See Ye In Court! 
                              as told by Etienne
                                  Chapter 1 
We passed in front of the majestical Notre Dame Cathedral wondering how such a 
beautiful, grand building had ever come to be."What a sight it must be during 
the day",I thought to myself. With the full moon out tonight on this January 
second, it was already breathtaking. The many candles within lit it's beautiful 
windows. But we were looking for someplace we could stay for awhile. Any sturdy 
place would do, just as long as there was enough for all three of us. 
We had been traveling Europe by foot for the last ten years. I remember Paris 
alot different than it was tonight. I hardly remembered it at all. "Leave town 
for a decade and they change everything", I thought. We had traveled as far east 
as Romania this last trip, if that's even what it's called these days. Pandora, 
our cousin, had grown up there.. We travel also with Elise, my sister. We're 
just three relatives touring the world. Paris is extra special to us, though. 
This is where Pandora's brother, my final cousin lives. Clopin Trouillefou was 
supposedly a well-known name in these parts, but so far, no one has heard of him 
but us. 
As we turn a corner down a heavy populated street (compared to others at this 
time of night), I spy the face of an elderly man, looking at us very craftily, a 
sneer. The others also see him and sense something weird. We hear a cry out 
behind us as we keep walking. "Gypsies", a man's voice calls out over the crowd. 
We look back (naturally, after all, we are gypsies) and see the man running 
toward us through the crowd. We start to run through the crowd. The man is 
wearing black, I notice as I glance back, and he blends easily into the 
darkness. we make our way out to a more average, less crowded street. As we run, 
a goat, very small and delicate-looking, runs out before us and is stumbled over 
by Elise, who was looking back at our pursuer. Out of the bag, rolls her drum, 
all beautifully decorated with gems and ribbons. Stolen. She turns to pick it 
up. The goat is gone. the man turns the corner. We hurriedly enter the nearest 
building. The man follows, and tall as he is, neglecting to duck as he enters, 
knocks his big, black hat off in the doorway, revealing his grey, step haircut. 
The hat falls about three inches short of a mud puddle. He doesn't notice what 
he's done until we've already made our way out the door agan. On the way out, I 
grab the hat and tear off a red cloth that is attached.Pandora rips the hat from 
my hand and tosses it back to the man as we all run off, laughing. The man, 
meanwhile, catches the hat just before it splashes in the mud puddle. 
******************** 
We take residence tonight under a cast-aside blanket in a corner of the city. We 
often make homes of such things for one night. We don't make much money. Pandora 
use to play her mandolin while people clapped to the music and Elise and I 
danced. Now that Elise had her stolen drum and I my stolen piccolo, we could all 
play. But, I still prefer dancing. 
The morning comes and we off with the blanket to trade it in at a cloth store. 
Our luck was with us. The cloth store was just around the corner. We walk 
inside, but there is the same man. The man who chased us last night is arguing 
with the storekeeper, his words were as follows: 
"-but this color has nothing to do with the hat or the rest of the ensemble. 
Neither do any of these other colors. I must have red. Notice how a deep red 
would accentuate the rubies on my robe and the stripes on my hat. And the 
stripes on my robe, placed so strategically as to accentuates my shoulder lines. 
I must have red, and I expect it in two days!" 
Then he stormed out of the shop. "Oh ruby robe!", Elise tanted the man, holding 
up the cloth from his hat, "Would this red do?" We ran and were once again 
pursued by him. 
"No gypsy can outwit Frollo!" Pandora, who could take no more running, produced 
a magic pill from her pocket and threw it down. In a puff of smoke, we were on 
the roof of a building above the man who called himself Frollo. Standing 
confused below us, we dropped the blanket over him, as he shouted, "Witchcraft!" 

We ran to the other side of the building and leaped off. Luckily, we landed on 
some burlap bags full of hay. There were not many people around, but we needed 
money. So Pandora pulled out her mandolin and played while Elise and I danced. 
Of the few people on the streets, none were paying attention to us and some 
people even backed away. So, we decided we had to steal some money. We saw a 
slow walking man heading away from us so it might as well be him. 
Slowly, we crept up behind him. We were not professional thieves, but were 
pretty good. I was about to reach into his pocket and grab what I could, but 
before I knew what had happened he was yelling at us, chasing us down the 
street. 
"Hoho! You think you can steal from me, do you? Me who is quickly learning the 
tricks of the trade? Well, I'll show you!" 
And he ran pretty fast. As we ran, Pandora took up hiding behind a corner where 
she could not be spotted by the man. As he ran around that corner to follow us, 
Pandora swung her mandolin at him hard, and he was knocked back about six feet. 
It made a loud noise, too. 
As the man was slowly recovering, Pandora caught up with us and Elise turned 
around and held up a small pouch. 
"Look what we have here!", she called to the man. "I wonder who this could 
possibly belong to." 
The man recognized it as his own and quickly got up to pursue us again. We 
rounded the next corner and found a dead end. We all backed into a corner and 
let out a big scream. The man was reaching out toward us like he was going to 
choose an unlucky winner to strangle. But instead of strangling us, he gave 
Elise a big hug, much to our surprise. 
