Page 3 of Her Highland Prophecy
“Can I see those, please?” she asked, and he brought them closer.
“Freshwater pearls from the Highlands. You have a good eye, lass,” he praised.
They truly were beautiful. She gently touched a pearl. They were very smooth and would go beautifully well with the dresses she had brought with her for dancing.
“That one please,” she pointed at one of the longer strands and the man smiled and turned to package the necklace.
While she waited, she looked around at the people surrounding her. A puppet theatre was set up not too far away with a gaggle of children sitting giggling around it. A gypsy wearing a bright-colored turban was seated on a stool outside of a nearby tent, smoking a pipe not far from a young woman in a pale-pink dress arguing with a shop owner about prices. It was a fascinating collection of characters.
“Get out of me way, ye wee bastard,” a loud voice said, followed by the pained cry of a child, and she instinctively turned to look in that direction.
A man stood over a small boy sprawled on the dusty ground with his hands pressed over his belly with a grimace of pain. Diana thought that the man must have kicked him hard enough to knock him over.
He can’t be any older than three or four years old.
Diana’s heart clenched. The little boy was thin as a rail with wide dark eyes filled with tears. He wore the same dirty clothes that she had noticed on many of the beggars since they arrived.
The man scoffed and moved away, leaving the boy on the ground.
Diana quickly pulled a large note out of her bag and moved closer to him.
“Hey,” she said and was dismayed when he ducked his head as if expecting a blow. “I won’t hurt you,” she reassured him. Up close, the little boy’s eyes were a dark blue.
She smiled at him and helped him up.
“Thank ye, mum,” he said.
“Here,” Diana said and handed him the note, “it’s for you.”
His eyes widened when he saw what was in his hand.
“But—”
“I insist,” Diana said firmly and closed his hand around it.
He launched himself at her and planted a loud, childish kiss on her cheek.
“Thank ye. Thank ye so much!” he said and then scampered off.
Diana shook her head at his antics, but inside she was devastated at what she had witnessed. There was never a good reason to treat a child so callously.
“Looks like you have an admirer,” Louisa said drily from behind her.
“He’s sweet,” she replied, her eyes tracing the path the little one had taken and then she turned back around to the vendor to pay for her pearls.
Diana could feel eyes watching her as she made her purchase, but she couldn’t see anyone when she turned around.
They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the various displays. Grace was quickly enamored by the sweets display and spent a hefty amount of money there while Peggy spent a fair amount of time looking at the available clothing for sale.
Diana went from counter to counter, looking at the available wares but did not buy anything else. The feeling that she was being watched stayed with her for the rest of the afternoon, but every time she turned around, she could not spot anyone looking her way.
She was looking at seashell decorations when she felt a frisson of unease. She turned around, her eyes meeting those of the gypsy she had noticed earlier. Her bright-yellow turban seemed even more garish up close.
“Would ye like to know yer future? Esmeralda knows all and will show ye the right path,” she said.
Diana looked at the short woman dressed in plain, but clean clothing – and the turban. Her hair was hidden inside her turban, but Diana thought it might be as dark as her eyebrows. Her large eyes were a pale grey, heavily accented with a bright-blue eye shadow and pierced through Diana with an intense look.
She shivered. She did not believe in fortunetelling and magic, but the woman was eerie.
