tworivals1

The Two Rivals
By Sonja

Chapter 1

The Festival of Love was to be celebrated after two days, and all the people of Paris were getting ready for the celebrations. Happy couples were hastening toward the Cathedral square, children played with toy bells, and Quasimodo was fastening garlands to houses. However, he was melancholic and missed Ad�le. He knew they wouldn�t participate in the main event next evening, for after Christine had been taken away three years ago, their relationship had been very difficult. Both of them had been depressed by memories of the child in each other�s presence and argued a lot. Finally, they couldn�t even talk together any longer. More than a year ago, Ad�le had moved in with Mirette and her husband. The bellringer had pleaded her to stay with him. "Christine is my child as well as yours, and I miss her all the time! How could you leave me after all we have experienced together?"

"Quasi dear, I will never stop loving you," Ad�le assured, "but I can�t bear thinking about celebrating the Day of Love since Christine was stolen particularly at that time of the year! Besides, if we stayed together we could have another child, and I don�t want any other baby to REPLACE our little one!"

Finally, Quasimodo had moved back to the belltower, and nowadays, he avoided going to the Court of Miracles if possible. Esmeralda and Phoebus gave their support to him, and he spent a lot of time with Zephyr, who was six years of age now. Zephyr had always liked Ad�le as well, and he was wondering why Quasi was no longer with her. Of course, the bellringer hadn�t told him that his child had been stolen.

On that day, Zephyr enthusiastically hastened to the belltower where Quasi was polishing La Fid�le with the gargoyles. After their son, Esmeralda and Phoebus climbed to see the magnificent bell - they never got tired of admiring it.

"Are you going to ring it once for my Mum, Quasi?" Zephyr asked.

Phoebus and Esmeralda started to cuddle, and Quasimodo returned to the bell, depressed. If only Ad�le hadn�t left him! Zephyr noticed he was sad and asked: "Whose name are you going to yell tomorrow, Quasi?" The bellringer sighed. "No one, I guess." "Then, who is going to scream your name?" "I don�t think anyone ever will, Zephyr," answered Quasimodo, who could almost see Ad�le in front of him.

Zephyr was amazed, and Esmeralda went to comfort her friend. "Quasi�Takes more than looking to really see," she remarked. "Someday, you�ll be ready - and when you are you�ll find her."

"Ready! Do you think I�d ever be ready to love anyone else but Ad�le?" the bellringer exclaimed, "What could possibly ever change?"

At the very moment, all four heard cheerful music from the streets below. Zephyr rushed to the balcony and shouted: "Oh, boy! Wow! It�s a circus!"

Quasimodo and Phoebus were startled. They followed Zephyr and saw a line of caravans approach the Cathedral square. Some of the comers were walking instead of sitting in caravans, and they were obviously practicing juggling and other tricks.

"Phoebus, that�s Le Cirque de Sarousch!" whispered Quasimodo. "What if they have Christine with them?"

Indeed, Sarousch had brought his circus back to Paris after three years. Clopin announced to the townspeople the circus had arrived in honour of the Festival. In fact, he was very suspicious - he was absolutely sure Quasi and Ad�le�s child was among the performers. Now, in any case, it wasn�t the right time to start harassing the company, for Sarousch was enticing the children of the city to see his marvellous tricks. Finally, he promised to introduce "the prettiest ornament on the midway"- his lovely assistant, but she didn�t come forth at all. The children booed, and Sarousch got angry, but he succeeded in controlling himself till they had left.

Meanwhile, Madellaine was inside a tent practicing tight-rope walking. For a long time, she had dreamt of becoming a tight-rope walker. In Sarousch�s company, she was as shy and insecure as before, but she always took good care of and defended little Christine. Now the child was three years of age and surprisingly vigorous to have spent her first years among Sarousch�s company. Sarousch himself and many of his comrades had always despised Christine, but Madellaine was deeply affected with her. Christine, in turn, detested Sarousch, because he almost always called her "little hunchback" and was unkind to Madellaine. At the moment, Christine looked interestedly at her adoptive mother who was standing on the tight-rope with her eyes sparkling, holding a red sunshade. In a while, however, the ringmaster entered, and Madellaine was frightened.

