Author's Note: Forgive me this incredibly long absence from this story. Life was...need I say? Regardless, hopefully I can post this more often. If I do not, I suggest outright harassment for an update. My contact information is in my profile.
Chapter 2
Flying with Grace
The funeral for Raoul and Christine de Chagny took place three days later and the mourners were few in number considering there were few of the de Chagny family left, and a small group of close friends.
Charles stood between Meg and Antoinette as the service took place, with tears flowing freely down his cheeks. His new guardian was nowhere in sight for reasons he could not comprehend. Not that it even mattered, he never knew him or even seen him before his Mother brought him to the Giry's. Why would he come?
The minister finished the holy farewell to his parents and the guests quietly departed. Charles and the Giry's were the last to leave, and he did not want to go. It was a reality he didn't want to face, did not want to go on. However unfortunate the fact may be, suicide was a sin, and could mean hell. Hell was a place he did not want to go when his parents were in heaven.
The day was bright and sunny. A stark contrast into the dark mood Charles felt. He lost everything with the span of a few hours, and all he had left was his mother's locket that held an image of her and his father, one on each side. Even the horse that he and his mother had ridden in on had seemingly vanished.
He choked back a sudden sob that came up in his throat.
Now, he had to be in the custody of a man he didn't know, and never heard a word about. All he knew was his name was Erik, and he was the one who fathered him. Erik had remained rather elusive, aside from providing him with suitable clothing and drugged his tea at night. He was always gone in the days, not even Madame Giry knew where Erik vanished too.
Maybe the masked man secretly wanted nothing to do with him. After all, he was conceived out of wedlock, not to mention the fact that every encounter he had with him was increasingly awkward.
Charles sighed as he lagged behind as they made their way through the graveyard, his head bowed. He shoved his hands deeply in his trouser pockets, his left hand fiddling with his mother's locket. The touch of the currently warm metal brought him a degree of comfort. But it did not entirely sate the need for it, nor the warmth that love and genuine affection could bring.
Madame Giry occasionally glanced back at him as if he would disappear on the whim. However, he was always there, and getting more and more confused with it all. Where would he go? Back home to ruins?
He glanced at the gothic grave markers; his eyes scanning over the names of the dead, long forgotten save from the family in which they came. Even then, some families have forgotten them. Some of the stones weathered chips or cracks, which made him internally shudder before he bowed his head again.
Just beyond the gates of the graveyard was a black open topped carriage drawn by what looked to be a young black mare with a white fetlock on her right foreleg, and a fine coat that shined in the sunlight. The driver stood stoically at the side of the carriage by the step that led up into the cab. He helped Gramma Giry and Aunt Meg up while Charles tried to get a look at the man face, which the shadows of the black fedora did not permit.
The driver turned to him and tilted his head. Charles saw the faint line that boxed his chin and the upper lip of his mouth and dropped down to his jaw line, following it on either side of his face. "Will you be joining the ladies, or would you prefer riding with me," he gestured elegantly to driver's bench.
Erik's voice snapped Charles out of his daze, and he looked between the bench and Gramma Giry, who nodded for him to join Erik. He looked back to him, "With you, Monsieur."
Erik gave a slight nod and gestured for him to climb up. Charles quickly did so, albeit nervously, and slid over to the far end. Erik joined him a moment later, gathering the reins in his hands; he released the break and gave the mare a soft whistle.
The mare complied and gave a light trot while her master kindly coaxed her around a turnabout until they headed in the proper direction towards the city. Charles watched admirably how the unusual man kindly directed the mare. It was more of an askance then a demand, which seemed to work wondrously.
"Is she yours?" Charles asked Erik suddenly as he idly watched the horse's movement.
Erik cast him a sideways. Following Charles's gaze, he gave a nod. "Yes."
"She's beautiful."
The older man gave a small smile. "Her name is Ebony."
Charles gave a nod and went silent, studying his surroundings, namely Erik's driving skill, which did not go unnoticed. "Have you ever driven?"
"No Monsieur."
Erik gently pulled back on the reins until Ebony halted then he offered Charles the reins, "Time to learn then."
The boy looked at Erik with surprise.
"I'll teach you."
Charles looked between Erik and the reins, before he took them. Erik gently adjusted the boy's grip to the position that would offer the most amount of control. "You want just enough tension on the reins so you can just feel her mouth on the bit," he instructed as he guided the boy's hand to the proper tension. "Too much-" Erik guided Charles's hands back more, causing Ebony to begin chomping at the bit as she backed up a few steps, "-she'll get agitated."
Charles nodded quickly, his muscles tense with nervousness as he adjusted the reins in his hands without assistance, but Ebony remained a bit agitated.
"Relax yourself. Most horses can feel or sense their master's feelings. If you are calm, she will calm. If you are frightened, she becomes frightened. If she is frightened and you are not there to calm her, things can become very dangerous very quickly. Do you understand?"
"Yes Monsieur."
Antoinette smiled as she watched Erik now trying to form something out of nothing, in his usual calmness that sometimes had a way of rubbing off on someone in the best way. Her daughter glanced at her with a smile, her bright eyes and cheery.
They made it back to the city in one piece with Charles, under Erik's careful guidance, driving. The little journey had many stops at goes, but the masked man never once lost his patience with the boy's inexperience.
When they reached the more busy streets, Erik took over driving again after he adjusted his fedora over his skin colored leather mask properly.
