Chapter IX.

A First Time For Everything

"Do we really need to do this?" I asked, nervously as I followed Marcel toward the butcher shop, which was near this particular part of the city. "I mean, don't you think there's a better way? And what happens if we get caught?"

"The whole point of being a good thief, is not to get caught," Marcel said casually, as though this were no big deal to him.

"Look, I guess that you must do this all the time, and are therefore used to it, but I've never stolen anything in my life. Except maybe toys from my siblings when I was younger, but nothing else."

"There's a first time for everything," Marcel replied.

"Is there any way to change your mind?" I asked.

"Nope. It's ok, Julian. It will be fine. Now stop making such a big fuss about it."

We finally approached the butcher shop. The butcher Signor Versagio who was Italian, kept all his meat towards the back of his shop, hanging from the beams that supported the ceiling. He spoke with a thick Italian accent, and because he was such a nice man, it made me feel even worse about what we were about to do.

"Ok," Marcel whispered. "Since it's your first time, I'll give you the easy job. You're going to be the distraction."

"What do I have to do?" I asked.

"Simple, distract!"

"Meaning?"

Marcel sighed. "You really are new at this. All you have to do is walk up and start talking to Versagio. Talk to him about, oh I don't know – the weather? Look, I don't care what, just something that will buy time. Meanwhile, I'll sneak around to the back of his shop, steal a hunk of pork or something, and then get out. Then you politely tell him that you have to go, and excuse yourself. Oh, and also pretend that you want to buy meat, but just don't have enough money, so that you don't seem too suspicious. Think you can handle that?"

Reluctantly, I nodded.

"Ok, here goes nothing," Marcel said. "Just don't stress out about it and everything will be fine. And please don't have a nervous breakdown or something."

With that, Marcel ran around the corner behind the shop. There was a door around back that he knew of. It was where he was going to enter and leave.

What have I gotten myself into? I thought. I took a deep breath. Ok, I can do this.

Nervously, though I tried to hide it, I strolled over to the shop. There were two people already there, an old man, and a kid who appeared to be his grandson. They were buying salami, so I waited patiently behind them. To be perfectly honest, I hoped they would take an extremely long time. Luckily, they did, but when they had purchased their meat, I could feel the adrenaline rush in my body.

"Good afternoon," Signor Versagio said, smiling. "You come to buy some of my meat?"

"As a matter a fact, yes… yes I have," I lied. I felt really bad. "How much would a string of sausage links cost?"

"We are out of sausage links ever since Festival of Fools yesterday," Versagio replied. "Can I interest you in anything else, by any chance?"

"Uh…" I mumbled nervously. Behind Signor Versagio, I saw that Marcel had already slipped in from the back door, and was quickly trying to hack free a hunk of ham, dangling from the ceiling. "Uh…" I repeated. "Do you have any ham?"

"But of course," Versagio said smiling. He began to turn around to get the ham.

"Stop!" I cried, before he completely turned around and saw Marcel stealing from his store.

"What?" Versagio asked, confused.

"Uh…uh…LOOK! A bird!!!" I said desperately.

Versagio was raising his eyebrows now. "So?"

"I thought I saw a flamingo!"

Signor Versagio began to laugh at that. "Flamingo? In Paris. Ah, you make me laugh, young Julian. There are no flamingoes in Paris."

"Yah, probably not," I said, pretending to laugh along with him.

Behind Signor, Marcel was making the cutting motion on his throat with his hand. That meant he had stolen the meat and we had to get out of there.

"Uh, anyway," I said awkwardly, "I just remembered that I don't have any money. Sorry, I guess I'll have to come back another time."

"Oh, that's ok," Versagio said, still laughing about the flamingo. "I give you some ham for free."

"What? You…you would do that?" I asked.

"Why not? It's the holidays. It's a time to give. This is gift from me to you and your friends." He went to the back of his shop to get the ham. "Hmmm…" he mumbled to himself. "I was certain I had a fresh ham back here. I guess not. Well, do you like fresh salami?"

"Wow, thanks," I said slowly. Now I felt really bad. We had gone as far as stealing when the whole time we could have just asked. "I guess…I guess I'll be back soon Signor. Enjoy the rest of your day."

Signor Versagio just smiled.

"So, how'd it go?" Marcel asked when I had met him around the corner.

"I feel terrible," I answered.

"Come on, it's not that bad. We only took a little bit, and besides, the butcher gave you some meat for free.

"That's why I feel even worse," I retorted. "If he had any idea what we were really doing, he would never have given us the free food. We were taking advantage of him."

"That's kind of the point of stealing," Marcel assured me.

"That doesn't make it right," I replied.

"Don't worry, I felt bad the first time I stole too, but you get over it, eventually. Like I said, there's a first time for everything."

That night, we returned to the Court of Miracles with a huge load of fish…and fresh ham and salami.

"This is good," Jasmine agreed. "Better than moldy apples and stale bread any day."

"Hey, has anyone seen Esmeralda?" I asked while chewing on a juicy piece of salami.

As if on cue, Esmeralda suddenly showed up with Djali.

"Where have you been?" I asked her when she came down and sat with us. I handed her a piece of salami.

"No thanks," she said, pushing the meat away. "I went to go see Quasimodo today."

"I thought you said he was super ugly," Marcel remarked.

"Well, there is more to life than looks," Esmeralda retorted. "And he really isn't all that bad looking once you get to know him. He's actually very kind and giving. He gave me this…"

Esmeralda pulled a wooden figure out of the folds of her long skirt. It was a carving of her and her goat. "I just wish I could do something about the way Frollo treats him. Quasimodo is a human being, not an animal, yet Frollo treats him like a dog. It just isn't right. The poor bell ringer deserves more credit than he is given. Far more."

I nodded. The more I was getting to know Esmeralda, the more I liked her. She was kind and compassionate, and clearly looked beyond Quasimodo's looks, to what was in his heart.

"By the way, where did you get all this food?" Esmeralda asked us.

"We caught the fish," I replied.

"Yah," Marcel added. "Julian taught me how to fish. And we stole the ham from the butcher shop. It was Julian's first time."

"Do you really think that was a good idea?" Esmeralda asked. "Stealing? What would happen if Signor Versagio caught you in the act? I don't get you Marcel. You think that just because we're in the Court of Miracles, it's ok to steal. It's not. It's not what we do. And how are we ever going to break the stereotypes about us being thieves if you prove that they are right? Don't steal, ok? It's like Clopin said last night. Stealing is just one other thing for Claude Frollo to get us in trouble for."

"Fine," Marcel muttered.

I was glad to know that Esmeralda agreed with me.