xp_logs | The Finding of Meggan

Margali hears that a rival clan have a "demon" for sale.

Spring was evident in the green tips of the bare tree branches, the fitful sun breaking through the clouds, the squelching of mud beneath Margali's boots rather than the crunch of snow... and in the gathering of the Rom. The end of winter heralded the spring festivals in myriad rural towns across Europe, where the clans would gather to ply their trades, stock up on supplies, meet, talk, tell stories, dance and traditionally, become betrothed.

Not that there would be a pairing made in the Szardos clan this year. Stefan was still nursing that hopeless crush for the pretty school teacher in Lidzt, and Kurt, while generally accepted by the other clans, was still looked at askance when it came to marrying one of their own. Besides, he was seldom in Germany these days. Jimaine was far too young, despite her opinions on that topic, and Gemile... Margali sighed a little. The girl was Gadjo through and through. She was trying, true, but she knew nothing of their ways and history. And she was bound to that school, just as Kurt was. Whatever had driven her to flee from it would soon draw her back, and Margali didn't need to read that in the tealeaves or the cards. Still she was... less unhappy, rather than happier, and she'd learned from someone the value of work, helping wherever she could, and not always with the magic. And Stefan adored her, as he always had even when they were children.

"~Droboy tume Romale.~" The traditional morning greeting broke into Margali's reverie, and she smiled as she caught sight of the speaker. Nicolae Illyev and his family had been friends to the Szardos clan for many years. She embraced the large bear-like man warmly, noting the grey mingling with the black of his full beard, the creases in his face - they were all growing older it seemed.

"~Nicolae, I had hoped you would be here," she said as they released each other.

"~Miss a gathering? Jeta would have my head in her soup pot before I could blink.~" Nicolae replied, looking her over every bit as frankly as she had him. "~How goes Szardos?~" he asked. "~Rumours have spread of what was lost has been found.~"

Margali nodded. "~You hear correctly - Kurt has brought my lost daughter back to us. You shall meet her later, at the patshiv.~" The gathering and sharing of a meal between the two groups was a tradition.

"~I look forward to it. It was a cursed day indeed that took her from you, and a tale in the telling of her return. It is God who has brought her to you.~" Nicolae smiled as he finished with the traditional saying - never had it held so true. "~Do you plan to ply your trade this year?~"

"~The boys shall perform their tricks, yes, and I will be setting up my tent in the square with the others.~" Margali had an Ofisa or fortune-teller's booth, and sold various small magical cures and charms. She hoped to encourage Gemile to help her - all that power and she seemed reluctant to use it, and that could not bode well. Magic always found a way out. "~Who else is gathering this year?~" she continued. As per her custom, they had set up camp a little way away from the others. It helped maintain the slight sense of aloofness her position as Draborni or fortune-teller, demanded.

"~Not so many - each year fewer clans answer the traditional call,~" Nicolae said with a mournful sigh. So many of their people were slipping away from their heritage, preferring the soft and easy ways of the Gadjo. "The Grgics are here."

Margali's expression echoed Nicolae's distaste, and she spat on the muddy ground. "~Those devils? I had heard they were still operating that show of theirs, but I had hoped it was a foul lie.~"

"~Unfortunately, no. This year they have a demon for sale - it seems the showing of freaks is not as profitable as it once was.~"

"~A demon?~" Margali's tone was a mixture of disbelief and concern. Yes, demons existed, but for the Grgic brothers to have captured one for profit? Unlikely. They were thugs and bullies, not magic-casters. But Gemile did have power, she reeked of it, and such a thing tended to attract trouble of this sort. "~Do you believe they indeed have a demon?~"

"~I've seen it myself, Margali. Small, for a demon, but more than ugly enough.~" Nicolae considered Margali's foster son, and amended. "~Well, it could be something else. But it certainly seemed demonic to me.~"

"~So did Kurt when I found him,~" Margali reminded him . "~I think I shall see this demon for myself.~"

***

Margali discovers that the "demon" is a sick mutant child, tries to free her, but is caught doing so and forced to leave.

