Hey! People like this! Honestly, I'm not entirely sure where I want to go with this story. It's not really one of my in-depths projects, like my IZ fic; this one's more for my entertainment… and yours! So it's a good thing the makers of HoND made me a handy little storyline to go by

…Not to mention a dashing puppeteer. Your prayers are answered this chapter, by the way. He will be here.

Soon…. O.o

Shall we get on with matters?

We shall.

Chapter 4: Shopping Sprees and Nighttime Action

The stairs leading up to the bell tower were dark, dusty, and smelled of mildew. Not a lot of things lived up here…I could sense Giselle's unease and disgust from behind me- more than twice, she sneezed in the dusty atmosphere, her tragically out-of-place combat boots stomping up the stone passageway, making a ton of noise.

"Shhhhhh…" I turned and held a finger to my lips as we neared the top and I caught sight of a large, wooden beam that marked the end of the steps. "He'll hear you!" I breathed. She hesitated, one foot in mid-air, glancing up behind me fearfully as if "he" was watching us from above.

I turned, trying to push the nervous feeling in my stomach deeper inside of me, and walked slowly up into the bell tower. Looking around, I saw no immediate threat or movement… My eyes widened and I couldn't help gasping as I saw the table littered with wooden figurines on one side of the space… Quasi's carvings of the city.

It's all true to the movie… I marveled, turning my gaze above, to the bells that loomed like silent giants above my head. Every last detail! The floor creaked obnoxiously as I stepped further into the bell ringer's fortress, where I knew he'd been hidden away all of his life. I waited a few seconds for Giselle to join me, her face displaying the same emotions of shock and awe that I felt as she walked towards the center of the room. From the shadows, a stone face- what looked like either a saint's or Jesus' likeness- glared at us, giving the space a sudden creepy feeling.

I turned to my friend and was about to whisper to her, asking what we should do next, when a timid voice rang out to us from above, in the rafters.

"…Wh…Who ARE you?"

I jumped, scared half out of my wits, and stumbled in reverse, my head arching backwards in order to find the source. Well, I knew the source, but how had he heard us?

…Giselle.

"You're not supposed to be up here!" the voice came again, a warning tone inflected in it.

"Um…" I stuttered, "Um… we're…" I looked at Giselle desperately, for help, but her wide eyes and silent lips just gaped back at me infuriatingly. Great. Now he probably thought we were intruders.

You ARE intruders, a voice in my head reminded me.

"You must go, NOW!" Quasi's voice came a third time.

"M-My name's Hannah," I called upwards. "And this is…Giselle. We're new around here. We… thought we could get some food… I'm sorry we disturbed you!" My fear tempted me to tell him we were leaving, bolt back down the stairs, and become lost again in the vast crowds of people below, but I knew we couldn't do that. We were hungry and Giselle had just climbed up so many stairs, I wondered how her skinny legs were still standing on their own.

The voice answered us after a few moments of strained silence. "…You're really not intruders?" It questioned. "You're… you're not here to steal anything?"

"No," I assured him. "We're friends. Giselle and I don't even KNOW Notre Dame, so we wouldn't be looking for any treasure, I promise. We just needed a place to stay, and with Frollo roaming the streets-"

Thud! Something landed on the wooden floor a few feet from us, hidden in the darkness. I heard the quiet sound of the bell ringers' footsteps approaching. I squinted, leaning towards the sound, trying to make him out. "I know what you need," he said, understanding evident in his voice. "And I can give you food and shelter, but… you… you must not look at me," he said imperatively.

"…What?" Giselle exclaimed, rather indignantly. "What do you MEAN, 'we can't look at you-?'"

"Just trust me!" he said, a little more forcefully, surprising her with his sudden energy. "You wouldn't want to see what I really look like. If you want food, then take it. Then leave. Please- no one is supposed to be up here!" Before I knew what was happening, there was a basket of fruit and bread being slid across the floor towards us. Halfway on its journey from the shadows to my feet, it caught on a wooden floorboard and flipped over, spilling its contents onto the floor. Quasimodo muttered in frustration and ran out, his cloak covering his face and form, kneeling to pick up the fallen pieces and stuttering out an awkward, painfully sincere apology.

