Chapter 20: Merry Christmas? (Or: No, it Won' End)
The next day was Christmas Eve, and a light snowfall had occurred overnight. Caroline let Estella out to play. She watched from the stairs, finishing Guilliame's gift. As much as she hated to admit it to anyone, Caroline was pretty good with knitting. She finished the scarf and called in Estella. The girl, however, was in the middle of a snowball fight with some of the children that lived on the block. So Caroline walked in to the kitchen.
She re-emerged with some cookies and hot chocolate. This attracted the children's attention immediately. They came running, sliding down the icy road to reach the treats. Each child grabbed a cookie and a mug of hot chocolate. They greedily ate and drank the treats and thanked Caroline. Their mothers called them home for supper as Caroline brought Estella in.
Guilliame arrived an hour later when Caroline was wrestling Estella into her new dress. The little girl was complaining about the material that made the dress puff out. "I don't want to wear the itchy dress," Estella exclaimed, climbing into her bed and covering herself with her blanket. "It hurts when it scratches." Carolline looked thoughtful. She ordered Guilliame to watch the girl while she went out.
A few minutes later, Caroline returned with something wrapped up in her hands. "Estella, I have something that might help," she said, coaxing the little girl from underneath the covers. Estella cautiously unwrapped the package and lifted out a white skirt. "What's this?" Estella asked. "It's a slip. Now the material won't hurt you," Caroline explained. Finally, Estella agreed to wear the dress. After making sure the dress was perfect, Caroline readied herself to head out to Le Cirque Boheme. "Come in about an hour and a half. I'll see you there," she instructed, kissing Guilliame.
She reached Le Cirque Boheme in record time. Panting, she opened her dressing room door to find Joseph Blanc sitting there. "Joseph! Out, now! How did you get in?" Caroline screeched, drawing the Gemini's attention. "I made a key for myself off of Myrcel's master set," Joseph said, swinging his key around. "You stole Myrcel's master set?" Elisa questioned. "Absolutely, you idiotic American," came her reply. Elisa and Elena puffed up in anger. "How dare you!" Elena scolded, ice dripping in her throat. "Two American buffoons. Do France a favor, go back to America where you belong," Joseph commented.
Myrcel approached his three dancers carefully, noticing the tense situation. "What's the matter?" Caroline turned towards him. "Joseph Blanc stole your master set and made a copy of my dressing room key," she explained. Myrcel turned towards Monsieur Blanc, who was sitting calmly in Caroline room. "You stole my keys? You made me panic for two straight days? You made the crew be on high alert for those two days? How dare you!" Blanc just stared ahead as Myrcel sent a stagehand to call for an officer. "Joseph, I'm going to have to ask you to return the key," Myrcel said. Joseph didn't move. "Joseph, don't make this difficult for me."
The stagehand returned with a police inspector. "You said you wanted to report a thief?" the inspector asked, seeming a little absent-minded. Pierre was holding back both of the Gemini, still ready to attack Joseph for his earlier comments. Carly had come out of her room and was now standing by Caroline. The other girls stood by their doors.
"Yes," Myrcel replied to the inspector, launching into his story. The inspector listened and nodded. "Alright, Monsieur Blanc, you need to hand over those keys to Monsieur Myrcel now."
"Don't address me as some child. I am a grown man."
"Who broke the law. You are coming with me."
"I absolutely refuse to move from this spot. You wouldn't do this to you own cousin, Myrcel!" All eyes turned to Myrcel, who was so red, his face was purple. "You stole from me, cousin," he stated simply. He motioned for the inspector to arrest Blanc. "You aren't serious! Unhand me, fool. Myrcel our mothers—what would they say? Leave me alone. I'm family; your own flesh and blood. I refuse to be treated in such a manner," Blanc protested. His eyes fell on Caroline.
She began to squirm under his gaze. "Caroline, you will stand up for me, right?" he pleaded. Caroline turned her head. "Inspector, please remove him now," she heard Myrcel say, bitterness seeped in his voice. "Caroline, Caroline, what about our love? Our engagement!" Blanc called out. "He's obviously delusional," Robert called out. "Caroline?" Blanc continued to plead. "For us?"
