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draw attention to herself she looked out and was startled at the sight she saw.
    There were men, women and children of varying ages dressed in brightly colored clothing milling around the wagons. Some were juggling with knives and other large objects, some were tumbling, some were singing and some of the women were dancing. All but a few had dark skin and raven-black hair. Jewelry and golden earrings were abundant on them all, including the men and she could hear that they spoke some unfamiliar language that was fluid and lilting. It sounded like French with a mixture of something else. They were almost primitive in a way, and yet beautiful.
    Who in God’s name were these people? They looked like some kind of traveling circus or something. Or a band of Gypsies, maybe.
    Then it dawned on her. The coin. This could be no coincidence. That ancient charm had somehow brought her back in time to a troupe of Gypsies from somewhere in the past. She gazed at them in fascination. This was her heritage. They could even be her own ancestors for all she knew. It was too incredible to believed, and yet, here she was! Had her mother known all along somehow that this would happen? How could she put her own daughter in such grave danger and why would she do something like this to her?
    She didn’t want to know the answer to that one. Ariana couldn’t have known. Could she ? At any rate, the only thing that mattered now was figuring out how to get out of here. She had no intention of trying to alter history in some way, or getting involved in any other unearthly reasons there might be for her being here. But she knew these lingering questions would leave her no peace. As soon as she got home, she would confront her mother and find the answers.
    Her attention was jolted back to the scene before her when she heard a loud yelp of pain. It was Dominic. He was standing shirtless in the center of a group of men juggling with a handful of daggers.  She gasped as he caught the procession of knives as they fell from the air one after another with lightning speed. As he handed them off to one of the men, she noticed that one of the knives was lying on the ground and blood was gushing profusely from a wound on one of his fingers.
    He walked with long, purposeful strides to a nearby trough of clear water and quickly washed the wound, applied some salve from a small vial that was hanging from a leather cord around his neck and bound the injured finger with a piece of ragged cloth that he tore from his shirt that was lying nearby. Then he dipped his entire head into the cool water and quickly stood back up sending a spray of water shooting off behind him as his long black mane whipped backwards behind him.
    Water sluiced down his broad brown back and glistened in the sun like diamonds. His shoulders were wide and thick with muscle and she found herself staring at him unable to turn away. He walked back over to the place where he had been juggling and said something to the men who had been tossing him knives and they all erupted into a round of laughter, including Dominic himself.
    His teeth stood out in stark contrast to his dark face as he smiled. It was a warm, good-natured kind of smile that made dimples in the sides of his beard- roughened cheeks. And then there were those silver-blue eyes. In combination with his black hair and dark skin, it was the most unusual genetic wildcard she had ever seen and no doubt the most beautiful. She wanted to slap herself for staring at the cretin, but she just couldn’t help it. She had to admit, it didn’t matter what century this was this guy was incredible looking, even if he didn’t know the meaning of the words  ‘soap’ and ‘deodorant’.
    “ What is wrong with you?” she admonished herself. “You are trapped here in some far off century, half naked with no food, no money, no women’s rights and no way home; not to mention the fact they will probably burn you as a witch when they find out who you