Ré's Sacrifice

Chapter 8 2 years later

5 years ago, My Parents abandoned me. Five years ago my life changed forever. I survived five winters, Lost five birthdays, went through two lonely Christmases, almost starved to death many times and watched the snow melt and the summer sun rise. Each winter me, Ebony, Charlié and Amélie huddled around the fire together to keep each other warm. In the summer, we spent all day long walking through the meadow.

I was 11 years old. Ebony was 17. The year was 1831. The England war had spread through Europe and had started in France. The month of April was the worst imaginable. Food rations had once again become scarce and the fear of starvation had once again come upon us. British Army troops, Known by the French as BATs, had scattered over France and made sure everyone in France followed their strict orders. There were rules like children now had to read by the age of three. Each morning at 8:00 sharp, every single French citizen had to line up in the town square to sign off their names and collect their food rations for the day. Men were forced to sign up to join the British army and if they didn't, they would be shot. Everyone got a can of beans and soup to share between their family. It was hard to share with so many of us. The BAT's only spoke English, so we couldn't understand them. I remembered my Dad had joined the British Army. I tried to look for him but we got in trouble for staring at the BAT's. Curfew was 6:00 for infants under the age of five, 8:00 for children aged 6 to 18 years and 11:00 for Adults. Some French people spoke English and translated the BAT's words for us in French. Everyone had a miserable life then. Then one day. I saw something that still haunts me today..

It was a cloudy day on the 6th of April 1831. Me and Ebony were having our daily walk in the market when we saw a large gathering of people in the town square. The were not happy. I saw some people where crying and screaming and shouting things. I held onto Ebony's hand and looked at her. She looked as worried as I was. "What's happening?" I asked her. "I Don't know" She replied. "I'm scared" I shivered. "Its okay Ré, I'm pretty sure its just some bad acting or something, nothing to be scared of, Petite Unité" She soothed. But I still felt nervous. I had an odd feeling about what was going on. The crowd seemed to be gathered around a large wooden post with ropes hanging down from them. Suddenly a BAT spotted us at shouted something in English. Then he must've realised neither of us could speak English because he said "viens ici maintenant" and we walked over to him. He pushed us to the front of the crowd a faced me towards the post.
I screamed. I almost dropped dead from fright. Then I let out a long mournful wail and then burst into tears. What I saw hanging from the posts was terrifying. Four people. Two of them were little urchins wearing rags. All if them were dead with ropes around their necks. It was truly horrible. I started to shake. Ebony was feeling the exact same. Her lower jaw started to tremble and she lifted her hands to her face. I kept staring at the poor people.

Then I realised that the four hanged people were homeless. I could be next. I started to sob uncontrollably and Ebony finally gained control over herself and led me away from the scene. I was still in tears when we came to an alley. I was so terrified. Ebony sat down, pulled me into her lap and rocked me until I stopped. "I'm so sorry you had to see those dead people.." She whispered in my ear. "I didn't like it at all, what did those people do? What did those children do?" I trembled while sobbing. "Shhhh, its okay..I promise you, I'll protect you from them, you're safe with me, I would never let them hurt you. You must stay with me from now on, okay?" I nodded and buried my face in her chest. She kissed me and we stayed silent in that alley for hours until it was dark. Then she led me to her house and we slept safely and peacefully together, away from the horror of the outside world.

The next morning I woke up to find Ebony still next to me, she was asleep, or maybe awake, I couldn't tell in the dim light. It was very early in the morning and at first the world seemed at peace. Then I heard the tanks outside and started to cry "They've come back! they're gonna get me! Save me Eb!" I cried and Ebony squeezed me tightly and kissed my head "Ré, it's alright, I won't let them get you, I promise" She soothed "Try to go back to sleep". I closed my eyes and tried to block the sound of engines out. I soon fell back to sleep.

The Army Troops became worse as the weeks past. They hanged 20 people in 4 weeks. I couldn't leave Ebony's house to look after Amélie or see Charlié. I was too afraid to leave. Each day I kept asking myself the same question: "were my friends dead or alive?".

