Chapter Five: The Breech of the Court

Claire had not taken the news of Gabriel's absence well. It was never stated to her that her other children and her brother's eldest daughter had gone scampering off to uncover what mischief they could find, but she did know that Frollo had her second eldest boy. Her Gabriel was her angel, as she called him, and for that he was named. True, he may not have been as brave as a Biblical angel of the stories she heard, but she loved him dearly, and, if forced to, might admit to favouring him over the others very slightly.

As days went by Frollo's wrath against the Gypsies escalated. He was fixated on Esmeralda and was offering silver for anyone who might give him her whereabouts. His frustrations grew with his failure to understand why they were so protective of one another. Clopin sat in quiet observation, praying for her safety to a God that he believed in, but was not sure heard him.

The news of her claim of Sanctuary, as admitted by the new Captain of the Guards, and then her escape from the cathedral via help from none other than the bell ringer himself, had been made known to her people. Now Frollo had truly gone mad and word had been set out that, if possible, every Gypsy needed to get to some place safely underground. This was not good news to their king, as that was what Clopin was trying to avoid. The longer he kept his people scattered, the longer they had to save those children.

"Clopin!"

He'd never heard a voice he loved so much until Esmeralda's rung through the Court. Clopin looked up from what he'd been working on to see the emerald eyed beauty running towards him. "Esmeralda! It's so good to see you safe."



"You too," she admitted, embracing him. "I'd heard you were a bit roughed up after the festival."

"When do the guards not rough me up these days?" her king pointed out with a wry grin. "It seems they find a new reason around every turn."

She frowned. "I never thought times would be harder than the old days," she murmured.

"They'll get better, dear, just wait," he promised. He hoped they would, honestly.

"I don't know how," she continued, staring at her feet. "The whole city is burning because of me… I was only trying to do right, Clopin, and I feel as if I've done more harm than good. I wanted to save everyone and turned out harming them."

"None of this is your fault," her king said sternly. "It's Frollo's. He's the one doing all this. No man in their right mind burns down half a city just to get at one girl." He had to say it to her because it was same basis that got him from bed every morning. Frollo was evil and had manipulated his way into finding an opening to take. Now he just had to find his way around it.

"Clopin! You're needed down in the catacombs."

Clopin nodded in the direction of the young Gypsy who had spoken. He patted Esmeralda's cheek playfully, hoping that his smile would catch to her and would spread throughout the Court as it had so many times before. She managed a small one in return, watching him leave with fear in her heart.

He followed several of his men down into the sewer areas. "We have spies," one explained.

"And you won't believe who it is!" the other said in hushed tones.



The three Gypsies peered over the edge of a ledge and spotted to figures walking. Clopin's lips turned up into a frightening grin. His sharp eyes brought the young Captain of the Guards and Frollo's dear bell ringer into focus. This could have been the breakthrough he'd been waiting for: Frollo had grown impatient, and with his impatience he had become stupid. Now Clopin would have him at no expense other than his own suffering for the last three months.

He could hear them talking to each other, wondering very loudly and very openly if this was the entrance to the Court of Miracles. Clopin was sorry to see the bell ringer in all of this, as he'd hoped to see the boy rebel against his tyrannical master, but his unexplained presence could not be explained any other way. He motioned for others in the catacombs to begin closing in.

"Speaking of trouble, shouldn't we have run into some by now?" Phoebus' voice echoed.

"What do you mean?" answered the softer, quieter voice.

"You know, a guard or a booby-trap…" the captain murmured thoughtfully, and all the air became tense as someone blew his torch out. "Or an ambush."

Light suddenly was no longer an issue as several of Clopin's other guards stood with their lit torches to light the old catacombs, surrounding Phoebus and Quasimodo. They came in on them from all sides, pushing them down and binding their wrists. Clopin flipped off of his perch and landed right in front of them, rocking back and forth. "Well, well, well," he drawled out. "What have we here?"

"Trespassers!" "Spies!" the others yelled.

"We're not spies!" the Captain tried to say as his mouth was gagged.

"Don't interrupt me!" Clopin answered him, pointing a long finger in his face. He was going to enjoy every moment of this, he knew. He had taken their presence in his home as a sign that it was time 

to fight back, and fight back he would with everything he had in him. "You're very clever to have found our hideaway," he continued, flipping a torch of his own and watching it seemingly light by itself. He lit the other stick from the first. "Unfortunately, you won't live to tell the tale."

