Chapter 54: The Story

Elaine fetched some water, hoping that a drink would help the distressed bell ringer calm down. It did, and he let out a heavy exhale after draining his cup.

"Do you feel any better?" Elaine asked.

"A little." Quasimodo replied. "I guess I can start explaining things now."

"Okay. Whenever you're ready."

Quasimodo frowned.

"This is going to be a really sad story..." He warned.

Elaine looked at her friend with empathy.

"Don't worry about that." She encouraged. "I... Deal well with sad things."

The deaths of her parents came to mind. Elaine didn't look it, but she certainly was hardy when it came to emotions. Losing her family had required her to be that way.

Quasimodo looked at her inquisitively, as if he wanted to ask what sad things she had dealt with.

"I'll tell you about that later." Elaine promised. "That's enough about me for now. Tell me everything."

She put her hand over the table to touch one of Quasimodo's much larger hands. The bell ringer looked at her with a weak smile before resuming his earlier frown.

"When I was a baby... Frollo..."

He hesitated. It was still hard for Quasimodo to acknowledge the loss of his mother. Not knowing about it for twenty years had made the realization much worse than it should have been.

"He took you in." Elaine finished. "That's what you told me..."

Quasimodo nodded.

"He did. But before that..."

He took a deep breath.

"He killed my mother." Quasimodo finished.

Elaine turned white as a sheet.

"What?!" She practically shouted.

Somehow, she'd never been able to picture this. Not even when her uncle had told her that Judge Claude Frollo had a not-so-heroic past, and not even when she'd heard from Quasimodo that Frollo was responsible for the damage he'd recently been fixing all over town. Somehow, Elaine had never wondered if murder was one of Frollo's crimes. She'd never been able to think that lowly of the man who had saved her life.

"Why would he do such a horrible thing?" She asked in disbelief.

"Because he was evil." Quasimodo replied.

Evil... That word was so strong. Elaine had known that Frollo was bad in the past. But evil?

"I guess he took me in because he felt guilty." Quasimodo continued. "But he was terrible. There's a reason I'm so nervous around everyone. Until just recently, I was never allowed to leave this stupid tower..."

Things suddenly made sense. Elaine understood the bell ringer better than ever.

"That's why my uncle had that dinner party for you..." She said in realization. "That's why he said everyone wanted to meet you..."

Quasimodo nodded.

"Frollo wanted to hide me. He said my own mother abandoned me and no one would ever like me if I went outside. He said I was a monster..."

Elaine wanted to cry. She couldn't stand the thought of Quasimodo being treated so poorly, especially not by someone she thought of as her hero.

"But then my life got better." Quasimodo shared. "Weeks ago, I decided to sneak out to go the Festival of Fools. But a bunch of people tied me up and threw things at me, and Frollo saw it all, but he wouldn't help me..."

Quasimodo felt his heart break all over again when he thought of the torture. He held back tears.

Elaine was struggling too, both with the continued revelation of Frollo's previous madness and the reality of Quasimodo's miserable past.

"But Esmeralda was there." Quasimodo went on. "She saved me... And then she yelled at Frollo for letting it happen. We became good friends after that. But Frollo was mad. REALLY mad! He lit fires all over Paris just to hunt her down! And when he finally caught her... Well, she married him so he would free me and the rest of her friends..."

Elaine's mouth dropped open.

"He caused all that destruction... Over her?"

Quasimodo nodded.

"And they... Got married?"

No one had told Elaine that Esmeralda and Frollo were married, so she was shocked. She'd never noticed any sign of marriage between them, neither the traditional kind nor a coerced marriage. And knowing that this had, in fact, come from coercion, Elaine was in awe at the fact that those two had become friends, and apparently even fallen in love.

"I couldn't believe it either." Quasimodo confessed. "I never wanted to believe that Frollo was so evil. I didn't even realize just how bad he was until he apologized and told me the truth about my mother. Since then I can't stand the sight of him. I know he's changed, but I just can't do it. I can't be around my mother's killer..."

He paused, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Esmeralda knows that." He continued. "She was there to comfort me after I found out. She knows how horrible he used to be and how hurt I am... And now she's in love with him..."

Elaine looked at the bell ringer with compassion. She now understood why Quasimodo was so upset. But one question remained.

"You said she broke your heart." Elaine reminded. "What did you mean by that?"

Quasimodo sighed.

"I... Really like Esmeralda." He explained. "Like, a lot."

Elaine tried to hide her disappointment as she realized what Quasimodo was saying.

"Oh..." She murmured.

"Yeah... She told me she didn't feel the same. And that was fine, really. I knew she liked that handsome guy, Phoebus. And that was fine... He was a good guy, at least. I saw her kiss him once, and it was painful, but I dealt with it..."

He wiped away another tear.

"But I can't deal with this!" Quasimodo cried. "She just kissed my mother's killer, and I hate it! I really don't know if I can talk to her again... If she comes up here, I'll probably climb out a window..."

Elaine was heartbroken, both for herself and for her friend.

She'd assumed that her feelings for Quasimodo were mutual, but that was clearly not the case. She wasn't the one he wanted, Esmeralda was.

But Elaine would not let that disappointment get in her way now. Her personal feelings didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was helping Quasimodo through this.

"I understand now." She said reassuringly. "I see why you're so upset..."

"I'm glad someone understands..." Quasimodo sighed in relief. "Thanks for listening to all that. You're a really good friend..."

Elaine only wished that she and the bell ringer were more than friends. But if a friend was what all he wanted her to be, she would be the best possible friend for him.

Near the top stairs of the belltower, Esmeralda had frozen upon hearing the final part of the conversation. Full of sorrow, she turned around and went back down the stairs.

Thanks again for reading! I took a while this time because life has been stressful, but I will keep the chapters coming even if I'm slow at times! This story is important to me, so I won't stop until it's finished. I'm sorry about putting you through this sad section, but it will serve an important purpose as we go forward. Stay tuned as we get through it!