"So, your new world. What's it like?"
Nakoma chewed on her lip as she thought. How could she possibly describe Jamestown in a way that he would understand? Here in Paris buildings and streets were as common as the trees and rivers of home.
"Well, there are a lot more trees," she said with a chuckle. "And hardly any buildings at all."
"No!" said Quasi, eyes round in disbelief. "How do you travel?"
"We use canoes on the river. Or we just walk."
"No carts or coaches or anything?"
Nakoma shook her head.
"We don't have roads. We have foot-paths through the forest."
"Foot-paths..." He stumbled over the words, and she could tell by the way his eyes were narrowed thoughtfully that he was trying to conjure an image for himself. "I don't—"
Something broke and shattered in the background, and they both whirled toward the source. Night had already fallen, and the flickering candle-light casting jerky shadows did nothing to soothe Nakoma's nerves, now raw and alert. What if it was that horrid minister, Frollo? What would he do if he caught her here?
Quasi glanced quickly at her, turning one of his ears toward the source, and then held up a hand. "Stay here," he mouthed, "and don't move." She nodded and crept backwards into the shadow of a ragged curtain while he disappeared silently down the ladder and into the distant darkness. The quiet was thick enough that she could hear her panicked heartbeat throbbing inside her head. Quasi was gone a minute, two minutes, and still no voices. That was a good sign, right?
"Psst!" She gasped and hurled herself further into the curtain. That didn't sound like Quasi's voice. "No, c'mere! It's alright, I just wanna talk to ya!" It didn't sound like the minister's, either. She peered through one of the holes in the curtain, but all she could see were a few scattered statues. Their eyes seemed to be moving in the candlelight.
One of them started moving—no, hopping—toward her, and she squealed in terror. "Shhh!"" it said, and tugged the curtain from her trembling hands. "Do you want Frollo to find ya?"
"W-why are you talking?" she stammered. "Why are you moving?"
The stone gargoyle put its hands on what she assumed were its hips and scowled at her.
"That's like me askin' you why you're breathing! Sheesh, would you calm down? I'm just a talking gargoyle, is all." Nakoma stared at it for several long seconds, trying to calm her frantic impulse to scream. Where had she seen something like this before? It shouldn't have been so shocking to her. She'd seen faces in trees before—that was it! Grandmother Willow! The day Pocahontas had introduced her to Grandmother Willow had probably been the single most shocking moment of her life. As she recalled that surreal moment her breathing began to slow.
"Are you gonna be alright, there, sweetheart?" The gargoyle was regarding her with concern.
"Yes," she said reluctantly, forcing herself to speak and acknowledge the reality of what was happening. "Who are you?""
"The name's Hugo," said Hugo, and jovially shook her trembling hand. "And these two stiffs over here are Victor and Laverne." He flourished his stony fingers toward two other gargoyles whose unmoving eyes were fixed on them. One of them, the smallest, wore a look of distaste, and the other seemed to be struggling to remain silent. When neither of them responded to Hugo's introduction he clomped over to them and waved his hands in front of their faces. "Come on, guys! Don't be rude!"
The tallest gargoyle's features animated suddenly, and his nervous gaze rested on Nakoma.
"Hugo," he hissed, "do you really think it's a good idea to be talking to her? Quasimodo will be angry—"
"You worry too much," Hugo said, and began pushing a panicking Victor toward Nakoma. "Come say how-do-you-do!"
"No, no, no," he cried, waving his arms in protest, "this is a horrible idea—"
"Ah, calm down, Victor, the secret's out anyway, no thanks to you, jabber-jaw," said Laverne, whacking Hugo in the back of the head as she hopped toward Nakoma.
"Hey!" barked Hugo as he stopped and rubbed his neck, dropping Victor in the process. Despite her disbelief Nakoma couldn't help but chuckle at their antics.
"So, where ya from, why 're ya here, and how'd you end up trapped here? " Laverne said. "If we're gonna talk to ya, we might as well learn about ya." All three of them gathered around her expectantly.
"Well, I'm from Jamestown. It's across the ocean from here." She gulped and forced herself to continue; the more she spoke, the more she could deal with the surrealism of it all. "I came to see the cathedral...it was kind of a pilgrimage of faith for me."
"You came to see this dusty old place?" laughed Hugo. "Waste of time, if you ask me." Laverne nudged him in the side. "Ow!"
"Don't be rude!" she snapped.
"Well, maybe you could try being a little less violent!" he retorted.
"Please, continue," Victor said, giving the others a disparaging glare.
"Well, I heard that this was one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world, and I'd never had an adventure before. So I took the opportunity, there was an unexpected detour and, well, here I am." She giggled nervously.
"Well, today was Quasi's first adventure, too," said Hugo.
"Too bad it turned out so horribly," added Victor, and all three of them sighed in pity.
"So you saw what happened?" Nakoma asked.
"Yeah, we saw the whole thing from up here." Laverne shook her head. "Poor thing."
"I'm just glad Esmeralda and I could do something for him," Nakoma said. "The way Frollo treats people isn't right at all. He shouldn't claim to be a man of God and act like that."
"So you mean God isn't stiff and boring like he is?" Hugo said.
"Of course not!" Nakoma laughed. "God is wonderful, and good, and loving. Of course, He is also just. He expects His people to do what He says. But all the things He says are for our good."
"That's what Frollo says to Quasi about not going outside," Victor said. "Is he right?"
Nakoma frowned. "Yes, in a way. People are so quick to judge on appearances." She could feel indignation rising within her and changed the course of her thoughts. "But I think that if he'd let him go outside from the beginning, people wouldn't react so strongly to him. Quasi has a kind and gentle heart that I believe people would love, if they would look past his face."
"Are you kidding? Quasi's the nicest guy I know!"
"Hugo, Quasi's practically the only guy you know," said Laverne.
"Speaking of Quasimodo..." Victor gestured toward the ladder, where Quasi was standing, almost invisible in the shadows. As he stepped into the light, Nakoma could see shock and happiness blending on his features.
"You guys have never talked to anyone else before," he remarked.
Hugo shrugged. "Never really had the opportunity," he said.
"True, true," said Quasi, and then he turned joyful green eyes onto Nakoma. "By the way, that's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said about me. Thank you."
"Oh, that?" Nakoma chuckled, failing to hide the blush creeping into her cheeks. "I was only stating a fact."
The five of them spent the evening talking amiably, but when Nakoma yawned suddenly Quasi glanced at her nervously.
"Are you tired?"
She nodded and blinked heavily. He leapt up and began to pillage things from around the room, mainly curtains and tapestries that could be used for bedding.
"I'm sorry I don't have a better place for you to sleep," he said, and his voice was trembling.
"What's the matter?" Nakoma stood, too, and followed him around the room. After a moment he finally stood still, and even in the feeble candlelight she could see blossoms of crimson unease all over his face and ears.
"I've never really had much company before, and I've never had a woman here, ever. No one else has ever stayed up here with me, except for my friends." He pointed toward the gargoyles. "And they don't need a place to sleep.""
Nakoma couldn't help but blush, too. It was an awkward situation.
"Well, don't worry, okay?" She took the curtains from his hands. "I can make up my own bedding and everything, and we'll sleep on opposite sides of the room. Alright?" He smiled a little, and the blush faded slightly.
"Are you sure you don't need help with anything?"
She nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.
"I'll be fine."