Chapter Ten
As the last circus wagon pulled onto the road, Luca sighed with relief.
It was very early in the morning but he didn’t mind as, at last, they were on their way to Appleby Fair.
Soon he would see Charity again and he could hardly wait.
They had a long journey ahead of them but he didn’t care.
At least while they were on the road, he would be spared Scarlet’s attentions.
She had been like his shadow ever since the Gypsies had moved on.
So much so that even his parents had noticed.
‘I reckon she sees herself as wife material,’ his father had teased him. ‘Perhaps you should consider it?’
Luca wasn’t amused. There was only one girl for him, but he couldn’t tell his father that.
He had been in a constant state of concern.
Had Charity managed to make her escape? And if she had, was she somewhere safe?
There was no way of knowing until he reached Appleby Fair and Charity got a message to Scarlet.
And even then, the first two days would be busy erecting the big top and the fair.
He steered the old horse pulling his trailer onto the road and tried to concentrate.
At that moment, in Top Acre Farm, Charity was lighting the fire in the kitchen. For the last few days, she had felt unwell, although she had no idea why. Her breasts were tender too and she found that the thought of breakfast made her feel nauseous. Soon Eddie and the children joined her.
‘Are you feeling all right?’ he asked kindly. ‘You look a little pale.’
She nodded as she spooned porridge into the children’s dishes. ‘I think I might have caught a chill or something,’ she answered.
‘Then have an easy day,’ he suggested. ‘Maureen will be here shortly. She’ll take over and look after the children.’
‘Oh, there’s no need for that,’ she assured him. ‘I’m sure I’ll be fine soon.’
She and Maureen had struck up a friendship in the time she had been there.
Maureen was now doing the food shopping in town for her.
Charity was afraid to venture there in case one of her Gypsy friends spotted her.
It wouldn’t do for her to be dragged back to the camp.
She doubted her cousin would still want to marry her even if she was.
She would be disgraced now and it was unlikely any Gypsy man would want her.
Even so, she had no regrets. She was living for the time when she could be with Luca again.
Maureen arrived almost an hour later. Charity had dressed the children by that time and now they were happily playing outside.
Maureen put the two baskets of groceries on the table and stared at her. ‘Feeling all right, are you?’ she asked, much as Eddie had earlier.
‘I’m just feeling a bit off colour. A bit sick that’s all,’ Charity told her.
Maureen furrowed her brow. ‘I see. Are you due to start a course?’
Charity thought about it for a moment and frowned. ‘Actually, now you’ve mentioned it, I think I’m late,’ she admitted.
‘I see, and are they usually on time?’
‘I’m usually as regular as clockwork,’ she admitted. “But it’s probably all the stress.’ And she looked worried.
Maureen said nothing as she began to unpack the baskets. She hoped that Charity was right, for her sake.
‘I just heard in the shop that the circus should be here during the next week,’ she said.
Charity’s face lit up. Every hour would bring Luca closer to her now. She could hardly wait.