Chapter 14: The Start of Amicable Relationships and Friendships
Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. These are the only movements Joseph does inside the drawing room of his son's manor. It's been a long time since Joseph has ever seen his son. He doesn't know what his son looks like, what he's interested in, how many children he fathered by his dear wife and if he has forgiven his father or still despises him.
The door swung open. A lanky, well-dressed man appears in the doorway. After he takes a few mor steps towards his father, a servant closes the door. Thus, both father and son reunite. But, for the first time, hostility and happiness meet each other. Henri, still disgusted by his own father, is dying inside to fulfill his urge of getting out of the room and ordering his servants to kick his own father out of his home. Before he could do that, Joseph physically greets his son with the warmest hug ever. Henri pushes his father away from him.
"How dare you suddenly show up here?" Henri asked. "I am enjoying life, yet you came here to ruin it." He said, hurting his father.
"But, I have repented." Joseph explained.
"Ha! You are just saying that so you may use me to pay your debts in brothels and corrupt me." Henri said.
"No! I do not want money nor women, I want to receive your forgiveness, I want to be your father again, I want to treat you like a child again, I want your to share your triumphs and troubles with me, I want to make you happy, I want to console you whenever you are sad and I want to know everything about you." Joseph said.
"If you want to do all of those things, ask forgiveness from God and my mother." Henri said.
"I have already done those! I confessed all of my sins yesterday and I even flogged my back many times last night." Joseph replied. "What else should I do to be forgiven by you? What? Should I stab myself? Should I let myself be eaten by lions? Should I sacrifice all of my riched? What should I do? What?" He asked desperately, kneeling in front of his son. "Please forgive me! Please, please forgive me! I admit to God and to you that I deserve to suffer in hell for an eternity. I hate myself, I hate myself!" He said then cried.
For a moment, Henri realized how much his father truly changed. The tears, the words, the position of kneeling and the pleas; all of these are enough to convert Henri's heart from a cold one into a warm one. To make things better, he remembered what his brother always told him.
If you want God to forgive your sins, forgive others as well.
Wanting to obey his brother, he kneels down in front of his father and hugs him.
"I forgive you, Father." Henri whispered.
"Thank you. Thank you very much." Joseph said. "How are you?" He asked, bringing forth happiness to his son.
"Life is great!" Henri replied. "My wife is the most wonderful woman, for she is a saint to the poor and the sick and she bore me four sons and three daughters like a queen. I have a lot of friends, a manor in Marseilles and respect from the people I meet in the palace and in the streets." He added.
"May I meet your wife?" Joseph asked.
"Of course!" Henri said then led his father to the garden.
As expected, Catherine and her daughters watch the boys train each other to become knights of France. Henri takes up his abandoned wooden sword and joins in playing with his sons. Joseph expresses his pride and happiness through a warm smile. Catherine, feeling that someone is behind her, turns around.
"Good morning, monsieur." She greeted.
"Good morning, madame." Joseph greeted back.
"Who are you?" Catherine asked.
"I am the father of your husband, Joseph de Martin." Joseph replied.
"Oh! What a joy it is to meet you!" Catherine said then hugged her father-in-law.
"Are you my grandfather?" Marguerite, Joseph's 5 year old granddaughter, asked.
"Yes!" Joseph replied, picking her up and lightly pinching her cheek. "What is your name?"
"Marguerite." Marguerite replied happily.
"I am Henri." Joseph's eldest grandchild, who is 12 years old, said.
"I am Louis." Joseph's second grandchild, who is 11 years old, said.
"I am Charles." Joseph's third grandchild, who is 9 years old, said.
"I am Philippe." Joseph's fourth grandchild, who is 8 years old, said.
"I am Anne." Joseph's fifth grandchild, who is Philippe's twin, said.
"I am Catherine." Joseph's sixth grandchild, who is 7 years old, said.
"My grandsons, God is great, for He gave your parents gallant and strong boys. My granddaughters, God is great, for He gave your parents beautiful and gentle girls." Joseph said, earning expressions of gratitude from them.
"Father, do you want to join us for lunch?" Henri asked.
"Thank you for your generosity, my son." Joseph said. "But, do I deserve this?" He asked.
"Of course you deserve eating in the same table with my family and I." Henri replied after chuckling.
"Let us go inside." Joseph declared then entered the manor with his grandchildren.