The Grgic brothers' freak show was set up in a muddy field on the opposite side of the town to the rest of the caravans. No-one wanted to associate with the brothers and their cronies, their assorted slatternly women and dirty, uncontrollable tribe of children. Or with their trade in human misery - the clans knew many of the freaks in the Grgic brothers' show were held against their wills, but no-one wanted to bring trouble on their people by interfering. The brothers were known to trade in drugs, and that gave them the money and connections to buy many police along the caravan trails. Besides, whatever else they were, they were still Rom.

Margali picked her way through the untidy collection of run down caravans, unsuccessfully seeking the infamous 'demon' until she paid a snort-nosed urchin a florin for directions. Following the way pointed out by a filthy finger, she eventually came across a small cage underneath the back tray of the lorry used to pull the largest of the caravans - obviously belonging to the chief of the brothers and his family. The enclosed space was strong with the smell of diesel fumes, and a layer of mouldy straw strewn on the floor of the cage was the only thing between the cold wet ground and the occupant, a small, pathetic shape squatting in the corner.

The cage's occupant uncurled a little when it heard her footsteps, and shifted unwillingly a tiny bit closer to the bars. The weak light fell on a form as small as that of a child of eight, and far too thin, filthy fur that might have been brown, leathery, monkeyish hand-paws... and a face something like a monkey's face, if a monkey had had small buds of horns rising from its temples, misshapen flaps of ears and needle-pointed teeth, and great, round, sad yellow eyes that gazed fearfully up at Margali.

Well, Nicolae had been right about the ugliness, but Margali could sense little power in the creature. Certainly not the reek of evil associated with demons. Half-crouching as much as her stiffening joints would let her, she put herself on eye level with it, reaching out with her occult senses. "~What are you, little imp?~" she murmured to herself. "~Demon? Or some poor dumb creature?~"

The Monster was rarely spoken to directly, and didn't understand most of what she heard, but that question, 'what are you', she knew very well. And it must be answered correctly, if yet another beating was to be avoided. "~Monster,~" she said, in a tiny, piping voice, hoarse from disuse. "~I, Monster.~" Cautiously, she backed away just a little, in case the newcomer tried to grab at her through the bars.

Margali blinked. She hadn't expected an answer to her question, especially from the creat... no, not a creature, this was a human being, a person. A child. A mutant, like Kurt and Gemile, perhaps, but certainly not a monster or a demon. "~Don't be afraid,~" she said gently, pushing out with her magic once more and closing her eyes to sort the impressions. Human, yes, young, abused... sick? Yes, sick, and becoming worse. Then Margali's sense broke through into a well of pure innocence, and she gasped, reflexively opening her eyes and catching herself before she fell backwards. The child was an Innocent, in the ancient terms of the word.

The Monster watched the strange Person warily. It didn't smell like it had been drinking the smelly stuff that made People act weird and scary, but there were other things she'd seen... burning things that they put in their mouths, or little things that were swallowed... that could make them strange too. Just to be on the safe side, she inched back against the flat boards that backed her cage. The Person didn't feel angry or violent, on the inside, but sometimes they didn't until they did, all of a sudden.

Margali reached for the lock on the cage fully intending to release the child and take her away with her, but as she did a large, strong hand gripped her wrist and yanked her away. "~What do you think you're doing, hag?~" demanded Kolev Grgic, the eldest of the two brothers. Behind him his brother Rajko was glowering at her. Both men were big; large hairy brutes who needed to bathe more often than they did.

"~I'm releasing this child,~" Margali said calmly, refusing to be intimidated. She twisted her wrist out of the crushing grip, looking Kolev in the eye all the while. "~She's ill.~"

"~Of course she is, that's why were selling her,~" muttered Rajko, who wasn't known for his intelligence, but had rather a kind of brute cunning. Kolev shot him a look that obviously meant 'keep your flapping great mouth shut'.

"~See, that's no child, that's a demon. Good thing we came by before you opened the door - it would have torn your throat out before you could blink.~"

The Monster cowered back into the farthest corner of her cage, making herself as small as she could and covering her eyes with her paws. THEY didn't like it if she looked at them too much, or made noises... but she peeked through her fingers, just a little, to see what happened to the very strange female Person.

