Belle hardly slept that night. The Festival had awakened something in her...and so had something else. That gypsy man, she wished she had got his name, when he had touched her she had felt a thrill, a rush of something, possibly of all she lacked living here with Frollo, and she had felt excited and pleasantly giddy all at once.

And she wanted to feel like that again.

によって morning she had made up her mind; she would go out and see if she could find him.

“And what are あなた going to do today?” Frollo asked her over breakfast.

“I have to return those 本 to the bookshop,” Belle replied.

“The ones あなた borrowed yesterday?”

“I finished them last night.”

“All of them? Good grief, it’s a wonder you’ve not read every book in that place!”

Belle smiled and put down her spoon. “What about you? What will あなた be up to today?”

Frollo waved a dismissive hand as he finished his tea. “Oh, the usual; keeping the peace, converting the heathens, al the boring things, あなた know.”

“But あなた do a very good job of it,” Belle said, feeling that flattery would be rather apt just now, to make Frollo believe that she was nothing but a holy girl he had “converted to pure Christianity” years 前 instead of the spirited young woman she was.

Frollo smirked. He had only noticed recently that she was an attractive young woman, and the age gap bothered him not at all. In his mind, Belle was his, and no one else could touch her, または if they did, they would soon find themselves hanged in the city square, if he had anything to say about it.

He placed down his cup and rose smoothly to his feet. “Don’t be late,” he told her, “and don’t go getting yourself into any mischief.”

Belle flashed him one of her innocent smile and he left, satisfied. She waited until she was certain that he wasn’t about to hurry back into the room and then she picked up her マント, 隠す and left the cathedral, her spirits high. She decided she would start in the general direction of the bookshop, since her excuse about returning the 本 she had borrowed the 日 before had not been a complete lie, and work her way around towards the bakery and then finally back to the cathedral in a complete circle. If she didn’t find him, then surely someone must know how to reach him.

A little way down from the bookshop, across the street, two gypsy women were peddling their trade. One of them, a French gypsy born and bred, dressed in a white peasant ブラウス and a purple skirt, danced with a tambourine, her wild black locks tossing back and forth into place as she moved. The other, who was actually an ex-slave from Native America, brought over when she was just twelve years old, sat in a scantily-cut beige dress, cross-legged and busy weaving dream catchers which she was selling.

Belle stopped to watch the dancing girl. When she had finally finished, Belle fished in the basket and drew out a few coins which she dropped into the hat at the girl’s feet. The girl beamed at her.

“Thank you, Miss, you’re too kind.”

“That’s alright,” Belle replied. “You’re a very good dancer.”

“I should hope so!” the girl laughed. “I’ve been doing it all my life!”

“Here.” The other girl got to her feet and held up a blue dreamcatcher. “It’s a dreamcatcher. They let good dreams in and keep the bad ones out.”

Belle smiled. “It’s lovely, but I don’t think I have enough-”

“No charge,” the girl replied, dropping it into Belle’s hands.

“This is enough,” the other girl added, picking up the hat. “You’re a lot もっと見る generous than some around here.”

Belle smiled. “My parents always taught me to be kind to people.”

The dancer girl shimmied her tambourine as some other people came to watch her dance. The dreamcatcher girl smiled and went quietly back to her spot and carried on her work. Belle placed the dreamcatcher carefully into her basket and made her way into the bookshop.

“Back again, Belle?” the bookshop keeper laughed as he took the 本 from her.

Belle smiled and scaled the ladder. “Have あなた got anything new?”

“A few, actually, they’re up on the 上, ページのトップへ shelf.”

Fingering the book titles, Belle paused as a sudden thought struck her. “I wonder,” she murmured, “would they know..?”

Her new 本 in the basket, Belle left and as she turned in the direction she had planned to go anyway, she froze and stared. The two gypsy girls she had helped were being mercilessly tormented によって two men. The dancer was frantically kicking as one attempted to pick her up, whilst the other was having dirt rubbed into her hair によって the other.

“Hey, leave them alone!” Belle shouted, running forwards.

The one rubbing horse dung, as Belle now saw that it was, into the girl’s hair, looked up and laughed. “Oh-ho-ho! Who’s this who thinks she’s so tough, then?”

Belle could only think of one thing to do and that was to seize the heaviest of her book and スマック the man in the face as hard as she could muster the strength for. It did the trick. The man let out a roar of pain and released the gypsy girl, clutching his face. The other released the dancer girl and glared at Belle. “Right, now she’s asking for it.”