"Oh", he said with teary eyes, "I have never seen such great sleight of hand, 
before! I'm getting pretty hig up on the thief chart at TACM, but I never would 
have guessed you had my money and never could have pulled it off myself. I bow 
down to you." 
And he did. 
Elise kneeled down before him and held out his pouch. "Here", she said, "take it 
back, I pity you, who have been studying thiefliness but still cannot be as good 
as us, who came naturally to be as good as we are. Normally we don't give back 
what we take but you will probably never steal from anybody. And then be redused 
to a staggering, gap-toothed, poor excuse for a lowly bum in the street!" 
"It all came naturally to you?" he asked, getting up, "but how?" 
He gasped and gabbed me by the arm. 
"Your arms", he cried, "they are all very thin. And thieving comes naturally. 
You are no doubt somehow related in some way to our king of the Court of 
Miracles, Clopin Trou-" 
"CLOPIN!", Pandora interuppted, "It seems years since I last saw my dear 
brother! Oh where is my beloved relative?! Take me to him!" 
"Clopin's sister, sister of the king!", he gasped, "oh I will take you anywhere 
that you wish to go." And he kissed her hand. 
"Oh!", she giggled, "Why thank you! Well, off to the Court of Miracles!" 
As we were being escorted by the man to the court, we heard then bells of Notre 
Dame ringing throughout the air. He took us up to an old tomb, or what looked 
like one until he removed a stone, revealing a long staircase underground. We 
followed it own to the place where I would, at first glance, think was 
ankle-deep sewage. As we rounded a corner, I began to hear music, and color was 
all around us- The Court of Miracles! 
******************** 
The place was filled with tents of many different fabrics. There were people of 
all kinds- gypsies, thieves, bums and beggars, and of all sizes. One short, plum 
woman passed in front of us. It looked as if she had obtained the fabric for her 
outfit from every tent. None of it matched. She almost knocked down the man. 
"Watch where you're going, Tansy!" the man shouted. "Where are you off to 
anyway?" 
"I need to find Clopy. He's not in his tent. I checked." 
"I saw him leave the court moments ago. If I were you, I'd search the city 
and..." and the woman was gone. 
"Silly girl", said the man, "Clopin is in my tent, waiting for her to leave. 
Come, your higness, and I'll take you to your brother." 
We all followed the man to his tent but when we got there, Clopin was nowhere to 
be found. So the man decided to try Clopin's tent. On the way to the tent of the 
king (Clopin), I noticed a familiar logo on one of the tents. The logo read 
"Fatima's oils and elixirs." 
"Oh, look Elise", I exclaimed, "Fatima has come to the court as well! Remember- 
the woman from Italy!" 
"Oh, yes, Pandora do you remember, too?" 
"Of course I do. She's the one who brought us the message that Clop was waiting 
in this city for us." 
"Well, it seems she made it back long before you. She's been here for a good 
four months now." 
"Let us pay a surprise visit to the dear old woman." 
"You two go ahead, but I must see my brother immediately and tell him all about 
the mysterious East- and to catch up on some family business. He owes me money!" 

So we went without her. Clopin, we assumed could not be found if he was missing. 
As we entered the tent, we could hear some chanting. I was about to ask if 
anyone was at home when... 
"Of course, of course, I'm here. Come in my darlings. Fatima could sense you 
coming. I'm glad you finally arrived. Clopin knows not of family's arrival. He 
be surprised." 
"Wow!" Elise startled me, "I love all these elixirs you have, Fatima." 
"Fatima bet EliseTrouillefou like to try elixir to enhance the personalty." 
"What are you trying to say!" Elise replied, insulted. 
"Just try it. You'll like it." 
"I think we'll like it more than her," I teased. 
"Hey" 
She drank some and suddenly Fatima said she had a bad feeling about Elise taking 
the elixir. But Elise said, "What could go wrong?" So after using her crystal 
ball to track down Clopin (and discovering that Pandora had found him) Fatima 
pointed us in the direction to go to get to our relatives. 
"Just go down this passage through tents. You come to opening in wall marked 
'exit' and follow tunnel to end and come out by seine. Have a nice day and 
please come again." 
We followed the tunnel for about 20 minutes. We saw the end before we reached 
it. We discovered that the opening was covered with a wooden slat. We moved it 
out of the way to reveal bushes. We crawled out from the bushes and heard 
Pandora scream. Oh no! What if Frollo's guards had found them! We ran along the 
river in the direction of the scream.(Dies irae! Dies illa!) Soon we saw her. 
She was having her own miniture brawl with our cousin and the plump, colorblind 
lady. There was also another woman wearing a purple dress fighting. 
"Stop", cried I, but they did not stop fighting. 
Food was being flung from the ball of dust that was occuring as a result of the 
brawl. So we entered (not "We Enter") the brawl, to fight. Elise and I were 
excellent fighters (except for when we were drunk; but even then, we're good.) 