Margali gave Kolev a haughty look. "~That is no demon, it's a child,~" she insisted. "~One who is going to die without proper care.~"

"~Then it dies. But at least we get to make a profit first.~" Kolev hawked and spat deliberately at Margali's feet. "~Go your way, witch. I see you in my camp again, and I'll set the dogs on you.~"

A curse rose to Margali's lips, but then she caught sight of the small, huddled shape, felt that innocence radiating from her, and halted. There were other ways. Drawing herself to her admittedly not-great full height, she turned and swept almost imperiously from the encampment.

The Monster watched as the strange Person walked away, then waited, shivering, until THEY went away too, fortunately without kicking her cage or hitting her. She moved back into the corner of her cage that was the most out of the wind, and curled up on the smelly straw she'd piled up a little thicker in that spot. She hoped forlornly that the strange Person hadn't made them decide not to feed her again tonight.

***

Szardos family conference. In which they discuss what Margali found, and decide what to do about it.

Tables weren't exactly practical in a caravan, and so whenever the clan gathered, it was around the constantly-burning fire. Margali was seated in state at the top of the half-circle, Stefan and Amanda to one side, Kurt and Jimaine to the other. All four wore expressions of varying outrage, concern and anger as she told her tale, Amanda visibly wincing at the mention of the child being for sale. Finally, when she was done, Margali folded her hands in her lap and looked around her children, face unreadable. "~So,~" she said in Romany. "~That is the situation. What should we do?~"

Stefan's face and voice were deadly serious when he answered in the same language. "~It seems to me we have two choices. We can buy the girl, and free her when she is safely in our care. Or we can simply take her. She cannot be left where she is.~"

Kurt frowned deeply. "~I do not think we can simply take her. They are already aware that Mother is unhappy with the girl's situation. We would be the first place they looked.~"

"~And you know how much trouble they could cause,~" piped up Jimaine unexpectedly. "~Call the police on us for child stealing, for a start.~" It was obvious from her tone the police weren't looked on favourably by her family. Considering what they'd believed of Amanda's abduction, it wasn't hard to understand.

"~Kurt and Jimaine are right - the Grgic clan could cause us too much trouble should they think we have taken the child from them. Which leaves us one option.~" Margali's eyes flickered to Amanda, sitting silently, staring into the fire, and then back to Stefan. "~Do we have the money to buy the child? The Grgics are asking for a heavy price.~"

Stefan sighed with a small helpless shrug. "~Perhaps. It would drain the clan's resources for some time to come.~"

Margali nodded, and an air of helplessness settled on the group.

"~How much are they asking?~" Amanda asked suddenly. Her Romany still halting, although it had improved greatly during the time she'd spent with them.

"~Five thousand,~" Margali replied steadily, watching her daughter carefully.

Kurt sat forward at that, looking round at the others. "~I am certain the Professor would be willing to help, in these circumstances. To loan us part of the money, at the very least.~"

"~No.~" The word came out perhaps a bit more forcefully than she'd intended, and all eyes turned to Amanda. She squirmed uncomfortably - true she was a member of the family by blood, but she certainly didn't feel that way. "~It'll take too long,~" she continued. "~These people... they'll be expecting us to do something to take the kid away, yes? So they'll probably move on soon, or sell her off to the first person that offers, even if it means dropping their price.~"

"~So what do you suggest, Gemile?~" Margali asked. Amanda flushed a little at the use of her real name, but Margali refused to use the other for this sort of situation.

"~I'll buy her.~"

"~With what? Fairy gold?~" snorted Jimaine derisively. "~Where would you come up with that sort of cash?~"

"~Jimaine!~" Stefan chided her sharply. "~Let Amanda finish before you dismiss her resources.~"

Jimaine subsided, a mutinous look on her face, and Kurt patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"~Last summer, I did some work with a friend of Nate's, getting something that had been stolen back to the owner,~" Amanda said after a moment, glossing over just which friend it had been. And the fact Pete had been there - she didn't feel much like remembering that at the moment. "~We got paid for it, a lot of money. A hundred thousand dollars American. Most of it's tied into a trust, but the interest goes straight to me. It's more than enough to pay for this. I just need to get to a bank.~"

Stunned silence fell over the group as this new information was absorbed.