Sarousch rebuked his "little trinket" in his scornful way. Madellaine said she would have liked to have a performance of her own, but the ringmaster noted he had a different task for her - she should go to Notre Dame and find out which one of the bells was La Fid�le. Madellaine got depressed, for she was tired of stealing - and she was horrified by the thought she should again betray the bellringer whose child she had been forced to take from him. However, when Sarousch noticed she was hesitating he reminded her once again of how he had taken her into his care. "It�s a cold world out there," he smiled nastily, and Madellaine sighed: "�for a girl like me. What will I do?" Sarousch grimaced conceitedly and urged her to beguile the bellringer, after which he left the tent.

"Mean Sarousch!" shouted Christine behind him, for she had seen the ringmaster break Madellaine�s sunshade. Besides, she detested the way he talked to Madellaine. The young woman embraced the little one. "I must go, or else he�ll get angry," she said. "I�ll take you with me to see your Daddy!"

Christine was delighted. So, those two started to walk towards the Cathedral. The townspeople saw a pretty blonde girl approach the church hand in hand with a small, red-haired and hump-backed child who was wearing a pale blue dress. They were extremely curious. "Who are you, mademoiselle? Is that child yours?"

"This is the daughter of the bellringer," Madellaine told honestly. Only afterwards did she happen to think she could get into trouble - for of course, the whole city knew Christine had been stolen three years ago.

Mirette was among the crowd and saw Christine. Immediately, she hastened to the Court of Miracles. "Ad�le, Ad�le! That Madellaine is taking your Christine to Notre Dame!" she shouted at the entrance.

"CHRISTINE!" Ad�le screamed. She thought she would faint. "Are you sure? Did you really see her?!"

"I saw Madellaine - she looked exactly the same as three years ago�She walked hand in hand with a little girl who was red-haired and blue-eyed and wearing a pale blue dress�She seemed well cared for�She had a hump, so I�m absolutely sure she could be no one else but your Christine! Besides, I heard Madellaine say, �this is the daughter of the bellringer�."

Ad�le was bewildered. She was extremely abated that Christine obviously knew who her father was, and, above all, that she was alive and healthy. She thought about the three long years of suffering she had experienced, and started to cry. The whole community gathered itself round her - they knew Ad�le had been near losing her senses and that their support had been irreplaceable both to her and Quasimodo.

"She is so near�and I thought I would never ever get her back!" sobbed Ad�le. Then she looked stubbornly around her and swore: "I�ll have her back, whatever happens! And then, Quasi and I will be together again!"

Meanwhile, Madellaine and Christine had stepped inside Notre Dame. Quasimodo was ringing the bells, and the gargoyles were helping him to polish La Fid�le. Hugo and Victor spotted the comers at once.

"Damsel alert!" Hugo grimaced. "And a lovely vision at that!" admitted Victor. Laverne got a bit jealous: "What am I, chopped liver??"

"I�m looking for the bellringer," they heard Madellaine say. Hugo tried to encourage Quasi, who hid behind a curtain. He glanced furtively at Madellaine, who was climbing up the ladder, and suddenly, his heart began to beat loudly. The girl had a little child with her! She had red hair, and her head was between her shoulders like his. She seemed to have a hump - that could be no one else but his own beloved Christine! She was wearing a blue dress, and she looked very sweet. Quasimodo shuddered of agitation, but still, he was too shy to say anything.

Madellaine was as insecure as the bellringer, but Christine rushed at the table at once. "Look at all these adorable little dolls!" she exclaimed. Madellaine followed her and thought it would be best to tell why she had come. "My name is Madellaine. I�m with the circus, and�" She tried to get a better look at the figurines, but all of them fell over, and both she and Christine dived under the table to collect them. "�I just love bells. Which one is La Fid�le?" She was so confused she didn�t remember she had seen La Fid�le three years before.

Quasimodo dared to come forth from behind the curtain, but he hid under one of the bells in turn. Madellaine spotted him and started giggling. The young man asked: "What�s so funny?"

"Nothing," giggled Madellaine, "it�s just�it looks like you�re wearing a really big hat!" She laughed again. "Oh�that sounds silly, doesn�t it?"

Quasi started to laugh as well. "No, I just never looked at it that way before!"

While those two continued joking, Christine was trying to get a better look at the mysterious bellringer whom Madellaine had said was her father. She was just going to say hello to him when she noticed Madellaine was startled and turned to look at the same direction as she. She saw three big stony statues that were moving. She had never before seen a moving statue, so she was amazed, but not frightened at all, unlike Madellaine. Quasimodo, in turn, was delighted that this girl seemed to have an imagination like Ad�le. He was just wondering why Madellaine found herself silly.