Henri and Catherine are left alone in the garden. Then, Catherine showered Henri's face with kisses. Henri simply kisses his wife's lips to return the favor.
"God bless you for removing your anger for your father." Catherine said.
"The Lord is great." Henri said.
"How come you easily forgave him?" Catherine asked.
"From his tears and pleas, it appears to be Dom Mathias hath changed him." Henri said.
"Ah. Not only did the Archdeacon of Paris, changed me. But also a wise, Spanish orphan named Catalina." Joseph said.
"Really?" Henri asked.
"Yes." Joseph replied.
"How come the child became an orphan? And why did she go here?" Henri asked.
"It is a long story." Joseph replied. "I think it is best if we talk about this at the table." He added.
"Alright. Then, come along with us." Henri said, leading his father and his wife to his manor's dining room.
What a beautiful day! A successful man, who carried his hatred for his father everywhere he goes, finally lets go of the feeling he contained for years. The teachings Jesus preached are really making sense; His sacrifice to redeem the world from sin is really worth it.
For the past few hours, Catalina and Simoun walk around Paris. Within that amount of time, Simoun gives a tour to Catalina the places she must know and their histories. Catalina, who admires Simoun's serious voice and intelligent words, listens carefully to him. At the end of their tour, Catalina and Simoun sit besides the Seine.
"Paris is big and beautiful." Catalina said.
"Indeed." Simoun said.
"But, my beloved Valladolid is still beautiful in my eyes." Catalina said.
"Catalina, you are an orphan. I think it is better if you start a new life here." Simoun said, not wanting to let go of his friend.
"My brother and I will start a new life in the Court of Her Majesty, Queen Isabella." Catalina said.
"Catalina, I wish not to hurt you, but it really is unwise to not approach the Queen of Spain and ask help from her to deliver justice for your parents." Simoun said.
"Had I just came to the Queen's presence, I would not help Joseph, bring happiness to my new parents and help Monsieur Pierre find his daughter." Catalina said.
"And you would not be my friend." Simoun whispered.
"What?" Catalina asked.
"Nothing." Simoun said.
"Simoun, people must not utter lies." Catalina advised.
"I know." Simoun said, looking at the Seine.
"If you know that, why would you tell me not what your mouth hath uttered?" Catalina asked.
"I am a shy boy, Catalina." Simoun replied.
"Be not afraid, my friend." Catalina assured him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"That is the answer, Catalina. Had you not come here, I would not have a real friend beside Dom Mathias and my fellow altar boys." He said, facing his friend.
"You must learn how to be a brave boy or you might as well surrender yourself to the heretics." Catalina warned.
"The Lord is my Shepherd. Therefore, I am not afraid to be persecuted, tortured and executed by those filthy people." Simoun said.
Catalina simply smiled at her friend. The friends' happy privacy is interrupted by Jacqueline screaming and running away from a group of drunkards. Catalina and Simoun immediately stand up to defend the little gypsy girl.
Catalina gets Jacqueline's hand and makes her hide behind a tree. Simoun, on the other hand, uses his dagger to inflict small wounds on the drunkards' arms. One drunkard grabs Simoun to let his friends harm the altar boy. Catalina gets a rock from the ground to throw it at the drunkard's head. Instead of hitting his head, the rock hit the drunkard's back. But that was enough for the drunkard to drop Simoun on the ground. Catalina gets more rocks to throw them at the drunkards until they retreated out of utter defeat.
Catalina comes near to Simoun to check if he's alright. The altar boy assures his friend that he's alright. Jacqueline comes out from hiding to hug Catalina and Simoun.
"Thank you very much for saving me." Jacqueline said once she stopped hugging Simoun.
"It is our pleasure." Catalina said. "What is your name?" She asked.
"Jacqueline." Jacqueline replied.
"I am Catalina Enriquez." Catalina said.
"I am Simoun Villanueve." Simoun said.
"May I ask as to what happened?" Catalina asked.
"My friends and I were just playing on the streets when those men wanted to hurt us. I threw the stones I always carry with me so my friends can run away. When I was the only one left, I ran away." Jacqueline replied.
"Where are your friends?" Catalina asked, wanting to help Jacqueline find her friends.
"I know not." Jacqueline replied sadly.