"~Are you sure you wish to do this, daughter?~" Margali asked. "~This cannot be an easy situation for you, given what you believed of us for so long.~"

Amanda nodded. "~I'm sure. We can't leave her there.~"

"~Then it is decided.~" Margali looked over at Stefan. "~You and Kurt shall take Gemile into town, arrange for the money, and then go to the Grgic camp. They will not look kindly at me returning. Once you have the child, we will break camp and move on, to avoid repercussions.~"

"~But the festival...~" Jimaine began to protest, subsiding under a sharp look from her mother, a pout on her face.

Stefan nodded without hesitation. "~We will leave as soon as you are ready, Amanda.~", he decided. "~There is little time to waste.~"

Amanda stood, brushing off the back of her jeans. "I'll just grab my wallet," she said in English.

***

Stefan, Kurt and Amanda go to get Meggan out.

"Are you sure you want to be there?" Stefan asked Amanda anxiously as they left the outskirts of the tiny town and approached the Grgic camp, the smoke from its fires blending with the steadily thickening mists as the afternoon drew on. "Kurt and I could easily..." He'd switched to English, knowing Amanda was more comfortable in it.

The girl shook her head, hands stuffed into the pockets of her leather jacket, holding tightly onto the two rather large wads of cash. "No, I want t' be there. 'S important that I do this."

Kurt glanced at her sideways, understanding. "She should stay," he spoke up quietly. "As she feels she needs to."

Identical pairs of blue eyes turned surprised expressions on Kurt, and then Stefan nodded, reluctantly. "First sign of trouble, you get her out of there," he told Kurt, and received a jag from Amanda's elbow in the ribs for it. "Hey!"

"First sign of trouble, he gets the kid out," Amanda told him sternly. "'M not helpless, Stef, not any more."

Rubbing his side ruefully, Stefan nodded again. "Brat," he said, but with affection in his voice.

"Git," she replied, in much the same tone. Then Kurt made a warning noise - they were within earshot of the Grgic camp now, and the time for play was over.

The three of them walked purposefully into the camp. Kurt was wearing his own face today - he usually did, when he was with the clan, as everyone who was likely to see him knew him anyway. And today, it served his purposes to look different - hopefully it would keep those they were dealing with off-balance and give them an advantage.

"~Looks like someone let one of the freaks out,~" came Rajko's sneering voice, followed by the man himself. He'd been leaning against one of the caravans, waiting for them to pass by - obviously word had reached him that the camp was to have visitors. One of the children, probably. "~Come to join your own kind?~"

Stefan stiffened, and Amanda lay a warning hand on his arm. Now wasn't the time.

Kurt ignored Rajko's words entirely. He'd heard it before, and worse, from those not kindly disposed towards the Szardos clan. "~Where is your brother?~" he asked tersely.

Rajko bristled. Everyone wanted Kolev. Just because he was smarter. "~What does Szardos want with him?~" he retorted, his sneer spreading to encompass all three of them. "~And who would the girl be? Kolev doesn't deal with Gadjo.~"

"~She's Szardos, the same as we are,~" Stefan said quietly, his voice a low, dangerous rumble in his chest. "~Our sister. Now fetch Kolev - we wish to deal with the organ grinder, not the monkey.~"

Rajko's mouth opened and closed helplessly as he tried to think of an appropriate response, but thankfully his brain was saved the effort by the arrival of his brother. "~Then deal with me, Szardos,~" he said, coming out of the caravan Rajko had been leaning against. He crossed his arms over his chest, taking the three of them in and obviously not being impressed with any of them. "~State your business. Did your hag mother send you?~"

"~We came to offer you a deal~", Kurt answered coldly. "~We will buy the girl you call a demon from you.~"

Kolev snorted. "~Is the witch wanting to expand her collection of monsters? Szardos doesn't have that kind of money, freak. Stop wasting my time and leave my camp.~"

"~We've got the money,~" Amanda said, stepping forward. She was steadfastly refusing to use the aura sight - she didn't want to know what this man's aura looked like - but he had the same feel as Rack. Small time bully with little real power, except what he could steal. She pulled a wad of banknotes out of one pocket and held it out to him. "~Here's half. The other half when you let us have this demon of yours.~"

Kolev gestured at Rajko, and the younger brother lumbered forward, grinning at Amanda unpleasantly. "~Oh, you're Szardos all right,~" he said. "~You've got your mother's snotty attitude. Attitude like that just begs to be taken down.~" He let his fingers trail suggestively along her hand as he took the money, and she barely stopped herself from flinching away, instead giving him the stony look she'd learned so well in Asgard.