"What�s your name?" the circus assistant asked. She remembered she had heard it before, but it was so exceptional she couldn�t remember it.

The bellringer hated telling his name. It felt like he had heard the voice of his guardian say: "Deformed�deformed�" He looked at the little girl and was depressed by the thought that Madellaine would ask what his name meant and he should say that dreadful word in the little one�s presence. Finally, however, he encouraged himself and said: "Quasimodo." He was absolutely sure Madellaine would quiver or be startled, so he was exceedingly abated when the girl just reached her hand and said: "Well, Quasimodo, wouldn�t you like to come where I can see you?"

Quasi shrank back, shyly. The curious Madellaine opened a curtain so that sunlight fell onto his face.

Christine exclaimed: "Look, Madellaine! He has a hump, too!" She had never seen another hump-backed person before.

Quasimodo was startled. Madellaine, in turn, was embarrassed and was going to rebuke the child. Right then, however, she happened to glance at the bellringer�s face - and she was startled. How could anyone look like that? He had a protrusion above his eye, some teeth were missing, and the nose was angular. She didn�t think about anything but getting out of the tower, so she panted: "I�h-have to go! I�m sorry!!!" Shuddering, she rushed out.

At the door of the Cathedral, she met a young, curly-haired woman in Gypsy clothes - Ad�le. She had left the Court and wanted desperately to see her lost daughter. When seeing Madellaine, she got absolutely furious.

"WHERE IS MY CHILD?!" she shouted, grasping Madellaine�s arm and squeezing it. "GIVE HER BACK TO ME!!!"

Madellaine was bewildered. She had suffered from pricks of conscience all these years and bitterly repented that she hadn�t been strong enough to object Sarousch�s will at the time of the kidnapping. She totally understood Ad�le�s hatred and thought she would be ready to give up Christine, although she loved her deeply. At the moment, she was still shocked by having seen the bellringer. She remembered she had liked him three years before, but then, she hadn�t paid attention to his appearance.

"She�came with me to the church - she is still there." she answered to Ad�le.

The mother didn�t lose a moment. Without even glancing at Madellaine any more she plunged inside and up the tower steps.

Little Christine was surprised at Madellaine running away like that. She, in turn, was full of curiosity. She saw Quasimodo went to the table and approached him.

"Hey, Quasimodo!" she said, "my name is Christine. Are you my Daddy?"

Quasimodo got tears in his eyes. This was his daughter whom he had lost and now found again! He approached her and reached his arms.

"Yes, dear, I am your Daddy�I lost you long ago. I thought I would never see you again!"

Happily, Christine rushed in his arms, he lifted her up, and they squeezed each other. Finally, the little girl reached her hand to smooth down Daddy�s back and said: "You have a hump, too."

The bellringer pressed her to himself. "Yes, I do, little one�Have you seen anyone with a hump before?"

"No, except myself - Sarousch has lots of mirrors," said Christine, "he calls me �little hunchback�, but you have that, too." She smiled.

"Is Sarousch mean to you?" Quasi asked, worried.

"I hate him! He broke Madellaine�s sunshade. I always think he�ll take this from me." She showed Quasimodo the Ad�le doll that Madellaine had carefully preserved for her.

"You still have that!" exclaimed the bellringer, "your Mummy will be delighted!"

"Where is my Mummy?" asked Christine, "Madellaine always says her name is Ad�le. But she didn�t remember your name."

Quasi laughed a little. "My name is very, very rare�Your Mummy is in the city now. What did Madellaine tell you about how you came to be with her and Sarousch?"

"She said you couldn�t keep me when I was a baby, but that she would take me back to you as soon as she could," Christine explained.

Quasimodo embraced her, almost crying. "We COULD have kept you�but I�ll tell you more some other time," he said, surprisingly abated of that his child hadn�t been made to believe she had been abandoned.

At the moment, Christine saw the gargoyles come to life again. "Look, Daddy! Aren�t they made of stone?"

"Yes, they are," smiled Quasi, "but both I and your Mummy know they sometimes come to life - and I think Madellaine knows that, too."

He put the little girl down, and she walked to the gargoyles. "Hello! Can you talk?"

