This book has two titles. I’m guessing it’s because “gypsy” isn’t the best label. It’s literally just describing the bands of gypsy people that Enola’s mom escaped with though. At any rate, there are two story lines in this book. Enola gets a message from her mom (the gypsy good-bye), and there’s also a missing duchess.
Of course, both Enola and Sherlock are looking for the missing Lady Blanchefleur del Campo. Unfortunately for Sherlock, he’s not so great at missing persons cases, and Enola is. She knows the underbelly of London rather well from all of her adventures, and also the people who dwell there. She fairly quickly figures out who’s involved with the duchess’ abduction and devises a plan to find her. Enola brings Sherlock, who insists they bring their other brother Mycroft, who holds Enola’s fate and freedom in his hands. I don’t want to ruin the climax, but Enola fares well.
There are two more important things that happen at the end of this book though. A day or two after their search and rescue for the duchess is Enola’s birthday. Sherlock invites her and Mycroft over for tea. There’s still a secret message from their mother to decode, and Enola figures out that she needs to wrap the paper with the message around a bike shaft. She asks Sherlock for a bike or two, and when she shows up on her birthday there are a whole bunch of bikes. Enola finds one that fits the message, and they start reading. Unfortunately the message tells the Holmes kids that their mom has passed away. It was actually a nice message though, and one that Enola had been waiting for. She talked about how Enola would do great on her own, and how she was sorry she was basically a crappy mother. She needed to be free.
So in the end, Enola kinda finds her mom, and at least gets some closure. Then! Most importantly – Mycroft sees how defeated and desperate and helpless the duchess is, and he also sees how strong and independent Enola is. It changes his mind about sending her off to a finishing school. She’s finally free, and he’s going to help send her for some schooling. This book was supposed to be the original end of the series I think. But there were three more books, and I think there’s a fourth coming soon too. I still recommend this series!!