“What’s going on out here?” The ショップ ベル jangled as the shopkeeper came out and folded his arms.

The man Belle had hit muttered a curse beneath his hands and then turned to his companion. “Come on, let’s go.”

“We’re not done with あなた yet, girly!” the other man snarled under his breath, pushing his ugly face close to Belle’s.

Belle, unafraid, didn’t flinch. “Why don’t あなた bully someone your own size?”

The two men slouched off. “You alright, Belle?” asked the shopkeeper.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Belle smiled, helping the girl who had made the dreamcatchers to her feet.

“Oh-oh!” sighed the girl, tearing great lumps of dung from her hair. “I need a bath!”

“Brutes,” the other girl growled under her breath as she snatched up some fallen coins from the hat.

“Thanks for that,” her companion 発言しました to Belle.

“That’s alright,” Belle said. “Are あなた alright?”

“Ah, it’s not the first time people have done that to us,” the dancer replied, straightening up. “People like that just hate things they don’t understand.”

“What is there too understand about gypsies?” Belle asked, frowning.

The girl with the dung in her hair almost laughed. “No, sweetie, that’s not why they hate us.”

“Come on, let’s blow this joint,” sighed the other.

“Can we jump in the canal first? I need to get this out of my hair.”

“Urgh, Jesus!”

“Told you; I need a bath!”

“Well, thanks,” the dancer girl added to Belle, and as they left, Belle watched them clasp hands and realised why those men had been bullying them.

It was only when she got back to the cathedral that she realised she had forgotten to ask them, または indeed, anyone, about her mysterious gypsy. She glanced out of the window. Already the sun was setting, but Frollo wasn’t back yet...and she had been outside in the dark plenty of times before and come to no harm.

She left a few moments later, having made up her mind to try one last time to find someone who might be able to give her the name she craved, and then if she couldn’t, she would go ホーム and leave it to fate to decide. “The Lord works in mysterious ways,” the Archdeacon had often told her in her childhood. Belle felt now the same principle applied.

Finding herself once もっと見る in the alley where the bookshop was located, Belle suddenly became aware that someone was following her. She hesitated, unsure of whether they were simply going the same was as her, または whether they were actually following her. Taking a deep breath and trying to appear unafraid, she moved further down the street...and then a hand touched her shoulder and she found herself spun around and shoved against a ウォール as someone seized her. Belle looked up into the two faces she had seen only that 日 in this exact same place.

“Well, well, well,” sneered the one she had hit. His face was no longer bleeding, but his nose looked to have been put out of joint, and there was dried blood still in patches around it. “Look who we’ve got here.”

“That was fast,” his companion chuckled, eyeing Belle up and down.

A freezing chill of fear hit her. Belle wriggled out of his grip and stared at them. “What do あなた want with me?”

“Teach あなた a lesson,” the 秒 one, the one she hadn’t hit, grunted and reached to grab her again.

Belle ducked as his hands just missed her, his fingers colliding with strands of her hair. “Leave me alone!”

“Not likely, sweetheart,” the first leered, coming closer to her. His hands looked ready to clutch her throat.

Belle took another step backwards, slipping a little in the mud, but kept her balance. “Look, I apologise for hitting you, but あなた deserved it. あなた should have just left those girls alone.”

The two men looked at one another. “Sticking up for gypsy and unholy lesbian scum, are we, girly?” the 秒 said, taking two quick strides towards her. “We’ll soon put that right.”

Belle wanted to scream but all that came out was a loud gasp that caught in her throat as the man she had hit seized her arm.

“Stop!” came a voice from behind her.

Twisting her head, Belle saw the shadowy outline of some thin, tall person behind her, but before she could work out who it was, she felt herself slammed against the wall, so hard that the side of her head hit the bricks, both cutting and stunning her.

“Back off, gypsy,” snarled the shorter of the two men. “This isn’t any of your concern.”

“Oh, I think it is,” Clopin replied, and then, from nowhere, he conjured 火災, 火 onto the two juggling batons he held aloft. The two men flinched, uneasily, and then, as he came at them, whirling the batons, they released Belle, turned and scarpered, falling over themselves to get away.

Belle, not entirely sure what was happening, または who had saved her, slid down the ウォール and promptly fainted. The 次 thing she was aware of was something warm and moist touching the side of her head, and a slight ache there. She blinked and raised her head. She was no longer in the street, but in a large room, almost the same size as the city square. It was lavishly decorated, yet the furniture was minimal, and most of it makeshift. She realised too, as she sat up, that she was lying on several squashy cushions, rather comfortably, and that someone was kneeling beside her.