"It's okay," I managed, kneeling to help him. When we'd reassembled the basket, I gently reached out and took the edge of his hood in my hand. Quasi started and reeled backwards, clutching the material to his face. "N-no!...I TOLD you, y-you don't want to see me!"

"I don't CARE how you look," I tried to reassure him, as Giselle's saucer-wide eyes focused themselves onto the basket. She slowly started moving towards it as I did the same with Quasimodo. "I'm still thankful to you no matter WHAT you look like," I tried to reason with him.

"You don't understand!" he insisted. I felt bad for him, knowing that a lifetime of brainwashing by Frollo had left him with a non-existent self-esteem level and an even lower sense of personal, human value. "I'm a monster; don't look at me."

"You're going to make me do this to you, huh?" I questioned, in a mother-like tone. When he stood there nervously without giving me an answer, I lunged forward suddenly, grabbing his hood and flipping it off before he had a chance to stop me. Quasi yelped in surprise, immediately hiding his face behind his two, large hands and running back into the darkness. I huffed. "Quasi-"

"I told you not to look at me!" He exclaimed angrily, fed up with me now. "The least you can do is respect my wishes- after all, I'm giving you food AND shelt…" His voice trailed off as I realized that I'd just used his name without him telling it to me.

Oops…

"How do you…?" He exclaimed, awe apparent in HIS voice now.

"Um…" No, I couldn't use the excuse that everyone in the city knew him; Giselle and I weren't FROM the city… Think fast, think fast… "I, um…. Ran into Frollo! Mm- yes! I ran into your master in the streets this morning!" Well, it wasn't a lie. "And I know your name."

"…Frollo told you my name?" He stepped halfway into the light again, his face still hidden, but I could hear the doubt in his voice.

"Well… not exactly, no. But… I've heard about you." There, that was the honest truth. I'd watched the movie and heard of him before. Quasimodo, either from pure confusion or a distant amount of belief, seemed to accept this and questioned me once more, as Giselle devoured an apple behind my back.

"…You're SURE you won't tell anyone," he said, in a tone more like a statement than a question.

"I PROMISE," I nodded. "You gave us food, I'll keep your secret… please show us your face."

He considered this, and then, hesitatingly, stepped into the light, his hands coming up slowly to remove the worn fabric covering his features. When the light hit his skin, I swear it was just the way I remembered it from the movie- red hair that fell over his ears, a bulge behind one of his eyes, and the infamous hump on his back that gave him his demeaning nickname. I looked at him head on, remembering Esmeralda and how I shouldn't make any indication that I was disgusted or at all shocked by his appearance. The difference between her and I was, I knew he wasn't wearing a mask.

"Okay…" I said after a pause. "See? I promised I wouldn't mind." I tried to give him a warm smile, but it was interrupted by the sound of a fruit hitting the floor behind me and a slight gasp of horror.

"Oh, my…" I whirled to Giselle, whose gaze was riveted on him and whose mouth was open in a big O, and tried to stop her from saying anything. "You're HIDEOUS!" she burst out, before I had a chance to slap my hand across her mouth. She struggled against my grip and I yelled,

"Giselle, I swear, if you say anything else this WHOLE time I'll throw you out the window!"

I was able to finally force her into silence, and I turned back to Quasi, an apologetic tone in my voice. "I'm so sorry, Quasimodo, she DOESN'T know how to control her tongue. I don't care what you look like- you've got the kindest heart of anyone we've met in Paris this far, and you're the only one who's given us shelter and food. It doesn't matter what's on the outside. Really. You're a great guy," I said encouragingly.

He seemed taken aback by my compliments, and hesitated before speaking again. "…Y…You really think so?" There was a hint of hope in his voice- hope that one person in the city didn't consider his looks the basis for judging him. And I was that person.

"Yes, I do," I smiled. "And I'll straighten Giselle out, I promise." I gave him a knowing look.

