Satine [ONGOING]

GABRIELLE (IX)

The weight of gossip was a new, unfamiliar and unwanted feeling for Gabrielle. She had seen gossip, heard the whispers all around, but never had it affected her like now. Never had she allowed futile unkind words to droop her shoulders, close off her posture in this way. She sat at her wooden desk, the scent of chalk dust and pinewood mingling in the crisp morning air that seeped through the small cracks in the stone walls of the village schoolhouse. Her fingers, stained with ink, meticulously copied the cursive letters that Mademoiselle Garnier had written on the blackboard. She was fighting to keep her eyes open and to keep her mind from wandering, yesterday's many tumultuous events had left her quite exhausted. She was evidently the only one to feel so shattered on that morning however, she certainly wasn't the only one with thoughts of her sister plaguing her. She had heard a whisper earlier in the corridor, when she was hanging up her hat on her designated hanger, Marie was whispering to her friends behind her. She didn't think any of the girls had noted her presence, if they had, they probably wouldn't have been speaking so loudly of the events of the last evening.

"No, but did you see her sister?"
"Everyone did! I guess it's true what they say."
This statement was followed by a general hum. They had not needed to specify what people used to say. It was already pretty clear, and it gave Gabrielle a sour taste in her mouth. She thought about it over and over to the point that the build-up frustration caused her to apply too much pressure on her fountain pen and its brittle tip broke. She sighed in frustration as a big dot of ink spread across the page, bleeding over her letters. The serene hum of the classroom was abruptly shattered by the heavy thud of boots against the floorboards, which caused Gabrielle eyes to shoot up from her paper, as well as drawing every other child's gaze to the doorway. There, framed by the sunlight streaming in from the open door, stood two army officers, their stern faces and immaculate uniforms casting a shadow over the room. Almost mechanically, all the children stood up, taking a step away from their desk, as they had been taught to do in the presence of adults. Gabrielle heard a few whispers behind her, a worry and fear of the soldiers was building up.

"Quiet!" barked the taller officer, his voice sharp and commanding. The children fell silent, their wide eyes fixed on the intruders. With a curt nod from their commanding officer, the soldiers began to walk the narrow aisles, scrutinising each child as they checked their small faces. They all turned to the teacher, who had frozen by the black board, clearly this was not an anticipated visit. Gabrielle quickly got goosebumps, she did her best not to stare the large rifles each officer held tightly.

"You. Who are you, young man?" the shorter officer demanded of Pierre, the boy seated in front of Gabrielle.

"Je suis... I am Pierre Decroz," he stammered, his usual bravado dissolved into a whisper. "I live in the village of Le lac, sir."

The officer glanced at the small list he had between his hands, then moved on, leaving Pierre visibly relieved and took a deep breath. As they approached her row, Gabrielle's heart pounded in her chest, her pencil trembling slightly in her hand.

"And you, Mädchen?" the taller officer asked, his voice softer but no less intimidating. "What is your name?" The young girl didn't understand what he had called her and gulped.

"Gabrielle Dumont, sir," she replied, her voice steady despite the fear gnawing at her insides. "I live-" He stopped her, beginning to laugh. Everyone's eyes fell upon him as the strange sound escaped his mouth. Gabrielle was bewildered, why was he laughing at her? The teacher took a few steps toward her, but one of the officers blocked her way, his hand tightly wrapped around the muzzle of his gun. Mademoiselle Garnier could do nothing but go back to her spot. Whispers broke out among the students once the officers had passed, a mixture of curiosity and fear rippling through the room as the officer slowly stopped laughing and delicately used his hand to pull Gabrielle's chin forward, as if he were examining her thoroughly.
"Dumont, huh?" He snickered. "Yes, we know them, we were just at your house, a lovely house." Gabrielle didn't dare to break eye contact with him, though his warm breath against her skin made her want to crawl into a cave and never come back out. "Is your sister the tall one with brown hair?"
Gabrielle nodded slowly, his uneven machiavellian smile was starting to make her feel uneasy, he wanted to cause discomfort that much was clear, she could recognise a pair of cold, unkind eyes when she saw them. "Pretty, very pretty your sister. What a shame she has that bastard baby, is it not?"
A light gasp travelled across the room, at those words Gabrielle felt the eyes of her classmates become heavy on her. It actually made her skin crawl, she felt the urge to get away, to become invisible. It might have been true but not everyone needed to find out, not like this, not by this stranger with a gun. How had he even come to that conclusion?