But when we got in, instead of fighting, Elise stood, and with the meekest of 
voices, said, "Excuse me, but this fighting has to come to an en..." Oh, dear, 
the elixir was kicking in at the most inconvenient of times. She was punched 
between the eyes and knocked out. Then is when the fighting stopped. 
Pandora and the rest were covered in food. 
"Clopin!" cried I, stepping over Elise. "How nice it is to see you again!" 
"Etienne, haha!" Clopin replied and came forward to give me a hug, but I was 
able to back away in time. These were the only clothes I had and I didn't want 
to soil them any more than necessary. 
Together we were all able to carry Elise back to the court. All I could think on 
the way was "It's a good thing it wasn't that short, fat lady they call Tansy." 
When we arrived at Clopin's tent, the woman in the purple dress, whose name was 
Esmeralda, went to fetch Fatima for some help. I was also formally introduced to 
Tansy and Anjou. Anjou was a puppet with features of Clopin. He was putting on a 
song and dance extravaganza when Fatima arrived. 
"Ahh, Etienne, Fatima is sorry for not fully telling of the effects of 
personality elixir. Once taken, many personalities become of EliseTrouillefou 
until one improvement is found. Wrong personality come at wrong time." 
She then produced an elixir to wake Elise up. 
"Oh, I can't bear to see my cousin be treated by such unpredictable elixirs." 
"I'll comfort you, Clopy!" 
"Perhaps I can bear it just this once." 
Fatima put some elixir in Elise's mouth. 
"Drop of blood from little fleas
Taken from Goat, Djali's knees
Come together with herbal teas
To help awaken our Elise
Thank you."
Open did Elise's eyes and Anjou came face to face with her, cracking a stupid 
joke. We all laughed. 
"Now, let's eat," Clopin remarked. 
"But we just did" 
"No we didn't. We just fought." 
"Come, we'll go to my tent and eat." La Esmeralda suggested, "I have some 
leftovers from what was supposed to be our picnic. 
After a wonderful meal (and a few more extravaganzas by Anjou), Esmeralda 
decided to take in Pandy and Elise for the night. I was to go to Clopin's tent. 
******************** 
Clopin and Esmeralda's tents were in the same row. Behind the tents was an 
alley, so we could easily walk from one tent to another using the front or back 
exits. Clopin's tent was the largest. After all, he was the king, and deserved a 
larger tent. It was all decorated in bright colors and there were many mirrors 
and portraits of himself. There were some full body shots and some head shots. 
One even had his name wrtten on it. 
"What is wth that large 'I', cousin?" 
"That is symbolic of I, who painted that wonderful image. I, who am the world's 
greatest gypsy!" 
"That, my cousin, we shall see about! Tonight, I challenge thee to a test of 
cunning, slyness, sleight of hand, yes! That's it sleight of hand! My sister, 
Elise, in her bag with her carries a drum, upon which is a string of bells such 
as those you wear around your neck. The drum is also decorated with gems and 
ribbos. I challenge you to retrieve the drum and I, as well. We start here and, 
one of us taking the alley, the other, the street, try to get it. Each time you 
are spotted, you must report back here, and I will do likewise. The one who 
successfully retieves the drum to your tent undetected is thereby the world's 
greatest gypsy! Agreed?" 
"Aye, agreed! But be prepared to bow down to me." 
And with that, we were off. He took the front way, and I the back. As I quietly 
neared the back exit of Esmeralda's tent, I began to hear music. I looked inside 
and saw the three were playing their musical instruments- Pandora, her mandolin, 
Esmeralda, her tambourine, and Elise...her drum! Oh, no! How could I get it now? 
I saw Clopin at the front exit. He didn't see me. 
"BOO!" he exclaimed through the exit. 
The girls screamed and ran towards my side of the tent. I quickly ducked out of 
view . What an idiot, I thought, He could have been spotted. 
"What was that?" asked Esmeralda. 
"Let's go look", suggested Pandora. 
Good, while they were out, I could go get the drum. I walked in as they left the 
tent, but the drum was not there. The tambourine and mandolin were there but 
Elise had taken the drum. If only I had challenged him to retrieve the mandolin, 
I would have already won. I heard the outside, scolding Clopin. HaHa! He had 
been caught! I better get out again so I won't be caught, too. I can stay near 
the tent and he has to go back to his. I heard them come back in and I waited. 
"What's wrong, Aten, I heard people screaming." The voice came from behind and 
startled me. It was Tansy. I was spotted by Tansy! 
Tansy, it's Etienne, E-ti-enne, can you say that?" 
"E-ti-enne." 
"Very good, now you never saw me." And I went back to the tent. 
Clopin had already come and gone, if he even came at all. Probably not, if I 
know a Trouillefou. But I'll still win. I went back out into the alley and down 
to Esmeralda's tent. I was by the back exit and saw Clopin by the front. He was 
raising his arm. What was he doing? Whack! The cheater! He threw a stone at the 
wall of the tent where I was. the girl's heard and came to the back exit. 