"Well… okay," he smiled back. He seemed to accept, at least partially, that we didn't mean him harm and I didn't mind his appearance. For the moment, we were acquaintances, which was close enough to friends for me to feel comfortable reaching for a peach in the basket and taking a huge bite. It was so good… I momentarily lost track of where I was as the juice dripped down my chin, and Giselle started on her third apple. I gave her a distinct look that said, We'll talk about this later, and I could see the unease in her eyes. I didn't care- she had no right to go belting out things like that! Just because she'd never seen someone like Quasimodo didn't mean she didn't need to control her tongue! It made me angry because she was acting exactly like the people down below- shallow. Judgmental. Not caring about a person's heart, but instead, only considering their reputation. Well, I was going to be different.

I talked with Quasimodo as we ate. After a few more exchanges, he felt comfortable enough to sit with us at the small table and talk with us face to face. When he asked me about where we came from, I told him we were from America, and that we were staying here as long as we could before we had to return home. He asked about our parents. I told him they didn't know where we were; we had gotten separated. Which was true, also.

"How did you get so far inland?" he asked. I scrambled for an answer and ended up asking him wryly, "Well, what better place than Paris to stay for a few weeks?" This led us to conversing about the city, and Quasi took us out to the window overlooking the beautiful sunset. Windows of shops and homes gleamed in the orange light, and lingering children darted across the squares, heading home for dinner. Where had the time gone? It seemed like I'd only just arrived about two hours ago, and already night was falling. I guess we'd been searching for a place to stay longer than I thought! I searched the courtyard directly underneath the towers of Notre Dame… still no red cart.

Darn it.

"I won't tell the archdeacon you're here," he promised as we stood at the balcony together.

"Really?" Giselle said, and we both looked at her, me with warning, and Quasi almost nervously. "…Thank you," she said, forcing a smile towards him. This seemed to ease the air between the two a little, and he nodded, accepting her thanks.

"Your welcome. I know he wouldn't like the thought of homeless children living up here- especially with the feast coming up the day after tomorrow. B-but you can stay here as long as you want."

We turned and walked back into the tower, the last rays of sunlight receding from the darkened, stone parapets and the rafters above us. "Quasimodo," I remarked, shaking my head and smiling, "you're one of a kind."

That night, Giselle and I slept underneath one of the bells, despite the slight fear that it might accidentally fall on us. Reason told me that years of ringing the bells ensured that they were well secured and there really wasn't a chance of them falling. Still, I was a little nervous; but I also didn't want to bother Quasimodo, who'd already retreated to HIS sleeping place, wherever that was. I had a short conversation with Giselle then, explaining quietly about Quasi's past- how he'd been abandoned and adopted as a baby by the man we'd seen earlier today in the square, how he already received enough judgment and isolation staying up here as it was, and how he was EXTREMLY self-conscious. He'd never had other people up in his bell tower, to MY knowledge, and this was the first contact he'd probably had in years with other human beings besides Frollo. If there was one thing we didn't need in order to make it out of this thing alive, it was her running off at the mouth, spewing whatever thought popped into her head at that moment, and potentially ruining our chances. Plus, aside from our survival, it had hurt Quasi, who was so sweet and innocent, I couldn't help feeling extremely sorry for him.

Giselle had apologized to some extent, and promised me that she'd try to control her tongue and emotions; although, with the knowledge of how the rest of the movie was going to go, I knew it would be hard for her to remain silent for very long at all.

"Okay," I surmised, once that was over and done with. "Tomorrow, Quasi said he would give us money to go out and buy some things. For one, breakfast, because Frollo doesn't come till the next day. Also, he wants us to stop by a pottery shop, because apparently the archdeacon's birthday is coming up and he loves foreign pieces of art."

"Really?" she inquired, as if this was fascinating information.

"Yeah… But we can't let Frollo see us," I whispered, our voices reverberating faintly off the inside of the huge bell. "He'd be LIVID to know that Quasi is hiding us from him up here. We've got to keep a low profile once we get back inside the church; then, we can discreetly make our way up to the bell tower!"

She stared at me. I thought for a moment about what that would entail.

"…I think we're going to have to buy you some new shoes…" I told her.

