"Your fortune! Your fortune for a centime!" A hunched, wrinkled old woman seated at a small table at the edge of the square called out repeatedly until someone approached her and paid her to look into a dirty crystal ball or trace the lines on their palms. Most came away shaken, trying to hide it behind smiles and gossip about how fake fortune-telling was and how the old woman had just pried the coins out of their hands.
Azelma wanted so badly to have her fortune told but she didn't have any coins. Finally, she noticed a man who looked drunk though it was still early afternoon. She slipped behind him and grabbed his purse. He wasn't as drunk as he seemed or she had not been as good as she wanted to be since he immediately noticed her.
"Grab that girl!" he yelled.
Azelma dashed out of the square, weaving in between people and stray dogs until she was absolutely sure no one was chasing after her. She leaned in a nook in the wall to count her findings. A franc and ten centimes! She could get her fortune told times fifty and still have enough left to buy food.
First food. From street stands she gathered two apples, a roll of bread and a pastry. She walked around the streets until near evening, waiting to come back to the square to make sure that no one would recognize her.
Thankfully the old woman was still there when returned though she was beginning to pack up her crystal ball in the bag with the money she had earned.
"Please, ma'am," Azelma grabbed her arm. "I want my fortune told. I have the money."
"Ah," said the old woman. "Aren't you the girl who stole a purse this afternoon? In order to pay me? Well, I'm quite willing. You know, most people complain about the price. Don't bother to go out of their way to get the money like you. Here, come sit down. Palm or crystal?"
"C-Can I have both?"
"That'll cost you more. Four centimes. Three for you."
"Here." Azelma passed her the money. She couldn't bring it home in any case. Her parents would just take it.
The old woman peered inside the crystal ball, squinting as if against a bright sun. "Ah, the future is blurry. You were wise to choose both. But I can see that many changes will happen to you. You will lose everyone you care about but do not mind that-everyone does eventually. Let's see? Ah, this is sad, very sad. But...I cannot see more than that-the sadness. Now your palm?"
Shaking Azelma stretched out her hand to the old fortune teller. She would lose everyone she cared about. Eponine. Mama. When? How?
"Ah, you have a sister?"
Azelma jerked up. She nodded, shakily. Eponine. What would happen to Eponine?
"You love her?"
Azelma nodded again. The fortune teller looked at her, almost in pity.
"Take good care of her in the time you have left. And don't mourn your baby too much. She will be beautiful in the time she is alive. Child, child, don't look at me like that. You asked to know your future and I told you it. I don't give blessings, I only tell fortunes." She reached out to touch Azelma's cheek. "But you take care now, alright? Take care of your sister and take care of yourself."
Azelma nodded again and somehow got to her feet. She hugged Eponine tight that night as they lay under the bridge on the Seine's banks and her sister told her stories about the stars.