Chapter 38

Gertrude kept to her word and limited my access to the children. When I complained to Hycinth, he told me to pick my battles and let his mother enjoy a small victory at least.

I hated how he always shied away from confronting his mother. He could see how being separated from the children affected me but he didn’t do much to help.

“Just ignore her,” he would say. “She’s just doing that to annoy you and you’re falling for it. She’ll find someone else to bully soon enough.”

His lack of action annoyed me greatly but there was nothing I could do about it. I thought about the other Gypsies trapped in the Highlands a lot. I wondered if I could convince Hycinth to attempt to rescue them but there never seemed to be a good time to raise the issue.

Life in the Gypsy camp became boring for me. Nothing exciting ever happened and the harsh eastern weather was not even helping.

It was the beginning of summer and the weather was very hot. We all abandoned our tents and sat under the trees surroundi