Luckily, I was able to hop to the top of the tent, just in time. There was a 
small tear in the ceiling of the tent and I could see Clopin inside with the 
drum. I took one of my magic pills and dropped it near him. It was a screaming 
pill and it made a loud squealing when it popped open on impact. the girl's 
turned quickly around to see Clopin. 
"Clopin!" yelled Elise, What do you think you're doing?" 
"Oh, well, I was just, uh, well, ahh, hee hee hee." I went down below and ran 
across the exit behind the girl's. "But look! There is Etienne!" 
The fool, he gave me away! I entered and all were laughing. I explained our 
contest, and how I was the world's greatest gypsy. We all ended up laughing 
after a quick arguement and decided we had best get to bed. 
******************** 
The next morning, while having something wonderful to drink, (I don't know what 
it was. I only know it was purple. My favorite color.) Clopin backed into me 
while looking in his mirror. The liquid spilled all over my clothes. 
"Oh my dear Etienne, I am soo sorry. I meant not to cause a spill on such *Ahem* 
fancy clothes. I must remember that the objects in this mirror are closer than 
they appear." he continued. "Fortunately for you, though, it appears as though 
we are the same size. You can from now on be seen in one of my fine, Clopinish, 
designer ensembles." 
From the back entrance from the tent came the voice of Tansy. "Sewn by myself, 
of course." 
Quickly came Clopin's response "the one and only drawback. But otherwise feel 
honoured to appear in public wearing one of my outfits." 
"Well, thank you cousin. I would love to wear such fine getups about my venture 
through Paris with Elise and Pandora. And I care not who sewed it. Besides, 
Tansy doesn't seem that bad at all." 
"Oh, Etienne, you do not know her as of yet, so could not possibly know her 
torturous ways. She stalks me everywhere I go. No place is safe. She once even 
took Anjou from the Archdeacon and held him captive until I married her. Of 
course I didn't marry her." a smile, "But had I, I would have had the proper 
ensemble for such an occasion. Now change your clothes."   Clopin had a wide 
variety of clothes from which to choose. If not by style, by colors and 
patterns. I selected a purple vest, blue shirt and striped pants. He had lots of 
purples. "Huzzah" thought I. I walked out of the tent and... 
"Boo!", the attack came from the side. It was Elise, with Pandora right behind. 
"Elise, you're wearing a skirt?" I asked surprised. Elise, rarely wore such 
long, flowing skirts. 
"Yes. Do you like it? It's Pandy's." 
"It's orange." 
"Yes, I know. What's wrong with that?" 
"Orange is not your best color...but then again, what is?" 
"Oh you! Pandy said I should dance in it today when we go up to the city." 
"Very good, my sister. However, are we to dance together? If so, we do not match 
at all. I shall go in and change and wear this tomorrow." 
"Do not change, brother. I shall just reverse this skirt, for the underside is 
purple and will still match my pink top." 
So we began walking toward Esmeralda's tent. On the way, Tansy came running up 
to us. We stopped but Pandy continued. 
"I couldn't help but notice the two of you walking side by side. Those colors 
look so cute together! I shall make a few outfits using those same colors. That 
way, one person can wear both those colors at once. Thanks for the wonderul 
idea." 
"Whatever" I thought and kept walking. When we reached the tent, Elise said, "I 
shall go in and reverse the skirt, with Pandy and wake Esmeralda, for she wishes 
to accompany us. While I change, you keep watch lest Clopin comes seeking 
Esmeralda." 
"Oui, my sister. You can count on me." 
******************** 
Out in the city there was alot going on. Bakers and butchers were getting good 
business. Sheep were being herded through town and there were people working in 
mon sewer. 
"I would like to have a real business", Pandy said, "but I don't know what. A 
bookstore would be nice. Then all the rich people would visit my shop." 
"Oh, Pandy", said I, "What is wrong with what you do now?" 
"I like what I do now. It's so fun. So let's get started." 
"I know a great place to dance near here." Esmeralda said. So we followed her. 
On the way we passed a tavern that we had visited on the way to the court. We 
also passed a bookstore. 
"Look Pandora! Why don't you apply for a job?", we teased. As we passed by the 
window we looked in. 
"Ha! There's only one customer anyway. And she has only one book. See, there's 
how much business bookshops get." 
The girl came out and we turned to watch her pass. Those around us cracked jokes 
about her and called her odd. 
"That's Belle", said Esmeralda, "people think she's strange just because she 
likes to read. She has a father who's kind of weird, too. But like us she is 
cast aside because she lives outside the order of the crowd." 
We followed her for awhile because she was going the same direction. After we 
crossed a bridge, she stopped to sit and read on a fountain. We went on and soon 
passed a sheep herder and his flock headed in the opposite direction. There was 
already a man playing a lute at the corner where La Esmeralda had taken us. But 
he let us work with him for awhile. Elise, Esmeralda and myself danced while 
Pandora joined the man, who Esmeralda knew as Delano. Once in a while, Esmeralda 
stopped to play her tambourine. 
Suddenly, Pandora set down her mandolin and walked around the corner. I 
followed. 
"What is wrong, Pandora?" I asked. "This is not like you." 
"It is Delano." 