"…YES!" her whisper of glee threatened to spill over into her actual voice, and I shushed her as the bells gave off a faint ringing sound in response.

"QUIET!" I held up my finger to my lips again.

"Sorry…"

"Okay…let's just get some sleep," I yawned, turning over on the soft sheets Quasi had given us. I was exhausted from the day's crazy events. "…There's only one more day before the start of the movie," I added, before leaving her alone and drifting off to sleep myself.

My last thought was, I wonder whom we'll meet tomorrow…

Morning dawned over the city, and in no time, Quasi was ringing the bells, as he did every morning, and we were on our way into the labyrinth of buildings, on a mission for meals and birthday presents. Every time we'd see a black horse or an armed soldier, we'd duck into a side street, or simply turn and go in the opposite direction. We walked by the river Seine, got croissants for breakfast as I mentioned earlier, and succeeded in finding the pottery shop, thanks to the help of a friendly woman named Marge who was washing laundry. Again, I pondered the idea of going swimming in a river that people washed their dirty laundry in every day, and found myself slightly disgusted. But I digress.

"What do you think the archdeacon will think of the vase we bought him?" Asked my friend, holding up the blue-and-green, bottle-shaped piece in the sun.

"He'll think it's the most beautiful, spectacular piece of pottery EVER made!" I exclaimed in an overly confident tone. "After all, we barely had enough money to get you those shoes," I pointed to her new footwear, a pair of shoes resembling simple flats. "He's gonna have to live with it, no matter WHAT he thinks, cause we're completely broke!"

We strolled back in the general direction of Notre Dame when we were finished, stopping occasionally to look into a shop window or to listen to the boys on the street corners, who were shouting the headlines of the papers they were selling. Colorful wagons and costumes were occasionally seen throughout the roads; preparations for the feast were at a climax today. People were rushing to put up tents in the main square, where the festival would be taking place. Dancers were enticing small children to give them coins by offering just a sample of what was to come tomorrow. It was an overall cheery sight. Until Giselle decided to take a freaking shortcut and get us completely turned around.

"Where are we?" I asked in exasperation as we rounded another wrong corner. "How did we get lost in Notre Dame- the towers can be seen from the whole CITY?"

"I KNOW that!" she answered. "But the streets are like a maze! You can't just go in a straight line towards Quasimodo! Duh!"

We stopped in front of a bistro to ask for directions, when a movement caught the corner of my eye. Two shadowy figures darted across the street a little ways down from us. In hot pursuit were two other bulky figures- soldiers, by the appearances of their silhouettes. I could see their armor gleam in the dim light, now created by the rising moon and a few dim street lanterns. A faint shout of, "Come back here, gypsy filth!" both quickened my heartbeat and drew Giselle's attention away from the man she'd been conversing with and asking the way to the church.

"What the…" her eyes widened when she saw the four disappear, headed down an alley towards the next road over. "They're in trouble!" she exclaimed

Before I knew what was happening, my feet were moving in the direction of the chase, not waiting for her approval before running into the night.

"Hannah! Wait!"

"We've got to help!" I insisted, not slowing down. In her mind, these we simply the party people, the festival throwers- it made no sense for the guards to be chasing them. I, on the other hand, knew that the reason they were being pursued had nothing to do with the festival and everything to do with their ethnicity and the money they "stole" from the Parisians. If they got caught, they would be punished, even if they were innocent. I thought of the Palace of Justice and sped up, closing the dwindling gap between us and the guards.

"Hannah!" Giselle yelled, fear building in her tone, as we got closer to the chase. I saw the two men running for their lives- the gypsies, although I couldn't make out their faces enough to see their race- run into a dead end. A cart was blocking the road, and they somehow managed to evade the cops, turn around, and run back in our direction as we emerged onto the street from the alley.

"We've got to do something!" I said, more to myself than to her, as they ran by, ignoring us.

"You there!" one of the soldiers yelled. "Stop them!"

