Chapter Three: The Children's Plans Unfold

True to his word, Frollo had begun to hasten his roundup of the Gypsy children throughout the next week. He could not get all of them as Clopin had given strict orders, which he rarely did, that the children were to remain within the Court of Miracles until they discovered what was happening to them all. True, he knew, but he could not say. If he were to let the information leak out, even to one person, then the entire Court would find out, spreading it to those all around Paris. He could not afford to have an uprising against Frollo at this point. They were not ready and he knew it. He simply hoped that he could gain enough time to come up with some sort of strategy on how to best deal with the predicament that he found himself in.

It was a full week before Claire allowed her younger brother out of his sleeping nook and he was about to go stir crazy. He snuck out without her direct permission, and certainly without the healer's, and limped his injured self into the main room, catching the eyes of many. It seemed as if everyone's spirits lifted upon seeing their king.

"Uncle Clopin!"

The dark haired king turned and saw his eldest nephew rushing towards him. He stopped suddenly, landed gracefully where most would have tripped, and had an overly serious look on his face. He peered up at his uncle with an intensity that worried Clopin.

"Staying out of trouble?"



"Of course, Uncle Clopin," Henri assured him with a sideways glance. "I was wondering, since you are feeling better, might you tell me a story?"

"What kind?' Clopin asked warily.

"About what happened," Adrienne answered, seeming to come out of nowhere on his other side.

Clopin did not like the look in his eldest nephew and niece's faces. They were up to something, and he had a good idea what. He had been their age once, and the sad thing was that he had never grown out of the mischief. He knew what he would have done if he'd seen this happen to someone he cared about, and, though he'd never admit it verbally, he knew they idolized him. "Now why would you want to know gruesome details like that?"

"We've outgrown children's stories," Henri said easily.

"So you want a grownup story?"

"Yes," they answered together.

"Well," Clopin drawled out, hobbling over to where he could sit and stretch his aching legs out. He was surprised how much energy he'd used up simply walking a small distance and then standing for a few moments. The children followed him and sat with their legs crossed on either side. "It doesn't seem as it should matter too much, because there is nothing to be done about it. You have a curfew."

"Younger than fifteen have a curfew," Henri grumbled.

"And you are not yet fifteen."

"I will be soon."



This stung the Gypsy King. He was much more observant than most gave him credit for. In everything he analyzed the best path for his people to take and made sure that way was clear. He'd watched the ages of the children disappearing and noticed that even if an elder sibling had been walking with the other, they would avoid the elder. Fifteen, to Clopin, seemed to be the cutoff. He wasn't sure why, or even why Frollo would be so desperate to get the kids if not to take out everyone he could to have less work later, but that is what he had seen. When he pieced it together, he'd made it as clear as day that no child under fifteen would leave the Court for any reason. The adults would take turns watching the urchins while their parents made their living, but the children had little choice in the matter.

"You won't budge me on this," Clopin assured the young Gypsy boy. "I care too much for you and do not want to see my dearest elder sister cry."

"They wouldn't dare touch us," Adrienne stated haughtily. "They can't catch us."

"I thought the same and look now," Clopin motioned to the many bandages that covered his otherwise bare torso.

"Even if they did we wouldn't talk, Uncle Clopin," Henri assured him. "We'd take our secrets to the grave, just as you were willing to do."

"You'd be surprised what the human body can take, Henri," Clopin answered him seriously. "I took my beatings at your age and learned to have a still tongue through it. Don't suspect it is a talent you are born with."

"We're not getting the story, are we, Uncle Clopin?" Adrienne asked almost sadly.

"No, you're not, dear."



Both young spirits seemed to drop immediately in defeat. Their heads hung and their shoulders slumped, eyes not wanting to meet their uncle's. Clopin smiled lovingly at them and ruffled Henri's hair. "Just be strong for the young ones, do you hear me?" He paused in thought. "Just… watch over them for me, if anything were to ever happen, do you hear me?"

"Nothing will happen as long as they stay here," Adrienne said in a sad voice. "We're stuck in these walls. Sanctuary."

"This is not a church, Adrienne. Do not think if they discovered our whereabouts they would not slaughter us with glee." The dark comment stated, Clopin stood and limped away, leaving the young siblings to ponder his words.

As the weeks past children slipped out. It was everything from parent's not knowing of the curfew, not thinking anything of it, or children being tired of being trapped. At the end of the first month since Clopin's capture, the tension was great within the Court.

"Sit down somewhere, you're making me dizzy," Claire griped, watching her younger brother pace up and down the stretch.

"It doesn't matter what we do, they keep going."

"They're children, you can't keep them here."

"They're being taken, Claire!"



She sighed and pushed her dark hair from her face. "I know, Clopin. It frightens me… greatly. I have five children that have not seen daylight in a month now, Inès and Jules have a child that has a future of this alone in her sight… It's disturbing."

"And what choice do we have?" the king snapped.

