x-x-x
"Topsy Turvy." The crowd sang as Clopin added
"Join the bums and thieves and strumpets Streaming in from Chartres to Calais On the sixth of "Januervy All because it's Topy Turvy Day!" Jackob carefully pushed through the crowds following his father's voice.
Clopin grinned as Jackob reached him and continued his song, nodding for Jackob to come closer.
"Come one, come all! Hurry, hurry, here's your chance." Clopin slipped onto the makeshift throne that Judge Claude Frollo sat upon. Jackob gave a little shudder, he had heard enough warnings and tales from all the adults and even some of the other children about Minister Frollo.
Even the Puppet version of him that his father used in the show made Jackob uncomfortable, especially seeing his own father so close to the man that kept their people in hiding.
Luckily Clopin was only there for a moment, as he expertly jumped onto the stage. Once he was there, Clopin reached down and grabbed Jackob's outstretched hand. Jackob easily flipped himself onto his father's shoulders. Father and son exchanged a quick look and Jackob worked up his courage to sing with his father.
"See the mystery and romance. Come one, come all. See the finest girl in France. Make an entrance to entrance. Dance la Esmeralda…Dance!" Clopin threw one of his smoke bombs down onto the stage and as if by magic, the pair disappeared, to be replaced by Esmeralda dancing. Off the stage and partially out of view, Clopin hugged Jackob tight.
"That was remarkable Jackob, I'm so proud of you."
"Aw, come on Papa I didn't do anything."
Clopin chuckled, shaking his head
"Oh, will you stop Jackob."
"Sorry, Papa,"
"What am I going to do with you." But Jackob didn't answer, instead, he focused on Esmerelda's dance, at least the beat of it. He danced a little in time with the music as he stood next to his father, as Esmerelda continued her performance on stage, before leaping to Frollo to mock him.
Clopin couldn't help but chuckle at how uncomfortable then angry the judge looked. Following his father's lead, Jackob also began laughing, a little louder than his father, which caught the attention of Frollo. Jackob had turned his attention to his friend Jean who was tapping his drum in time with Esmeralda's dance. Like Jackob this was Jean's first Feast of Fools and he too was helping his father. Jackob clapped his hands in time with the beat, encouraging his best friend. But it was the look of pure disdain from Frollo that caught Clopin's eyes, directed right at Jackob.
As inconspicuous as possible, Clopin moved Jackob to his other side, putting himself in between Frollo's glare and Jackob. As Esmerelda finished her dance, Clopin rejoined her on stage, Jackob right beside him.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen," Clopin called out to the crowd as he lifted Jackob onto his shoulders "the piece de resistance!" Clopin looked up at Jackob and father and son exchanged a grin "you ready Jackob?" Clopin whispered
"Yes Papa," Jackob whispered back
"Good, that's what I like to hear." Clopin ruffled Jackob's hair before turning back to the crowd "Here it is the moment you've been waiting for! Here it is you know exactly what's in store! Now's the time we laugh until our sides get sore! Now's the time we crown the King of Fools! You all remember last year's king!?" Clopin exclaimed gesturing to a man being carted around with a jester's cap on, the man let out a disgusting belch and Jackob quickly realized why he had been crowned King of Fools the previous year.
Clopin looked up at Jackob and nodded and Jackob knew that was his cue, he had to sing, he was just as much a part of the performance as his father and Esmerelda.
"So make a face that's horrible and frightening!" Jackob sang as loud as he could "Make a face as Gruesome as a Gargoyle's Wing!"
"For the Face that's ugliest will be the King of Fools!" Clopin joined him "Why?"
"Topsy Turvy!" the crowd sang back
"Ugly Folks, forget your shyness!"
"Topsy Turvy!"
"You could soon be called your Highness!"
