And so Charlotte went over to the bedroom window, looked down and saw that it was over 3 stories high. She went over to the bed and pulled off the sheets and bedspread, turning it into a long rope to climb down on. She then tied it to the bedpost and started climbing. Since it was late, nobody was out and it appeared to look like a ghost town. When she reached the cobblestone road, she ran straight to Marie's house. When she finally got there, she picked up some stones lying around and threw them at the closed shutters over the window. Marie quickly opened the shutters, saw Charlotte waving to her, and quickly ran out of the house to meet her.
"Charlotte, what are you doing? I was just about to get ready for bed," she said tiredly.
"No time to explain," said Charlotte.
"We have to go get Odette," she said. They both went to Odette's house. When they got there, they picked up stones and threw them at the closed window with the shutters. She opened it, waved happily to them from her window and went downstairs towards the front door. She was stopped however, by her mother who was wearing a nightdress, cap, and holding a lit candle.
"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" asked her mother.
"To...um, Charlotte's slumber party. I forgot that she was having it tonight until now" she said in a hurry and her mother stepped in front of her once more.
"Not at this hour, your not. Now go march back up to your room," she said sternly pointing towards the stairs.
"But mom, it's the weekend. Charlotte won't have lessons tomorrow," whined Odette.
"True..." Her mother was now reconsidering. "Okay, you can go. Just for tonight," she then moved out of the way. Odette beamed.
"Thanks mom! She said quickly hugging her and running out the front door to meet up with her friends.
"There you are!" they both said. "We were starting to think you weren't coming," said Marie.
"My mom caught me at first, but I talked her into letting me go and it worked!"
"Yay!" they all cheered together. "So why did you bring us here at this hour anyways? Odette asked Charlotte.
Charlotte fell silent, her lip began to quiver, and then she starting sobbing on her friends' shoulders. Both of them were confused.
"What's wrong, Charlotte?" her friends both asked with a concerned tone of voice.
"My dad is marrying me off soon," sobbed Charlotte. Her two best friends were appalled.
"He can't do that, you're not even of age yet." said Odette.
"Well he is," sniffled Charlotte. Both of the girls shook their heads in disbelief.
"Do you have any idea what married couples do?" asked Marie.
"Kiss?" guessed Charlotte still in tears.
"Not that, I mean something else." Marie replied.
"What is it?" both Charlotte and Odette asked at the same exact time.
Marie whispered something in both of their ears. Both girls had a face of disgust.
EW! They both cried out. Charlotte, however, was terrified. The thought that she would to have to do that with someone made her sick.
"Yeah. It's also where babies come from too. My mom is a midwife, so she knows these sorts of things. Plus she told me not too long ago." said Marie.
"That's why I decided to run away and I was hoping you both would come with me since you two are like family to me." Charlotte said.
Marie and Odette stared at each other for a little bit. Then Marie said, "What are friends for," as she hugged Charlotte and Odette joined right in.
So where are we going exactly? asked Odette curiously.
"I don't know yet," replied Charlotte. "I was thinking maybe Italy or Spain. Somewhere far away from my father so he wouldn't be able to find us."
"I've always wanted to go to one of those places," Odette said excitedly.
"Hey, maybe someone there will adopt us!" Marie said excitedly.
"And we'll be sisters!" And all the girls squealed at the same time in joy and embracing each other in a big group hug.
"Come on, let's get out of here before someone sees us," said Charlotte walking towards the big iron gate with her two best friends as they walked by her side.
Warning: This scene contains extreme violence, strong language and gore. You have been warned.
Back at the La Cour residence. Gauthier was climbing up the stairs to have a little chat with Charlotte. Not knowing she was gone, he stroked his long auburn colored beard and went on to say, "You're behavior tonight was not acceptable by any means necessary, girl. That is why I punished you. You cannot do that in the real world, especially in front of your husband to be. And as for him, you will marry no other than Claude Frollo, the new Minister of Justice whom you heard publicly speak last week. He is a very rich man, so much so in fact, he is one of most richest, powerful men of all of France. The only man higher ranked than him is the king himself. And he will treat you well. So please open the door, or else I will break it down!" said Gauthier his tone of voice changing from calm to angry. No answer came.
