Twins: Chapter 8

Gavin winced as he watched Ellyn talk to the gypsies. They seemed friendly enough, but almost as a rule, the people back in his town never talked to gypsies. Just then, Ellyn motioned him over. He approached cautiously and Ellyn grabbed his arm to introduce him. Surprisingly, he found that the gypsies were quite unlike what he always imagined them to be. They seemed more civilized, friendly, and carefree.
“We are traveling to the city of Tiras – where are you headed?” asked Ellyn. She was talking to an old, bent over woman who looked to be at least seventy.
Gavin nudged Ellyn. Why did she have to tell everyone everything?
She simply shrugged her shoulders at him and continued talking to the old gypsy.
Gavin glanced about him. Everywhere he looked he met curious stares. There were a few young children, but mostly people from their early twenties and up. One man caught his attention. He looked to be the same age as Gavin. The young man, however, was watching Ellyn with amusement written on his face. Gavin had to smile himself. Ellyn got that look a lot.
“If you travel with us, you would have to do your share of the work,” the old woman was saying. Gavin turned back to the conversation with a start. Ellyn actually wanted to travel with them?
“We can do that,” Ellyn said. “When do you leave?”
“Once we finish eating breakfast. Come join us.”
Gavin’s shoulders drooped as the people around him welcomed him into the circle and Ellyn instantly began to chatter away and make friends. Gavin sighed and stared into the fire. It would be a long day.

“Your sister’s a spirited person,” Dan laughed. “That’s good. We don’t have much of that around here.”
Gavin nodded as he watched his sister having fun with some of the younger children. Dan was the man who Gavin had noticed earlier. He had come over to join Gavin and talk.
“You’re not from this country, are you?” Gavin turned to him.
Dan laughed again, an infectious, hearty laugh which seemed to sum up his happy-go-lucky character in an instant. He brushed light-colored hair out of his dark eyes. “My accent betrays me,” he said. “But you’re right; I am not related to any of the gypsies – nor am I from these lands. I come from up north, where towns are fewer and the air is colder. I joined the gypsies a few years ago and have not had the heart to leave them since.”
People began to get up and pack their things back into the wagon. “Time to go,” Dan stood as well. “Hope you’re up for a lot of walking.”
Gavin got up as well and found Ellyn securing their few belongings back onto Ben. “Why did you get us into this?” he whispered into her ear.
“Oh, don’t complain Gavin,” Ellyn brushed him off. “We’ll have protection and people to talk to until we reach the next tavern. What’s the matter with it?”
“You can’t just trust everyone you meet, Ellyn,” Gavin held the reins of their packhorse.
“Well, what do you want to do then? Ignore everyone you meet?”
Gavin turned and led Ben to the wagon. “Maybe,” he muttered to himself. The rest of the day went by tediously. Gavin found that he was either spacing out while he walked or he was talking to Dan. As it turned out, Dan was a very interesting person to have a conversation with. One of the things Gavin discovered about his new friend was that he could make people change moods in an instant. Gavin found that when he talked to Dan his irritated mood lessened until he was actually happy to talk to people. Dan’s talk was never boring, and when he was not entertaining Gavin with exaggerated tales of his life with the gypsies, he would talk of his childhood up north and the traditions they held there. At the end of the day, Gavin found himself sitting down wearily by the huge bonfire, listening to stories or songs by the gypsies and finally dozing off.

