HoND chapter 7

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I'm not sure. The River Seine during this time of year is very cold. I'm amazed that she had the strength to make it to land."

"I-I think she's waking up."

Katherine heard these voices in her sleep and wondered who they were. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw the face of the boy she saw perform earlier. His eyes were filled with concern. "Are you alright?" he asked, "You must be freezing" She started to sit up but winced in pain while doing so. The wounds from her night in front of the fireplace still caused her pain and the shock from falling into the river wasn't exactly soothing. With the pain waking her up, Katherine took a look around and she was amazed at the sight of this place. Being surrounded by so much color, happiness, and light was a lot for a little girl to take in who had so much sadness in her life. "Wh-What is this place?" she asked timidly. The gypsy boy smiled and said "This, ma chère fille, is the Court of Miracles!" She looked at him puzzled because this did not seem like the type of court she had heard about from her former master. She looked around some more and saw people who were dressed uniquely like the boy in front of her. There was something about these people that seemed vaguely familiar to her but she couldn't think what it was.

"Would you like to see more?"

She blinked a few times before asking him what he meant. Not bothered by this, he repeated "Would you like to see more of this place?". Katherine was a little surprised because no one had shown her this much kindness and hospitality ever. Slowly smiling, she accepted his offer and they were off.

The Court of Miracles was, to her, a beautiful place with its own personal charms. Despite it being underground, the court was filled with so much light. It wasn't just from the many candles that were around the walls and up above coming from the ceilings on makeshift chandeliers. It was the smiles and laughter from all of the people surrounding her that truly brought light to this place. The boy, who's name she learned was Clopin Trouillefou, was eager to show Katherine more of what he was performing earlier in the evening. There were so many puppets in his collection and they were very well-made. After showing her so many puppets, there was one more in the chest where Clopin kept them. She lifted it out and stared at it for few seconds. The black cloth was the body of this particular puppet and the head had an angry mouth and eyes stitched upon it. The teeth were jagged and sharp looking. The nose was protruding from his face in a way that almost made her want to giggle. On top of the the puppet was what looked like a judge's chapeau with a red ribbon flowing from the back of it. Clopin noticed she was studying this particular puppet closely and he started to laugh.

"I see you've found my puppet of monsieur Claude Frollo. He is, surprisingly, very popular in my shows!"

Master Frollo?! She was shocked that someone would use a puppet of him to entertain people. What was amusing about him? Clopin didn't notice the look on her face when grabbed her hand to show her more of the Court. She put the puppet down to follow him with her interest peaking.

* * * * *

After Clopin finished showing Katherine the rest of the court, he led her out through the catacombs. When they reached the surface, the night sky had cleared and the light from the stars lit up the freshly fallen snow. Clopin put something in her small hands and whispered "When you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand." Before she could ask what he meant by that, he was gone. She was about to look at what he had given her when she heard the sound of guards coming her way.

'Oh no!'

Katherine quickly put Clopin's gift away and started to run. She carefully avoided the guards by going through the alleys and hiding in the shadows when a guard walked by. She was almost seen by one of them, but she silently escaped before he could look back. It seemed like hours before she had finally dodged all of the guards and, unknowingly, arrived outside the Palace of Justice. She was torn from her desire to be free and her desire to finally have a home. In the end, she chose the latter and silently went inside with tears welling up in her eyes.