Come What May
A.N. Thanks for the reviews, especially to the person who gave me some ideas. I defiantly will try to take those into consideration once Cassandra actually gets to Paris. Sorry about any delay, there was some major writer's block there for awhile when it came to this story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Moulin Rouge.
Cassandra hid in the pile of luggage for what felt like years, although in reality she was only there for about an hour and a half. Every so often, she would see the feet of the ship attendants, making sure that the fragile luggage wasn't moving about because of the waves. She knew that it was too dangerous to come out. Even if she wasn't caught by the luggage attendant, if she came out too early she would be stopped and either asked for her parents' location or for her ticket, of which she had neither.
So she waited. It wasn't really that bad. The luggage compartment was being kept at a reasonable temperature, most likely because of the little dog that the woman had been so reluctant to let go of at the shipyard. Eventually, she heard the luggage attendants come in for what must have been the fourth or fifth time. She couldn't make out all of their conversation, but what she did hear were the words "checked all the tickets" and "yes". "Finally, I can get out of here." Cassandra thought to herself. She held her breath while she waited for the attendants to leave, then waited about five extra minutes to ensure that they were nowhere near the door before slowly coming out of her hiding place, leaving her own suitcase in the pile. She was careful not to topple the pile of luggage; the attendants would notice of all of the suitcases and trunks were out of place. Slowly, she crept towards the door. She put her ear to it and listened for a moment. She heard voices, but none so clear that it posed a threat. She opened the door, and breathed a sigh of relief.
About twenty feet away, there was a large group of children congregated around what looked to be a game of some sort. This was perfect. She would mingle among the children for awhile, then hide out somewhere during the dinner hours. There was no way that the ticket collectors had memorized every face of every person on the ship, especially the children.
Cassandra made her way into the group, and approached a girl who appeared to be her age sitting by herself.
"Hi. What's going on?" she asked innocently.
The girl sighed. "Those two have been playing each other at checkers for about an hour now. I don't see why the others are so excited to watch people play a board game. I'm Maureen, by the way. What's your name?"
"Cassandra". Cassandra saw no harm in using her real first name. This girl posed no threat to her plan, and there was no reason that she could see for getting mixed up in an unnecessary lie.
"Hey, you want to come to the buffet with me? You know, before the crowds get there and we can't sit where we want?"
The offer of food was too good to pass up, even though it meant coming face to face with the ship staff she was trying to avoid. She followed Maureen in the direction of the buffet, and smiled to herself. Maureen seemed nice. Although she would never have expected it to happen in this situation, she may have made a friend.
Meanwhile, Satine and Christian were desperately continuing the hunt for their daughter. The police had not been able to turn up any information, as Cassandra had done a really good job of covering her tracks. She made sure not to speak with anyone as she was running away, therefore no one would be able to remember seeing her or talking to her.
As soon as morning broke, they went to the hotel where Harold and the others were staying. They informed them of what had happened, and Harold decided that it would be best if they all waited at Satine and Christian's house, as that's where the police would be calling if they got any information. For the past three hours, they had been sitting in the living room staring at the phone, not saying a word. Toulouse wanted more than anything to break the tension, but he kept his mouth shut. It was, after all, his fault that Cassandra learned of her mother's past, and therefore ran away. He wasn't sure if Christian and Satine knew that yet, but he didn't want to find out.
Three hours turned into four, then five, then six. Eventually, there was a knock at the door.
Christian got up to open it, as Satine was in a kind of daze. He opened the door to find a police officer.
"Hello, are you Christian James?" the officer asked.
"Yes…yes, I am." Christian was in a bit of a daze himself.
"I'm officer Smith with the police department. We need to ask you and your wife some questions to help us look for your daughter."
"Oh, yes. Of course. Come in." He led the Officer Smith to the living room, and introduced him to Satine as well as the various guests. Officer Smith began his questions.
"Ok, first of all, how was the time between when you last saw Cassandra and when you noticed she was missing?"
Christian and Satine looked at each other, and Christian replied "It couldn't have been more than two hours. She went into her room at about 9 and we noticed she was missing at about 11."
"Do you have any idea where she might have gone to? Were there any places that you wouldn't let her go, any people you wouldn't let her see? Older children tend to sneak out when their parents forbid them to leave the house for some reason."
"No…she was angry at us, but we weren't forbidding her to do anything." Satine said, her voice softer than usual.
"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly was she angry with you about?"
Satine looked at Christian, as if to say "You handle this one." And Christian instantly got the message.
"Well, you see, both of us did some things in our past that we're not exactly proud of. You know how it is when you're young. Anyway, we both agreed not to tell Cassandra about them until she was older, but somehow she found out. She was very angry that we kept our past a secret from her."
Satine was amazed at how Christian's gift with words could take even her past and make it sound like nothing. The officer had only one more question for them.
"So neither of you have any idea where she might have tried to go?"
Satine's daze suddenly broke. "Paris" she said. "She's trying to go to Paris."