Two Loves of a Gypsy

13. Gabriel's Tale

We rode for a long time and I got very sore very quickly. It was rather awkward, especially for me. I had kissed him. It had been one of my whims. I had enjoyed, but that was beside the point. My excuse was, I wanted to get Alistair back to much that I my body acted on its own. But deep down as we rode away I knew I had wanted to do that for a while. I felt very childish.

I sat practically in his lap all afternoon as we rode. I was embarrassed and quietly thinking to myself. Gabriel was clearly thinking himself. I didn't say anything and he didn't feel to need to fill the silence with word either. We spend hours on that horse not saying one thing to pass the time. The whole situation was annoyingly awkward.

We stopped as the sky turned a brilliant pinks and purples and oranges with the setting sun. Over the treetops I caught the last glimpses of the sun setting. We had stopped in a forest area which was quickly becoming eerie with the growing silence. Gabriel got of first and then lifted me down off the horse. 

"Do you think you can get firewood?" he asked. I nodded, figuring that he didn't need a verbal response.

"Okay, I'll get find some food, somehow..." he trailed off and started to walk away.

"Gabriel!" I called out after him.

He turned around, "Yes?"

"Um, don't take too long." I said while mentally kicking myself. 'Why did you ask that, you idiot?' I watched as a kind smile tug onto his lips; that made me stop mentally kicking myself.

"I'll be back before it gets too dark and Chopper will protect you from wild animals." With that he left. I still felt like an idiot as I set about gather firewood. I gathered armfuls of twigs and sticks and large branches. It was tricky, though, most of the wood was surprisingly green. It took a while but I made a good looking fire and wood pile.

The fire roared and blazed as the final light from the sunset disappeared. I sat down by the fire and waited for Gabriel to return. The seconds turned into minutes, the minutes into an hour. I started becoming very worried about Gabriel. He was only a village boy after all. He could be lost somewhere in the forest. I started to worry if he even knew how to get back to Ellvise. I heard a loud bang, from what I didn't know.

 I searched my neck for the rope which would lead to the stone, or black opal as Alistair had said, but it wasn't there. I felt like bashing myself up, I had forgotten to take it back off Alistair after the fight. It was no longer with me and I felt my confidence waver again. The stone was my last connection with my grandmother, it gave me confidence and comfort and now it was lost to that greedy bastard. I sat with my knees under my chin. I kicked off my shoes and waited as I let my bare feet be warmed by the fire.

Gabriel returned with a rabbit and a half, it seemed, on his sword like it was a spear. I let out a sigh of relief. I wasn't used to being alone; I had always had people around me.

"What have you done to that poor rabbit?" I asked out a sense of sympathy for the mangled body of the rabbit. Gabriel looked at the rabbit with a frown as he considered his reply.

"He was a devil of a thing to catch. I chased it all over the forest until I dived into its nest and I plunged my sword into the nest and this was what I got." Gabriel replied as he sat down. I noticed as he began to skin the rabbit that his clothes were covered in dirt, more than before.

"Wouldn't have been better to set a trap?" I asked as I began lashing a long stick and small ones together to make an arm for a rotisserie for the rabbit.

"The majority of rabbits are smart and do not fall prey to traps, it would have been a waste of time." I raised my eyebrow at his answer. I had heard gypsies say that before, not village boys.