One day, a new rule was made by the BAT's, a rule so scary I will never ever forget. They were starting to take the orphans away from the streets of Paris and placing them all in orphanages across the sea. Some in England, some stayed in France. I was so afraid they might take me. I never let Ebony out of my sight and she promised to protect me from them. She said I had to stay hidden in her house.

One night I couldn't sleep. I laid as still as possible. It was raining outside and I could hear some BAT's on patrol in the streets. I hadn't seen my friends in two months and I missed then terribly. It was horrid not to know if your friends were dead or not. I started to sob in the darkness. Very silently. Next to me, Ebony was sound asleep, I listened to the sound of her breathing and I calmed down a bit. Then I heard a silent tapping noise at my window. I waited for it again. I waited one or two minutes and then I heard another tap. I got out of bed and walked over to the window. I opened the window. The moon was hidden by a cloud and there was darkness covering the concrete down below. Nobody except the patrols stirred. Nobody seemed to be outside the window. The moon had started to appear from behind the cloud and a ray of moonlight shone through the curtain. I closed it and started to walk back to bed when I heard it again. I stopped in my tracks and turned around slowly. Then I tiptoed to the window again and slowly opened the curtain. I could see nothing except the rain. I opened the window and a note fell in. It said meet me outside. I wondered who it was. At first I thought it was a trick but then I said to myself it was worth the risk. I silently left the room without waking Ebony. I felt really bad about going outside without her knowing, when I was halfway down the stairs I really wished to go back and curl up in the bed, but there was someone outside waiting for me. I needed to see who it was.

When I finally got to the front door I unlocked the latch and it creaked open. The sound of rain hitting the concrete seemed louder from outside than in the room. I didn't mind the rain. It soaked my clothes as I walked out into it. I kept a close eye for any patrols around and whispered loudly hello? Hello! Can you hear me? Where are you?.

Suddenly a figure emerged from the shadows and I turned to run back. Then I heard a familiar voice. "Ré! Ré! It that really you?" and turned to see a small person running towards me. His shoes squished with water. As he approached, I saw he was nobody else but my dear friend. "CHARLIÉ" I screamed and ran forward. He embraced me and we stood there, in the rain, holding each other and crying. "I am SO happy so see you alive!, Oh Charlié! I missed you so much!" I cried into him. "Where were you Ré? I've been searching for you for two months!". I told him everything that happened. "Where is Amélie?" I asked. "Don't fret, She's safe with Evan" Charlié replied. I was just about to reply when he did something I'd never think he'd ever do. He kissed me, on the lips! It only lasted a few seconds but it seemed like hours. Then he pulled away and blushed. "I really like you Ré". I felt myself blushing too. "I lo-..really like you too Charlié" I replied. We stared at each other for a moment.

"You'd better get back inside now or you'll get insomnia" Charlié smiled when he saw the look on my face. "Only joking, but you need to get some sleep". "When will I next see you again?" I asked him. "In two nights time, its too dangerous in the day with all the troops around". "Ebony and I call them BAT's" I said. Before Charlié could reply We heard distant voices and tanks. "Quick Ré! You must go inside right now!" Charlié insisted.

I hesitated. "What about you? Will you be alright?" I asked hugging him again. "I will be fine, no run inside and do not come back out until the night after tomorrow". "Why not tomorrow night?" I asked. "Ré" Charlié said impatiently. "Alright, Night Charlié" I said and ran back inside.

I peeked out the crack in the door. I saw Charlié running away. I was dripping wet and freezing but the whole thing was worth it. I just hoped I would see him in the day.

I climbed the stairs and carefully opened the door. I sighed with relief when I discovered Ebony was still asleep. I decided not to tell her, She would probably have a heart attack if she heard I was outside in the middle of the night, in the rain, after curfew, with armed patrols searching every corner for orphans. I climbed into bed and fell fast asleep.