"Put your foulest features on display, be the king of Topsy Turvy Day!" The crowd sang loudly, Jackob carefully did a flip off his father's shoulders and stood off to the side of the stage as Clopin and Esmerelda pulled potential Fools on stage. As they lined up, all wearing masks, Esmerelda pulled their masks off one by one. Each one made the ugliest face he could muster, but none met the crowd's approval. Each one of the contestants was booed and rammed in the rear by Djali, landing in a pile in front of the stage. Jackob couldn't help but wince at that, he had been rammed many times by Djali and definitely felt their pain.
Then Esmerelda reached the last man. Jackob recognized the cloak, it was the man who had tumbled into her dressing tent, the one who had tried to hide his face. Esmerelda gave his face a tug, then quickly realized as the crowd did…that was not a mask, it was his face.
Jackob looked from Esmerelda to his father, with confusion and concern, something didn't feel right about this.
"That's no mask!" a man shouted from the crowd
"It's his face!" a woman added
"He's hideous!"
"It's the bell ringer from Notre Dame!"
Now Jackob looked carefully at the man, he had heard the bells so often and had looked up at the tower when he snuck out at night. He had imagined what the Bell Ringer looked like from his father's tales and his own imagination. He had pictured a monster, but now seeing the Bell Ringer up close, looking scared, Jackob felt bad for him. He wasn't a monster, he was just a man.
"Papa" Jackob whispered and his father gave him a wink, silently telling him it was alright.
"Ladies and gentlemen, don't panic." Clopin called out "We asked for the ugliest face in Paris, and here he is! Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame!"
The crowd seemed to hesitate a little, but quickly followed Clopin's lead and accepted Quasimodo as the King of Fools. The crowd quickly crowned Quasimodo and replaced previous year's king with him, parading him through the crowd, with Clopin leading as the crowd began to sing.
"Once a year, throw a party here in town!"
"Hail to the King" Clopin added
"Once a year, we turn all Paris upside down!"
"Oh, What a King!"
Jackob hung back a little, watching from the stage, it was a better view and he still felt funny about the whole thing. As he watched, he felt a shudder run down his back. Everything seemed to grow colder all of a sudden and Jackob felt the urge to look behind him. When he did he was met with the daggered glare of Judge Claude Frollo himself. Jackob couldn't tell if Frollo was glaring at him specifically or just the whole scene in general, but Jackob wasn't going to hang around to find out. He quickly hopped off the stage and ran through the growing crowd towards his father as the crowd and Clopin continued to sing.
"And it's the day we do the things that we deplore, on the other three-hundred and sixty-four. Once a year we love to drop in, where the beer is never stoppin' for the chance to pop some popinjay. And pick a king who'll put the Top in Topsy…Turvy Day!"
By the time Jackob had caught up with his father, Clopin had handed Quasimodo a scepter and had hopped off the platform, leaving the Hunchback to stand alone. The crowd threw flowers to him and chanted his name and Jackob was surprised to see tears of joy running down the Hunchback's face. Maybe his feelings were wrong, maybe this was like his father promised alright and there wasn't anything to worry about.
"Hey there you are," Clopin whispered, "everything okay?"
Jackob nodded, he decided against telling his father the glare Frollo had given him. All the Gypsies did their best to stay unnoticed by Frollo and Jackob knew it would not only worry his father that Frollo had zeroed right in on him, but could Clopin potentially overreact and not let Jackob leave the Court of Miracles until he was a teenager if not older. Not a scenario that was particularly appealing to Jackob so he stayed quiet. Afterall, other than glare at Jackob which he assumed was a typical response by Frollo to all Gypsies, he hadn't done anything.
This was all quickly forgotten, however, as the festivities became dark, quickly. A soldier threw a tomato at Quasimodo. It splattered him right in the face, which caused the crowd to laugh hysterically.
As if planned, more rotten food was thrown at the Bell Ringer and before anyone knew what was happening, the soldiers had cast ropes over him and members of the crowd tied him down on the circular platform which someone spun hard. The crowd laughed and mocked the Bell Ringer, throwing more produce at him, as he cried out, yelling 'master, master!' as he looked right at Frollo.
It took Jackob a few seconds to find his own voice. The shock of the scene unfolding in front of him was beyond compare.