Gavin awoke to a throbbing pain in his shoulder and back. He was lying on the ground by the ashes of the fire, and realized that the cause of the pain was that he had been lying on a rock directly in between his shoulder blades. Gavin sat up and massaged his shoulder. It was early morning, and people were just getting up and preparing for breakfast. Regardless of what they looked like, the gypsies were excellent cooks. One of the men had shot a turkey to save for supper, and the women were making biscuits for breakfast.
“What are you sitting there for, eh?” A cracked voice spoke out behind Gavin. He felt a stick jab at his back, and spun around to see the old woman staring at him. “Get to work,” she said in a voice so commanding that Gavin would have thought her a threatening slave driver. Appearances certainly were deceiving.
Gavin stood, putting his cloak with Ben, and then came over to the old lady.
“Don’t just stand there, boy, help with breakfast,” she said. He found himself being dragged over to a woman who was stirring biscuit mix in a bowl.
“Here,” the woman said, pressing the mix and the spoon into his hands. “Spoon out the biscuits onto that pan and put it over the fire.” After saying this, she went of to make more mix. Gavin stood in front of the fire in bewilderment.
“C’mon, get movin’ boy,” the old woman called over to him.
"Doesn’t she have anything better to do?" Gavin thought. He sighed as he found the pan and began to spoon that mix onto it. "There will be no standing still here."
“No, no, no,” someone laughed behind him. The woman who had given him the mix knelt down next to him and took the spoon out of his hands. “You’re making the biscuits too small. They’ll burn too quickly that way.” She showed him the right size to make them and then left him to start over. Gavin heard a familiar laugh and Dan came over to him. “Matty’s definitely keeping you busy,” he said.
Gavin raised his eyebrows at the comment and finished spooning out the biscuits.
“You’d best let me get those for you,” Dan said. “Granny’s missing you.”
Gavin nodded and went off to find her. She seemed to be expecting him. “You’re going to need to pluck the turkey for supper,” she said. Gavin sighed again. What was he, a slave? Most of the men were just sitting around talking. Why were all the jobs falling to him? Normally, Gavin would not mind doing work, but all the walking had gotten to him. He just felt like going back to sleep.
Before he knew it, a huge, turkey was being shoved into his arms. He looked tentatively at it and sat down on a rock near the fire. How was he supposed to pull all the feathers out? Gavin glanced around him. Everyone seemed wrapped up in their own business. Good. He took a feather in between his fingers and yanked on it. The feather barely budged. He yanked on it again, making a sick face, but it still would not come out. What was the matter with this turkey? He grabbed onto the feather in a tight grip and pulled on it with all his strength. The feather popped off so suddenly that Gavin toppled over in shock on the ground. Almost as he had expected, Dan’s light-hearted laugh made him jump up in embarrassment.
“Stubborn turkey?” Dan asked. He took it and plucked a feather out. “You’re not pulling on it right. It needs to be a quick, jerky pull, like this,” Dan gave a demonstration. He handed the turkey back to Gavin. “That should make it easier.”
Gavin spent hours plucking that turkey. By the time they broke camp, he was still plucking the feathers out. Ellyn was walking next to him and Dan, and she unsuccessfully stifled a giggle. Gavin shot a warning glance at his twin, silencing her, and then continued to pull the feathers out. There was a long, awkward silence as they trudged on behind the wagon.
“Gavin,” Ellyn finally spoke, “are you sure you do not want me to do that for you?”
“I can do it myself,” Gavin replied gruffly. Ellyn and Dan exchanged smothered looks.
“You know,” Ellyn said slowly, “plucking turkeys is women’s work.”
“Try telling that to Granny,” Gavin brushed her off in annoyance.
“She’ll never know if you let me do it,” Ellyn made another attempt. “She’s in the wagon right now.”
“Oh yes she will, Ellyn,” Dan said warningly. “She sees everything, trust me.”
“Why do you want to pluck the turkey so badly anyway?” Gavin asked.
Ellyn rolled her eyes. “Just let me, okay?”
“Fine,” Gavin dumped it into her hands.
“Ha!” Ellyn exclaimed as Dan groaned. “You owe me,” she laughed.
Gavin looked at them in bewilderment. “What?”
“I made a bet with Dan that you would give me the turkey, and he bet you wouldn’t,” Ellyn explained. “Now he owes me ten gold coins.”
Gavin let out a groan. “Why do you keep wasting your money on betting and fortune-telling?” he asked, even though he knew saying it was useless.
“What?” Dan looked at Ellyn, amusement and curiosity clearly written across his face.
“Nothing,” Ellyn said, and stared at Gavin in annoyance.
“Well, you cannot go back on your deal,” said Gavin. “You still have to do the turkey.”
“Fine,” Ellyn began to pluck the turkey’s feathers.
“I’ll make you another bet, Ellyn, to win back my money,” Dan said to her. “I’ll bet you that you cannot pluck all those feathers out in ten minutes.”
Ellyn laughed. “I will accept that bet,” she said. “I’ll give you back your ten coins if you win, but if I win you have to give me another ten coins.”
Dan began the countdown out loud. By the time he had reached eight minutes, all three of them hoped they would never have to hear another number again. However, it was amusing to watch Ellyn frantically pull feathers out of the turkey. Gavin found that by the time Dan had reached one minute, he was practically covered in turkey feathers. Ellyn held up the bald turkey triumphantly. “Beat you again,” she laughed, and Dan groaned yet again. He reluctantly handed over the coins.
“Are you going to try to win those coins back?” asked Ellyn.
“No,” Dan replied quickly. “Not unless I can think up something that I’m sure I can beat you in.”
“Well, you had better think quickly,” said Ellyn. “We are reaching the tavern tonight, and that is when we are leaving you.”
At the mention of them leaving, Dan’s cheerful face actually sobered for a moment. Gavin was not the only one who noticed.
“I have one,” Ellyn said. “I’ll bet you that we will not come across each other again in our travels. That means I will have to pay you the next time we see each other.”
Dan smiled again. “Agreed.”

That night, they reached the tavern, and Gavin and Ellyn parted with Dan and the gypsies.
“Remember our bet!” Ellyn laughed as she waved goodbye to them outside the tavern. Dan waved back, and then disappeared in the darkness. Gavin and Ellyn turned to go inside, and Ellyn sighed. It was noisy and crowded in the tavern.
“Too bad we were with them for such a short time,” Ellyn said to her brother. “Dan can be much better company than you sometimes,” she nudged him playfully. He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. Ellyn’s countenance softened a bit at his touch, and at that instant she seemed to change her mind about what she had said. “But then again …” she turned her face to her twin, “if I were still traveling with him I’m sure we would both lose all our money.”