Child of Freedom

Chapter 7- Escape

A/N: Concerning the previous chapter, I know some of you out there may have been a little concerned with the content of the last few paragraphs. Some of you may not be Christians, or even believe in God. The reason that I put that in the chapter is because, back then, almost everyone believed in God. My point is to say that I wasn't trying to offend anybody. So, if I did, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to force anyone to believe in God when they don't want to or anything like that.

-

I took another step back. "What do you mean, 'the rest of us are not'?" I asked, becoming a little angry.

"I mean," M. Didier said, taking a step towards me. I took another three steps back. "That The Servants obey those in authority, the way the Bible says to. The rest of the population does not."

"And why does this concern me?" I asked. M. Didier smiled again, but this time it was with an emotion that I could not name.

"You will see," M. Didier replied, and he grabbed my arm. In an instant, I knew the emotion on his face: It was greed. I tried to step on M. Didier's foot. He moved it away, and tightened his grip on my arm.

"You think you're so great, Hot Stuff," I growled at him. "Well, a great man would be able to withstand this!" And I kicked him in the nuts. He immediately let go of my arm and put his hands to his groin. He fell down on his knees. I figured he would soon be trying to use his 'awesome powers' to 'strike me down' or something.

Instead of waiting for whatever he was trying to do to work, I ran. I raced through the flower gardens, past the tree and shrub garden, and through the kitchen garden. I ran straight through the kitchen doors and crashed into Pierre.

"What's going on?" He asked me, concern in his brown eyes.

"Pierre," I said. "Was there a name for those people that would get rid of their children if they were disobedient?" I took deep gulps of air to steady myself. Every nerve was on alert.

"Yeah," He replied. "They were called The Servants because they believed they were doing God's work. Stupid, isn't it?" He chuckled softly. For a moment, I thought I could hear M. Didier coming.

"Pierre," I said. "This isn't the time for silly games. That stuff is real, and M. Didier is one of them!"

Pierre's face grew grim. "Then that must mean that M. Rouleau..." Pierre's sentence trailed away as he realized the magnitude of the situation. I nodded.

"We have to get out of here," I said.

"Let's use the back door," Pierre made for the door that I had come through.

"No!" I cried, grabbing his arm. "This way!" I lead Pierre through the double doors of the kitchen. We nearly fell over when we crashed straight into Mme. Rouleau.

"Oh, Madame," I said, trying to catch my breath. "We didn't see you there! Excuse us." And we ran past the confused woman.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Pierre panted.

"I know a way." I said.

"A way to a place where they will never find us?" He asked disbelievingly. I nodded, and continued to run.

I ran out the front door and nearly got hit by a cart that was trying to cross the street. The owner yelled some swears at us in French. We didn't look back.

"It's this way!" I called to Pierre, who was only just behind me. I led him to the Notre Dame Cathedral.

"Uh, believe it or not," Pierre began as I halted briefly inside the Cathedral. "We may be in more danger here, not less."

"Good, there isn't a congregation in here," I said, and headed through the door of the sanctuary.

"Why is that good?" Pierre asked. I ignored him and looked around to make sure that there wasn't anyone watching.

"Now you have to swear that you won't tell a soul about what I am about to show you." I said solemnly. Pierre nodded.

"I swear," he said.

I looked in his eyes to see if he was lying. He was telling the truth, I could tell. The look in his eyes was sincere.

I took one last look around the sanctuary before sliding away the stone that hid the secret passage. I motioned for Pierre to go down first. He cautiously made his way down. I checked to make sure no one was watching before I crawled into the opening as well, and slid the stone back into place.

We were instantly surrounded by dark. I could hear water dripping from somewhere nearby.

"Rebecca?" Pierre whispered. "How are we going to get to a place of safety?" His voice quivered.

"Don't worry," I assured him. "I have a plan." Then I removed form around my neck the little pouch that hung from a gold chain. I opened the pouch in the dark and pulled out a whistle.

"This is going to sound really loud," I said. "So I suggest you cover your ears." I waited a moment before bringing the whistle to my lips.

-

Erik was singing baby Lynaea to sleep when he heard a shrill sound echo through the tunnels. It was the whistle that he had given Rebecca to use in times of need. Erik waited a moment longer. The shrill sound came again. Erik knew that one blow of the whistle meant she was alone, two meant there was one person with her, three meant there were two people with her, etc.