"Papa!" Jackob exclaimed, unable to keep the disgust out of his voice "Papa can't we stop this?"
Clopin shook his head, hugging Jackob's shoulder's tight.
"If only we could Jackob, if only we could."
"But this is wrong…it's cruel! This is supposed to be a fun day, no one deserves that!"
"I know, Jackob, believe me, this shouldn't happen this isn't what the Feast of Fools is about."
"I'll stop it! I'm not afraid," Jackob started to run towards the platform, but luckily Clopin anticipated this and held Jackob tight.
"Whoa, I know you're not…your heart is in the right place Jackob, but even your strong heart wouldn't be enough to stop this. It's too dangerous, to intervene would draw attention, the wrong kind of attention." Clopin paused as Jackob struggled to get out of his father's grasp, he looked over at Frollo who watched the torment with a look of satisfaction and winced.
Jackob wasn't strong enough to escape his father's hold, but he tried his best, pulling and wiggling trying to get loose.
"Come on Papa, let me go, I can help, someone has to help, someone has to stop this."
Sighing, Clopin lifted Jackob into his arms, ensuring that Jackob wasn't going anywhere.
"I'm sorry Jackob, I'm sorry you have to see this. I swear to you, this is not what is supposed to happen."
"Someone has to stop this, he didn't do anything," Jackob argued, "why isn't anyone stopping it?"
"They're afraid Jackob,"
"So is he," Jackob said softly looking at Quasimodo. "it's not right," he was getting worked up, Clopin could hear it in his voice, the familiar whistle in his throat when he breathed. "someone has to stop it," the whistle gave way to a cough, a deep painful cough that had plagued Jackob since he was a toddler.
Clopin felt his own chest tighten as concern for his son washed over him. Jackob didn't seem focused on his cough, he just couldn't watch the torment any longer, if he couldn't help, he didn't want to be an onlooker. He hid his face in his father's costume and prayed it would be all over soon. He was ashamed he couldn't stop this, he knew his father wasn't just referring to the crowd when he said they were afraid, he meant himself too. To stand up to the crowd like this was dangerous, it meant becoming a target, but that didn't make it right. His body rattled with the cough as he hid his face further into his father's shoulder.
"Shh, Jackob" Clopin cooed "focus on your breathing, please Jackob." Though he was still coughing, the cough had given way to small sobs, Clopin carefully rubbed Jackob's back, something he had always done since Jackob was a toddler, in an attempt to calm the boy down.
Taking a deep breath, Clopin scanned the crowd and caught Frédéric looking his way, silently asking his leader what they should do. There were enough gypsies in the crowd that it wouldn't be difficult to free the Bell Ringer, but it was the aftermath that concerned Clopin the most. Just judging by Frollo's interest in the situation, to interfere would bring his wrath, so whatever was about to happen had to be done carefully.
Frédéric gave him a look that told Clopin his men were ready to do whatever was necessary and Clopin accepted that. First, however, he wanted Jackob out of harms way, he admired the fighting spirit that Jackob had and more importantly his compassion for those he saw as less fortunate. Both were the same traits his mother had long displayed and were two of the many things Clopin loved about her. But Jackob was only ten years old and Clopin knew wanting to do the right thing and physically being able to do the right thing were two very different parts.
One nod from Clopin would give Frédéric the permission he was waiting for and though they were well hidden in the crowd, Clopin knew a handful would appear to protect Jackob and rush him home to the Court of Miracles, including Bernadette, Nadia's sister.
Before he could even give the signal, however, movement in the crowd caught the Gypsy King's attention. The crowd itself began to grow still as Esmerelda moved towards the platform. Jackob was still hiding his face deep in Clopin's costume, unaware of the turn of events.
"Jackob," Clopin whispered "Jackob you must look,"
Slowly the boy opened his eyes and stared up at the platform. Esmerelda slowly walked towards the Hunchback, whispering to him
"Don't be afraid." She said "I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen."
