Chapter Four: The Festival of Fools

Everyone in the Court of Miracles had woken early. Their eyes were bright with the thought of the Festival. Even if Christmas had been dreary, cold, and unloving, the Festival of Fools could always bring a spark to even the most depressed of people. A few individuals had started the more intoxicating activities the night before and were well on their way to continuing by the time Clopin was rousing everyone up to hit the streets as the sun came up.

"Wake up!" his voice echoed through the Court. He stood on the stage, wide grin spread across his face, wild clothes replacing the more somber ones he'd been wearing. The children, of course, were the first to gather around him. "Do you know what today is?" he hollered out.

For the first time in what seemed like ages, the little puppet Clopin popped out of nowhere, sending giggles throughout the group of children. "The Feast of Fools!" it yelled in its squeaky voice.

"Hush you!" Clopin reprimanded the puppet. "Let the children answer."

"Topsy Turvy day!" they yelled back, laughter exploding.

"Then let's get to it!"

Everything went chaotic, though in the way that Clopin knew it best. Costumes were everywhere on the streets of Paris and this was the first time that he didn't feel like someone was trying to rip his soul from him. The tents were about finished be set up as the people began to gather. Esmeralda was nearly finished getting ready as the music began and Clopin knew that she would be his star attraction this year.



A slight frown turned his mouth down as Judge Claude Frollo rode into the square in his carriage, but he shook it from his mind. This was the one day that he had to let his mind rest. If he didn't, the Festival and his people would suffer. He wouldn't allow that.

Everyone was dancing, spinning, and singing. Ale was being thrown around and drunk. Clopin hopped up and down, leading a large parade and announcing each event. He spun and saw what would make everything work out the way he was wanting it to. His eyes landed on a cloaked figure, ducking through the crowd as if he were trying to avoid being seen. A grin caught the edges of the king's mouth and he started towards him. Was he right? Could it really be who he thought it was? If it were, on the off chance, turn out to be exactly who he hoped it was, he'd found himself a treat indeed.

It was! Quasimodo, the bell ringer! He rushed over and took him by the wrist, pulling him straight in the middle to the festival, where he didn't seem to want to be. This was going to be fun.

"I don't like this."

"We heard you the first hundred times, Gabriel," Adrienne grumbled at her little brother, shuffling along the street. "Don't you have somewhere to go?"

"Yeah, but not until you and Henri do what you have to."

"You're our lookout, get to looking!"

Gabriel huffed in irritation and rushed off. Nothing was right about this entire situation. He should have told someone. Uncle Clopin was going to be very, very upset, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He had to go through with Henri and Adrienne's plan.

The Palace of Justice was nearly deserted when Henri and Adrienne arrived. They'd seen their younger siblings and cousin race around, causing mayhem for what guards were there. It made it almost easy to sneak into the Palace. It was quiet for the most part, everything deserted except for a little noise down one hallway.

"They're being hidden down there," Henri said confidently.

"So what, we just rush down there and get them?" Adrienne whispered.

"Sure, why not? There's no one -" His sentence was cut off as the sound of regulated footsteps came down the hallway, causing the siblings to duck into hiding. Soldiers marched past them, ignorant to their presence. They said nothing amongst each other to give anything away.

As they passed, Adrienne locked eyes with her brother. "Now isn't a good time."

"Uncle Clopin knows they're down here," Henri said sadly.

"I can't imagine how he'd miss it."

"We just need to get back to the Festival before they notice we're missing. C'mon."

The Festival was in full swing by the time the siblings returned, but there was no sign of their young brothers or cousin. The crowd was in an uproar over the new King of Fools. It was the bell ringer 

himself, the hunchback of Notre Dame. People were throwing fruits and vegetables at him, tying him to the moving pedestal and spinning it. Henri spotted his uncle.

Clopin stood hidden in the throngs of people, anger clearly present on his face. He'd never meant for the poor creature to take beating like this. It was all supposed to be a good laugh. They wanted the ugliest face in Paris, and yet when he gave it to them they did not seem to care. They had no respect, these people, but only followed those fool of soldiers.