"What of Delano, my cousin?" 
"He brings to me memories of my Delano, the days of my travels with Clopin and 
our early days together. These were such wonderful times and I do miss them. 
Such a shame that he had to be brutally slaughtered just for being who he was." 
"Oh, my dearest Pandy. I know how you feel about the persecution of the Gypsies, 
for I too become filled with anger thinking about it. But someday the likes of 
us will thrive. We shall overcome such persecution and be accepted. Believe me, 
it is our duty and soon, ah yes, very soon my dear, we shall succeed." 
"Aye. Tis true my Etienne, but such talk cannot bring back my beloved Delano. 
But I shan't think of this any longer. Come, let us return." 
The girls and Delano had gathered quite a bit of money. I suggested we return to 
the court. I figured it may help Pandora get her mind off Delano. Pandora 
brought the subject back up, however. 
"Delano, your name is the same as my late husband's and it makes me think of the 
days when we were together and happy. It seems so unreal that he is gone now 
forever. It seems as though he will be back because he wasn't meant to die. We 
had a future planned at the court." 
"I am sorry madame." 
"Oh, please don't be. I know you knew nothing of my past and in no way could 
have tried to make me reminisce so. Please, sir, I in no way..." 
"You may come speak with me about anything in my tent if you wish. I can relate, 
for I, too lost my whle family to the raid of the first court." 
"Let's get our minds off such sad memories." Esmeralda broke in. "Tomorrow we 
shall be rehearsing for the Festival of Fools!" 
"Festival of Fools?" Elise asked 
"Festival sounds like a place for me- Fools sounds like a place for you" I joked 
with Elise. 
"The Festival of Fools.It is a holiday where all the shops and houses close down 
and everyone celebrates in the streets. It's a day when Gypsies are accepted in 
the city and no one cares who you are or where you're from." 
Delano took over as we entered the court, "It is also the day of the Christian 
Epiphany. A double solemnity." 
"On this day we crown the King of Fools and have exhibitions, a day of drinks, 
oh yes, and this year Pierre Gringoire himself and his troupe of actors are 
coming to perform a mystery at the Palace of Justice. He is my favorite writer." 

"And we oughta have a whole lot of fun!", Clopin broke in. "Come, come my 
Esmeralda, we must go rehearse your dance." 
"But Clop, I..." 
"I don't want to hear your rigmarole. We must rehearse, my dear. Only two more 
days, and besides the crowning of the king, you are to be the piece de 
resistance." And he took her away. 
"Clopn is the M.C. of the Festival. He wants everything to be just perfect. What 
are you two doing for the festival?" 
"We just learned about it. Are we suppose to do something?" "Of course! The more 
the merrier!" And he laughed off. 
"What should we do?" asked Elise. 
"I don't know." 
"Well I know one thing- I'm playing my mandolin and singing." 
"You can sing the Italian song you were trying to teach us on our way to Paris, 
Pandy." 
"Bella Ciao? That is a nice, upbeat song. I think, then that I shall." 
"Good and we can dance for you as backup, eh, Pand?" 
"If you must." 
The rest of the afternoon was spent rehearsing so we could show Clop what we 
could do. Later, when we showed him, he was impressed. He said, though, that he 
was not surprised at our talent, because, after all we are Trouillefous. 
"As you all should know, I am master storyteller. I am, in early morning on the 
6th,telling stories of every flavor, to children. However, my cousins I would 
like the two of you to tell stories with me. Si il vous plait?" 
We were stunned. But he took our studdering as a "yes." 
"And my all-gifted sister. I would like to give thee a featured spot at the 
festival." 
"Oh, Clopin, I accept. But of course you need me to draw crowds of people to 
this event." 
"Ahh, but forget not, oh modest one, that I, the King of Gypsies, am also known 
as 'The Popular One'." 
"Now off with ye! We've a full day of rehearsing ahead of us! 
******************** 
The next day I woke up pretty early. Clopin was in the back part of the tent. He 
was talking to someone. Who could it be? I got up and picked up all my bedding 
and carried it to the other half of the tent. Esmeralda was there and she was 
discussing the dance with Clopin. 
"Etienne," Clop began as I put away my bedding, "would you like to view 
Esmeralda's dance?" 
"Sure!" I replied after a quick verbal pause. 
What happened next was the most beautiful conglomeration of movements I had ever 
seen. She moved so gracefully and beautifully. I had never been so enchanted by 
a dance before. It was wonderful. Each movement seemed to to pass ever so slowly 
as one passed into the next. It was amazing. It was... 
"Sorry to interupt," the image was shattered. 
The voice was Tansy's as she came through the back exit. "But I have your 
costume 'Ralda. I think that it's very nice. Please try it on." 
"Etienne, if you'd like, there's a fresh loaf of bread on the table for you. I 
should check to see if Anjou is up and get him ready for the big day tomorrow. 
Esme, just call us when you're ready." 
I went back to the front part of the tent, found the loaf and broke off half. I 
decided to go down and see what my other relatives were doing. I stepped outside 
and nearly tripped over something, er, someone. 