"Worry not, Jacqueline. We shalt find them." Catalina assured her, making Jacqueline become happy.
An altar boy, a Spanish orphan and a gypsy girl embark on a mission to find the Romani child's friends in the city of Paris.
The gypsy children keep on running, fearing the drunkards are hiding everywhere in order to capture them. Finally, they came back to the Court of Miracles. Anatole, who was talking with his friends, saw the sweat rolling down on the children's frightened faces and the audible pants coming from their mouths.
"Are you alright? Where is Jacqueline?" Anatole asked.
"Drunkards tried to hurt us, King Anatole." A chubby boy replied.
"Jacqueline saved us by throwing stones at those men." A thin girl added.
"We ran away and we know not what happened to her." Another girl added.
Anatole, knowing how much dangerous the drunkards are, runs out of the Court of Miracles to find her. In the midst of running across Paris, he bumps into Dom Mathias. After Anatole and Renaud help Dom Mathias stand up, the Gypsy King ran away. Dom Mathias and joins Anatole. Renaud reluctantly goes after them.
"What happened?" Dom Mathias asked while running.
"My sister is in danger!" Anatole replied.
"Why?" Dom Mathias asked.
"A group of drunkards are chasing her and will hurt her if I will save her not." Anatole said.
"God, please protect Jacqueline." Dom Mathias said.
Then, Dom Mathias, Renaud and Anatole came to a halt when they saw Jacqueline, Catalina and Simoun. Jacqueline, who is very happy to see her brother, runs up to him and gives him a tight embrace.
"Thank the Lord, for He hath protected you." Anatole said.
"Anatole, Catalina and Simoun helped me and fought the drunkards." Jacqueline said, forcing Anatole to look towards the two children.
Being very grateful, Anatole walks towards Catalina and Simoun. For a matter of minutes, Anatole thought he was looking at smiling angels. When Anatole found the words to say, he stops imagining things.
"Thank you very much for saving my sister." Anatole said.
"It is our pleasure, King Anatole." Catalina said.
"Your sister speaks highly of you while my friend and I were helping her find her friends." Simoun explained.
"What can I do for both of you?" Anatole asked.
"The only thing we want is for you and your sister to be happy." Catalina replied.
"Are you sure?" Anatole asked.
"Yes." Catalina replied.
"Both of you are very humble." Anatole commented.
"Thank you." Catalina and Simoun said in unison.
"Jacqueline, your friends are in the Court of Miracles." Anatole said.
"Can we go now, Anatole? Please?" Jacqueline asked, feeling very excited.
"Of course." Anatole said.
"Goodbye." Jacqueline said.
"Be careful, Jacqueline, Anatole." Catalina said.
"God be with both of you." Simoun said.
"And may He be with you too." Jacqueline said.
After the gypsy siblings bade farewell to Dom Mathias, the Archdeacon goes over to Catalina and Simoun to praise them.
"Blessed are both of you, Catalina and Simoun, for you saved a gypsy girl from danger." Dom Mathias said.
"It is a duty of mine to protect my fellow orphans." Catalina said.
"Including gypsy orphans?" Renaud asked.
"Yes." Catalina replied.
"Renaud, it is bad to hate the gypsies." Dom Mathias warned.
"Dom Mathias, the gypsies are the reason why heresy and sin still exist." Renaud said.
"We can convert the gypsies to God rather than let them die without loving God." Dom Mathias said.
"He is correct, Renaud." Simoun said. "Did Jesus tell us to kill one another?" He asked.
"No." Renaud replied.
"Whatever God and Jesus say, we must follow Them." Simoun said.
"I think we must go now." Renaud said.
"Anyways, it is time for us to eat." Dom Mathias said. "Come along, Simoun." He said then walked a few steps away with Renaud.
"Go, Simoun. I am fine on my own." Catalina said.
"Are you sure?" Simoun asked.
"Yes." Catalina replied.
"Alright. God bless you." Simoun said.
"God bless you too." Catalina said then left.
A/N Wazzup, dear readers! It's been a loooooooooooong time! The reasons for my hiatus on this fanfic are my concentration on Memoirs From the Past (a Fresme fanfic), being a procrastinator and thinking about the development of this fanfic's plot. Don't worry, guys. I'll set up a schedule for the deadlines of uploading the chapters for my fanfics.
Bye! Have a great time! God bless you!