He's addressing us! I realized with shock. I warily eyed the pursuing soldiers as they got closer, and closer, and closer…

"Oops, sorry!" Giselle, doing the gutsiest thing I'd ever seen her attempt, leapt RIGHT out in front of the two men, who had no time to stop before they careened into her, the three of them sprawling onto the cobblestones with surprised yells. Somehow, they managed to fall into a huge puddle of water, and the guards sat up, dripping wet, their faces masks of anger and hate.

"Just WHAT do you think you're DOING?" One yelled furiously. I didn't have an answer. I couldn't believe Giselle had just done that. The figures had disappeared down the road and were beyond pursuing now… her little stunt had given them the last few seconds they needed to make an escape!

"I'm sorry, officers," She offered, a surprising amount of fake remorse in her voice. "I didn't see you approaching!"

"Yes you did!" the other shouted, and I realized with a start that I recognized his voice! "You STOOD THERE while those two rotten scoundrels escaped with our money!" He was the soldier who had pushed Giselle and I back out of Frollo's way yesterday! Around the same time I realized this, he seemed to scrutinize us closely, and his eyes widened in the moonlight. "You're the two peasants who got in our WAY yesterday!"

Giselle and I gazed up at him in fearful silence. His features took on an even more menacing look.

"I don't care HOW poor or obstinate you are- aiding a gypsy is a classified offense!"

"But… why?" Giselle retorted. "They weren't stealing your money, you still have it attached to your belts!" she pointed, and, indeed, they had their pouches full of coins strapped onto their uniforms. "You lied about them!" she said accusingly.

"Why, you little-" the one who'd shoved her yesterday grabbed a fistful of her collar- again, I might add- and said darkly, "Okay, street rat- you want to take a little trip to the Palace of Justice? That's fine by me!"

"Don't touch her!" I found myself wielding an extra amount of bravery, maybe because I knew this was a movie and we most likely wouldn't die, and started beating the guard with my fists. This didn't do much, except cause the other one to grab me from behind, snarling at me to stop struggling.

"Behave yourself, if you know what's good for you, peasant!"

They yanked both of us by the arm, leading us in what I guessed was the direction towards the Palace of Justice. Giselle screamed; my yell of protest and terror was just about to pass my lips when a swift shadow dropped down behind Giselle's guard, too fast for me to make out. A second later, a large, metallic CLANG sounded, accompanied by the painful groan of the man, who'd just been sufficiently clocked in the back of the head by a long, metal rod. Before I could make sense of this, the soldier crumpled to the ground, losing his grip on Giselle, and gave me a momentary glimpse of the stranger who'd just knocked him out.

The only thing I saw, before the other guard turned on him, was the telltale yellow feather.

"HEY!" Ugly number two shouted. "What do you think you're-"

In a manner worthy of Disney theatrics, our newcomer gracefully flipped the second guy, who had been barreling towards him, onto his back, and then gave him a good hit over the head with the same, thick bar. In a matter of seconds, he was out like a light, too.

Giselle and I stood there, dumbfounded, as both guards lay in puddles of water, unconscious, suddenly no longer a threat. At least, until they woke up.

"…Whoa!" Giselle exclaimed, staring at our hero in awe. "You totally just… and the guards were completely… that was so…"

I squinted into the shadows, trying to make out who it was. There was no need, however, because his voice gave him away just fine.

"I take it I did a good job then…?" Clopin half-grinned, stepping out of the shadows more willingly than the bell ringer had. My face lit up involuntarily as Giselle went on looking at him with indifference- she didn't recognize him in his regular, non-jester outfit.

"You're a gypsy, though," I put in, pretending not to know him and gaining his attention. "Why…why did you help US?" I knew that, normally, Parisians didn't defend gypsies from the law, and the gypsies didn't bother with us. The two groups kept to themselves. Which was why I was still trying to process how, one, Clopin Trouillefou was in front of us, and, two, why he'd just knocked out the guards and saved us…

Clopin eyed the out-cold guards and the street, which still held a few other mingling people nearby, and motioned us quickly into the alley.

We were getting favors from all kinds of characters today…

We walked a good distance into the dark, shadowy passageway, where no one would look for us immediately, and I waited in anticipation to hear what he'd say.