Clopin exchanged another look with Frédéric, silently telling his friend to be on their guard. Jackob saw the exchange between the two friends and looked at his father confused
"I will tell you-" Clopin started to say when Frollo's voice rang out through the crowd, Jackob yelped and hugged his father tighter and Clopin didn't blame him, he had jumped a little too.
"You! Gypsy girl!" Frollo growled, "Get down at once!"
"Yes, your honour. Just as soon as I free this poor creature." Esmerelda replied as sweetly as could be.
"I forbid it!" Esmeralda took no notice of his words as she whipped out a knife and cut the ropes holding the Bell Ringer. Jackob grinned but felt a pull to look behind him at Frollo, who had a look of pure murder in his eyes. "How dare you defy me!"
"Papa?" Jackob whispered and Clopin nodded at Frédéric, who began slowly moving towards the platform.
"Jackob," Clopin whispered, "listen to me, are you listening?" Jackob nodded "say it," Clopin added, his voice turning stern suddenly.
"Yes Papa I'm listening,"
"I need you to do what I say, and not argue with me understand?"
"Why? What's going on?"
"Jackob, that's close to arguing." Clopin sighed "doing the right thing sometimes means you put yourself into danger. Things are about to get very dangerous in a moment and I want you safe."
"But what about you, you and Uncle Frédéric and Esmerelda, and the others?"
"We always have a backup plan. But part of the backup plan is when I tell you, you are going to run,"
"Run where?" Jackob asked he had a feeling he knew where this was going and he didn't like it.
"Aunt Bernadette will find you, she'll take you home and I will be right behind you understand?"
"Papa," Jackob argued "I want to stay with you,"
"Jackob, I will be right behind you," Clopin repeated, "but you need to do this for me."
On the platform, Esmerelda was facing down Frollo with no hint of fear, just pure defiance.
"You mistreat this poor boy the same way you mistreat my people. You speak of justice, yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help."
"Silence!" Frollo commanded
"Justice!" Esmerelda shouted, making sure everyone present heard her.
"Mark my words, gypsy." Frollo growled, "You will pay for this insolence."
"Then it appears we've crowned the wrong fool. The only fool I see is you!" Esmerelda shot back, throwing the crown at Frollo's feet and Clopin groaned, lowering his head for a moment, the entire crowd gasped at Esmerelda's boldness.
"Wow I can't believe she said that to him," Jackob whispered and Clopin sighed and shook his head
"Well, I'll give her this it is definitely accurate, but no, probably not the best thing to say right at this moment."
"Captain Phoebus!" Frollo commanded, looking at his Captain of the Guard "Arrest her!"
The guards moved towards the stage and the crowd fanned out a little, not wanting to get in the way of the guards, but at the same time, stunned by what was going on.
"Be ready Jackob," Clopin whispered
"Bu-"
"No arguments." Jackob made a face and crossed his arms and for a moment Clopin had to bit back a chuckle. Even though his look-a-like puppet was dressed like him and looked like him, Clopin had based its reactions and even the way he portrayed the puppet on Jackob for the most part and no more was it clearer than that moment. All that was missing was Jackob to mutter 'dang'. "what am I going to do with you Mon petit étoile?" Clopin asked and Jackob fought, but failed to hide his grin at his father's favorite nickname for him, his little star.
On stage, Esmerelda counted the soldiers and pretended to look distressed at her odds.
"Now, let's see. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten of you, and one of me. What's a poor girl to do?" she took out a handkerchief and began sobbing into it, before throwing down one of Clopin's smoke bombs and disappearing, much to the crowd's shock and even fright.
"Now Jackob!" Clopin hissed, pushing Jackob towards the crowd, Jackob hesitated, he hated being separated from his father like this and at the same time he wanted to help. But the look Clopin gave him was enough to tell Jackob this was not the time to argue with him. Sighing, Jackob took off running into the crowd. He wasn't entirely sure where he was supposed to run to, he glanced back at his father several times as the square basically erupted into chaos, with the soldiers attempting to arrest Esmerelda and of course her expertly avoiding them in the most entertaining way possible, with a little help from the crowd and the gypsies in the crowd. When Jackob lost sight of his father in the crowd and the crowd itself began to scatter, he stopped panic washing over him.