Kurt straightened indignantly at her side, shooting her a glance to show his pride at her restraint, but as long as it went no further than that, he said and did nothing to Rajko. What they were there for was too important to jeopardise.

For the same reason Stefan restrained himself from yanking Amanda back. That filthy bastard, touching his sister... Luckily his attention was turned from that particular path by the sound of Rajko counting (very slowly). "~It's the real thing, two thousand five hundred,~" he said at last to his brother.

Amanda pulled the other wad out of her pocket briefly to show them, and then stuffed it away again. "~Half now, half when you take us to the kid,~" she repeated, glad for the presences of Kurt and Stefan beside her. Rajko wasn't much, but Kolev... he was definitely giving her the cold shivers. "~We got a deal?~"

Kolev paused. He could up the price, they obviously badly wanted the monster, but it wasn't like they'd had any other offers. And freaks just weren't drawing the crowds they used to. Besides, the thing would probably die soon, and they'd be left with nothing but a furry corpse. "~We have a deal, Szardos,~" he said, cocking his head in the direction of the cage. "~Follow me.~"

Stefan held Amanda back, pointedly looking at Rajko and waiting for him to follow first. No-one wanted a Grgic behind them if they could possibly avoid it. "Are you all right?" he asked very quietly, and she nodded curtly.

"Fine," was the reply. "Let's get this done, yeah?"

Whatever Stefan had been about to say was cut off by their arrival at the cage, and the sight of the small figure within. Growling curses under his breath, he glared at the Grgic brothers. "~I wouldn't keep a dog in something like that!~"

"~So you won't be wanting the cage, then?~" Kolev replied smoothly. "~Just as well - that cost extra.~"

***

Money changed hands, and the previous 'owner' nodded curtly. "~It's all yours,~" Kolev said, jerking his head in the direction of the cage. "~Enjoy.~"

Stefan muttered a curse under his breath, glowering darkly at the man before crouching down by the cage. "~It's all right,~" he said encouragingly, in the same tone he used with Jimaine and now Amanda. "~Please come out.~"

The Monster cowered in her cage, staring distrustfully at the New Person who was staring at her. The People she knew were bad enough... they liked hurting her, thought she was bad.... but this one was New, and that was worse, because she didn't KNOW what he might do. She whimpered, crawling back against the comfortingly solid back, where nobody could reach through and get at her.

"~It's all right, little one,~" Stefan tried again, but she only cowered further back, little whimpering noises escaping her.

"Let me try," Amanda murmured, laying her hand on Stefan's arm. Kurt was keeping an eye on the Grgic brothers, glowering at them from baleful yellow eyes. Looking up at his little sister, Stefan nodded and straightened, moving back to give them space, as Amanda moved to take his place.

"Hey," she said, keeping her voice soft and calm. Switching to Rom, she went on: "~I'm Amanda. We're not going to hurt you.~"

The Monster whimpered again, but more softly this time. This one looked strange... female, and few females approached her, and she had pretty colours in her fur and shiny things on her face and ears. She wasn't as ugly as the Monster, but she didn't look Normal, either...

"~I know it's scary,~" Amanda went on. "~You don't know me, and you don't know what I'm going to do. So I'll tell you what I'm doing, all right? Right now, I'm just going to sit here, on this straw, since my legs are getting sore. That's all right, isn't it? I'm just going to sit here, and talk to you...~" She lowered herself slowly down onto the filthy straw at the cage's door, keeping her movements non-threatening. Something in her ached at the sight of the small form huddled in the back of the cage, but she pushed away the slow fury that was building. She needed calm here.

The Monster hadn't understood much, but she understood that the Person's legs were sore, so she was sitting down. Maybe she'd been beaten recently, the Monster thought sympathetically. That made you sore. And she was just sitting there quietly, and the Monster risked leaning forward just a little bit to look at the pretty shiny things in her ears. Then she realized with shock that the things were actually pushed THROUGH her ears... that must have hurt so much! She'd had pointy things stuck into her before, and they hurt. This one wasn't the Hurting kind of People, then, she was the Being Hurt kind. Like the Monster.