"What's going on, Uncle?" Adrienne's voice leapt above the crowd.

"They're being fools themselves," Clopin answered loudly.

The three Gypsies watched as the platform spun faster and faster, a plea for help echoing over the shouting from the abused boy, crying out to his master. It was La Esmeralda stepped onto the stage, causing a hush to fall over the crowd.. She whispered her apology to Quasimodo.

"You! Gyspy girl! Get down from there at once!" Frollo yelled out, anger apparent in his eyes. They had already made fools of him twice, once the King of Gypsies, who, in his eyes, had no room to make a poor judgment, and secondly when this very girl had come to him.

"Yes, your honour, just as soon as I free this poor creature," Esmeralda responded.

"I forbid it!"

Clopin shook his head. He knew what was coming next. The green eyed beauty was his freedom fighter, and he respected her for it. Heaven knew that he wished that everyone in the Court was just as she was. Perhaps, if so, they would have a fighting chance against the evil judge.

Esmeralda pulled a dagger from her skirts and purposefully rebelled against Frollo's orders. Her disdainful look was pointed directly at him, eyes blazing.



"How dare you defy me?" he growled out.

"You mistreat this poor boy just as you mistreat my people!" she yelled out. "You speak of justice, but you are cruel to those most in need of your help!"

Frollo's face contorted in anger. "Silence!"

"Justice!" Esmeralda cried out, eyes blazing in righteous anger. The crowd gasped at her brashness and she finished helping Quasimodo from his restraints.

"Mark my words, Gypsy, you will pay for this insolence," Frollo swore, anger seething from his very being.

"Then it appears we have crowned the wrong fool? The only fool I see here is you." She tossed the crown that had adorned the hunchback's head at the judge and laughter rumbled.

The order was given for her arrest and the Gypsy King put his focus back on his niece and nephew. "Get out of here," Clopin urged the children. "Quickly."

"What about you?" Adrienne asked, fear shining in her eyes for the first time. They'd gotten him once, would they have him again?

"I'll be fine, just hurry." He pulled his hat around his head and secured the mask on his face as he watched his the siblings rush off. The guards to surround Esmeralda and she started counting.

"Let's see… one, two three four… ten of you and only one of me," she said as she dramatically pulled a handkerchief from her bodice and sobbed. "What's a poor girl to do?"

Clopin had to admit he was proud as she blew her nose and disappeared in a puff of smoke. He'd taught her well. The Festival, if it hadn't erupted before that, was in pure chaos now as the guards 

chased her down. Frollo barked orders to find her, follow her wherever she went and not to let her escape. Her king prayed she could.

He'd slipped back away from the crowd, making sure all the Gypsies had gotten to safe hiding spots before he himself slipped down a back alley. With the uproar and the personal attack on Frollo himself, the heat on him would certainly be turned up. The Minister of Justice would surely want his people more than ever now. He had full faith that Esmeralda would have no trouble giving Frollo's guards the slip, even the new Captain of the Guard. He looked to be a complete moron.

"And where do you think you're going?" a chilled voice said from behind him.

Clopin turned to see a very disheveled looking Frollo standing at the end of the alley, three guards around him. The dancer surely had given him a run for it. "Well hello, Minister," he answered the elder man in a playful voice. "You're looking a bit worse for wear."

"Thanks to your bitch," Frollo growled.

There was a wall behind him and only a small hole to slip through should the King of Thunes decide to try to give him the slip. He'd put himself in quite a predicament. Nevertheless he took a jump for that hole and was caught from behind, slammed against the wall by one of the guards. It knocked the breath out of him and he cringed.

"Where would she have gone?"

"How should I know?"

"Because you are her king. You know everything that happens within your Court."

"So thinks you," Clopin answered flippantly.



Frollo sneered at him and leaned closer so that their noses were nearly touching. "Give me her location or I will rip apart one of those precious children you hold so dear to you."