So he barged the door open only to find that Charlotte was not present but a rope made from the bedspread and linens tied to the bedpost. He immediately ran over to the open window and saw the rope touching the ground from three stories down. His face turned beat red and he balled his fists so hard that they turned white. He stomped down the stairs, walked into the parlor where his wife, Blanche and his younger daughter, Louise were sitting in. Olivier was upstairs fast asleep. Gauthier began yelling at the top of his lungs at Blanche,
"WHERE IS SHE?! I KNOW YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS, WOMAN!" Blanche and Louise were taken aback by this, and Louise hid behind her mother. Blanche then told her daughter to go upstairs to bed, which she did immediately without any hesitation. Blanche then said to her abusive husband,
"What are you talking about Gauthier?" she asked in a puzzled tone of voice.
"DON'T YOU FUCKING LIE TO ME WOMAN, I KNOW YOU TALKED YOUR DAUGHTER INTO RUNNING AWAY!" he shouted once more.
"Running away? I did no such thing!" Blanche yelled back. And I don't blame her one bit for doing so, me and the children should had done the same thing long, long ago to get away from you!" However, Gauthier immediately struck her in the face so hard that she fell over. She got back up and said confronted him by saying, "You, Gauthier, have done some terrible things is the past to not only me, but to your family as well, but THIS? Marrying off your 10 year old daughter, whom I might add is still a child, to a fully grown man possibly older than yourself, just so you collect some financial gain off the land outside of town we own?! That's sick! SICK! she shrieked on the top of her lungs. You are a HORRIBLE man!"
He grabbed her by the hair and threw her down to the floor. He now bent over to her level and said in a cold calculating tone, "I run this household, I make the rules. You have no say in anything at all. You are a woman, only useful for bearing sons to carrying the family name and keeping house, no different than daughters, who are financial burdens. They are worth no more than a woman. If only you gave me more sons instead of daughters."
I'm not scared of you anymore," said Blanche, now bleeding from her lip. Gauthier then lost it entirely. He picked her back up by the hair, strangled her, and threw against the wall and began punching her in the face repeatedly, until most of her teeth were knocked out. He then kicked her in the head, broke her jaw, and then he threw her head first into the stone wall, smashing her skull and killing her instantly. He stood there and stared at his wife's bloody corpse and the now bloody wall. His wife. The mother of his children. But he didn't care. He just scoffed and went upstairs to make sure his children were asleep, which they were. Or so he thought. Louise, however, was trying to untie the rope made of bedding and heard what had happened all the up in the bedroom. She even heard her mother's screams and cries of pain. She only pretended to be asleep so her father wouldn't go after her too. But she didn't know that her mother was dead. Gauthier then started cleaning up the mess and thought where to dispose of his wife's body.
After her had cleaned everything up and disposed of Blanche, he then went to go look for Charlotte. He assumed she was probably at one of her friends' houses. So he walked over to the stables, climbed on his bay horse, and rode to Marie's house. When he got there, he unmounted his horse and knocked loudly on the door until a man and woman answered it wearing only their nightclothes.
"Are you mad?!" asked the man angerly. "We have young ones sleeping," said the woman. They were Marie's parents.
"I have reason to believe my daughter is hiding out here with yours," Gauthier said formally. She has run away from home and I assume she is here, hiding from me."
"No she's not, we would know if she and Marie were. But if it makes you feel any better, I can go check for you." replied the mother. She then went upstairs. Minutes later she ran downstairs frantically yelling, "She's gone! She's not there!"
"What do mean?" asked the father, who also went upstairs to check. He came down stairs with an angry look on his face. "She must had snuck out. But your daughter is not here, Sir La Cour," the father informed Gauthier. He then turned to leave. "And one more thing, please find our daughter and bring her back here. She will get the biggest belt whipping in her life!" bellowed her father in frustration and anger. "I will," said Gauthier as we mounted his horse and rode off to Odette's house. When he got there he dismounted his horse, knocked on the door, and waited for someone to answer and Odette's mother answered in her nightdress. Odette's father had died a two years prior.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"I have reason to believe that my daughter and her friend are hiding here in your home with your daughter," Gauthier said formally. "You see, my daughter got upset about something I said to her at dinner earlier tonight, and I later discovered that she had ran away from home. I am assuming she might be here."
She looked at him confused. "No, Odette went to Charlotte's slumber party at her house," informed Odette's mother. Gauthier shook his head.
"I'm afraid your daughter has lied to you. There is no such slumber party of the sort happening in my household," he replied.
And then Odette's mother's expression turned from confusion to anger.
"Please find her for me and bring her back here. She is grounded for life!" replied her mother with rage in her voice.