"Monsieur!" Madame Garnier suddenly had the courage to say, finally the soldier's gaze broke away from Gabrielle, though she still felt very much observed, small innocent eyes were eyeing her with curiosity, as if they would all eat her whole. "Monsieur, you cannot walk into my classroom and terrorise my students in this manner!" She implored, pushing past the gun that had held her back this entire time. "Tell me what it is you're here to do, or I will kick you out, is that understood?" Madame Garnier made her way to the shaken young girl and pulled her into her firm, warm hold. The soldier gave an exaggerated eye roll and they all snickered, exchanging amused glances.
"We are only here to confirm you have the children of the village. We have made a list." He sighed, a heavy accent lacing his every word. The teacher nodded slowly, standing her ground.
"Then, I ask you to discuss this list with me and to leave my students alone." A brief silence followed, the taller officer lowered his weapon. "As you wish, madame." He gestured to the door courteously in a forced manner. His entire body was betraying his feigned gentle demeanour. The teacher patted Gabrielle's shoulder before making her way out of the classroom. The entire troop followed, leaving only the students to watch over the classroom. Friends had grouped together, grabbing onto each other's wrist in fear, Gabrielle quickly noticed Marie, the butcher's daughter had held Constance's arm so tightly a red mark made its way around her friend's entire wrist. The silence that followed was heavy, so thick you could cut it with a knife. Gabrielle felt that all their eyes were on her, boring into the back of her skull, and Clémentine wasn't there to give her a reassuring glance. She had stayed home to help in the fields later that day. Every slight whisper, every movement felt as if it was directed toward her. She wondered if this was what her parents had to endure. She had never cared until now, not until all the talk was about the sister that had come home with hollow looking eyes, drenched in blood, despite her state, all they cared about was the details of her daughter's birth, so typical, and yet so disgusting it made her sick to her stomach. The soldier, a complete stranger, was the first to point it out which made it even worse. As the room slowly broke out into speech and whispering, Gabrielle couldn't help but feel tears bubble up behind her eyelids. The way the man had laughed at her as soon as she said her name would stick with her for life, never had she felt so profoundly humiliated, and though she tried to reason with her own feelings she couldn't shake the eyes off of her. She had to get away. As the noise around her kept growing, she took a quick look around the room in pure panic. The window was wide open, letting the light summer breeze in. It seemed to be the perfect escape, she slithered her way between the tables as salty tears streamed down her cheeks. She pulled the window open even further, and looked down, it was only two floors high, and the white stone surface of the school appeared easy enough to climb down according to her naked eye.

"Gabrielle?" Constance suddenly questioned, finding her hanging halfway out the window. Gabrielle took a deep breath, her thin fingers slipped into the cracks of each stone, holding on for dear life, as she slowly climbed her way down, until suddenly her right foot slipped and though every part of her body was trying to hold on she let go as fear and adrenaline tingled in her fingers. The fall was brief, her ankle made an awful crack upon impact, mixed with a thud that Gabrielle guessed alerted her entire class.

"Gabrielle!" Constance shrieked as she peaked her head out of the window anxiously, though when her eyes fell upon the courtyard, her friend was already by the gates, swinging the metal doors open with no care for its rusty hinges. She ran and ran until her legs physically could not support her weight anymore, but no matter how hard she pushed herself, she could not run nearly far enough to escape the gossip, her sister, her parents, the invaders, no matter where she went, Gabrielle was trapped and suffocating slowly.

KEY:

Je suis: I am 

Mädchen: Girl (German)