"I don't know!" the dark haired Gypsy screamed. "Do you hear me, bastard? I don't know where Esmeralda has gone to, nor do I want to. You can't hold this one over my head, I have no control over it."

Frollo pulled a dagger from his robes and pressed it against the king's thin neck. "Where?"

"I don't know," he stressed.

The minister pulled back, anger and frustration written all over him. Clopin thought that he might be let free, but just as he was dropped by the guard, Frollo pinned him again, one bony hand pressing against his shoulder with a strength that once again surprised the Gypsy and the other gripped firmly around the dagger that was currently residing deeply in Clopin's side. "You take too much time, Gypsy King," he hissed in his ear where only he could hear.

"I told you it would take time," Clopin managed, a weakened feeling washing over him.

"You take too much. Be careful not to press me too far. My generosity will only last so long. Those children… my, so young to end their lives, don't you think?"

"Sorry bastard!"

"Now now, mustn't push me." He twisted the knife, causing Clopin to gasp in pain. His eyes widened and he felt everything begin to shake. "I may be pushed beyond my limits."

"Leave the children alone. They have never done anything to you. If you want to go after my people, take me. Won't that be enough?"



"No, because someone will rise in your place. I need you to do as I told you. If you last much long against it, then I will consider your end null and void, and I will have no choice but to go through with the repercussions that I swore before God that I would."

"Nearly killing me every time we meet does tend to slow things down," Clopin quipped. "A body can only take so much."

"Make sure you live, because if you disappear I will assume that you are going back on your word." He pulled the knife out, allowing the younger man to fall to the ground in a limp heap on the floor. He coughed and sputtered before he was able to find the strength to look up.

Frollo grabbed his chin and forced him to lock eyes. "I want those directions, do you hear me?"

"It's too early… it takes time. So many… I can't…"

"Speak up, your highness, I can't hear you."

Clopin couldn't seem to find the strength to talk and Frollo pushed him down roughly. "Keep everything I've said in mind," he said as he left him to look for his knew obsession. Everything seemed to fade around the edges of the injured man's vision and he struggled to stay awake. He couldn't pass out here, he refused to. If he did, Frollo got what he wanted. He would be dead and those children would die with him. He also knew that it would be difficult to explain how he had gotten away a second time. It hurt, badly, and he didn't know what to do. He wanted the whole situation to smooth out. He wanted those children back and he wanted his people whole.

"Please," he begged to the God he was sure never heard a scoundrel like him. "I can't do this much longer." Everything faded and he shook his head, desperately trying to clear it. It took everything he had to push his aching body upward and slide into a sitting position. Was it going to be that when 

everything on him had healed he would be beaten again? If so, he didn't know how long he would last, but what he did know is he had to make it to some place safe and fast.

"Uncle Clopin?" The voice was small and scared.

Clopin tried to turn, eyes stretching as far as possible. "Camille?"

The little girl launched herself at her dear uncle, latching herself around his neck, throwing him back onto the ground. She sobbed openly, shaking him. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Yes, dear, I'm hurt," her uncle managed, stroking her hair. "I'll be alright though, Camille."

"You're bleeding."

"I know." He shifted his weight around, trying to sit up. After what seemed like an eternity he pulled himself up so that he was once again sitting with his back against the wall. "Don't tell anyone, you hear me?"

"But Maman can help."

"Not this time, Camille. You need to be a good girl and keep this secret for your Uncle Clopin."

"Like the secret I'm supposed to keep for Henri?" she asked brightly.

An eyebrow shot up and Clopin turned to lock eyes with his niece. "What secret?"

"The one about him and Adrienne looking for the missing children. They're back now, so they're okay, but they went to the Palace of Justice."

"They did what?!" Clopin exploded, a sudden surge of energy rushing through his body. He staggered to his feet, hazel eyes alight with anger.



Camille shrank back, small hand covering her mouth. "I wasn't supposed to say anything! Please don't tell them I said anything!"

