It was the middle of the night in the middle of winter in southern Michigan, and Joseph couldn't sleep. Something was bothering him, was it the skirmishes happening all around, the farmers vs the gypsies or was it Lucy? He couldn't tell, but he didn't mind; the nights gave him time to think, which the days were unable to afford. Joseph walked through the snow to the barn with the moon glowing at its full potential. The animals there comforted him as they were the only other beings in the household who would stay up with him. They had a secret which, during the day, they spoke not of.
The door opened smoothly as he brought the light from his lamp over the barn entrance. It was only slightly warmer inside, but the fresh hay over the floor added warmth to the building. The horsehair brush was exactly where he left it last night, and he picked it up without a second thought and made his way across the stalls.
"You awake, Missy?" He said. "It's your lucky day. Again, I guess. I don't know what's been bothering me this week. But you don't care, do you?" He could hear the rustling of his fillies and chuckled, "Yeah, I didn't think you did."
"This winter hasn't been so bad, hasn't it? After Christmas, me and Dad have been able to get a bunch of fencing fixed which is just plain unheard of. You'll definitely be able to get a bunch of runnin in this summer if everything holds up… and as long as we don't have any unwelcome visitors show up. You haven't seen anyone sneakin around, have ya?"
He listened to the wind howl while he worked some dirt and hey off the hind legs of his horse, taking care subconsciously to navigate the most dangerous area of a horse without surprising the animal. As she did for every conversation, the horse had nothing to say but listened intently. Glancing here and there at the important parts of Joseph's monologue, the best conversationalist in town at 2 am by far.
"I figured you didn't see anyone. I figure you'd have a tounge of fire coming out yer head if you saw one of those godless bastards. They barely even know how to fight, there are so many of em and none of em have any morals they overwhelm anyone they come upon. Can you believe I've even heard of some people my age runnin' off with em 'cause of their loose ways an' promises of pleasure?" He held the fillie's mane, twisting it briefly in his fingers until she glanced his way, "I can't believe it either."
"The Jones' boy, he musta been around 15 this summer, I kept seein' em at the summer trades. Good family, he got a twin sister, Lucy, who's real gorgeous too, I uh had a couple talks with her and she seems real upstandin… But anyway, he ran into one of those wagons over the fall, a gypsy wagon full of stolen goods and radiated meat. They say they temped him with their women and Thanksgiving feasts; he tried convincin his dad they were going West to start a better life, that the whole Jones clan needed to get up and go with em. Isn't that crazy? They must have some kind of devilish magic up their sleeve."
Joseph started thinking about the Devil and stopped talking. He'd rather not think about that topic at this time of night, much less talk about it to an innocent horse. Horses naturally have that spooky look in their eyes, which is unnerving enough during the day, and he saw no need to add to it now, so he continued brushing the horse and admiring the physicality of the animal. Even though he had finished brushing the horse's rear, the filly was acting jittery, like someone was handling its legs roughly. Joseph looked at its legs to ensure there was nothing there, and there wasn't. Just then, there was a meek crack from the other side of the barn, and the horse shrugged Joseph away from her.
"What in the hell," Joseph inaudibly muttered as he crouched below the top of the stall's gate. There was another creak and another until there were footsteps audibly coming closer to the stall. Joseph clenched the brush, wished he had brought his pistol along, and squeezed further into the corner where there was no chance of being seen short of someone opening the door. The footsteps appeared below the door and just as soon stopped. An unfamiliar pair of pants broke over an equally unfamiliar pair of boots as Joseph held his breath, and the person on the other side cleared his throat.
"I overheard ya. And I don't really like how you alluded to me bein' some kinda Satanist, ya know? But I am aware of some of the things people say about us travelers. I'm not gonna harm you, so let's talk."
Joseph sat there, almost believing himself invisible.
"Let's talk," continued the voice, "I can tell you some things you might not know."
The two sat in silence, and Joseph saw a gloved hand reach over the stall door and pet Missy's nose. The horse nuzzled back. Joseph's ears started ringing.
"I don't think," said the gloved man, "that you will enjoy too many more moments of peace between yourself and a traveler. I'm gonna take this as a moment guided by God for us to exchange important information."
"I don't talk to sinners," grumbled Joseph, "and you've committed the worst sin, leaving your land to steal from honest folk."
"But if it was God's will, would you talk then? Even Jesus spoke with the Devil when he was tempted. What makes you any better? I can help you and your family avoid problems with other travelers AND give you something to think about. You're choice, I won't be here for long. Just hear me out."
Joseph's thoughts wouldn't stop pacing, and neither could he move. Neither of them moved.
"Look, I'll just tell ya anyhow, it's important. We didn't willingly leave our homes, there's something damned strange going on up north, and we couldn't stay any longer. Something from the old world is causin a bunch of trouble. I could tell you stories, but you wouldn't believe me."
"The old world was destroyed 'cause of their sinnin'. There ain't no more of it," Joseph said, "you're lyin' and must think I'm some kinda dummy who hasn't read scripture, aren't ya?"
"No, I don't," said the man in a sing-song voice, "I believe you're like any good Christian and can tell me exactly what happened. But you gotta trust me; not all the old world was destroyed, and something's left. It's been confusing people and makin' em do all kinda odd stuff. Look, nobody leaves their home land to be a gypsy, least of all when the gypsies already have a bad name. We had em come through, too, ya know, probably as long as you people have 'cause we were both on the route everyone's been taking."
"What kinda odd stuff did you see?"
"Let's say it was all very unchristian, bad enough for us to pack up and leave overnight once it started. You see, we heard some warnings, too, and chose to ignore them. They said things were spreading south, and there was only one place to escape. We didn't leave in time to take everyone with us. There were death and destruction. Only option to stay alive was to get movin."
"God's protecting us from evil in this household, and I think we'll be fine." Joseph let his legs extend and took a breath, beginning to feel tired. " You want me to run away from home, and I'm not gonna do it. They need me here."
"Nah. I don't want you to come with us. I already have to feed enough people. Why do you think I'm here right now?"
"Stealing our chickens?"
"Just eggs."
After a moment, the man outside the stall started shuffling his feet around, taking a couple of steps away and a couple back. Joseph looked at his feet with a furrowed brow. Considering the words he'd heard, he wondered if he should attack the man or wait until he left.
"How about this? You sound pretty young, and surely, you have some years left. Think about your kids. You don't wanna have to uproot them, do ya? Find a wife and get out of here; you really don't want to deal with what's comin'. Trust me."
Joseph continued looking at his feet.
"Okay, horse boy, I'm leaving. Good luck with yourself." The man's feet began walking away toward the front door. Joseph heard the door brushing hay aside and leaped to his feet, startling Missy. He swung the stall door open and shut it just as quickly, his eyes locking with the intruder's before the door had a chance to lock shut. Joseph said nothing, and neither did the other man.
Joseph looked the man over. He couldn't have been much older than Joseph, but the dirt and ash covering his face and clothes gave another impression. The man held two eggs in a cradle with his arm, and the knees were worn out of his pants. They held gazes long enough to size each other up before the intruding man closed the door behind him and left. Joseph looked as surprised as the other man and looked at the door until his senses returned.
Joseph didn't sleep for the rest of the night. Instead, he thumbed through his grandfather's Bible, with the Final Testament stapled to the back, and thought through what the stranger had told him. He read a page, set the book down, picked it back up, flipped to the concordance, read another page, and set the book down again. Once entirely frustrated, he noticed the sun was peaking through the trees, and it was time to start his day.