Late in the afternoon, Erik stood outside the Giry house between his mares, the Friesian, Duchess and the Thoroughbred, Ebony. The latter of the pair, and the younger, nickered irritably as he tightened the girth around her the saddle would not slide off to the side. "I know, I know, you don't like it," he said softly as he patted her neck.
She turned her head to just be able to look at him with her right eye, almost glaring at him as she flung her tail wildly as she stomped a foot on the ground. "You know just as well as I do that she doesn't take any of it," he gestured to Duchess. "You are still young and not as trustworthy yet, mademoiselle."
Erik turned to the post where he had both mares tied, to collect the saddlebags filled with supplies to last him the next three weeks back at his home. To his surprise, Charles was sitting on the front stoop, watching him. Pausing for only a moment, Erik turned back to Ebony and proceeded finish hooking up the saddlebags.
"Is there anything else you require, boy?" Erik asked him.
Charles shook his head, "No Monsieur."
"Then please get your…Grandmother so we may inform her that we will be on our way."
The boy nodded, springing to his feet and disappearing inside the small house. Antoinette appeared on the steps of her house within moments, a shawl draped around her frail shoulders with Charles at her side.
"When will you be coming back?" she asked Erik who choose to remain by his horses.
"Two- three weeks. If things go smoothly," he said rather matter-of-factly. "If not, I am quite positive that there is a book of some sort out there that will be of assistance," he remarked in idle thought.
Antoinette smiled warmly. "I'll keep watch for one."
Erik tilted his head inquisitively but spoke nothing of it.
If he only knew, Antoinette thought with amusement. He will soon though.
She turned to Charles and spread her arms for an embrace. Charles did not hesitate a moment before he wrapped his arms around her as she pulled him tight. "Do I have to?" he whispered quietly.
"Yes," she whispered back as she kissed the top of his head. "Just remember, he does love you and he knows little about children. But he will keep you safer then you can imagine."
Charles nodded his head before he pulled away looked up at Erik, who was waiting patiently. With gentle encouragement from Madame Giry, he went over to him.
With help from the older man, Charles got up on the back of Ebony. Erik quickly adjusted the stirrups to his height and handed him the reins after attaching a lead rope to the ring on the bit, as a precaution. From there, Erik swung up onto Duchess, holding Ebony's lead rope firmly in hand.
"Take care," Antoinette called to them as they headed out into the streets of Paris.
Their travel through the city to countryside beyond the city was quiet and rather uneventful save for weaving around the Parisian citizens and their various ways of transportation.
Erik was fiercely vigilant of anything that moved or even breathed. His fedora was tilted down, hiding his eyes entirely and in such a way that a shadow played across the rest of his face. It was not until they reached the countryside and well off the beaten path that Erik let Ebony's rope slacken comfortably.
Still, the journey remained quiet aside from brief comments to each other. The sun went down and Charles, who had begun to become drowse in the ride, shivered from the loss of warmth the sun had brought.
Seeing this, Erik glanced around the darkened surroundings to calculate an approximate time that they would arrive at his home. "It is only a half hour more."
"I'm cold and I'm tired, can't we go any faster?" Charles complained quietly.
"Yes, however I question your balance and I rather avoid exhausting your mounts tolerance of doing such in that contraption I set her up in."
"You mean the tack?"
"Yes."
"She weighs a few hundred pounds and you're worried about me and the tack, whose feather weight in comparison."
Erik tilted his head towards Charles. "True. However, I rarely if ever, require my horses to wear such things because it is rather uncomfortable to them. Like your belt fastened too tight around your ribs and cold, unfeeling metal stuffed in your mouth designed to turn your unwilling head about rather forcefully. In some cases, painfully."
Charles was rather speechless to that. "I never…thought about it like that."
"Most do not," Erik said simply. Instructing Duchess to step up beside Ebony and Charles, he offered him a hand. "If you want to go faster, you will have to ride with me. I will not have you on her back because she will only become irritated and that would rapidly grow unpleasant for you."
Charles looked between his mount and the hand Erik offered him and decided to take his chances with Erik. The instant he took the older man's hand, Erik easily pulled him off Ebony and up onto Duchess's rump.
The boy shifted his position until he sat astride on the mighty mare while Erik briefly fiddled around Ebony's head and neck for a moment. When he sat back up, Charles wrapped his arms around his midsection. "Have you ever ridden bareback before?" Erik asked simply.
"No faster than a trot."
"Then hang tighter," he muttered adjusting Charles's hands until they gripped each other snugly. "Just allow me some room to breathe."
With that, they took off at a gallop before Charles could muster a reply after being thrown back, instantly thankful that Erik could maintain his position effortlessly.
He held on with a death grip as they flew along an open field with Ebony's freely galloping alongside them.
Charles watched her run with them, kicking her back legs out playfully, with a smile growing on his face.
The young mare accelerated her pace and ran out ahead then cut over in front until she was on the other side when she dropped her pace down again to gallop beside them. Duchess tilted heavily to the left in an action that seemed to surprise Ebony before she fell in step behind them.
Heading into the forest line again and suddenly Erik shifted his weight that caused Charles to do the same because of his death grip around his midsection. Then, for a brief, sweet instant, Charles felt like he was flying when Duchess leapt over a fallen tree in silent wonder.
When her hooves thundered upon the ground again, it took Erik a second to assume his original position again. Charles turned his head in time to see Ebony jump it easily. Through the wild ride upon a horse's back under the starlit sky, the pair reached cottage in less than half the predicted time.