"Papa?" he whispered as more soldiers moved into the plaza. Jackob was suddenly overcome with a sense of dread, worried that his father may have been arrested by the soldiers. The scenarios began playing in Jackob's mind and he couldn't convince himself that it was just his imagination. He started to run back the way he came, pushing through the crowd, listening for his father's voice.
He had only gone a step or two when he was suddenly lifted into the air, seized by someone much bigger and stronger than him. At first, Jackob panicked, even more, assuming a soldier had grabbed him and he would face a fate like the Gypsies in his father's story, taken to the Palace of Justice, never to be seen again.
"Hey now Jackob, I believe your father told you to run did he not?"
Jackob looked up at the person holding him, it was his uncle Cédric, not far through the crowd, Jackob could see his cousins; eight-year-old Maria and fourteen-year-old René standing with their mother Bernadette. René waved at him, before disappearing into the crowd to help Frédéric and the others.
"I want to help," Jackob replied stubbornly
"Not this time Jackob,"
"René gets to help."
"Rene` is also fourteen Jackob," Cédric reminded his young nephew "go now with Maria and Bernadette. Soon you'll be right here with us, only a few more years and your time will come I promise." Cédric ruffled Jackob's hair and gave his nephew a gentle push towards his wife and daughter. Jackob didn't have to move far, as Bernadette reached for him and took him firmly by the hand. They were soon joined by Jackob's best friend Jean.
"Your papa wouldn't let you stay to help either?" Jackob asked and Jean shook his head, clutching his drum tightly to his chest.
"No," Jean said, though he sounded relieved, "he told me to find Bernadette and go home."
"That's what my papa said too," Jackob said as Bernadette gave both boys a soft, yet firm look and both stayed quiet.
The small group made their way through the crowd, trying to blend in as much as possible. It was difficult to do, their clothing alone marked them as gypsies. They moved down side streets, and alleyways, ensuring that no one was following. When they reached the cemetery, Jackob and Jean helped Bernadette move the heavy stone, allowing for enough room to sneak in.
Once they were inside, Jackob pulled on a rope and the stone closed on it's own, released by a mechanism put in place by René. Bernadette had not said a word to the children as they left the square. The three of them knew it was better to stay quiet while on the streets of Paris, but now that they were in the catacombs it was safe.
"Auntie," Jackob whispered and Bernadette gave his hand a gentle squeeze, reassuring him that it was safe to speak.
"Yes my love?"
"they'll be okay right?" the chamber opened into the Court of Miracles and after a quick nod from Bernadette, Jean ran off to find his mother who had stayed behind during the Festival with several of the other women to cook up a feast for the entire tribe, leaving Maria and Jackob.
"They'll be fine," Bernadette assured her nephew and daughter "your father, uncle, René and the others are very good at making chaos work for them. You'll see everyone will be here soon and our own version of the Feast of Fools can begin."
"Momma," Maria whispered, "what about Esmerelda?"
"I suspect she'll be here soon too. Don't worry my loves." Bernadette paused and kissed Maria on the head "why don't you go get some water Maria, and bring some for Jackob and I."
Maria nodded and scampered off.
"I wish I was bigger," Jackob said softly
"Now why would you wish that?"
"I should be helping Papa and the others, not hiding down here." He admitted "but also because…I wanted to do what Esmerelda did and help the Bell Ringer, but Papa wouldn't let me."
Bernadette hugged her nephew tight and guided him over to several chairs.
"I'm sure you've heard this so many times Jackob you must be sick of it, but you are just like your mother."