She thanked him but completely ignoring her, Gauthier climbed on his horse and took off towards the Palace of Justice.
When he got there, he was immediately stopped by one of Frollo's overnight guards. Gauthier had to explain the situation to him on why he needed to see the Minister so late. The guard then escorted him to the palace front doors and led him inside. Gauthier waited in the grand hall as the guard went to fetch Frollo from his bedchambers. Just then, Frollo emerged from upstairs. He was wearing his night robe, holding a lit candle, and had a very irritated look on his face.
"What is it!?" he hissed angerly.
"Your Honor, I am so sorry to disturb you at this hour, but my daughter has ran away after I to-" Frollo put his hand up.
"Say no more," Frollo interrupted. "Wait here," he ordered. Gauthier waited a couple minutes until he saw Frollo come down, this time dressed. He then ushered Gauthier to follow him outside and he followed beside him.
"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" asked Frollo.
"I thought maybe one of her friends' houses, but it turns out they both ran away with her, so I have no clue where they could be going," replied Gauthier.
"Hmmm. I quite sure she and her little friends didn't go too far. No need to fear, I'll find them, even if I have to burn down all of Paris to do so." he replied.
They both walked in the horse stable, and Frollo got on his horse, Snowball, and Gauthier said to him,
"Thank you Minister. And one more thing." Frollo looked down from Snowball and asked, "What is it?"
"I'm thinking that instead of you taking my daughter back to my residence, take her back to the Palace of Justice instead and keep her there. Lock her in the dungeon if you want to teach her a lesson. But I was also thinking that you can take her as your wife quicker as well." At this, Frollo grinned wickedly.
"Very well then." And Gauthier continued.
"And she is not to ever see those friends nor her mother or siblings ever again as part of her punishment." Frollo nodded and gave Snowball a kick and and he took off galloping through the night.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the outskirts, Charlotte, Marie and Odette were watching the stars and constellations while eating a pile of freshly picked blueberries they picked form a nearby bush.
"That one looks like a spoon," said Odette.
"That's the Big Dipper," Charlotte told Odette. Charlotte learned about the constellations during her tutoring lessons.
"Really? I didn't know stars had names," Marie then said.
"How about that one?" Odette pointed out one on the right of the Big Dipper.
"That's Leo," Charlotte replied.
"Wow, you're so smart!" Odette complimented. "I wish I knew that kind of stuff." Marie interrupted,
"Yeah, I wish I could read and write."
"Me too," Odette said over her.
Then they all watched the stars in silence for a little white. Then Charlotte looked over her friends and said,
"You know, there's something I never told you any of you. As early as I can remember, my father would beat up my mother and would yell at her. I had to listen to it every single night, while my sister just slept through it. And earlier tonight at dinner, my father hit me for the first time and beat with his belt afterwards," she said in a sad tone of voice.
Both Marie and Odette shot up their heads and looked at Charlotte in shock. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?" they both asked her.
"Because I didn't want to get you two involved. I care too much about you, you know," replied Charlotte. "Besides, there wasn't anything you could had done."
Marie then looked over at Charlotte, reached for her hand and said, "We're here for you, okay Charlotte? We're not going anywhere without you." Charlotte smiled and at her two best friends, and they smiled back.
"My dad's dead," said Odette. "I can't believe it's been two years already. I miss him," she said sadly. Charlotte was silent for a minute and then finally broke the silence.
"Anyways, I'm glad that I'm away from him. How far do you think we are?" asked Charlotte.
"Miles and miles away," replied Marie. "No where near Paris. We could very well be out of France for all we know."
"I've always wanted to travel outside the country," Odette said excitedly. "Do you think our parents know we're gone?"
"I doubt it," replied Marie. "Even if they did, at this point, they'd probably disown us for running away from them." Then Charlotte thought about her mother and siblings. She assumed that they disowned her as well. She then stared at the stars some more. When Marie stretched her arms in the air and let out a big yawn, she said sleepily,
"I think I'll call it a night." Charlotte yawned right after her.
"Me too" she chimed in.
"Me three" said Odette also yawning. They then crawled into the fort they had built with stones and branches. It was big enough to sleep up to three people, so it was perfect for tonight.
"Tomorrow, we'll go even further," said Charlotte falling asleep. "Good night,"
"Sleep tight," said Marie.
"Don't let the bedbugs bite," said Odette. Then they all giggled until they fell fast asleep.
