Christine's POV

I was becoming impatient as I sat there waiting for the boy to return. When he did, he came back carrying a loaf of bread and a steaming cup. He handed me the items and stood there while I bit into the fresh bread and hot tea.

"Thank you," I said. "I've been starving for days."

I removed the hat I was wearing and the curls I had hidden beneath it came bouncing out. The child gasped and took a step back.

"You're a lady…"

"Yes," I nervously replied. "You didn't know?"

The boy shook his head. "No, I thought you were a boy…"

"Well, I'm not a boy, I'm a lady…"

"What's your name?"

"Christine," I said. "What's yours?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I…I don't know."

I giggled. "Everyone knows their name."

"Not me, the owner says that I'm not allowed to have a name."

"Where are your parents?"

"I don't have any parents. The owner found me… He…He doesn't like gypsies and I'm a gypsy. So, everyone is to call me 'boy.'

"Who is this owner? What does he own?"

The boy took a seat on the log that was beside my own and began rocking back and forth like an excited child would do.

"This camp is part of a traveling freak show. We travel from town to town and perform each night."

"Do you think I could work for this owner?"

The boy shook his head. "No, he doesn't like outsiders. He hates everyone… He…He's not a very nice man."

"It's winter," I said. "I have no place to go…"

The boy thought for a few moments and then, took me by the hand. He led me towards a red caravan and opened the door to reveal a hay filled caravan.

"It's not much," he said. "But it's warm and you'll be able to travel with us until I figure out what to do. I…I have someone who could help you, but if he sees you now he might not help."

I was thankful, for at least I would be able to get out of the weather. Without another word, I entered the caravan and the boy closed the door behind me. This caravan was filled with hay and oats, food most likely given to the animals that pulled the caravans around. I was finally warm, and with a full belly, I laid down near a pile of straw and closed my eyes, quickly slipping away into a dreamless slumber.

Erik's POV

I wasn't feeling well, not at all was I feeling well. I had tried to get some rest before we continued our journey to the next town, but nightmares plagued my mind and caused my stomach to churn. I woke up covered in sweat, my heart racing a mile a minute from within my chest. After splashing some water on my face, I stepped outside for some fresh air. The morning was brisk and the ground was covered in a fresh lair of snow. I pulled my robe closer to my body and gazed around my camp. Everyone was still sleeping in their caravans, everyone but that pesky gypsy boy. He was over near the caravan where we kept the hay and oats for the horses. I watched him closely as he closed the door and stood beside it.

"Hey!" I growled. "What are you doing? Get away from there!"

The boy gasped and immediately ran away from the caravan. Oh, I was going to kill him one of these days. Knowing that the child needed to be dealt with, I quickly dressed and made my way to Nadir's caravan. I knocked on his door and took a step back to await for his answer. When the door opened, I was left standing there with Reha. Oh, of all people to answer the door, it had to be her!

"I need to speak with your husband," I growled. "Now would be nice."

The woman didn't say a word and disappeared for a few moments.

"Ah, just the person I wanted to see," Nadir said. "Would you like to have breakfast with Reha and me? She does make a delicious oatmeal pie."

"No, Khan, I don't want to have breakfast with you, I wanted to speak with you about that tiny nuisance you have living amongst us."

Nadir rolled his eyes. "Erik, what did he do now? He's completely harmless…"

"Is he here with you and your wife? Usually, you feed him breakfast."

"What has he done, Erik? He's only a boy…"

"Well, for your information, Khan," I growled. "That boy was playing inside of the storage caravan. He's been told before about staying away from it."

"All of this anger for that?" he snapped. "Oh, come on, Erik…. Give the boy a break."

"Khan, when you adopted the brat, I told you how I felt about it. I don't have time for troublemakers in this camp. If you want him to stay, you best control him…"

"I'll have a word with him, Erik…"

That was the last thing I said to Nadir that day. A few hours later, we were back on the road, traveling closer to the next town. We had a show tonight, and by late afternoon, we arrived. For the next few hours, the camp worked hard at getting everything ready for the night. We set up our show far enough away from the circle of caravans, giving me the darkness and privacy I needed to work on paperwork while everyone else entertained the patrons.