"I saw you help Clara and Romulus escape," Clopin explained, his voice sounding just like it did in the movies. I suddenly wanted him to randomly burst into song, but I knew that was virtually impossible at the moment- we were trying to keep a low profile.

"The other two gypsies? The ones who were running?" Giselle clarified.

"Yes," Clopin nodded. "I saw you take off from the restaurant and follow them. I haven't seen anyone aid my people in quite a while… So, naturally, when I saw the guards hauling you off to the Palace of Justice, I figured I owed you one. Also, I wanted to try out my new stick," he grinned, twirling the metal pole in one hand. "Pretty effective, don't you think? I think so."

"What's your name?" Giselle asked.

"I am Clopin Trouillefou, mademoiselle," he did a small bow as a look of recognition dawned on Giselle's face. She looked at me, surprised, and I gave her a momentary 'I KNOW!' Glance in return before turning back to Clopin. "And you are?" he asked, his gaze bouncing back and forth between us.

"I'm Hannah, and this is Giselle," I ventured, gesturing to my friend. "We're new here."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," he took my hand and kissed it, which caused me to blush, but thankfully it was dark and he couldn't see my face clearly enough to notice it. I hoped.

"Um, thank you," I mumbled.

"Oh, no- thank YOU both for helping my fellow gypsies."

"It was nothing," Giselle waved. "…So are you going to be at the festival tomorrow?" I knew that she was probably asking out of plain curiosity- more for my sake than for hers.

"THAT is classified information, mon cher!" He teased. "BUT, you can come to the Feast of Fools yourselves and find out!"

"We'll be there," I told him, smiling. "EVERYONE in the city will be there."

"You're right about that. Well, I've got to get out of here before those two sleeping beauties over there decide to wake up. I'll see you two at the festival!"

"Bye!" We replied in unison. A few moments later, that feathered, purple hat and its owner were disappearing in the opposite direction of the sleeping guards, darting around a corner and out of sight.

I took a minute to start breathing normally again.

"Can you believe it?" Giselle whispered excitedly. "That's the guy! That's your movie crush!"

"I don't like him!" I insisted, although I could still feel the warmth in my cheeks. I couldn't believe Clopin had just saved us from the guards- he'd been standing right in front of us, just a moment ago! And he'd seen us trying to save the gypsies.

We'd just gotten major brownie points with the king of the gypsies.

Thank you, LORD!

Giselle was gazing up at the roof of the building above us. "He must have been watching the whole scene from up there- I saw him jump down from that roof to save us!"

"He's their king," I whispered, low enough that no one else in the listening world could hear our conversation. "He's the gypsy king- he's responsible for protecting his people. I guess he was thankful that we helped him out." I was giddy with excitement. We'd helped him out! Well, really, Giselle had helped them out by lunging out in front of the guards, but…I had instigated the plan; I'd decided to run after the gypsies to try to save them. That had to count for something.

Suddenly, groans emanated through the air from our right, and my gaze flew to the fallen soldiers lying on the ground. The one who'd shoved us was stirring, his head wet from the puddle of water he'd fallen in. The man sat up, holding a hand to his head, and looked around dazedly.

"Let's go!" Giselle hissed in an alarming tone, and we ran away, the way Clopin had gone, hoping that we'd somehow get back to the bell tower before any more guards could find us.

Our footsteps echoed in the narrow stone passageway. "I can't believe we got to meet CLOPIN!" I reiterated for the thousandth time as we climbed to the top of the bell tower.

"I KNOW!" she threw back her head in a sigh, exhausted from my repetition of that fact, not to mention the long day of walking. Quasi was upstairs waiting for us, a nervous expression on his face; he was pacing up and down in the small space. When he saw us walk in, a smile of relief appeared on his features and he ran down to greet us.

"Hannah, Giselle! Oh, I was worried that Frollo found you! He's coming to visit me in the morning and I thought that maybe, he'd decided to come early and had discovered you both!" Unexpectedly, he wrapped us in a caring hug, which I happily melted into, very tired myself.

"We're okay, Quasi, really. We just got lost. It's such a big city…" I explained.

