{"id":11109,"date":"2014-10-26T16:16:07","date_gmt":"2014-10-26T20:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thegreathorse.com\/?p=11109"},"modified":"2017-06-04T12:58:37","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T16:58:37","slug":"book2-excerpt-3-the-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/2014\/10\/book2-excerpt-3-the-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gypsy’s Warning"},"content":{"rendered":"
Gypsy gold does not chink and glitter.
\nIt gleams in the sun and neighs in the dark.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\u2014Gypsy proverb<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n


\n\""Capriole"The meal was<\/span> of well-roasted bird and acorns, garnished with greens. For a long time afterward Meagan stared into the dancing flames that brought warmth, food and security. Early dusk had fallen, and light raindrops were still tapping softly on the tent.<\/p>\n

One of the dark women came to sit with Meagan. She leaned over, peering into the fire. Her jewelry jingled slightly with the motion, and a tendril of her long hair trailed across Meagan\u2019s arm. \u201cWhat do you see?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I \u2026 nothing.\u201d Meagan shrugged. \u201cI was just watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is wise to be careful of looking into fires, young one.\u201d The woman\u2019s voice was soft and low. \u201cYou do not know what might be looking back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well that\u2019s creepy enough<\/em>, Meagan thought as the woman seated herself, crossing her legs and making herself comfortable. Meagan pulled her blanket tighter and shifted to make room.<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s perfumed scent soaked into the cold air of the tent. Shadows from the fire played over the olive face. The woman was nearing middle age, but in the flickering light she could have been a mere youth\u2014or ancient. \u201cWho would you hope to be looking back, if it was someone?\u201d The woman said this seriously, and leaned forward to hear the answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI \u2026 don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThink. Look back to the fire. Look until you see black flame.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire danced invitingly. It struck Meagan how the flames shifted between infinite shades of red, white, yellow and orange. She had never thought of fire as having different colors. She looked longer, until another color stood out: black shadows danced among the flames as lively and real as the others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire itself may be a shadow of darkness. If something is watching you, they will be in the black flames. Who is it you wish to see?\u201d<\/p>\n

Meagan swallowed. \u201cMy parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman stretched her arm towards Meagan. \u201cHere, give me your hand.\u201d Turning Meagan\u2019s hand over and gently opening her palm, the woman traced over it as if to wipe it clean.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you read palms?\u201d Meagan asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, child, I read lives. Let me see the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obediently, Meagan held out her other hand. The woman knitted her brow and peered closely. \u201cYour life line\u2026\u201d The woman\u2019s eyes grew large and she gripped Meagan\u2019s hand more tightly. \u201cWho are<\/em> you, girl?\u201d<\/p>\n

Meagan tried to pull away. \u201cPlease, let go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are you from? I want to know the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meagan wrenched her hand away.<\/p>\n

The woman rose. \u201cYour line has no roots. Where is your home?\u201d She knelt and put her face close. Spice perfume washed over Meagan. They looked at each other a long moment. \u201cChild,\u201d the woman said finally, her voice gentle. \u201cTell me. I can be trusted. Where is your home?\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"GH2-2ndEd_cov_5FIN_142px\"
\nThe above excerpt is set in 1666 Europe, where Meagan receives a meal from a camp of gypsies, and a warning \u2026<\/p>\n

The Legend of the Great Horse<\/strong> trilogy is an exciting and well-researched adventure through history. The Golden Spark (Book #2) won the 2011 Written Arts Awards<\/em> for best Science Fiction\/Fantasy.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n__________<\/p>\n

Quick Links:<\/p>\n

<\/strong>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bb See All Excerpts<\/strong><\/a> from The Legend of the Great Horse<\/strong> trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u00bb Read the 1st Chapter online<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00bb Check out Reviews<\/strong> <\/a> for the trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u00bb See the Media Kit<\/strong><\/a> for more information about the trilogy.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gypsy gold does not chink and glitter. It gleams in the sun and neighs in the dark. \u2014Gypsy proverb The meal was of well-roasted bird and acorns, garnished with greens. For a long time afterward Meagan stared into the dancing flames that brought warmth, food and security. Early dusk had fallen, and light raindrops were … Continue reading “A Gypsy’s Warning”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[315],"tags":[118,376,396,301],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11109"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15260,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11109\/revisions\/15260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}