“You alright?” asked a voice, soft and gentle.

“Yes, I’m-” Belle, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, realised who was talking to her and looked up. “It’s you!”

Clopin blinked at her. “Yes, it’s me.”

“I was trying to find you!” Belle tucked her knees under herself and then touched the patch on the side of her head that he had been tending too. She flinched and her fingers came away with speckles of blood on her.

“It’s not deep,” Clopin reassured her, and then, “Wait, あなた were trying to find me?”

Belle smiled. His cheeky face looked all too happy at the notion. “I didn’t get your name yesterday.”

“It’s Clopin.”

“I’m Belle.”

“I know.”

Belle blinked at him. “How?”

Clopin gave her a mischievous grin. “You gave me a サンドイッチ once when we were both younger.”

Belle felt her jaw drop. “That was you?”

“Yes, and then your father gave my uncle a five franc note-”

“-and Mama told him to go to the Busy Bee Bakery,” Belle finished.

“Aye, and it was good that we did,” grinned Clopin, getting to his feet. “The baker and his wife were もっと見る than generous to us. I’ve always meant to thank your parents for that.”

Belle bit her lip and followed suit, clambering to her own feet. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. They died a while back.”

“Oh!” Clopin’s face was instantly grave. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” Belle smiled, sadly and looked at her feet. “Wait, who takes care of you, then?”

“Judge Claude Frollo at Notre Dame.”

“Judge Frollo?” Belle turned to see the dancer girl she had helped earlier striding past with a basket full of laundry. The girl stared at her, unsurprised at her materialisation in this place, so Belle suspected that she had seen Clopin carry her in. “How could someone so cruel and heartless have raised someone like you?”

Belle smiled. “Well, actually, the Archdeacon did a better job of raising me, and he’s a lot nicer than Frollo.”

The girl returned her smile. “By the way, my name’s Esmeralda.”

“I’m Belle.”

“Yes, I know. Clopin 発言しました some thugs were attacking you?”

“The same two who attacked あなた and...”

“Pocahontas?”

“Earlier,” Belle finished.

Esmeralda let out a gasp of indignation. “Those rats, those-!”

“Alright, Esme!” Clopin interrupted, sensing that she was about to start cursing. “Don’t あなた have some laundry to do?”

Esmeralda rolled her eyes and padded away. Belle looked around the place again. There were quite a few people here. A pale boy with white hair was carrying a sleeping child with black hair in his arms and talking to a girl with very dark skin dressed in green and holding a large シチュー pot in her hands. Two men, one dressed in beige and cream clothing and playing a ukulele, and the other dressed in a purple waistcoat and white trousers and holding a crust of bread, were enjoying some friendly banter on the stairs. Two young girls, one dressed in a red and white patterned dress and the other in a white T-shirt and a purple スカート were listening to a tall, dark-skinned man with a 上, ページのトップへ hat as he showed them something in a box. Pocahontas, her hair now free of dung, Belle was glad to see, was scrubbing the stairs with a woman dressed in blue, whose long hair was restrained in a fat ponytail using several blue bands all the way down.

“What is this place?” she asked.

“This, Belle, is the Court of Miracles.”

Now Belle had heard of that. Frollo talked about it often enough. He wanted nothing もっと見る than to find it and then destroy everyone who lived there. Being there, knowing this, made her feel somewhat naughty. Belle brushed her hair out of her eyes as she took it all in. “This is the Court of Miracles?”

“It’s not much,” Clopin admitted, bashfully, “but it’s ホーム to us.”

“I think it’s wonderful.” The whole place had such a friendly, familiar atmosphere about it. Oh why, thought Belle, can’t Frollo see this? Gypsies are no different to us, really, underneath. It was like she was seeing a whole new world.

Clopin beamed at her, proudly. “Would あなた like a tour?”

Belle wanted that もっと見る than anything...but her head reminded her that it was late and she ought to get home. She sighed. “Maybe some other time. I need to get back home; otherwise Frollo might tear down all of Paris looking for me.”

Clopin was inwardly disappointed but didn’t 表示する it. “I’ll see あなた get ホーム alright, then.”

“Oh, あなた don’t have to-”

“I’m insisting. I can’t have あなた wandering around Paris alone with those thugs still on the loose.”

Belle smiled as he handed her her cloak. “Well, thank you. And...thank あなた for saving me from those men.”

Clopin smiled back at her, and both of them could feel the spark as they left the Court of Miracles together and stepped out into the darkness.