"Spare a piece of that bread?" 
A cadger! Well what do you think of that? I broke off half of what I had and 
dropped it for him. 
"And that's all you're gettin' so don't ask!" 
I should have taken the alley. Oh well. 
"Is everybody decent?" 
"Yes, come on in Etienne." 
Pandora, Elise, and Fatima were in the tent. 
"How was Etienne's first encounter with court beggars?" Fatima and her psychic 
powers. 
"Does no one in the court have any privacy with you around?" 
"Not that Fatima know. That means no. Right now Clopin drop Anjou on dead 
roach." 
"Eww, Fatima, we didn't need to know that!" 
"Sorry" 
"Guess what?", Pandora asked, Fatima is going to sing 'Bella Ciao' with us 
tomorrow. She really is a pretty good singer." 
"Wow, that's great!" 
"Yes, so Etienne, let's rehearse the dance again." 
"Why? We should just make it up as we go along, like we always do." 
"We'll do that with all the rest, but we should have a great dance set for 
Pandora and Fatima's song. It has to be a wonderful ensemble piece!" 
"Okay, fine." 
Pandora had a good voice, and so did Fatima, which kind of surprised me. I hope 
people will come see us. Even though we started early and racticed the same 
thing over and over, midday quickly arrived. We went forth to Clopin's tent to 
find Tansy and Clopin arguing. 
"No, Tansy, you cannot have your own featured dance. I'm sorry, but Esmeralda is 
the finest dancer in Paris. She has the spot. And not another word." 
"My Clopy just wants to keep me for himself. How sweet he is not to flaunt me 
out in the streets. I love him so." And she left. 
"I can never win with her. So, have you guys been practicing? Esmeralda has been 
working very hard for this festival. It will be her best show yet!" 
"Yes," Elise answered, "And we can't wait to tell stories with you tomorrow 
morning. It's going to be so fun. Which stories are we going to tell?" 
But before Clopin could answer, Tansy was back in the tent, making a spectacle 
of herself. 
"Look Clopy, I already have a dancing dress. It's just like Esmeralda's dress." 
"Tansy, that dress is green and orchid. Esmeralda's dress consists of matching 
colors. And I already told you- You can't dance at the festival!" 
"I CAN'T DANCE!? But Clopy..." 
"But I must say, the sewing on that dress is beyond compare." 
"Gasp! My Clopy does love me! I knew it! Give me a kiss!" 
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" 
Out ran Clopin faster than we knew what was going on. 
"Wait Clopy, you forgot your kiss!" 
Then out ran Tansy. We all looked at eachother. Then we broke out laughing-even 
Fatima! Esmeralda was the first to speak. 
"Well, the festival is tomorrow. I'm so excited. How are you doing on your act?" 

"Oh, fine, I just hope everything will be all right. This is our first festival 
and we don't know what to expect." 
"Everything will be fine. Festivals just happen and there's nothing you can do 
about it." 
"I would just feel better knowing..." 
"There is way to know. Come to tent with Fatima. Future can be seen through 
crystal ball." 
"Wow! You have a crystal ball?" Pandora asked. 
"And really works, too! Fatima get for birthday." 
On the way to Fatima's tent, Clopin startled us by running through someone's 
tent right next to us, knocking down it's structure. Tansy was right behind, 
calling out for Clopin to come back for his kiss. In the ruins of the recently 
demolished tent, the owner stood, angry over his uninvited quests and their 
unwelcomed actions. 
"No wonder Clopin stays in such good shape." 
"Too bad it doesn't work for Tansy, too." 
"Fatima! I never heard you say anything like that!" 
"Sorry, sometimes young gypsies have bad influence. Leak into Fatima sometimes." 

"No, I meant you didn't speak in roken English." 
I had to ask, "Don't you think it's funny that we're in France and almost 
everybody speaks mainly English?" We got to Fatima's tent and she sat us down 
around her table. 
"Must be completely silent to see fortune. Hold hands and concentrate. 
Concentrate on act and on festival. Be silent. Silent. Come to us, oh, spirits 
who died in violent breakouts of festivals past..." 
"Violent breakouts!" 
"Just kidding about that! Silent. Oh, spirits of the festival, of laughter, of 
freedom of life, of song, et cetera et cetera, come together in crystal ball to 
forsee our Festival of Fools." 
Her crystal ball began to glow bright yellow. 
"Yes, spirits, bring insight to all that come to-whoa! What service! Can see 
already. Color everywhere. People everywhere. There is something peculiar. 
Esmeralda doing acrobatics. Scene grows dark. See a sea of water-now of people. 
This human sea parts, like the great red sea. A human figure. This is no clear 
picture. How dare spirits distort picture. Ah! Thank you spirits. Now morning of 
festival. Fisherman not in normal fishing spot. Clopin's story. Children 
watching. Story must be of great importance to spirits and Festival. Can't see 
puppets. Spirits giving close-up. Coming into view. Can't quite make it out..." 
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" 
"Oh the image has vanished! Clopin make too much noise. Scare spirits away." 
