, spent with the effort of their love. Christian held her tenderly as their sweat mingled together.

“I love you... God knows, how I love you,” he said, squeezing her tighter as she lay touching his skin wondering quietly what she would have done if he had never returned.

C
hapter
46

Another flurry of snow fell upon the forest that night, hiding the evidence of Ion and Christian’s footsteps as they’d walked toward the camp the previous day. In the morning, the white powdery substance was fresh and virginal as the Polish Resistance entered the camp. They spoke with several of the others who informed them that Christian and Ion had returned only the day before.  Tapping lightly on the door to Christian’s wagon, they summoned him to come out. The sound awakened Nadya, and she tossed her shawl about her shoulders, following them, while Hanzi and Lil slept soundly.