Happiness That I Have Never Known

Chapter One – The Barricade

Enjolras would always remember the moment. It was the sort of moment where seconds turned into hours and the world goes piercingly clear.

He saw Marius stoop to pick up the powder keg, he saw the enemy soldier take his aim whilst Marius was not looking. 'Scum' he spat bitterly as he legs began to move towards Marius before he realised what he was doing. 'Scum shoot their enemies in the back.' Enjolras had always had a strong sense of right and wrong, it was that, along with his love for Patria that had first stirred the ideas of revolution in his mind.

Suddenly Enjolras' stomach dropped, he saw Eponine grab the barrel of the gun away from Marius and pull it towards herself. He should have guessed she would be there. She was always close by where Marius was it had always inspired a strange pang of jealousy that Enjolras couldn't explain and so he ignored it.

Enjolras saw the soldier's finger move to the trigger, the soldier's eyes were firmly on his target, now Eponine, she was disguised as a boy but only a fool would mistake her for one.

Eponine heard the riffle fire, she braced herself and waited for the pain, it did not come. She opened her eyes which she hadn't realised where closed tightly and saw Enjolras standing next to where the solider had been. The butt of his gun was smeared with blood where he must have hit the solider. Enjolras looked down at her, their eyes meet as she realised that he had just saved her life. Before she had time to acknowledge the feelings this stirred in her she remembered that she had also been trying to save a life, Marius! She saw him he looked dazed for a brief moment as he registered how close the solider had been to him. Then he snapped back into action picking up the powder keg and climbing to the top of the barricade without a backwards glance. He was oblivious, as always to Eponine, he did not even realise she had just tried to take a bullet for him.

Eponine heard Marius threaten to blow the barricade in an attempt to get the advancing soldier's to move back, she moved to go and stop him but she was stopped but two strong hands on her shoulders, she looked up and into the face of Enjolras, his blue eyes seemed to have darkened, there was a storm in them. 'Don't' He said 'Let Marius handle himself, you will get yourself killed unnecessarily trying to save him.' Eponine opened her mouth to respond when suddenly Enjolras snapped 'Damn it, what are you doing here anyway?' Eponine shoved his hands away, 'Leave me alone, it is none of your business' she snapped. Aware that she was insulting the man who had moments before saved her life, how could she explain to him that she had come here because she wanted her and Marius to die together, rather than live a life where he was with Cossette and she was alone. How could she tell him that she had pulled the riffle towards herself because she wanted to die first, or that when she had heard the riffle discharge she had changed her mind! 'I'm sorry' she said but she was talking to Enjolras' back. How could she tell the brave leader of the Les Amis de l'ABC that she was suddenly terrified.

Marius jumped down next her having successfully put off the soldier's for now. He turned to look at her 'My God, Ponine what are you doing here?'

It had rained overnight, the other Barricades had fallen and the people of France were sleeping in their beds, they had not rallied. Enjolras ran his hand through his hair as he always did when it was frustrated. He couldn't shake the sinking feeling that he had led his friends to their death. Of course he was confident that others would rise up and continue the fight if they fell, but that didn't take away the tight knot of tension that had built up in his stomach. Everyone's nerves were stretched, a night had passed since Marius had forced the soldiers back, but they all knew it was only a matter of time before they attacked again and this time with more precision.

Shouts and a scuffle from the front of the barricade drew his attention, Eponine was holding tightly to Gavroche who was struggling in her arms.

'Let me go Ponine' the boy squeaked 'I can get the ammunition from the fallen soldiers'

'I knew that was what you were thinking, you think I'm going to let me own little brother risk his life and do nothing to stop it' Eponine cried, still holding tightly to the boy. Enjolras was briefly shocked and then he wondered how he had never seen the resemblance between the two before. Courfeyrac had reached the two by this time and took the boy from Eponine's arms. 'I want to help' Gavroche implored him 'I know I could get it, they're not going to shoot at a little person.' Courfeyrac crouched down so he was eye level with Gavroche 'They will, your part us, part of this uprising' Courfeyrac looked at the sky and shook his head 'They will not spare any of us Gavroche.'

'But we need it, I heard Combeferre and Enjolras say that ours was all ruined by the rain'

All eyes flew to Enjolras, 'It's true' he sighed 'let us not waste lives, all who wish to go must leave' There was a deafening silence, no one spoke for several moments, then a shot rang out and the sound of someone falling to the floor.

'No, No, quick, come quickly.' The sound of Grantaire's words and they fact that they were not slurred like normal sent all running, they saw him, he was dragging the limp body of Combeferre and far too much blood to leave room for hope. Enjolras was on his knees beside his best friend in a matter of moments, Grantaire and Marius on either side of him. 'I knew that Gavroche had tried to get the ammunition, I thought I could be quick that they wouldn't see me.' Combeferre whispered, his eye lids fluttered and then he looked at his friends 'don't give up, don't let this all be for nothing, but Enjolras, think like me and not like you' then he slumped back lifeless. Enjolras looked at the lifeless body of his friend, the philosopher. It was never his idea to fight. That had always been Enjolras place. We won't let him die in vain. His set his jaw and looked to his friends ready for battle when a cry came from the other side of the barricade.

'There is no escape, the people have not come to your rescue' taunted the guard.

'They're wrong.' It was Eponine, 'I know a way out through the sewers.'

Enjolras turned to her 'We cannot let Combeferre die for nothing'

'Then don't' she countered 'but don't martyr yourself and your friends, that is not going to help him, this attempt has failed but that doesn't mean that the cause is wrong I don't think he would have wanted you all to die, you stand a much better choice of continuing this if you are all alive.' Enjolras struggled momentarily with the will to fight on, to avenge his friend, to fight for Patria. But then he looked into the eyes of his friends, he knew that they were frightened, just as he was frightened deep down but would never admit it. 'Ok' he said 'show us the way'

Eponine let out a sigh of relief as she realised that he had agreed to let her show them the way out. She could save Marius and Gavroche and Enjolras who she already owed her life to. Enjolras gathered the friends together and she showed them the flap in the wall that led to a slope down to the sewers.

Then the thought struck her who was waiting down there, her father waiting to rob the corpses he hoped would soon be piling up. She had been avoiding him since the incident at Rue Plumet when she had prevented Thenardier and his gang from robbing Cosette and her father's house, he had already promised her the beating of her life for that, and now she was helping to save his next victims. As Gavroche slid down the slope and the remaining members of Les Amis prepared to slide into their freedom she knew that she was sealing her fate, she was aware exactly what her father would have in store for her she could save the friends but no one was going to be able to save her…