"Hello, little one", smiled Laverne, "of course, we can talk." Hugo and Victor also started talking to Christine, and Quasimodo, happier than he had been in a long time, took a piece of wood and started to make a new figurine. He thought about Madellaine�Was he in love with her? She had brought his daughter back to him, but he remembered how he had said earlier the same day that he couldn�t think of loving anyone but Ad�le. Besides, Madellaine had fled from the Cathedral when seeing his face! Despite that, he made a figurine looking like her and put it in the table by the side of the Ad�le doll, opposite to the wooden Quasi.

Laverne noticed he was restless and went to talk to him. She encouraged him to make better acquintance with the girl. Quasimodo sighed and returned to talk about happy, loving couples. "Maybe someone could love me!" he whispered. Then he started to sing about the "ordinary miracle" of falling in love, not knowing for sure if he was thinking about Madellaine or Ad�le.

As soon as the song had finished, the door of the tower was opened, and Ad�le stepped in. She had heard some of the lyrics and felt depressed for a moment - she had never stopped loving Quasimodo, and now he was longing for love! However, when opening the door she saw little Christine - and her face began to sparkle.

"MY CHRISTINE!" she shouted and rushed toward her daughter with her eyes full of tears. Christine looked at her, smiling shyly. "Mummy?" She ran at the table, took her favourite figurine in her hand and compared it with the approaching woman. "Ad�le?"

Ad�le folded her in her arms and assured, laughing and crying simultaneously: "Yes, my adorable little darling, it�s me, your Mummy!"

Christine embraced her. "Madellaine always said I would get back to my Mummy and Daddy!"

"This is a miracle!" exclaimed Ad�le.

"I don�t have enough words for telling how happy I am!" assured Quasimodo.

"How has Sarousch been treating you, my little one?" Ad�le asked, embracing Christine again.

"He is mean," said the girl, "but Madellaine loves me."

"He calls her �little hunchback�", Quasimodo said to Ad�le.

"I should have guessed!" Ad�le snapped. "Does he give you enough food?"

"Madellaine does. She is afraid of Sarousch, but she doesn�t let him be very mean to me. He broke her sunshade today."

"We promise you won�t need to go back to him," assured Quasimodo and added to Ad�le: "Maybe we should take her to the Court of Miracles."

"What�s that?" Christine asked.

"A secret hideout - all of the Gypsies live there," Ad�le told her, "have you ever seen Gypsies? I am a Gypsy, actually, that�s why I wear this long skirt."

"I�ve seen some Gypsies," said Christine, "they live traveling just like our company."

"Most of them do, that�s right," Ad�le smiled. "Would you like to join them? Your Grandpapa, aunt and uncle are also there."

"Oh, yes! But I want to see Madellaine, too," said the little one.

"Hmmm�" Ad�le wasn�t too pleased. Quasimodo, in turn, said: "If we still meet Madellaine here or in the city you may see her - but not Sarousch."

"Maybe you both should thank her for giving Christine back to you,"remarked Laverne.

Quasimodo flushed. "Oh, yes�that�s true, and we will do that."

Ad�le had a foreboding. Why was Quasi flushing when hearing Madellaine�s name?

"Will we leave for the Court now?" she suggested quickly. "Everybody will be thrilled to hear about this miracle!"

"Errr�Ad�le�I think I should go to the circus first." The bellringer was embarrassed. "Christine, do you want to come to see it? We could all go together."

"I don�t want to see Sarousch," said the little one.

"All right, I understand why." Ad�le hugged her. "Then we�ll take you to the Court instead."

"But I really would like to thank Madellaine," reminded Quasimodo. "Maybe you two can go to the Court, and I�ll come there after the performance."

"We can thank her later," said Ad�le, "I saw her at the door, and she ran away as if she had been chased. I don�t think she is very clever."

"Mummy, you mustn�t say that!" exclaimed little Christine, and Quasimodo added: "Indeed, that�s not a nice thing to say - think about it: without Madellaine, we would never have got Christine back!"

Ad�le sneered, although she knew Quasi was right. "Okay, go then - but I�ll take our little one back where she belongs." She took Christine in her arms and left the tower.

Quasimodo, instead, sighed to the gargoyles: "I�m so confused! I know I should love Ad�le, and actually, I think I do - but on the other hand, I�ve felt so strange ever since Madellaine was here."

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