Two sets of eyes grew large as realization sunk in on the two young men and the Gypsy guards hauled them down the passage ways to the actual Court. Clopin was bouncing the whole way.

"You caught the Captain of the Guard!" Adrienne's voice shot above everyone else as she rushed her uncle. Her face was bright with the idea that they may get her younger brother back. "Will you hang him?"

"That is for me to know and you to find out with everyone else," her uncle teased. He leapt up onto the stage, spotting Henri along with his younger sister and their mother in the crowd. "Gather round, everybody, there's good noose tonight! It's a double header with a couple of Frollo spies!" He waited for them to be led up to the stage and mocked their every step, causing laughter to shift through the crowd. "And they're not just any spies! It's Captain of the Guard, and his loyal, bell-ringing henchman!"

The crowd erupted and Clopin thought for a brief moment that they might rush the stage. Frollo's men had been hated a little more by each passing day since all of the disappearances had begun, and now it was going to turn into a bloodbath.

Phoebus and Quasimodo were both struggling against their restraints and gags, trying to tell Clopin something. "Hush now," he growled under his breath. "Something you must understand here: I am the lawyer and judge, all in one."

"Get 'em to tell us where everybody is!" Adrienne yelled from the crowd.

"Hang them like the thieves they are!" Henri followed in agreement.



Clopin suddenly realized how close he was to a riot, and not of the adults. It was the children that were going to riot against him for the blood of these two. He had to do something to draw their attention to happier matters. "Now that we've seen all the evidence," he began, having replaced his normal hat for a floppier version of Frollo's with an obnoxiously long ribbon on it, but was interrupted by his puppet that Gabriel and Isaac had always loved so much. "Wait! I object!" cried the little puppet, bringing giggles from the crowd. "Overruled!" Clopin yelled back, stirring even more laughter. "I object!" the puppet yelled again. "Quiet!" Clopin cried as he flung his hat over the puppet and the audience could hear a quiet curse from the small replica of him and laughter roared through the Court.

Hazel eyes shifted back and forth from the audience, making sure that they were settled, and to his captives to make sure they hadn't gotten their restraints any looser. "We find you totally innocent," he announced without any real thought behind the words. Where had that come from? A smile crept to his lips. "And that is the worst crime of all. So you're going to hang!"

His hands were on the lever as a resounding "Stop!" was yelled from the crowd. Who would want to stop this? It was what everyone had been waiting for, so why would anyone try to stop him? Esmeralda came forth from the crowd, pushing forward to get to the two men. Clopin felt his heart drop. He had truly wanted to hang someone."These are our friends!"

"Well why didn't they say so?" Clopin pouted, truly sour over his predicament.

As soon as his gag was off, Phoebus and Quasimodo screamed, "We did say so!" and the captain rushed to the front of the stage. "You all must leave! Frollo's found this place and he plans to attack in the morning with a thousand men!"

The Court fell apart all at once. Men and women scrambled to find something to help them. Clopin felt something inside of him clench. Even after all of the preparation he had done, Frollo still 

found them. It was as if he could not win and was never going to be allowed to. He watched Esmeralda approach the blond outsider with love in her eyes.

"You took a great risk by coming here, and even though we don't show it well, we're truly grateful."

"I would have never found it without Quasimodo's help!" Phoebus responded, pulling the deformed boy towards Esmeralda, grinning the whole way.

"Nor would I!" a voice boomed over the Court.

Clopin looked over in terror. It truly was his worst nightmare come to life. Paris was being burned, they had no escape, every exit – even the secret ones – had been blocked off as they tried to run for their lives, and he felt one of the guards that he'd recognized from his beatings pull his arm up behind him, growling in his ear threats of what he'd do to those innocent children if he so much as flinched.

"After twenty years of searching, the Court of Miracles is mine at last," Frollo sneered, walking to the middle where Quasimodo stood with the captain and Esmeralda. He continued babbling about something or another, but in all honesty Clopin didn't really care. He was more focused on watching each of his family members and friends being hauled away.

"There will be a little bonfire in the square tomorrow, and you're all invited to attend!" Frollo announced, causing each and every Gypsy to stare.

"You were too slow, boy," the judge's voice entered Clopin's ears. The younger man forced himself to look up. "So I had to look to other places. Now, tomorrow, the fires will begin with La Esmeralda and continue with each and every child from this Court. Then I will burn the adults. You will be the last, dear king."



"You're sick."

"But it gets the job done," Frollo answered with a shrug that sent chills up Clopin's spine. He hoped beyond hope that they could get out of this one.