"Was it just them?"

"No… Marc, Isaac, and I were the distraction and Gabe was the watchout!"

"Have you seen Marc, Isaac and Gabe? Are they alright?"

"I saw Marc and Isaac… Gabriel's too much of a scaredy-cat to get caught!"

"But you haven't seen him?"

"No…."

"Hurry," Clopin ordered as he grabbed Camille's small hand and started through the back allies. He heard her whine as she couldn't keep up and scooped her up, holding her closely to him. He didn't care if it hurt his side; he needed to make sure that no one else was taken.

It took what seemed like forever to make it to a secret entrance and through the catacombs. Everyone was sitting quietly, talking amongst themselves. His eyes locked with Henri's and he looked as if he might come unleashed.

"Uncle Clopin!" the boy yelled out, seeing the blood stains on his tunic.

"Where's your brother?" the Gypsy King demanded. "Where is Gabriel?"

"What… what do you mean?" Henri asked, shrinking back from his angry uncle. "I doubt he even went to the Festival today…"

"No, and neither did you."



Henri stopped in dread, face growing pale. "Uhh…"

"Clopin! What happened?" Claire demanded.

"Later, Claire, I'm fine. I need a moment with your eldest son. Just a moment." His voice was stressed, but he was smiling to try to put his sister at ease.

Henri was half pulled after his uncle and he stumbled. "What's going on?" he managed as he was being dragged out of the main Court and into one of the side caverns.

"I told you and your sister to stay the hell away from the Palace of Justice!" he hissed, getting in his nephew's face. "You lied to me, knowing you were going to do something."

"How could we not?" Henri demanded. "Those are our friends being taken! We can't stay down here forever, and now you'll have us locked up tighter than Frollo ever would! You can't seem to find them, or help them if you can find them, so we had to take the matter into our own hands."

"You're only a child."

"And why would they suspect me of anything?"

"Where is Gabe?"

Realization struck Henri. He'd seen his other two younger brothers, Camille had been with their uncle, and Adrienne had not left his side. The only one in the whole plan missing was Gabriel, which no one had seen since they'd split ways. He sank to the floor, everything inside of him hurting. He'd put his little brother in danger and had not been there to pull him out of it.



"Do you see now, Henri?" Clopin asked him in a more hushed tone, forcing himself to be gentle. "I fear for all of you. I'm doing everything I know to do, and yet somehow it all keeps happening, but what do you think the Palace of Justice will do when a Gypsy child is delivered to their front doorstep?"

"Take them," Henri murmured. "What have I done?"

"You've been rash in your decisions, not thinking them through," Clopin answered him, putting a shaky hand on his shoulder. "Believe me, it's nothing I've never done."

"But you didn't get your younger brother captured by Frollo!"

"No, but I'm sure if you ask your Uncle Jules about our childhood, he'll tell you several stories of what I put him through, but that is beside the point. Right now you must remain calm and levelheaded. I won't see all of my nieces and nephews be captured, or any children for that matter, by a madman."

"He's focused on Esmeralda, isn't he?" Henri asked sadly. "She's really nice."

"Yes, she is," Clopin answered. He had to admit he'd been fond of the girl since she'd come to the Court. She'd been so young and fragile then that it made him feel proud to watch how much her spirit had grown. It was as if she had taken all of the cruelties put upon her and turned them around into kind words and deeds for others. "But don't worry about Esmeralda. She's very clever."

"What are we going to do about Gabe?"

"I'll think of something, don't worry, but I need to know that you and Adrienne won't do anything rash."

Tears were streaming down Henri's face. "No, Uncle Clopin."

"Good. Now sit here for a moment, I need to speak with that other adults."



Henri watched him make his way to where several very shaky Gypsies sat, all with fear shining. Everything they had worked so hard for seemed to be falling all around them, and his Uncle Clopin was catching it all on his narrow shoulders. He could only hold it off so long, and when he finally faltered, Henri felt for the entire community.