Sadie stepped five feet behind him and entered the kitchen alone. Esmeralda looked up at Frollo and stepped back.
"Where's Sadie?" Clopin asked with his eyes narrowed. "My you two are protective of the little hell spawn." Sadie glared at the judge and sat beside Quasimodo at the table. "Ah. Safe and sound." Frollo gestured to her with his left hand. 'Shut. Up!' Esmeralda scowled.
"So, if it finally stops raining tomorrow, I suggest that we leave at eight in the morning, or seven." Sadie thanked Esmeralda for the plate of pasta that was set in front of her. "That way, since there are fewer buildings to take refuge at, we can make double time. The more daylight, the better. Any suggestions?"
Frollo opened his mouth.
"Clopin?" Sadie finished.
The judge frowned.
Clopin looked up from twirling his fork, a little hesitant. "Uh.." "Don't be shy. We're a team remember? There's always room for negotiations." She smiled. He unzipped his backpack and took out one of his puppets for comfort. "I was thinking. What if we all left tonight? It's only two after all. And.." He stood up to see out a window. "..it's raining lighter." "Really?" Sadie stood up and turned to look outside as well. "Would you look at that. Yeah. Traveling at night could be fun. Thrilling but fun."
"No. Absolutely not." Frollo sat in a chair beside Clopin.
"Called it." Quasimodo rested his chin on his hand.
"And why not? Are you scared of the dark?"
"Yes. He is."
"Silence Quasimodo!"
"Yes master." He whispered and quietly ate.
"Of course a power hungry man like yourself would be afraid of the dark. Everyone gather around for a grand old lesson in psychology. You see.." Frollo clenched his teeth and left upstairs to get the rope from her bag, along with the bottle he found earlier in the bathroom. "..controlling darkness is irrational. So of course.." The judge walked back down and set everything on a floor in another room. He grabbed her right arm and pulled her out of the chair. Sadie just continued to talk. "..he would be."
Frollo locked the door. Sadie covered her chest with her hands. "Are you longing for me to physically hurt you?"
"You wouldn't. I'm far too glamorous for you to destroy." She smirked. "I will." He held her against the wall. "Under those tempting shorts of yours. And you will never walk again."
Sadie shivered. "What?" "Yes." He tied her wrists together with the rope. "Wait. Where did you get that rope?" "It is none of your concern heathen." "You went through my bag!?" "Yes. As a matter of fact I did. Now I suggest that you behave." Sadie growled. "What the hell Claude? Have you ever heard about the principle of privacy?" "Such language!" He gasped in disgust. "Get over it! Stop overreacting so damn much!" He came face to face with her.
She narrowed her eyes as he slid his backhand down her chest. 'He wants to fight? Then so be it!' She spit on his cheek. He wiped it off with his sleeve. "The more you rebel little Sadie, the more I am drawn to you." He smirked. "I'm not scared of you."
"Oh really? Well then my dear, I suppose you would be so kind and generous to bare me a son." He grinned, showing his teeth. Sadie shut her eyes to hide her scared gaze. "I thought so. I recommend that you curb your tongue then." Her teeth clenched. "You're treating me like a dog! Don't do this. Don't do that. I suggest this. I suggest that. Yes. No. Yes." Frollo growled and pushed her onto her knees.
"Ugh! What are you doing?" "I was just imagining a rope around that beautiful neck of yours." Sadie whimpered as his fingers slid across her neck. "You spoke far too soon my dear." He bound her shoulders with the rope as well. "Wh..what are you going to do with me?" She nervously spoke and blinked, trying to clear her eyes.
Clopin stood up from the table and stood outside the door. He held a hand to his ear. "What are you doing?" Quasi copied his actions. "I'm worried that Frollo will really hurt her. Mentally specifically." "Ah. I know how that feels." The hunchback sighed. "She definitely has herself physically covered." "That's true." They continued to listen.
"I see. I have found your weakness. Having your mobility taken away from you." He deeply laughed with a grin. Sadie huffed and looked up with her hair covering her glaring eyes. "I do hope you are not planning to escape." She backed up to the wall and quickly panted. "Don't.."
"Then perhaps you should have controlled your words." He cleared her hair out of her eyes and placed a hand on her left knee. "Now I can be either courteous or ruthless. I am not the one to decide that my dear."
"I can have a voice just like everyone else! Stop throwing a tantrum every time things don't go in your direction!" Her eyes started to become wet. "Oh I will." He placed his other hand on her leg. "Once you give me what I desire." Sadie shut her eyes with a sigh. "What do you want?" 'Wait. What the hell am I doing?' Sadie kicked him in the chest and tried to reach for his fallen dagger.
Clopin felt the wall slightly shake from the force of her movements. "What did I tell you?" He smiled. "Yeah." Quasimodo smiled as well.
