She looked up at Ethan and saw the excitement in his eyes. He was loving the smell and the mix of what he thought to be his own people, but at the same time he wanted to protect her. She smiled and put her arm through his, and felt safe as they pushed their way past the crowds to stand on the top of the bridge that crossed the mighty River Eden. There they looked down, watching the gypsy men washing their horses in the deep waters. The two of them gasped as they watched the horses swim in the deepest parts of the river with their riders on their backs, and cringed as the riders made the horses climb the banks out of the river with a deft whipping.

‘I think it’s cruel.’ Rosie held Ethan’s arm tight.

‘It’s good horsemanship, that’s all.’ He watched as a beautiful black-and-white stallion snorted and tossed its head, in defiance of its owner.

‘No, I don’t like these ways.’ Rosie looked around at the crowds and decided that Appleby Fair was not for her. She saw linnets that were being sold in cages so small they could hardly stretch their wings, and women offering to tell fortunes to people who only wanted to hear good things. ‘These aren’t our people, Ethan, we belong back home.’

‘We’ll be home soon enough. Give us another hour and we’ll catch the train. I’d like to go up onto the main field and just have a look around the horses for sale, and wander through the caravans. I don’t know what my grandfather looks like, or if he is even alive, but I’d like to see his lifestyle and his ways, while we have time.’ He pulled on Rosie’s arm and they made their way back through the crowds towards Gallows Hill.

‘Alright, I know it’s important to you. I know you would really like to find your grandfather, if you were truthful. Just an hour, though, and then we must return.’ Rosie tried to smile, worrying that Ethan was getting carried away with the atmosphere of the fair.

‘I promise we will only be another an hour, and then we will catch the train.’ Ethan flashed his winning smile at the girl on his arm and set off in earnest pursuit of his grandfather. They wandered around the covered wagons and flat carts, with the families that lived in them huddled around camp fires, telling stories and exchanging the year’s news together. Dogs barked and sniffed around their feet, with a lurcher showing its teeth at Rosie, as Ethan dragged her away from harm.

‘Please let’s go home. We’ll not find your grandfather here.’ She looked at the tanned, weather-worn faces and at the women in their colourful skirts, and wanted the safety of her home. These were not her ways, although they were country folk like her.