Layla the gypsy girl

Prologue

5 year old Layla could smell smoke. She woke up from her sleep, and found the room filled with flames. There were screams all around, as people tried to escape the fire.
Layla began to run through the room, looking for her parents. When she couldn't find them, she began to cry.
The smoke was filling the barn quickly, and it soon became impossible to breath. Layla ran towards the open window, squeezing passed a burning piece of wood, that had fallen from the roof.
A strong gust of wind entered the room, throwing the fire into a frenzy. The flames flickered violently, and exploded in Layla's face.
She screamed in pain, as the right side of her face burned. The vision in her right eye went blurry, so she shut her eye, and continued to crawl towards the window.

Layla looked down, and saw the huge drop, between the window and the ground outside. She looked back to the fire behind her, and decided to jump.
After carefully pulling herself up onto the window sill, she took a deep breath and jumped out of the window. When she hit the floor, she began to roll down the hill, only stopping when the grass leveled out.
Layla pushed herself up into a standing position, and turned to face the burning barn. The screaming inside the building had stopped, leaving an eerie silence in the cold night.
Scared that the fire would follow her, Layla ran off into the night. She headed towards the river Seinne, hoping to wash off the soot, and stop the pain on the right side of her body.

When she reached the river, she saw another girl, eating a cooked frog, by the candle-light. The girl had long dark hair, and a colourful purple dress.
Layla approached carefully, but the other girl didn't seem to be dangerous, so she wasn't afraid to get close.
"Hello there" said the girl, putting down her frog.
"My name is Esmeralda. What your's?" Asked the girl.
"Layla" replied Layla, who then began to cough violently.
Esmeralda picked up her cup of water and handed it to Layla.
"Here. Drink up. You look like you need it" said Esmeralda.
Layla took the cup and began to sip the water slowly. Her throat was thankful for the liquid, but her face still burned. She sat down in front of Esmeralda, but kept her distance from the candle.

"Where are your parents?" Questioned Esmeralda.
"Fire" answered Layla, pointing to the way she had just come from.
Esmeralda nodded, and stood up, heading towards the river. She dipped her rag into the water, and gave it to Layla.
"Put that on your face. The cold water will help" she instructed.
Layla did as she was told, and after a while the pain began to fade slightly.
"Since your parents are gone, do you want to stay with me? I'll keep you safe" Esmeralda asked quietly.
Layla nodded excitedly. "Yes please".
"My parents are gone too... I haven't seen my mum in years. So I had to learn to look after myself. I can teach you how to do the same" replied Esmeralda.
Layla smiled, and shuffled closer to Esmeralda, leaning against her side for comfort. She yawned loudly and fell asleep moments later. Esmeralda removed her own blanket and covered Layla with it.
She then began to stroke her hair soothingly with one hand, while the other held the rag against Layla's burnt face.