"Ugh! You disgusting vermin!" He picked it up before she did. "Look. I know that you can't master your emotions, but stop taking them out on me!" She wiped her eyes on her shoulder sleeve. "Why should I?" He stood back up with a groan. "You are the one who is at fault for such." "Please?" Sadie ignored him and purposely made her eyes tear up more.
Frollo sighed and walked behind her. "No. Not until you learn to keep that mouth of yours clean." "Can't you just take a joke once in a while?" She softly grunted as the rope scratched against her wrists. "I have no time for such nonsense. Now quiet." She sighed and leaned her head back. "There's no point in getting through to you is there?" "Will you ever stop talking? I repeatedly explained to you that I am not changing in the blink of an eye. Do you understand?"
Sadie shook her head and concentrated on freeing her hands. He slowly blinked as he noticed what she was doing. 'Enough with damaging her. You need her!' "Do not struggle." Frollo whispered as he untied the ropes. The girl sighed at the calmness of his voice, but was still scared that he might cut her by accident. "No." He continued in that tone. The dagger sliced each rope.
Sadie rubbed her red wrists and stood up. "Thank you." "Be mindful of your actions Sadie." The judge gathered the rope in a pile. He then lightly rubbed her wrists. "Does that hurt?" "No. It doesn't." She purposely lied. He rolled his eyes. "Tell me the truth Sadie." She left to unlock the door. "The marks will disappear. It's fine." "It's not fine." Frollo stopped her. "It doesn't matter. I'm so used to being hurt that I'm not too bothered by it anymore." She sulked and left the room, back to the kitchen table.
Esmeralda sighed in relief and tightly hugged her as she returned. "Are you alright Sadie?" "Yeah. I'm okay. He's quite a killjoy that judge." She replied casually. "What's a killjoy?" Quasimodo asked. "It's basically like the word implies. When you guys and I were joking around but Frollo was just being a stick in the mud." "Oh. I like that word." The gypsy king nodded. Sadie hummed. "So are we still on for tonight?" "That kind of depends on one thing though." "What one thing?" Quasi tilted his head as Clopin led him upstairs.
"Ah. They must be on the lookout for a flashlight or two." The girl shrugged and sat back at the table to finish eating. "Yeah. If not, it's no big deal. The adventure does sound kind of risky." Esmeralda sat across from her. "That's true. I'm normally not a coward but.." "I get your point." She nodded. "Even a sneeze or cough could grab their attention. I guess we can let the boys decide. Since we are a team." "Yep." Sadie finished her plate with a smile. "Sounds good to me."
Meanwhile, while Frollo remain in the same room partaking in a silent prayer, Clopin and Quasimodo searched through the hallway shelves and drawers for some flashlights, or just one if they were lucky.
"If I were a flashlight, where would I be hiding?" The gypsy king took out one of the five drawers from a dark wooden side table and emptied its contents onto the floor. He then put it back and removed the next. Quasi sat on the floor across from him and looked through everything.
"A lot of paper." The hunchback gathered every sheet and neatly put them into a pile. "Might be useful to make a fire? That's it! If we can find some sticks, we can create torches!" Clopin clapped. "Yes!" Quasi took half of the stack and set it aside.
Once Clopin cleared the final drawer, he knelt down and picked up blue velvet bag from the pile. "I wonder what's in here." He shook it, hearing the clacking sound that followed. "It's probably a bag of marbles. Oh. I found a deck of cards. But let's focus on the important stuff." "Right." He put the games in the same compartment as his puppets.
"There's a bunch of little sticks but I doubt they will do anything." Quasi picked up each toothpick and put a rubber band around the whole collection. "I think they're just used to hold pieces of food. To look classy and elegant I suppose." Clopin cleaned every scrap of confetti off the floor. "There's every color of the rainbow pretty much!" "Yeah. Well that's everything here I suppose." Quasi stood up, leaving the other useless scraps behind. "I'm going to explore some more. Are you coming?" Clopin dropped the confetti and looked up from a few coins. "Coming." He hurried after him.
Sadie then fell silent as fear overtook her. Esmeralda placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you certain that you're okay Sadie? I've dealt with him before and.."
"She by no means needs your counseling gypsy. Of course she's fine." Frollo's voice ended the silence.
Sadie slowly started to shake then ran off into an unseen hallway of the house. Once she was out of their sight, Sadie hid in a bedroom closet with a dimly lit lamp. "I doubt he will find me in here." She grabbed a coat off of a hanger and placed it on the ground to hide the light that could be seen from outside the door. "I just ate so I won't be hungry for a few more hours." The girl picked up a paper clip and started to bend it.