Jackob looked up at his aunt
"I know,"
"your mother would've done exactly what you wanted to do, what Esmerelda did. But the difference between your mother, you, and Esmerelda Jackob is that you're a child. I don't mean it in a way that's a bad thing, but sometimes standing up for what is right has consequences. Consequences that an adult like Esmerelda is prepared to handle, but as a child, you're not ready yet. You're on the right path little one, your heart is ready." Bernadette gently placed a hand on his chest "but your mind is not" she added placing a hand on his head.
"I don't understand." Jackob admitted, "it's doing the right thing, how can that be difficult?"
"Your mother said the same thing to our father when we were little girls. It was shortly before our family joined the tribe. We were living just outside of Amiens. Papa had heard that a caravan had been forced out of Calais, led by the Gypsy King, Jean-Luc Trouillefou." Jackob's eyes went wide "yes Jackob your grandfather. The rumors had reached my father and the others with us that Jean-Luc was leading the gypsies to Paris to establish a permanent home. And we knew we had to cross paths with them. Winter was setting in and people in our caravan were getting sick quickly. Your mother and I were only little girls, Maria's age thereabouts, but we wanted to help out as much as we could. So we stole away from the camp early one morning and snuck into Amiens to try and earn some money. Your mother loved to sing and dance and was much better at it than I. But I could play music, my instrument of choice back then was my flute, so between the two of us we knew we could earn some extra money. We didn't think anyone would mind us, we were just two little girls."
Bernadette reached into her bag and pulled out her wooden flute. Maria played it every now and then, but she had her sights set on becoming a healer and had little interest in performing or learning more than a few notes. Bernadette had let Jackob play it too, but he struggled to learn the notes and preferred singing with his father, but he admired the flute. It had belonged to his grandfather on his mother's side, Jackob whom he was named for. Bernadette handed it to Jackob and he held it carefully in his hands, knowing it belonged to the grandfather he had never met. He blew into it, but as he expected only managed to squawk out a note or two and his aunt laughed.
"So what happened when you went into Amiens?" he asked
"We picked a spot in the square and began our performance. As we expected no one bothered us or tried to chase us away, we were just two little girls having fun and no one was about to spoil that, even if they suspected we were gypsies. Many even tossed coins into papa's old hat and clapped, so we knew our parents would be proud of us." Bernadette paused "Nadia had just finished this beautiful lullaby our mother had taught us when we heard a commotion from down the street."
"What kind of commotion?" Jackob asked, at this point, Maria had returned with a pitcher of water and three cups. She handed each one out and carefully poured the water into each cup. Jackob took a sip and looked up at his cousin startled, "cider?" he asked with a grin
"Jean's mother had it, she made it earlier but said we could have some before the feast."
Jackob's grin widened and he took a longer sip, savoring the sweet cider, before looking back up at his aunt to continue the story.
"What was the commotion auntie?" he asked
"A boy, not much older than Rene was being dragged through the streets, through the snow, a crowd was gathering behind him. Shouting all manner of abuses at him."
"What had he done?" Maria asked
"Stolen a loaf of bread," Bernadette explained "one simple loaf of bread and the town was ready to condemn him to the gallows. However, they brought him to a post and were preparing to whip him. He was so weak and skinny with hunger one blow would be enough to kill him I feared. I was frightened, but not your mother Jackob, not Nadia, she picked up the hat with our earnings and handed it to me, but not before taking enough to purchase a loaf of bread. With the coins clenched in her fist, she marched through the crowd, heading right for the boy. She was ready to take on the entire crowd." Bernadette chuckled a little "before she made it three feet, papa swooped in and lifted her up. I don't know where he came from or how he figured out where we were, but he found us and stopped Nadia from interfering. Oh did she fight him on that. Arguing with him that what was happening was not right and that the boy shouldn't be punished for trying to survive. Before Papa could reassure her or even convince her that it wasn't our place to interfere, something similar to what happened today occurred. An old man pushed through the crowd, he stood in between the boy tied to the post and the line of villagers ready to beat the boy for his crime. He protected the boy, freed him, and offered to pay the baker for the stolen goods."
"What happened to the boy and the old man?" Jackob asked and Bernadette smiled at her daughter and nephew.