"You saw nothing of those children when you were beneath the Palace of Justice?" Claire pushed. "Nothing at all? No hint or whisper?"

"I was rather tied up," Clopin growled. He caught himself when tears built in his sister's eyes. "I'm sorry. I…"

"You have a great weight on you, I know. I'm sorry to push you so hard. I know you're just as worried as I am. I don't think even Frollo would take children like this. What use would he have for them?"

Clopin chose to remain silent on this and turned away. He could not allow anyone to see the tears gathering in his own eyes. It hurt more than he could ever describe, and it was driving him slowly insane.

No one spoke to Clopin about the disappearing children unless he brought it up. He slowly began to shift back into his old self, his smile returned, though even through it all, the children remained in the back of his mind and haunting his nightmares. Night after night he woke to hear himself screaming and was thankful that no one seemed to notice, and if they did they said nothing.



November had come and gone, December was halfway through. The cold chilled the Gypsies to the bone and Christmas was not looking to be a pleasant one. Families were being ripped apart at the seams, and what Children were left were losing their minds to boredom.

"Will we at least get to go to the Festival?" Camille asked, peering up from her spot on the floor where she and her cousins, aunt, uncle, and parents were eating.

Jules looked to his elder brother, appearing as if he were waiting for an answer. Clopin sighed and set what was left of his bread down. "It is coming up soon, and I know all of you have worked very hard… I shouldn't imagine anything would be wrong with that."

An explosion erupted through the cousins as they tackled their uncle. "Do you really mean it?" "Can we go?" "I've got a costume that I've been working on." "Can I help you introduce the King of Fools this year, Uncle Clopin?"

This brought a true laugh from the King of Vagabonds. "Yes, yes, that's wonderful, and perhaps," he answered them in the order that the questions had been thrown. He watched as they scurried off, all piling over one another in excitement. He turned to the other adults. "I hope that was right," he confided.

"It was unavoidable," Inès murmured. "You know that the Festival would be nothing without the children there."

"Yes, it is more or less for them."

"The adults like it just as well," Claire laughed as she stood, gathering her children's things. "But, to answer your question, little brother, yes I believe you did the right thing by letting them go. Whether it be Frollo or something else, surely they will give us a rest for the Festival. It is our day."



"I hope so," Clopin murmured and set out to see how preparations for the festival were going.

"I've got a plan," Henri stated to his brothers, sister, and cousins. He had been unusually antsy lately, seeming to pick up on his uncle's mood swings, but just as Clopin's spirits had begun to raise with the thought of the Festival of Fools, so had the children's.

"What plan?" Marc asked as he munched on a small loaf of bread.

"It will take all of us," Henri began to explain dramatically. "It will happen at the Feast of Fools. You see, with everything in such an uproar, there is no way the guards can watch that everyone is behaving and catch us as well, so they'll pay us little heed."

"With that on our side we can sneak in and find the other children," Adrienne finished for her brother.

He nodded his approval. "Exactly."

"How will we get past the guards?" Gabriel asked.

"Didn't you just hear us, twit?" Henri grumbled. "They won't even pay attention to children at the festival. They never have. We aren't the ones that cause trouble."

"We don't cause trouble ever and they're still taking us!" the younger boy protested. "It's not a good idea. Uncle Clopin's gonna be mad."

"This is going to help Uncle Clopin, Gabe," his elder brother promised. "He's been worried since they started disappearing, but he can't find any strong leads. What we need is someone their not watching for. Of course the King of Gypsies is going to look for the children, but more children putting 

themselves, supposedly, in harm's way? They see us as a careful, selfish people. They'll never think of it."

"I'll stand by him in this," Adrienne stated as she smoothed her skirts. "Who else?"

"Me!!" Camille announced.

"Me too!" Marc and Isaac yelled out together.

"I still don't like it," Gabriel murmured. "They're all too young. Camille's only four, Isaac only five…"

"And you're a whiny ten-year-old that sounds less brave than the four!" Marc hollered at him. "Just do what Henri says and it'll be alright. Maman says he's just like Uncle Clopin was when he was younger, so he's going to lead right."

Henri grinned at this, straightening his stance a little and holding his head high. "Here's the plan. Marc, Isaac, and Camille will be the distraction. You three can slip into the smallest corners to hide, so it will be easiest for you to get away. Gabe, you're in whether you like it or not, so you'll be standing watch. Your paranoia will serve a purpose one way or another."

"So what will you and Adrienne be doing?" Gabriel asked.

"We will sneak into the Palace of Justice and save everyone!"

"If Uncle Clopin got caught in all of that, what makes you think you'll get out?"

"Gabriel, if you don't shut that trap of yours then I'll tell Maman exactly who set those fireworks off that were meant for the show last year.'

The younger boy went dead pale in the face. "You wouldn't do that!"



"Yes I would! Now just do what you're told and everything will be alright."

Gabriel snorted, frustration clear on his small, awkward features. "Fine, but I don't have to like it."

"No, you certainly do not."