"I told you there is no us."
"Our engagement…"
"Ended six years ago. I'm engaged to someone else now. I'm happy with him and I love him."
Jospeh Blanc was escorted out of the building and given to the custody of another officer. The inspector returned with Blanc's copied keys. Myrcel thanked the man and returned the keys to his office. The backstage crew returned to their everyday activities, acting as if nothing had happened. Carly gave Caroline a hug and walked to her dressing room. All the other dancers turned towards Adellina. "Alright, I'm a jinx! Happy now?" Everyone nodded, causing Adellina to slam her door in mock anger.
Caroline was busy putting on her costume when a knock came to the door. She slid her arm into her sleeve and opened the door. Guilliame and Estella stood there. Estella tore herself from Guilliame's grasp and pounced on Caroline's couch. "How are you?" he asked, concerned. "I'll tell you if you do two things," Caroline said. "Shut the door and button me up."
Ten minutes later, Caroline and Guilliame emerged with Estella in between. Caroline had told the shorter version of the story to save time. Erik and Christine were already sitting in Balcony 5, waiting for Guilliame and Estella. "I'll take her now," he said, leading the girl away. "Wait!" Carly called out. Guilliame stopped and turned. "Would Estella like to sing with us?" the Spanish dancer asked Caroline. Caroline turned to Estella, who was bouncing up and down with excitement. "That would be wonderful," La Belle d'Amour said. Estella gave a shout of joy and ran to join a small group of children by the wings. Guilliame smiled and started to walk to the balcony.
The show started early, since this was the one night patrons brought their families. Wives and husbands sat together, smaller children running around the tables. Older girls watched the dancers with such admiration. Older boys eyeing them as only adolescent boys can. The entire family enjoyed the night. This was Myrcel's real dream, Caroline knew, a family entertainment venue. She glanced up at Balcony One, where Myrcel's elderly mother, his wife and three children sat. His fourth stood by Estella with the other children. Caroline sighed, it was a shame Myrcel had to change his original attentions of Le Cirque Boheme because society wouldn't approve and he needed money.
Estella enjoyed being on the stage with her adoptive mother. The girls were only singing traditional Christmas carols, so all the children knew what to sing Caroline and Olga jumped off the stage—a really short jump—and started dancing with some of the children not on stage. "This is what I love about here—class with unpredictability," one patron said.
Everything seemed to be going fine—the music, the dancing, the eggnog, the sweets were all perfect and abundant. Then the lights went out. "I knew it was a bad idea to try these new fangled incandescent lamps," Caroline heard Myrcel say. Children called out for their mothers but Caroline didn't hear the voice of her own daughter. The stagehands relit the candles burned lights returned to the room. Mothers and fathers comforted their children.
When the lights went down, Caroline figured Estella had kept calm or maybe one of the other girls had comforted her. Now, with the lights up, she looked around for her child. But the little black girl was no where to be found. Caroline looked up at Balcony 5. Erik, Christine and Guilliame were also looking for Estella. Carly ran up to her friend. "Caroline, there is an inspector looking for you. He has Estella."
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A/N: Sorry for how long this took. My laptop has had some internet difficulties that my school can't seem to fix. Luckily, my daddy is letting me use his laptop with internet connection! Then, we found out our principal had resigned on us like that. No goodbyes, no nothing. Just rumors and then a confirmation assembly. And I also made my first choice college. Yeah! Okay, enough rejoicing. I'm just going to *shamelessly* plug my other stories. ~*Mac*~
Other Mackenzie W's stories:
(* marks completed works)
The Phantom Lives On* Changes* Beauty and the Beast: A Modern Day Fairy Tale* Pirates of the Caribbean:Pirates of the Death Omen The Incredibly Bizarre Fairy Tale The Tale of the Woman Warrior Saying Good-bye* You've Got to Learn Your Well