Chapter Six
A/N: Thank you to Smiles1998, phangirl2017 and IvyGreen13 for reviewing the last chapter.
Another half of a year had passed, and still Madame Thénardier had managed to keep Éponine from learning the truth that Azelma had almost given away. She had been extremely cautious when speaking to the girl at all, and had given a stern talking to the elder one, warning her that her younger sister could not know the truth, for fear that it would tear the whole family apart.
Meanwhile, she had not noticed that the brunette was being sent out far more often to go and pickpocket, and in areas with more and more police by the day. It seemed that her father no longer cared for the girl, other than as a thief, though she doubted that he had ever really done. To him, she had only been another criminal, bringing him just another few sous to gamble and lose. She had never been anything more.
However, him not treating her as a daughter did not mean at all that the man did not acknowledge her place in the household, as she had rather hoped that it would do. Whenever he came home, frustrated at a brush with the police, or drunk out of his skull on good wine after a great days takings, in the most literal sense of the word, the man would lash out upon his arrival at their home, and it would be Éponine who took the brunt of the beatings, rather than his wife and other children. She did not know why this was, as she was not the eldest, and she was only a girl, so why was it always her that was hurt, when she was his own child just as much as Gavroche and Azelma were. It made no sense, and so she had taken a walk to clear her head, not really minding if she was beaten when she got home for leaving the house, as she most likely would be beaten in any case.
And so she had decided to take a stroll down the streets of Paris, and not only the streets of the slums that she had been accustomed to since moving to the area, but venturing out in the streets of the middle classes, even to the edges of the streets inhabited by only the bourgeoisie, a people far above the likes of herself, a lowly street rat from a town in the middle of nowhere, especially considering what her father employed her to do from day to day.
However, the streets, she had found, were rather winding, and she had taken a wrong turning on her way back to the apartment building, finding herself instead outside a grand imposing one, though its purpose was the one thing she could not distinguish, as she had never seen the likes of it in all of her life. On the other hand, the reason behind that may have been that she grew up in a small town, with none of the luxuries that Paris life seemed to have for the rich to use. Of course, it did not truly matter what the purpose was, as there was not a chance in hell that the child would ever be grand enough to make use of it.
Suddenly, a loud bell sounded, and in her childish ignorance, Éponine wondered whether it had been rung for the purposes of moving her away from the steps, which she had sat herself down on, given the terrible ache that had begun to spread through her legs. But as soon as she saw the doors open, dozens or maybe even a hundred boys pouring through them, she realised that the building was, in fact, merely a school, in which the students had come to the end of their day of education.
On further observation, which she achieved by the fact that she had moved to the corner of the steps, so that she was hidden behind the small wall situated there, the brunette realised that there was more than one reason as to why she would not be able to attend the institution, as every one of the students were male. It seemed to be the belief of the upper classes that only men were good enough to be educated properly, as if girls were not important enough to be able to do so. Well, she would have proved them wrong, had she been able, and had her mind not been taken from the subject by a shadow above her.
When she glanced up to ascertain who the figure was, she found that it was a boy, one who could only have been around ten years old. Not a great deal older than her, at any rate, as that much was evident, both in his appearance and his tone of voice when he spoke to her. "What are you doing here?"
Though the words could be easily associated with snobbery, the tone in which he spoke them was one of concern, rather than contempt for her lower class. Seeing that the boy was merely trying to be helpful, she answered him, although her voice was still barely more of a whisper. "I was just walking, and I got lost. I only just moved here, and I don't know my way around. I don't know how to get home."
"Don't worry, I'll help you find your way home." he offered, and once again, Éponine was shocked by the amount of concern he seemed to have for a street rat girl that he had never met before. "I've lived here in Paris for all of my life, and I know my way around. I'm sure that I could help you find the place that you're looking for."
Taking the girl's hands, he pulled her from the ground, and they set off in the direction of the Gorbeau apartment building, which the boy, named Marius Pontmercy, knew by its infamous reputation.
However, as they turned their backs and began to walk away, a professor emerged from the shadows, glancing in the direction of the girl as if she were a celestial being, as he remembered the little baby girl that his mother had given away, when he had been only fifteen.
A/N: So, 'Ponine's old family are closing in! Please review!