Quasimodo seemed sensible and was still sleeping. I looked into his relaxed face while he was dreaming and wondered what he was dreaming about. I sighed heavily as I rose and left the room. I went into the room where the rest of the family was sitting at the table with Jasmine and having dinner.
"Come on, you have to eat something too," said Hannah.
"Thanks." I said and took a seat at the blackboard. There was a vegetable soup with a slice of bread, a splendid evening meal by medieval standards. It tasted good, but somehow I could hardly bring myself to eat something.
"Hey, what's going on?" Jasmin asked me, but I only answered with a deep sigh.
"Oh dear, that sounds familiar to me ..." said Hannah and grinned a little.
"You are right, my dear," said John.
"What?" Asked Mary curiously.
"It's getting late, Mary, time to go to bed," John said, lifting his daughter in his arms to get her to bed. Next to the room in which Quasimodo lay was the parents' bedroom, in which little Mary also slept. Quasimodo was in the guest room. As a stonemason, John made enough money to be able to afford a house with a guest room and something like a pre-medieval bathroom.
Jasmin also got up: "We should look around for a place to stay."
"If you don't mind sleeping on some straw, then I could provide you with a bed in the guest room," said Hannah, because the gentlemen slept on feather mattresses.
"Oh, we don't care," I said. Hannah got up and motioned us to follow her. There was a pile of straw behind the house. We carried it into the house and draped it in the guest room where Quasimodo slept, albeit in the other corner of the room. Hannah brought us a sheet and 2 blankets and then we went to sleep. To be honest, I've had much more comfortable nights, but that was to be expected here in the Middle Ages.
When I woke up that morning, I was surprised that Quasimodo's bed was empty. I gasped and jumped out of bed. Jasmine wasn't there either. How long did I sleep? I stepped out of the guest room. Hannah was clearing away dishes when I wished her a very sleepy "good morning".
"Good morning," she replied.
"Where's Quasimodo?" I asked.
"He's outside with Mary," said Hannah and I rushed past her outside. Then I saw Quasimodo, who disappeared hand in hand with Mary behind the house. I ran after them and managed to overtake them. I had to take a few breaths before I could say anything.
"How are you?" I asked Quasimodo.
"Good, it hardly hurts anymore.", Quasimodo said.
I let out a relieved breath and Mary giggled: "I showed him our house so he could see where he was going to live now."
"Living?" I asked confused.
Quasimodo looked at me questioningly. Obviously he hadn't understood at all why Mary had grabbed his hand and showed him around. I knelt down in front of Mary and said, "Listen, Mary. Quasimodo is not like other people, you know? He's also very poor at hearing. He doesn't understand what you're saying. You know, he grew up in Paris and lives in a cathedral. "
"Like that one?" Asked Mary, pointing to the towers of Reims Cathedral that towered over the city.
"Exactly. It is very important to him, it is his home. I don't think he can stay away from there forever." I explained.
"Then he can live here in the cathedral when the roof is whole again," said Mary hopefully.
"Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Imagine if your parents would come and say you have to move away from here. Would you want that?" I asked Mary.
She hung her head and let go of Quasimodo's hand: "No ..."
"Do you see? Do you understand what I mean now?" I asked her.
"Yes. But ... I was so excited. I want to get to know my brother better," said Mary, disappointed.
"You will too, don't worry. After all, Reims and Paris are not that far apart. You can visit each other," I said to cheer up the little girl.
"You're right! I'll talk to mom about it in a moment!" Said Mary and hurried back into the house. I got up in relief and then looked at Quasimodo.