"I know…" he sighed wistfully, looking towards the balcony. "If only I could explore it with you… I've been trapped up here all my life, you know. It's lonely…" he turned back to us. "But now I have you two!" he exclaimed with another big smile.

"Yep," Giselle grinned back, patting him on the shoulder. "And we aren't just freeloaders- we WORK for our keep!" she held up the basket full of goods. "We brought back everything you told us to…" a sheepish look covered her features. "…Iiincluding your dinner. Um… sorry it's so late. I kind of took a wrong turn…" Wow. Giselle was actually guilty. This was relatively rare…

"It's alright- all is forgiven!" Quasi shook his head as if apologizing was totally unnecessary. This was one of the things I loved about the guy- he was like a child: quick to forgive anyone, and slow to get angry. He hadn't been influenced by the world's short temper and fiery tongue. I compared him to the soldier we'd confronted in the street and thought about how they were complete opposites. The thought made me even more grateful to Clopin, who'd ensured us safety, and another night up here, as opposed to spending it in locked in the stockades or in the Palace of Justice.

"So, did you run into any trouble out there?" he asked us over dinner. Giselle and I shared an uneasy look over the table before confessing.

"We ran into some soldiers who were chasing a pair of gypsies," I told him. Quasi's eyes widened.

"You WHAT?" he exclaimed, looking worried.

"It's okay, we were fine," Giselle assured him. "I stepped out in front of them to protect the gypsies, and Hannah and I were saved from them by this OTHER gypsy who-"

"Master says that it's dangerous to associate with Gypsies!" Quasi said urgently.

"Are you sure he's right about that?" I ventured.

"Oh, yes, master is right about everything- about me, all the believers, everyone! The only reason I let you stay here is because he doesn't know about it. You have to understand… I do everything I do to please him. Until you came along, no one else really cared about me. I honestly feel guilty about going behind his back like this, but…"

"But you're helping us," I offered. "Otherwise- without you- we wouldn't have anywhere to go."

"That's true…" he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"God is pleased with a giving heart," I reminded him, sure that he'd learned the Scriptures all his life, thanks to Frollo. Although, I didn't know if the evil judge had taught him about the GENEROUS nature of God…

"Yes," he nodded, "I've heard that."

"Well, you have a giving heart," Giselle summarized, "so God's pleased with you. And I'm sure your caretaker will find out about us soon enough. We can even tell him in the morning, if you'd like that."

A look of uncertainty passed over the bell ringer's face. "I…I don't know. Frollo is very… aristocratic-minded. He doesn't like peasants," Quasi shook his head. "You would probably get kicked out onto the streets again if we did that. I don't want you to be without a place to stay."

"Thank you- that's very kind of you," Giselle told him.

"Thank YOU for running my errands for me," he smiled back, and then turned towards the window, as if regarding someone, and smiled again. When Giselle gave me a puzzled look, I grinned and mouthed, the gargoyles, before remembering she didn't know how Quasi talked to his little stone friends. I could see them, shrouded in shadow…I could almost make out the kind looks on their faces, which freaked me out a LOT, honestly.

Suddenly, I suggested we all go to bed before they could keep staring at us.

A few minutes later, Giselle and I were back under the bell, tucked in our sheets and pillows, waiting for sleep to carry us into tomorrow. I couldn't wait for the Festival of Fools, for Clopin's singing that would no doubt wake me in the morning, telling Quasi's story for the little children to hear. The movie would be starting in just a few hours…If the year was right, everything would go according to the film from here on out, and we'd be caught up in a whirlwind of action that wouldn't slow down until the end of the movie, when…

What would happen then? I didn't know. Would we make it that far? I didn't know that, either. I was still waiting for it to START! My current excitement outweighed the degree of restlessness lurking in the back of my mind, though, and I focused, instead of the impending dangers that awaited us tomorrow, on the prospect that maybe… just maybe…Clopin would see me and recognize me at the Festival of Fools tomorrow.

Like? Not like? Was Clopin in character? I hate when I write OOC stuff! Review, please! (Puppy dog eyes) I tried!