I didn't answer. I had a stitch in my side and I was running out of breath, but I didn't stop. The boy hang onto my hand for dear life. It was hard for him to keep up with us. He tripped over the rope of a tent and we stopped to help him up. We took off again. Finally, we made it to the street. We ran out of site into the shadows, twilight basking the town in darkness.
We knew that the police were still searching for us. We ran through the city and down an alley way, ducking out of site. We sat to rest for a minute, our breath creating steam and sweat running down our faces.
I sat down on a dirty doorstep of an old apartment building. I leaned my head against the brick wall and closed my eyes for a second. I opened them as the little boy sat next to me, staring up at me. I looked over the rest of his body and saw he had scrapped his knee when he fell.
"Are you both alright?" Dimitri asked as he leaned against the wall.
"He's hurt," I said, "Look, he's bleeding."
"Marguerite, I don't think you thought this through completely." Dimitri said.
"Of course not, but I didn't have time to think it through. Those police were going to kill him." I said. I pulled off one of my gloves. I place it on the boy's knee trying to clot the blood.
"If the police weren't coming, though, would you still have taken him?" he asked.
I thought for a moment, "Yes, the idea had started to accure to me. I probably would have brought him to Mme. Remy."
"What are we going to do with him?" Dimitri asked. "We can't just set him free, even if he wasn't a wanted murderer."
"Dimitri!" I exclaimed. I wasn't sure if the boy could speak French, but still, I didn't want anyone insulting him.
"Sorry," he said, "But, people are going to be cruel to him. Besides, the police are looking for him. Where are we going to hide him?"
"We can't take him to Mme. Remy now," I said, "She'll turn him in."
"So will Mme. Therin." Dimitri agreed.
I turned my glove over to use the clean side. The boy was watching us, looking from me to Dimitri rather curiously. "We have to put him in a place where no one will find him, yet I can still watch over and take care of him."
"You?" he asked.
"Of course me, no one else will do it!" I cried. "You really think he'll be treated well in an orphanage?"
"No, I ment... am I not going to help you take care of him?" he asked.
I looked up at him in surprise. I could only smile. Suddenly, we heard the sound of people calling.
"It's the police!" Dimitri said, "We have to get him to safety. But where?"
"What about the opera house?" I asked.
"The opera house?" he asked, "You really think he'll be safe there?"
"There are plenty of places to hide in the opera house! Come on, before they find us!"
I removed my glove from the boy's knee and stood up. He followed suit and we started walking through the alley.
"There they are!" a policemen cried at the other end. Dimitri and I turned and looked. We took off running again.
Five minutes later, we made it to the opera house. The only person in view was Sebastien, reading his bible. He looked up when he saw us coming. Puzzled, he stood to greet us.
"Good gracious, Marguerite!" he cried, "What is this?"
"There's no time to explain!" I said, having been struck by a sudden idea. "But we need your help. Do you know how to get into the basement of the opera house from out here?"
"Of course I do!" Sebastien said, "Come on!"
He took my other hand and led me around the opera house. Luckily, there were no police men in site. On the side of the house was one of the windows into the chapel, he opened the window and allowed me to climb inside. I dusted off my dress and turned around.
"Come on," I said to the frightened little boy, "No one's going to hurt you here."
I reached out my arms to him so I could help him. Whether he understood me or got the hint from my arms, I wasn't sure, but he climbed through the window just the same. I lifted his extremely light body down into the chapel. We stood to the side as Dimitri climbed in and then Sebastien. Sebastien shut the windows and latched them. He lit a few of the unused candles and handed one each to Dimitri and me. We started moving through the chapel and towards the basement.
"So, Marguerite, who exactly is this?" Sebastien asked.
"Well..." I said, "Do you remember when you... told Sarah and me about... the Devil's Child?"
"Yes," Sebastien said.
He looked over at me and I smiled guiltily. Sebastien looked shocked.
"Oh no, Marguerite! You didn't!" he cried.
"I'm sorry!" I said, "But, the poor thing was so helpless and he was beaten and starving! I couldn't just leave him."
"It wouldn't have been as tiring for us to get here, either, if they child hadn't killed his caretaker." Dimitri said.
"He killed his caretaker?" Sebastien asked. I nodded. "Marguerite, what was going through your head when you did this."
"Sebastien look at him! He's starving and weak! I don't think he would have lasted much longer with those calamitous people if we hadn't saved him! They treat him like he's something evil!"
"Marguerite, the child is called the Devil's Child! He's suppose to be evil!" Sebastien exclaimed.
"But he's not!" I yelled.
"Not that I want to interrupt your friendly conversation," Dimitri said, "But where exactly are we going?"
"There's a hidden room in the basement where I sleep." Sebastien said, "I have some food and water down there, too."
About ten minutes later, we made it down into the basement. Sebastien walked over to what looked like a solid wall and pushed aside a camoflauge door. He lit the five candles sitting in a iron candle holder. I looked around this room. It was stuffy and a bit dirty, but much more sanitary than the cage and the tent was. I brought the boy inside and set him down on the bed.
"But wait, where are you going to sleep?" I asked as I removed my other glove and set them both on the bed.
"I'll sleep on the floor in the next room. I have a few extra blankets." Sebastien replied.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, he needs it more than I do." he replied. "In the mean time, I'll give him something to eat. You two better get back to the fair before Mme. Remy finds out it's you two who stole the child."
"We didn't steal him, we rescued him." I corrected. I was about to leave, but the boy wouldn't let go of my hand. I bent down to talk to him.
"Do you understand French?" I asked him. He nodded, not speaking. I wondered if he could speak. "I have to go with him, now, ok? But I promise I'll come back very soon. I'll get you all cleaned up and I'll bring you fresh cloths, ok?"
The boy seemed to be thinking for a moment. Slowly he nodded. Marguerite smiled, "In the meantime, this is Sebastien. He's going to get you some food, ok?"
He nodded again. I stood up and he let go of my hand. I noticed he was trembling. "Take care of him," I said to Sebastien.
"I will. Hurry back." he replied.
Dimitri and I left the room and the opera house as quickly as we could. Running through alleys and deserted streets we made it back to the fair where everyone was looking for the devil's child. Thankfully, no one recognized either of us as the two who had kidnapped him. Without the child with us, it was probably hard to realize. We saw a few of the ballet rats walking with Mme. Therin. We rushed over to them and blended in as best we could. The group eventually ran into Mme. Remy and we caught up with Sarah.
"There you two are!" Sarah cried, rushing over to us. "I couldn't find you. Did you hear what happened?"
"No, no one will give us a straight answer." Dimitri said quickly. "What happened?"
"Well, right after we left the Devil's Child tent, two people, a couple it looks like, went in, killed the caretaker and kidnapped that hideous beast."
"He's not a hideous beast!" I cried.
Sarah suddenly had a look of pity on her face and put her arm around me. "I know it was scary, Marguerite dear, but you must not let it affect you. It was enough to make anyone disturbed."
I looked at Sarah with a look of pure, utter loathing. How in the world could my best friend be so cruel to that pitiful little boy? Dimitri took my hand and pulled me away from Sarah. He must have known what I was thinking because we stayed like that until we reached home.
After we made it back to the house, we ate dinner in the dinning room. I snuck as much food as I could into my cloak, which I had removed and bundled up in ball, however improper it was. After dinner, we were all sent off to bed. I waited until Mme. Remy came for lights out and until all the sounds were quite in the bedroom. Then, I reached under my bed, grabbed my bundle of food, and slipped out of the bed heading for the basement.