Deciding to stay warm by the fire, I took a seat at a makeshift desk I had outside and began to fill out paperwork while the small fire I had built kept me warm. This was the only time during the day when I didn't feel as though I was being stared at. When everyone was working, I had the camp to myself. Plus, there were times when I could see things that truly weren't there. Sometimes, I saw my master looking at me from the woods, other times, my mother was circling me and screaming in my face. It took a few years for me to build up enough strength to ignore the hallucinations, and sometimes, I couldn't stop them at all. No, the best thing I could do to make the images go away was to close my eyes and count to ten.

I was just finishing up with my final document, when I heard someone approaching me from behind. Oh, great… Who was going to appear now? My mother or my master? To be honest, I wasn't in the mood for either one tonight, for all I wanted was a little peace and quiet. Knowing that I had to face my fears sooner or later, I looked over my shoulder and spotted a boy dressed in a hat and long jacket walking around my camp. I found it quite strange, for he didn't seem like he belonged here. I watched as he approached each caravan and went picking around the ashes of their smoldering fire pits. It wasn't often that I had to chase vagrants away from the camp, but when I had to, I made sure I frightened them enough to where they wouldn't come lurking around this camp ever again!

"Is there something I can help you with?" I growled once I was standing right behind the boy.

The boy screamed and fell to the snowy ground, turning to face me. This boy was only in his twenties, for he was tall and too young to be a man. Though, when I saw a flash of green in his eyes, I couldn't help but feel as though I had seen this boy before somewhere.

"I…I…I'm…"

"You're what? You're stealing from my camp, that's what you're doing! If you know what's good for you, you will leave and never return!"

When the boy didn't move, I clenched my hand into a fist and raised it into the air. I was about to knock the thief into tomorrow, when I heard someone screaming for me to stop. It was Nadir and the small child! They were running towards me as if they knew who this boy was.

"Erik, no…No, don't…"

"What is the meaning of this, Khan? This boy is a thief, one that needs to be dealt with! I have no problem teaching him a lesson."

"Erik, this is our new employee…"

"New employee?" I snapped. "What do you mean? You know that all the hiring goes through me. I have the final say, Persian… ME not You!"

"I know, Erik, but we were in a hurry to get here and the boy needed a job."

"And just what can he do?"

Nadir looked at the boy and then back at me. "He's very good with numbers. I thought you could use a ticket boy…Our last one wasn't the greatest. He lost you a great deal of money because he couldn't count."

I looked at the frightened boy as Nadir helped him up.

"Does this boy have a name?"

"Christian…" he mewed.

"A disgusting name for a disgusting being. All right, Christian, you're the new ticket boy. I'll give you a trial run… If you make one mistake or if I find you stealing from me or any of my other employees, you'll be sacked and missing both your hands. Are we clear?"

He quickly nodded.

"Good… The Persian man will look after you from now on. Make one mistake and his head will be held responsible as well."

With that being said, I headed back to my caravan and locked the door behind me.

Christine's POV

My angel owned the camp! My angel of music was the one who owned this traveling show! I had woken from my slumber only to find that we had stopped moving. When night arrived, the boy returned to me and told me that he was going to go get his friend. Little did I know that the friend he spoke about was actually Nadir! I was hungry, and so, while I waited for the boy to return, I began to look around the empty camp. I was just rooting around an empty caravan, when I heard an angry voice yelling at me. I turned, and my heart stopped within my chest, for there, standing behind me was him! It was my angel of music. I gasped and fell to the snowy ground, thankful that he believed me to be a boy and not his Christine. That's when I saw the boy and Nadir running up from the crowded freak show. I should have known that my angel was a part of this place, for everything screamed him! The music, the decorations, the atmosphere, it was all him! I lied through my teeth and Nadir got me a job as a ticket boy. But where did that leave me? My angel left us still believing me to be a boy, and when he was gone, Nadir helped me up off the snow covered ground. He pulled me far away from my angel's caravan and pulled off my hat, my curls falling to my shoulders.

"See," the boy exclaimed. "I told you she was a pretty girl, Nadir…"

Nadir just looked at me, shocked that I was standing before him. I was about to say something when he pulled me into his arms for a long awaited hug.

"Are you in trouble, Christine?" he asked.

I nodded. "I have no place to go, Nadir…"

"Raoul…"

"Is dead, and his family believes I murdered him. I've been on the run these past few years…I…I'm so scared."

"You're safe," he said. "It's all right… You will live with us and you will have a job."

"But what about him?" I cried. "What about my angel of music? If he found out…"

Nadir cut me off. "He won't, Christine. Just continue to pretend that you're a boy and stay away from him. He won't ever find out, this I promise you…"

I sighed, for I was finally safe and sound.