Erik wrapped Lynaea in a blanket and put her in the basket. Then he took her with him to the place where they had prearranged her to end up, should a problem arise and she needed his help.

Erik brought with him a torch. As he neared the spot, he heard someone whisper, "Someone's coming! Hide!"

Then Erik heard Rebecca's voice. "You don't need to hide, Pierre. It's just my friend. He helps me. Don't worry. He's only dangerous if you piss him off." Erik smiled at that comment. It was true. He could be very dangerous if you pissed him off.

"Rebecca?" Erik called softly.

"Erik!" She replied. "We're around the corner."

Erik followed the wall until he turned the corner. Rebecca was standing there, smiling in relief. Beside her was a very frightened young man. He had dark hair that looked almost black, and his eyes were brown. He had a bit of a pointed noise, and was tall and thin. The young man wore a pair of trousers and a plain tunic made of coarse material. Over his clothes he had on an apron that had some flour stains, as well as the stains of some sort of jelly.

Rebecca was wearing the dress. She smiled shyly at him when she caught him admiring it.

"Thank you for the dress, Erik," she said. "It really was very sweet of you to think of me." Then she turned to the young man, who suddenly stood up tall. Erik realized it was because the man wanted to appear taller than Erik himself.

"This is Pierre," Rebecca introduced the slight, nervous, young man. Erik nodded a greeting.

"Whoever you are, you better keep away from Rebecca," Pierre ordered, and took a step forward. He put his arm protectively around Rebecca. Rebecca shrugged his arm off and Pierre's face took on a hurt expression before he straightened up and glared at Erik defiantly.

"I see your date didn't go as planned." Erik observed, ignoring Pierre.

Rebecca's eyes clouded over. "No." She said flatly. "The man who had invited me turned out to be one of The Servants." She frowned and her brow furrowed in worry.

"Who are The Servants?" Erik asked, confused.

"They are a group of people who believe that, if you don't obey the rules and orders set in place, then you are evil, or something." Pierre replied for Rebecca. "If someone, say a child, is disobedient too many times, they will turn the child away. If a parent is disobedient even once, then they will be given a warning, and the child will be cast out."

"Why will the child be cast out and not the parent?" Erik asked.

"Because," Rebecca replied, "They believe that, if one or both of the parents are disobedient, then the child will inherit the disobedient quality." Her hands became fists at her sides. "They are so evil!" She cried.

"We can continue this conversation later," Erik said quickly, hearing sounds above their heads. Pierre glanced up fervently and closed his eyes. "Follow me," Erik beckoned to the pair, and the three of them quietly traveled the tunnels.

As soon as Erik arrived at his house, he put the basket with baby Lynaea down on a table. Rebecca picked up the baby and cooed to her. She held Lynaea in her arms and rocked her, humming softly.

"You left the baby with him?" Pierre asked incredulously.

"Yeah, so?" Rebecca asked. Erik ignored them for a moment and sat down on the couch to think.

"So," Pierre said. "So, it seems to me that the guy doesn't know the first thing about taking care of a baby."

"Well, I do, and I showed him how." Rebecca said defensively. "And her name is Lynaea."

"Who came up with that?" Pierre scoffed.

"I did," Erik stood up to his full height and strolled over to where Pierre was standing. Erik towered over the slight young man, and he noticed that Pierre began to sweat. "Do you have a problem with the name?" Erik asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no problem." Pierre stammered.

"Good," Erik said. "Because if you did, I have a lasso, and I'm not afraid to use it." Erik smiled and him and Pierre cowered in fear.

"Stop that!" Rebecca said, and took hold of Erik's arm. She steered him away from Pierre, who looked ready to faint, and looked up at him sternly. "Erik," she said. "You know better than to threaten. People know not to make you angry without you needing to tell them." he winced. She had been trying to make it sound polite, but Erik knew what she was trying to say.

"I'll find a place for you're friend to stay while you two are here." Erik said. "In the meantime, you can stay in the room with the swan bed." He had lowered his voice for the last part so the wuss in the corner wouldn't hear.

Rebecca's forehead furrowed in concern. "Are you sure?" She asked him. Erik nodded. "Okay," she said, and headed to the room where Christine had stayed.

A/N: I hope you liked that chapter. Please review and tell me what you think.