Although it was cold, Cosette did not want to go back too soon. Beauty of the shop window, the rich colors, flowers and fruits, unpolluted by juvenile sewage of her abusers and their busy mouths, inspired her to stay in the street for a moment. When the darkness started to fall she sighed and began her walk back to Thénardiers apartment.
"Look at Cosette!" one of the neigbors said to her wife, when the young girl dragged herself by his window. "She is always out at night, like a vampire; but poor girl is too thin and all too pale to be such a thing!"
After Madame Thenardier´s death, Thénardier had started to treat Éponine and Azelma much harsher. Both girls took their revenge on Cosette, and they were vicious.
Cosette was almost at the door, when she saw the woman. She was going to open the door, but she stopped to wait for Cosette. She was not typical guest of Thénardiers - she was an older woman, well-dressed and clean, with lovely red roses on her hat. She smiled and opened the door to the young girl.
"Cosette?" she said.
"Yes," the girl said.
"I am Jeanne Valjean, your late mother´s friend," the older woman smiled. "I have been searching for you."
Thénardier, who had approached in rage because Cosette was late, was stopped by the strangers´s voice; now he listened carefully.
"Come in, come in, Madame! Friend of our Cosette´s mother? Well, well, Madame, how do we know you are what you say you are?"
Jeanne Valjean didn´t seem to notice him; she still smiled at Cosette. "I have been searching for you for years, but unfortunately you seemed to disappear from the face of earth."
"We moved..." Cosette mumbled.
"It is a Christmas evening; I must go soon back to share gifts. If you want to say goodbye to your friends..."
"Azelma and Éponine are not my friends." Now Cosette spoke with the clear voice. "I am ready to go."
"Without any coat or cape? In that chemise and petticoat? Please, let me." Jeanne threw the beautiful red wool cape, clean and warm, over Cosette. Éponine and Azelma stared at it, jealous of Cosette at first time of their life.
"I´m dirty..." Cosette murmured
"It can be washed," her benefactor smiled. "Come."
"But Madame..."Thénardier began to bubble, but Jeanne Valjean and Cosette were already stepping out.
AN: Folklore vampires were red-faced and often fat.