Chapter 7

As the sun dawns, the city begins to come to life. Even the graveyard takes on a new personality in the morning. Gone is the murky dreariness of the night, now birds are singing and early morning rays of sunshine are beaming down upon us. Gage and I are still sitting together, enjoying the sunrise and each other's company.

Out of the corner of my eye I spot Esmeralda, hurriedly walking up to us, with little Djali trailing behind her. Dark circles are under her brilliant green eyes, and her face is creased in worry. She stops before us. "There's a problem back at the caravan." she says with a sense of urgency in her voice.

"What's wrong?" inquires Gage.

"Grandmama's sick, she's running a high fever. I've tried all the home remedies, and nothing is working. She's old, she won't survive such an illness if we don't do something."

I ask "Can't we take her to the doctor or buy her some medicine?"

Esmeralda shakes her head sadly. "The doctor here refuses to serve gypsies. Besides, doctoring is expensive. I'm afraid we don't have enough money anyway." She sighs and gazes off into the distance. "I'm so afraid for Grandmama. She's raised me since I was a little girl, and now she's knocking on death's door. I can't bear the thought of losing her." Esmeralda lowers her voice and looks us dead in the eye. "There's only one thing left to do."

"You mean we'll have to lift the medicine tonight?" whispers Gage.

The gypsy girl nods. "At this point, family is more important than virtue. I know the type of medicine she'll need and a good way to sneak into the doctor's office, all I'll need is some luck and helpers. It's the quickest way to save Grandmama's life, and I'll stop at nothing to do that."

"I'll go with you." offers Gage. "We both will." I add. I don't care how wrong or how dangerous this is, I need to help my newfound friends.

Esmeralda smiles. "You both are very brave, and I truly appreciate your help. Meet me in front of Notre Dame an hour after sundown."

As the city of Paris gets ready for bed and the blue sky turns a velvety black, Gage and I put on hooded cloaks and set out for Notre Dame. We walk in total and utter silence.

Another figure in a hooded cloak is pacing before the mighty church. We stealthily approach the figure, who tosses off their hood for a moment to reveal masses of raven hair and a single hoop earring.

"We must be very quiet, there are guards everywhere." whispers Esmeralda. "Just follow my lead." The gypsy girl slips into a dark alleyway, and Gage and I trail behind her. The three of us tiptoe through the alley and back out into another street. Guards are standing on a street corner, absentmindedly chatting and waiting for their shift to end. We stick to the shadows, moving as quietly as mice. After several heart pounding minutes of sneaking around in the dark of the night, we come to the back entrance of the doctor's office, a stately building with a massive wooden door. A locked door.

Esmeralda puts her finger to her lips and pulls a silver hairpin from her curls, then jams it into the lock. With deft fingers, she wiggles and twists the pin around, until the lock springs free and the door swings open. We creep inside, into a great room that smells like blood and stale alcohol. From what I can see in the darkness, the room is lined with shelves containing glass bottles.

"Grandmama's medicine is in a square orange bottle." whispers Esmeralda. We search for a few moments, feeling the bottle's shapes and trying to catch moonlit glimpses of their colors. Gage whispers "Found it!"

"Great, now let's get out of here." Esmeralda shushes. We quietly shuffle outside, and are just about to close the door when we hear a low growl.

Terrified, we freeze in place.

The growl grows closer and closer, then suddenly erupts into loud barks. A guard dog, a huge mastiff, comes bounding towards us. I try to run, but I'm too late. I yelp in pain as his teeth sink into my leg.

"Come on, over here in the alley!" shouts a man's voice. Guards.

Gage hands the bottle of medicine to Esmeralda. "Run!" he yells. Like a wild thing, Esmeralda flies back down the path from which we came, disappearing into the night. Gage proceeds to grab the vicious dog by the neck and attempts to pull him off of me, but the animal's grip is too strong. I'm almost too overcome by agony to notice the foot soldiers and the lone horse and rider approaching us.

Shouts of "thieves!" echo through the cold night air. Several guards grab Gage and try to wrestle him to the ground. Another guard slays the dog with one swoop of the sword. The creature lets out a dying moan and sinks down, keeping its hold on me even in death. I lay writhing alongside the dead dog, ignored as all of the soldiers focus on attacking Gage. After a lengthy struggle, they manage to restrain him. A guard with a torch walks up to Gage and tears his hood off, revealing his Romani features.