In came Clopin and he dashed under the table. 
"Save me!" 
And then came Tansy. 
"Now where did my Clopy go? Hmm... Aha! Is that my Clopy's teeth chattering 
under that table. Come to Tansy!" 
"Noooooooooo!" and out he ran. 
"I think my Clopy's playing hard to get. Ohh! I like that!" We followed them 
back out of the tent and stood watching them run around and around the middle of 
the court, leaping over beggars, knocking over barrels, and outrunning thieves. 
Tansy had alot of energy when she ran after Clopin. Around and around the 
gallows they ran until Clopin jumped up and caught a string of flags. Then he 
swung up and landed on top of the gallows. Tansy was left below jumping up to 
him, but not able to reach. Then Clopin slid down on the noose and it came down 
to about two feet off the ground. Clopin quickly slipped completely through it. 
"No wonder he's king, he's the only one people couldn't hang." 
Tansy tried to follow Clopin through the noose but got stuck halfway through. 
"Ahh! Help! Help! I'm stuck! Waahh! Clopy, my love, come to my rescue." 
Clopin looked at the rope and tugged. "Hmm. Should I or shouldn't I?" 
"NO!" we all screamed and ran to help Tansy. We tried to pull her out of the 
loop. It was very hard because gravity was also weighing her down-A lot! We 
tried pulling all at once. Even Clopin gave in and started to help. We pulled 
and we pulled, when suddnely- we slipped and Tansy went swinging. Around and 
around she went, swinging back and forth. 
"Aaaaaagggghhhhh!!!!" 
"Though it is of course her fault
Tansy brought forth this assault
And now then when I cast this salt
Get that swinging rope to halt."
Fatima threw a handful of salt into the air and it landed on the swinging Tansy 
and the rope stopped swinging. Then Fatime went over to the noose and rubbed 
oils into the rope. The rope untied and Tansy dropped to the ground. 
"Thank you Fatima, I shall make you a new outfit." 
"That quite all right. Fatima have enough." 
"Are you all right, Tansy?" 
"Yes. I did it all out of love." 
"Do you still think we can see about tomorrow, Fatims?" 
"Don't ever call me that! And Fatima sorry. Each day only be seen once." 
And so it was that we would have to wait and live life to find out how it was 
going to turn out. How old-fashioned! That night I couldn't sleep at all. I 
tossed and turned, thinking about the festival. How would it turn out? Would 
people like the newcomers as performers? These thoughts eventually led me to 
sleep. 
******************** 
The next morning, I woke up with plenty of energy. Where was Clopin? I walked 
outside the tent. Where was everyody? I hadn't picked out what I was going to 
wear yet. Oh, no! Had the festival already started? I went in, picked out 
something colorful and quickly ran up to the city. Yes, it had already started- 
without me. People were celebrating everywhere. 
"Etienne, there you are!" It was Elise. "We've been waiting for you to join us. 
You missed Clopin's wonderful presentation of the good man Noah and his ark of 
animals. The kids loved it. You should have been there. I had to dance alone to 
Pandy and Fatima's song. I'm sure the crowd liked it better that way, though. 
Come quick! Esmeralda is about to dance." 
She took me by the hand and started to run. I could barely keep up that she was 
almost dragging me. 
"Dance, La Esmeralda, Dance!" Clopin shouted as he threw down a magic pill. 
Esmeralda appeared and she wowed the crowd with her dance. During it, she moved 
too close to the edge of the stage and almost lost her balance. Luckily, and 
skillfully, she was able to pivot on her foot and cartwheel her way back to the 
center of the stage. Then she leaped up and grabbed onto the pole above her and 
swinging up to end her final pose atop the stage's roof. The crowd was estatic. 
The roar of the crowd seemed to become unbearably loud. The noise was all 
around. And I was all wet! What was happening? I was suddenly swimming in flood 
waters! I made my way to the surface and looked around. There was too much water 
in my eyes to see clearly. Oh my gosh! It was the blured vision from the crystal 
ball! Was this the spirit's prophecy come true? The flood waters passed and I 
was lying in a sea of bodies. I got up and looked at the wreakage before me. I 
looked in horror at the scene. How could such an awful thing happen on such a 
joyous day? I'm sure I would have felt my eyes water if I wasn't already wet. 
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and a huge crack opened up the ground. I was 
frightened. Then, a figure rose from in the huge crack. It was the man who had 
pursued us on the evening of our arrival and on the morning after. 
"Ha Ha Ha. This festival is over!" His voice was huge and evil. "You'll never 
celebrate on January 6th again!" 
Suddenly, I was shaking again. But this time I heard a different voice. I 
couldn't contain my emotion. I let out a huge scream and opened my eyes. It was 
Elise again. 
"Etienne, what is your problem? The festival is today and we need to get ready." 

I was still in Clopin's tent. I must have been dreaming. What a relief. In came 
Clopin. 
"Ahh, I see my cousin is finally up. Are you ready to tell stories with me, 
Etienne. We can tell many stories but we must hurry if we want to because later 
we have to help set up. Ha Ha! I'll meet you over there." 