"We found some flashlights Esmeralda!" Quasi walked into the kitchen with a smile. "Where's Sadie?" "Why don't you ask him?" Esmeralda pointed to Frollo with a scowl. "I am not to blame for this conflict. She vowed to test my patience and miserably failed." The hunchback purposely shined the light in his eyes. Frollo looked away with a groan. "You could have blinded me Quasimodo!" "I don't have to try to blind you!"
Clopin folded his arms. "Now where is Sadie?" "Oh good heavens I have no clue." The judge exhaled in a falsely sympathetic tone. The gypsy king pressed his lips and franticly shook his head, biting his tongue while trying not to say anything really disrespectful. He then set off to look for her in a panic. Esmeralda went the other way while Quasi went with her.
Frollo sat at the table and hid his face in his hands, drowning in his thoughts about the girl. "Beata Maria, You know I am pure and righteous. Restrain her devilish intentions. I am not blameworthy."
"Sadie?" Clopin called out. "Where are you?" He searched through numerous rooms before coming across the one she was hiding in. "Sadie?" Sadie quickly curled into a ball between two large boxes and covered herself with a black blanket. 'Clopin's a good listener. If I turn the light off, he might hear.' She covered her mouth as the closet door opened. "Oh. A game of hide and seek. Splendid." He lightly clapped. "Marco.."
Her eyes shut even though her back hurt from arching.
"Marco.." Clopin giggled and opened the box to the right of her. His innocence stung her in the chest when she didn't answer.
His voice lost its upbeat tone and became more serious. Clopin removed the sheet. "Polo." She whispered out loud and began to weep. "I don't want to be left alone with him! I don't want to leave!" She hiccuped. The gypsy king helped her stand up and hugged her. "He did threaten you!" Clopin sighed and held her tighter. She hiccuped, letting her tears stain his shirt.
"It's alright. The day will come when he will regret it." Sadie stopped huffing for a minute. "Okay. When will that be?" She hid her nervousness. "Whenever the creatures haven't had enough to eat. I believe that fair is fair." "Clopin!" She gasped. "I..Why would you say that? Isn't there a more humane way for Frollo to die?" "Like how? I can't watch you become even more emotionally drained like this!"
"I can change him Clopin! I know I can!"
The gypsy king backed up in shock. "Y..You can't change him Sadie! He's the most stubborn and most arrogant.." "Clopin. Listen to me.." "No! I will not watch you risk your life!" He grabbed both of her shoulders. "Erase him from your thoughts Sadie. It is a waste of time." She sighed. 'I know I can save him from himself. I know I can.' "Okay. I will." "Don't lie to me Sadie. Alright?" "I won't." "Pinky swear?" That commitment stabbed her right in the heart. 'I can't lie to him. No.' "I..I can't."
"Sadie! It's over! He will never change! Quasimodo tried, Esmeralda tried, and many other gypsies that I knew have! What happened to all the other gypsies? They vanished! Frollo had them all hanged!" His eyes welled up. "I can't have you become one of them!"
The girl sighed. "I know when to stop when I stepped too far in the water. Or in this case, the fire. You can trust me." Her sincere words only caused him to hug her again. With a heavy sigh, he held out his left pinky finger. "Promise me that you will stop when you're unsure of yourself then. Do not press any chances." "I promise." Her right pinky finger linked with his. "Okay."
Sadie wiped his eyes and softly kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be alright." They left out to the living room in pure silence.
Esmeralda caught her breath. "Oh thank god."
Sadie ripped the rope out of Frollo's hand and put it back in her backpack. He glared at her with his eyes half opened. 'Watch yourself Sandra.' "Shall we get a head start? Even though it's only five?" "Well it is growing closer to winter after all." Quasimodo nodded. "Meaning the sun will start to set earlier." "It's only October though, but you do have a point. Let's go then." Sadie picked up her bag and slipped on her shoes.
The gypsy woman exited the house and walked beside her, in an effort to provide any sort of comfort. Clopin grabbed his backpack as well and the hunchback followed him. "Do you have the flashlights you two?" "Yep." The boys nodded as they each held one.
"And myself?" Frollo asked with a stern expectation. Sadie playfully rolled her eyes with a smile but Quasi covered her mouth before she could answer him. Sadie gently moved his hand. "You did insist that your words are the most beneficial out of all of ours." She walked over next to him. "Lecture to them like you do with me. It may take a while for them to comprehend them but they'll catch on eventually. I can guarantee it."
The two gypsies faced each other, trying not to smile. But they did.
Frollo shut his eyes with a heavy sigh. He then looked down at her and reached for her right hand, careful to not touch the faded red lines imprinted by the rope. "You are fortunate that I am tolerating you just now." She held her breath and met his eyes, only to look away seconds later. The judge internally smiled and continued walking with her, not letting his hand go.