Amanda smiled a little as she caught sight of the furtive little glances towards her ears. Shiny things, of course. Children were like cats that way. Tilting her head a little so that light relfected more off the earrings, she went on. "~You probably aren't allowed out of this cage, are you? That's a shame - you look like you could use a bit more space,~" she said, voice taking on an almost sing-song cadence, like a lullaby. "~Would you like that? More space? The chance to move around, feel grass under your feet?~" Deliberately casual, she shifted a little closer, apparently stretching out her legs. "~We could do that, if you wanted.~"

The Monster shook her head, cowering back against the wall again. Going out was BAD. She wasn't allowed to go out. If she tried, she'd get beaten again. The People had done it a lot, before she learned to do what she was told. "~Bad!~" she whimpered, pulling her knees up against her chest. She wanted to go out, she did, but she wasn't allowed to, it was Bad...

"~Hey, it's all right, don't be scared,~" Amanda shuffled a little closer despite herself, unable to ignore the girl's obvious distress. She made herself stop before she crowded her too much, 'though. "~ Would you like to hear a story? About a little girl, who lived with a very bad man, who hurt her all the time. It made her very sad, because she couldn't get away...~" She was aware of Stefan, standing protectively within earshot, and knowing he'd know which little girl she was talking about. "~Then one day, a lady came, and took her away from the bad man, and he couldn't hurt her any more, and that made her very happy, because she could do what she wanted.~"

The Monster hadn't followed much of that... but she knew 'hurt' and 'away' and she liked the idea of putting the two together. She inched forward just a tiny bit, fascinated by the soft, gentle voice and the pretty colours. She didn't notice her own fur darkening, getting red and yellow bits in it like the strange Person's, as she inched a little bit closer. It smelled nice out there...

"~The thing is, if one little girl can get away, than so can another.~" Amanda held perfectly still, seeing the movement the child had made, and willing to wait for her to bridge the gap. The colour of her fur was changing, echoing the dye in the hair hanging across Amanda's face, and she blinked a little, curious. A shapeshifter? Mimicking those around her rather than two basic forms, like Catseye or Rhane? "~And that's what's going to happen to you. We're going to take you away from the bad people that hurt you, to somewhere safe. Me, and my brothers out there...~" She shook her head a little, setting the longer earring in it to jingling slightly.

The Monster crawled a little closer, wishing she could understand more of the gentle, soothing-sounding words. But 'away' sounded good... it was scary, to think of being somewhere else, but here was so bad... And the pretty things in her ear were making a nice noise, and Meggan really wanted to look closer, but she was scared to get too close. So she stopped, just out of arm's reach, looking intently but too scared to get any closer.

"~I know it's scary. This is all you know, and even if it's bad, you know wht to expect. But there's so much out there that isn't bad, or hurtful, or scary. There are safe places, where people won't hurt you. I can take you to one of those, but only if you want to go. I won't make you.~" This close she could see how filthy the girl was, her fur matted with dirt, bits of straw tangled in the long, unwashed hair. And how small and thin - her arms and legs were like twigs. Amanda ached to just scoop her up and carry her out of here, but she couldn't do that. It had to come from her - Amanda couldn't say why she felt that so strongly, but it was important. "~I can take you away from here, little one. Would you like that? To come with me?~"

'Come' the Monster understood, and 'me' and 'away'... the pretty-fur Person wanted her to go to her, and the Monster had learned to do what she was told. So, nervously, she crawled closer, and closer... and then she could sense what pretty-fur was feeling, and she froze for a moment. She'd never felt anything like that directed at her... all warm kind feelings, sad that she'd been hurt and wanting to protect her...

In a little rush, she crept out of the cage and onto the Pretty Fur person's lap, whimpering and crying and holding onto her tightly. She wasn't going to let go until someone made her!

Amanda squeaked a little at the sudden rush of movement and suddenly finding her lap full of desperately clinging furry girl, but she wrapped her arms tightly around the shaking form, murmuring meaningless, soothing noises. Awkwardly she shuffled clear of the cage completely, and Stefan helped her up since her hands were occupied and likely to remain so. Kurt gave them both a questioning look, and Amanda nodded.

"~Time to go.~" she said.