"Pandora is going to help us get there. Clopin told her the way yesterday. Hurry 
and get dressed so we can go." 
******************** 
Clopin and Anjou had already set up the puppet wagon when we got there. And 
after deciding on an appropriate entrance to entrance for me and Elise, we were 
ready for the kids to come. Pandora was helping Clopin in the wagon with puppets 
for the bigger stories. Elise and I hid behind the wagon until the second story. 

Clopin began the first one. "Come one, come all! Let me, Clopin tell you the 
tale of the most topsy turvy Topsy Turvy Day!" 
This one attracted a big crowd and it was very funny. Behind the wagon I was 
preparing for my big entrance when I stepped on something. It was a fruit! Funny 
that one would be right there. But here came the cue. 
"The Hunchback of Notre Dame!" and from a cloud of smoke from a pair of Clopin's 
magic pills, Elise and I appeared to help tell the story of the mythical bell 
ringer. Clopin began. 
"Morning in Paris, the city awakes to the bells of Notre Dame, the fisherman 
fishes, the bakerman bakes to the bells of Notre Dame. From the big bels as loud 
as the thunder, to the little bells soft as a psalm. And some say the soul of 
the city's the toll of the bells, the bells of Notre Dame." "Ah, the bells, they 
are beautiful, no?" I came in. "So many colors of sounds, so many changing 
moods, but you know they do not ring by themselves." 
"They don't?" Anjou asked. The kids laughed. 
"No silly boy," Clopin answered. "Up there," he said pointing up to Notre Dame's 
belltowers, "High, high in the dark belltower lives the mysterious bellringer." 
And so we went on, making up a story of the bellringer's childhood and how he 
was almost drowned by the evil Judge Claude Frollo-the man who had chased us. 
And how he was asked by Notre Dame's Archdeacon to raise the child in the 
belltower. Frollo had given the deformed bellringer the name "Quasimodo," which 
meant "half-formed." We told the story using a combination of our acting 
abilities and the puppets. If I may say, we were a real hit. This story was the 
most well recieved and ended with Elise asking... 
"So here is a riddle to guess if you can, who is the monster and who is the 
man?" 
This last line was delivered with such timing that the bells did in fact ring at 
that exact moment. The kids yelled with joy that they could hear Quasimodo. 
There was only one drawback of the morning. During our fourth story, (we did 
five) Clopin lost one of his puppets to a redhaired lady in a blue dress who 
grabbed it, along with Clopin's glove, and quickly disappeared into the crowd. 
Clopin was just relieved that it wasn't Anjou. 
After packing up, Pandora went with Clopin to take the wagon back to the court. 
Elise and my glorious self went to join Esmeralda, who was dancing at the corner 
where we had danced the other day. Unfortunately, we could only do one dance 
before Clopin came and said we had to help set up for the festival. 
"Esmeralda, you can stay," he added, "You need to save your energy for only 
dancing." 
And so we went to the festival grounds, just outside the cathedral. I was to 
help Clopin move large barrels to the various stage sites. They would later be 
put on those stages. While backing up with a barrel, I accidentily bumped into a 
man carrying a bunch of flags. 
"Oh, I'm sorry!" 
"Don't worry about it. Ah, Clopin, you shouldn't be moving such heavy things. 
Let me give these to Jean-Paul and I'll take over your job." 
"Gaspiri," replied Clopin, "Meet my cousin, Etienne. Etienne, Gaspiri. He is a 
vexalator." 
"Pleased to meet you. What's a vex...?" 
"To vexelate is to bear flags. It is my job at the festival." 
"I will take these to Jean-Paul, Gaspiri, and you two can take the barrels, hmm? 
Ha Ha!" 
"Thank you Clopin." 
So we went to work together. After a while, Gaspiri began to talk of the 
bellringer. 
"Just think," Gaspiri sad, "That deformed bellringer could be looking down on us 
right now." 
"What?" 
"The hunchback of Notre Dame." 
"What? I thought that was just a story." 
"No! It's the truth. He really lives up there. Some nights, if you listen very 
closely, you might hear his singing echoing down from the belltower." 
"Singing?" 
"Aye, but you had better beware, because those who have actually seen him have 
soon after caught a terrible disease and died." 
"You don't say?" 
"Yes, so you better beware." 
When we had one barrel left, we heard a woman's voice call out the vexalators 
name. 
"Genevieve! Etienne this is my girlfriend. Genevieve, this is Clopin 
Trouillefou's cousin." 
"Wow, it's a pleasure! I've never met any other royalty but Clopin!" 
"Oh, although I'm deserving and capable, I'm not royalty." 
"Oh, well it was a pleasure anyway." 
I looked around and saw that there were people everywhere. The festival must 
almost be ready to start. 
"Elise! I need to find Elise! It was nice to meet you, Gaspiri, and you too. I'm 
sorry, I don't remember your name." 
"Genevieve" 
"That's right. Well, its been a pleasure. Goodbye." 
I ran through the crowds as fast as I could, looking for my sister. 
TO BE CONTINUED