Chapter 2
Eponine noticed that the sun was beginning to set and decided to head on home, if she was late she was guaranteed a beating. She set off, making her way around the labyrinth of Parisian streets. No sooner had she left the café she ran into one of her father's gang members. She screamed and ran before they could lay a hand on her. Grantaire had heard the scream and had gotten to his feet; he looked across the table at the other members of the l'ABC "what was that?" he slurred, they all looked at him as if he were mad "what was what?" Feuilly said chuckling to himself "you're drunk sit down" Joly joined in. Grantaire felt slightly on edge, but then again he was drunk and was probably hearing things. "I'm going home" he said getting up again. Joly and Lesgles decided to head home too, agreeing to go with Grantaire to make sure he didn't pass out in the street or something on his way.
When Eponine got into her house she ran straight up to the room that she shared with her sister. Azelma was sitting in the corner of her bedroom, crying silently to herself. Eponine went over to comfort her sister "what's wrong 'Zelm?" she spoke with a soft comforting tone. She lifted her sisters chin up turning it to one side and then to the other. She was examining it for any signs that her sister had been beaten in her absence. "I'm so hungry" Azelma spoke up. Eponine was relieved that that was it; she couldn't bear to think that Azelma could be beaten because of something that she had done. Eponine had saved a macaroon for her sister and was quick to pull it out of her pocket. "Here, I saved this for you" she said, placing it in her sister's cold hands. Azelma took the food and ate the whole thing in one go.
They heard there father come in the front door "Girls, here now" he bellowed. The both of them bolted up and went downstairs. Thenadier had two sacks with him; they were full to the brim. "I want you to polish all this silver for me, now; I don't care how long it takes you" he said. The girls looked at each other, they could read each other like a book and new they were both thinking the same thing. It was going to be a long night.
At around two in the morning Azelma couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. Eponine sent her to bed. Eponine was tired, she couldn't stop yawning and her vision was becoming blurry. She had about 12 various objects to polish. She kept on working until she had finished, it was about 4.30 in the morning by the time she settled herself down beside Azelma on their single mattress.
She felt something kick her ankle, she opened her eyes. Her father was standing over her, cane in hand. It was 8am; she had had 3 and a half hours sleep. Her father kicked her again in the ankle, this time Eponine sat up, rubbing her watering eyes. Eponine's foot was throbbing, she attempted to stand but her father knocked her back down again. "You missed this" he said, throwing the steel tankard at her head. It hit her eyebrow and cheek bone, it hurt. She picked up the object and started polishing it. As she did, she rolled her eyes at her father. He noticed this and spat in her face. She had just closed her eyes when suddenly she felt the beating of his cane whip across her lower back. She screamed out in pain, dropping everything in her hands. Thenadier didn't care about hurting his daughter; he liked it when she screamed out. Another whip wacked against her body in the exact same spot as before "and that ones for your sister" he shouted. Eponine was now on her hands and knees crying hysterically. She felt the cane hit her again for the third time "that's for dropping the cup" She collapsed on the floor. A fourth hit came "that's for crying", a fifth "that's for screaming. Thenadier rolled his daughter over with his foot "finish the job" he said, spitting once again. He went and stood in front of the bedroom door, stopping her from leaving. Eponine took a deep breath and pulled herself up; she took the tankard and began polishing once again.
Once she finished she placed the cup on the floor "done" she said bluntly. Thenadier picked the cup off the floor and left.
She needed to get out of this hell hole of a house that she called home. She pulled herself up, off the floor, and began to walk out her room. Her ankle was hurting and it resulted in her walking with a limp. "Where are you going miss?" Thenadier spoke, she stayed silent. Thenadier grabbed Eponine's upper arm tightly and pulled her into the main room in the house. "What have you got to say for yourself?" he said, staring into her puppy dog eyes. Eponine didn't even know why her father was in such a bad mood, she hadn't done anything. "Sorry?" she said, questioning if this was the answer he was looking for. "I think you need to be taught your lesson young miss" he said, standing her in the centre of the room. He circled Eponine for five minutes before finally springing another violent blow of his cane across her back. She fell to the ground in a heap. Thenadier wasn't even angry at his daughter anymore, he had just lost all his money whilst gambling and needed somewhere to vent.
With every blow to the back came another deafening scream. In total Eponine suffered from the cane 12 times. She was sore and tender, her back still stung and she was throbbing in pain. Thenadier let his daughter leave, and that she did. She left the house and headed towards the only place she knew would be safe, the café. For a change, she didn't take any back passages hoping that she was less likely to bump into any of her father's gang this way.
Eponine stood outside the café musain and took a deep breath. She wiped leftover tears from her eyes and flattened out her skirt. She went in the door and up the stairs, it was hard because her ankle was sore and her back stung every time she took a step, but she got there in the end. "Eponine are you okay?" Enjolras asked, noticing her limp. He pulled out a chair for her to sit on. She felt so tired, and so she stretched out her arms on the table in font and dropped her head between them. Enjolras' initial reaction was to comfort her and so he began to rub her back. As soon as his hand passed over the arch she let out a little yelp and sat up.
Enjolras was quick to remove his hand "Eponine?" he said, she burst into tears. Enjolras swivelled her chair around and knelt on the ground in front of her, he tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed her on the forehead. Eponine wiped away her tears and smiled lovingly into his eyes. "Come on, I'll take you back to my house" he said, grabbing his red jacket from the chair and placing it around Eponine's shoulders. Before they left Enjolras went over to Joly "I think she's hurt her back" he said, Joly looked over to the tired girl sitting on the chair. "Okay, I'll come over" he said. Enjolras went back over to Eponine and helped her up. She held onto their arms for support.