Edvard, Mina, and Yuila wade into the gypsy camp.
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The shorter gypsy woman scurried away and spoke excitedly in a language Mina did not understand to someone unseen in a nearby wagon. The taller woman patted the stump again.
"That is Fori. She knows babies best. I'm Lehua." She smiled, and for a moment Mina thought her quite pretty. Then the smile dropped a bit and she appeared older again. "I've had the most children here."
It seemed to be a bragging issue, and Mina nodded. From there the other women nursing babies took up the conversation, although Mina felt it was more of an inquest. They wanted to know everything, and Mina had few answers.
"Where are you from?"
"Where are you going?"
"Is this your first child?"
"Then, where did you get it?"
After questions about Menino came questions about Yuila, and then questions about Edvard, whom they all called Huiotěs.
Mina was relived when a woman in her mid twenties approached her with Fori. She smiled at her, then the infant, her lean face appearing sad. "I'm Ona. Have you milk?"
Mina shook her head and related the story of the slaughtered families they had encountered. Ona nodded and pulled Menino's blanket back to see the boy.
"He hasn't been hungry for too long," she said, smiling. "I always have milk," she said, sighing. "No babies, but always milk."
She offered to nurse the child and Mina agreed. It took a few moments for Mina to realize the awkwardness was all on her part, as the women were chatting about the engagement they were celebrating. Ona sat beside the stump and fed Menino, her finger tracing his plump cheek.
"Sit," she said to Mina and Yuila. They did, looking around at the other girls and women. "We don't marry, here in the camp," Ona explained, "so the engagement is a promise for life."
Mina nodded, looking to the younger girls Yuila kept staring at. "Who was engaged?"
"Gita." Ona indicated a dark haired girl a few years older than Mina. The girl was smiling, blushing as she spoke with another group of teenage girls. A blonde girl leaned forward and whispered something in the new bride's ear, sending her into another embarrassed flush. "She is now promised with Hon. He's the best archer in clan."
Before Mina could respond, Yuila inched closer to her.
"Sapo, one of them keeps talking about me."
Mina looked to the cluster of girls that were sitting in a circle, glancing at the Crone. "Just one?"
Yuila nodded. "She said she wants to know my name and if I would talk with her."
Mina frowned. "Maybe she'll introduce herself."
Yuila's fingers tightened on Mina's skirt. "I don't know which one she is." She was about to say more when she looked to the wagon nearest the community camp. "There's Edvard, Sapo."
Ona looked to where he stood. "I'll feed the child while you go."
Mina rose and looked to Menino, who was intent on his meal. "I'll be right back."
Yuila was on Mina's heels as she met Edvard at the outer wagon.
He looked beyond her at the circle of women and girls, and then back to Mina. "Is the baby being fed?"
"Yes, and you're right; they were very accepting of him." She frowned as he kept looking at her earring. She put her fingers to it. "Is it loose again?"
"No, it's fine." He cleared his throat. "We'll have to spread a little good business if we're going to ask them to take the baby."
Mina didn't like the sound of it. "What does that mean?"
He shrugged, sighing. "Buy whatever they're selling." He looked to Yuila, picking up the corner of her hood to see her better. "You need to stay out of trouble. Remember you're going home."
"I know that." Yuila pulled her hood back down. "Can I make friends?"
"If they'll have you." He grinned as the younger girl pouted. "They're having a shoot in an hour and I've agreed to hunt with them tomorrow." He saw the alarm wash over Mina's face. "It won't be long. I'm sure it's more to work out why we're here. I think some of them know already."
She nodded. "Are you shooting?"
"Yeah. I guess Hon is in the lead now."
"The one engaged."
Edvard chuckled. "You women sure don't waste any time with the gossip, do you?"
"I guess not." She looked to where Yuila had wandered a few feet away nearer to one of the younger girls standing at the edge of the women's camp. The other girl was slighter, her hair almost the same color as the Crone's, and she was dressed in a colorful smock. Mina turned back to Edvard. "Why do they call you Huiotěs?"
"Oh, well, it means sonship by birth. So many in the clan are here by acceptance rather than birth they distinguish it from being born into a family," he said. "It's not the norm."
"I didn't know what it was." Mina spared a glance to Yuila, then to Ona still feeding Menino. "When will you shoot?"
"In about an hour."
"Can I watch?"
"Sure." He looked to Yuila. "She can take off the hood. They know she's a Crone. Just remind her she's still going home."
"I will."
He left then back into the main camp and Mina waved Yuila over to her and told the girl what Edvard had said. Yuila paused for a moment, then threw off her hood. The younger girl with her smiled at Mina.
"Her name is Xapita," Yuila said. "She's eight." She looked to the gypsy girl for a moment, and then back to Mina. "Can I go to the brook with her, Sapo?"
Mina thought the idea over, then looked to where Edvard was standing with the taller man further into camp. "Ask Edvard. Then tell me. I'm going back to Menino."
Yuila nodded, and then, hand in hand with Xapita, raced into the main camp that was filling with more people. Mina turned to the circle of women that was clearing, then looked to the group of teenage girls who had been giggling with Gita earlier. Their circle broke, and they brushed past her, the blonde girl casting Mina a cautious look.
Mina kneeled beside Ona as the woman was covering herself and wiping Menino's mouth with her scarf. The baby slept peacefully, mouth slightly agape, content and full.
"A good eater," Ona said, smiling. "He'll be a big boy."
Mina nodded, then reached to take the child. "How old do you think he is?"
Ona looked like she was going to ask something, and then said: "Four or five months."
Mina gently cradled the child, adjusting the blanket around him. "He's really not my son, Ona. I would never give my child to someone else to nurse."
The woman nodded. "Some must. He doesn't look like you at all."
"He's not Edvard's child, either," Mina clarified.
"Not Huiotěs' son? You know this?"
Mina thought it an odd question. "Yes. For a fact."
Ona nodded.
Fori and Lehua called to them and they looked to the second wagon in the line from them. Ona waved back. "There's room in the wagon for him to sleep, if you want."
Mina held the baby closer, a sudden reluctance to relinquish him welling in her. "I usually keep him with me."
Ona gave her a reassuring smile. "Then you will be happy to have him sleep on his own. There's plenty of room. Is it Sapo or Mina?"
"It's Mina," she said, returning the woman's smile. She looked to Fori and the wagon, then back down to Menino's peaceful face. "Maybe for a little while."
Thanks to P.G. Waters for the use of her story!