Chapter 2- The first meeting

As soon as I had finished unpacking I made my way down the stairs of the Inn and back into the blinding sunlight that was casting its spell over Paris. I proceeded across the courtyard and to the caravan that I had seen from the Inn, it looked like the show was already starting as the storyteller hit a puppet of himself on the head, making all the children watching giggle.

"Hush, Clopin will tell you
It is a tale, a tale of a man and a monster.
Dark was the night when our tale was begun
on the docks near Notre Dame

Four frightened gypsies slid silently under
The docks near Notre Dame

But a trap had been laid for the gypsies
And they gazed up in fear and alarm
At a figure whose clutches
Were iron as much as the bells

The bells of Notre Dame

Judge Claude Frollo longed
To purge the world
Of vice and sin."

I gasped quietly, Judge Claude Frollo was the man my father was working for, I got closer to the caravan and listened to the rest of the story. Clopin continued his story of how the Judge arrested three of the four gypsies and killed the fourth one as she was trying to protect her son.

"And Frollo gave the child a cruel name

A name that means half-formed, Quasimodo
Now here is a riddle to guess if you can
Sing the bells of Notre Dame

Who is the monster and who is the man?
Sing the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells of Notre Dame."

He smiled as he finished his story and told the children to come back in 3O minutes for the next story, much to the children's protests. I smiled when the crowd of children departed and walked to where Clopin was feeding the mule that was pulling his caravan.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Clopin." I smiled as he took his mask off and turned round giving me a mischievous grin.

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle.." he trailed off and looked at me questioningly, making me chuckle as he obviously didn't know my name.

"Oh, how rude of me, I'm Arielle and I liked your story very much." I blushed as he took my head and pressed a soft kiss to the top of it.

"Merci, Mademoiselle Arielle. I'm very glad that you enjoyed it, are you new to Paris? I haven't seen you around before." He grinned and leaned against his caravan and traced his eyes around my figure, making me giggle and heat rushed to my cheeks once more.

"Why yes, my Papa had been called to do some work." I told him, I left out the part of him working for Frollo as he had been characterised as an evil man in Clopin's story.

"Then you won't know about the Festival of Fools taking place all day tomorrow in the square, lots of music, dancing," he smiled and I shook my head, "well Mademoiselle, I expect to see you there tomorrow." He said, placing his mask back on and going back to his caravan to set the little stage up for his next story. I smiled slightly to myself and took the coins out of my dress pocket that Papa had given to me so I could buy some things. My first stop was the little bookshop down an alleyway, I would spend hours with my nose in a good book back home in London. I pushed the door opened and was greeted by the tinkling of a bell and the smiling face of the owner, I greeted him and went to the back of the shop to search for a good book.

A/N: Ugh! I am so sorry that this story is still so rubbish I promise it will get better! Much love xoxo