"I wish I knew. I'd like to think that the crowd heeded the old man's words and let the boy disappear in peace. Papa gathered both Nadia and me into his arms and carried us back to camp. We left Amiens that night. Papa never told Mama what Nadia had nearly done and though Nadia was angry that the event had happened in the first place, and still in tears over it, she had calmed down somewhat. Calmed down enough to listen to Papa as he explained to us that sometimes doing the right thing has its own set of consequences and you must be prepared to face those consequences. He told Nadia that her heart was in the right place, but she wasn't thinking the whole situation through clearly and she wasn't thinking about what would happen afterward. That understanding only comes with experience, a little trial and error and growing up."
Jackob shuddered a little at his aunt's story, the similarity between his mother's experience and his own and the words her father had spoken and the words his father had spoken made him understand the risk he had nearly taken. He also knew, even though he hated to admit it, his father was right, but Esmerelda had done the right thing, she had weighed the consequences and made the decision to do the right thing, was that the reason she hadn't come back yet? And what of about his father and the others? Jackob looked towards the main entrance to the Court. He couldn't understand how doing the right thing, how helping one person when no one else would could be so wrong.
x-x-x
Time seemed to tick by slowly. Maria had settled on the ground playing a card game with Jean and several other children, Bernadette was focused on fixing a rip Maria had managed to put in her dress earlier that day, but every now and then Jackob saw his aunt lift her eyes towards the main entrance to the court. She was trying to keep the children distracted and lessen their worry by pretending not to be worried herself, but Jackob could see it written all over her face.
Jackob, on the other hand, couldn't focus on anything but the entrance to the court. Maria and Jean had tried to get him to join the card game, but he had ignored them, even when the twins Tas and Tem joined in. The others seemed to go about their business, the women who had stayed behind continued to prepare plate after plate for the feast the tribe would have once the others returned. The smell from the feast was overwhelming and was too much for some of the kids, Jean's nine-year-old brother Jérôme and seven-year-old Éric had been scolded and chased away from one of the duck roasting over the fire. Meat in any form was a rare treat, but especially duck and Jackob's stomach was growling with the smell. Even the elders didn't seem overly concerned that so many had not returned from the Feast of Fools, including the king.
The women and some of the other children helped to put the feast out onto tables and Maria scampered off to help. Tas and Tem ran towards their mother when she called them.
"Come on Jackob, Jean you need to help too." Bernadette ordered gently "it won't do anyone any good just staring at the tunnel." Jean didn't argue, he ran off to help his mother, but Jackob gave the tunnel one last longing look. "Jackob I promise they'll be here soon."
No sooner were the words out of her mouth, when the sound of footsteps and singing through the tunnel could be heard. Everyone looked up and cheered as Clopin, Frédéric, Cédric, René, and the others returned. Jackob ran through the group, who all patted him on the head and shoulders as he ran past, running straight for his father. Clopin wasn't surprised when Jackob jumped into his arms.
"Did you miss me Mon petit étoile?"
"I was worried Papa, you were gone for such a long time and I lost sight of you in the crowd."
"It's okay Jackob, everything is fine. I promise."
"Where's Esmerelda?"
Clopin sighed, maybe not everything was fine.
"She is safe Jackob, she escaped into Notre Dame and claimed Sanctuary. She'll stay there until things cool down a little. She caused quite a stir and Frollo isn't going to forget about it anytime soon. She's safe though, Notre Dame will protect her. Remember what I've always told you?"
"Notre Dame will always protect us."
"Exactly," Clopin replied hugging Jackob tight, hoping that his concern didn't show and that Jackob wouldn't notice how the day's events had truly rattled him. "Come now, I am starving. Let's see if we can hunt down some of that delicious smelling food that is wafting through the court! How else do you all think we knew it was time to come back? We could smell it was time" Clopin exclaimed loudly, catching everyone's attention, he lifted Jackob onto his shoulders as the group laughed at his comment, knowing how true it was.