"Gypsy vermin, just as I suspected. Their people will never learn to follow the righteous path." remarks a familiar voice. I see the shadow of the tri cornered hat and the distinctive face. My heart plummets. This will all be over tonight...

"Sir, there's another one that the dog got, right over there." yells one of the guards.

I'm glad that my cloak is obscuring my face, so that Frollo doesn't instantly recognize me.

The judge dismounts his dark horse and takes the torch from the guard. "Let's unmask the other foul heathen." he says. Gage starts to say something, but the guards holding him clasp their hands over his mouth. As Frollo approaches me, I become paralyzed by fear. The only part of me that moves is my heart, pounding right out of my chest. Frollo rips off my cloak and yanks my head up by my hair to face him.

Our eyes meet. I have never been more afraid in my life.

His beady eyes grow wide in disbelief, then his brow furrows in anger. "You..." he begins. Then he stops talking. His lips curl into a smile that makes my blood run cold and every hair on my body stand on end. The judge grabs me, lifts me up, and shoves me to a guard. I cry out in pain as my injured leg gets tangled in the dog's corpse, but the guard slaps me to shut me up.

Frollo points at me, torch in hand. "This girl is a traitor to all of the respectable people of Paris! Here she is, mingling among Satan's children, stealing alongside the very race that she vowed to destroy! The penalty for high treason and theft is death by hanging!"

I look to Gage for help, praying that he somehow doesn't understand what I've done. He looks confused and disappointed, but he straightens himself up and says. "Judge Frollo, we meet again.". I can tell that he's trying to be strong, yet fear is quavering in his voice. "You may berate this girl, but I am the one to blame for all of this. Breaking in was my idea, I led her astray. Do what you want to me, but please, don't lay a finger on her."

Frollo laughs. "What has caused this sudden loyalty, gypsy?"

Gage quietly says "I love her."

"I should have known..." remarks the judge, shaking his head, "I should have known that you disgusting creatures have been living in sin together. This is not love, you gypsies are not capable of such feelings."

Gage looks Frollo straight in the eye and says, "You pathetic old man. You don't even know what love is. You have never loved, you never will love or be loved."

I watch the expression on the judge's face turn from a smug smirk to disbelief to rage. It's obvious that what Gage just said has deeply affected this man. "Say that one more time!" he growls. The guards restraining Gage tighten their grip, and one of them puts his sword to poor Gage's throat.

The fear is gone from Gage's voice, it's now cool and collected. "I said," he begins, "that you have never loved."

Without warning, Frollo snaps. "Kill the boy." he snarls.

"NO! PLEASE DON'T!" I shriek, but my words hold no meaning to these subhuman creatures.

The guard holding him slashes Gage's throat from ear to ear. He falls to the ground, bleeding and motionless. Gone forever.

I can't breathe. I can't move. My world is crashing down around me, smashing into shards of glass, cutting me into tiny, broken pieces. I fixate on the lifeless shell of the only person who I've ever truly loved, the beautiful soul that has just been snatched away from me.

The murderous guards chuckle and spit on Gage's body. "Gypsy pig." they grunt, kicking the body and muttering disgusting slurs. Frollo stares straight ahead, his face now cold and expressionless.

A burning sensation begins to build up within my chest, one of shock, rage, and raw sorrow. With my good leg, I kick the guard restraining me in the groin. He squeals a childish scream and lets go of me, allowing me to fall to the ground. I grab Frollo's legs and start pummeling them like a madwoman, ignoring my own pain. "YOU MONSTER! YOU KILLED HIM, YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED HIM!" I'm hysterical, bawling, attacking the Minister of Justice's ankles and screaming obscenities. Frollo's men drag me off of him and throw me back down to the ground, I land on Gage's lifeless body. "KILL ME TOO!" I scream, sobbing into the dead boy's shirt.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, at least not yet." replies the judge. "I can, however, do this...". Frollo delivers a sharp kick to my head, and the world fades into blackness.