Here's the second half of my update: chapter 9. Hope you guys enjoy, and don't forget to review!
- Raven
Marius didn't see Éponine the next day, and although he worried at first, he trusted that she would show up eventually. Using Éponine's instructions, he made it to the cafe after school, and then was able to find his way home from there. But after hours with still no sign of Éponine, Marius began to really worry. Even looking through the hole in the wall there was nothing in her room to give him a clue as to where she might have been.
"Hello, Monsieur." A small voice said. Marius was sitting in the shadow of the giant elephant statue outside Bastille. He looked up to see a little boy hanging upside down from one of the ropes. When Marius looked up at him, the boy laughed and flipped the right way up, hanging onto the rope with one hand, and leaning against the side of the elephant.
"What are you doing here, boy?" Marius asked, impressed by the child's acrobatics.
"I live here." The boy responded proudly. "Me and my boys, we live here. My name is Gavroche." He added, dropping down from the rope and leaning in close to Marius, trying to appear threatening. "What are you doing here, Monsieur? This is private property. My private property."
Marius smiled, deciding he liked Gavroche. "I'm Marius. And I was just sitting here thinking."
"'Bout what?" Gavroche asked, tilting his head to the side in childish wonder.
"Just on how to find someone."
Gavroche's face broke into a smile, and he bounced on his toes excitedly. "I can find 'em. I'm really good at finding people. Me and my boys, we know all sorts of people."
Marius laughed, enjoying Gavroche more and more as the minutes went by. "Well, she's-"
"Wait." Gavroche interrupted, a sly smile creeping across his face. "This girl you lookin' for. You like her don't ya?"
"Not like that, Gavroche." Marius chuckled. "She's just a friend. Anyway, she lives right next door to me. Kind of small, brown hair, wears a hat-"
"Éponine?!" Gavroche said in disbelief, standing up on his tiptoes. "My Éponine?" He leaned in once more, placing his hands on Marius' knees. "Does she wear a gentleman's coat and boots?"
"Um, yes. How did you-?"
"Why are you looking for her?" He was once more trying to be threatening. "What do you want with Éponine?"
"She's my friend, Gavroche. I haven't seen her for a while and I was getting worried. That's all, I swear." Marius held up his hands in a 'Don't shoot!' gesture.
Gavroche nodded slowly, then stopped. "What do you mean you haven't seen her? She promised me she'd be here. The boy lowered his head, and Marius thought he saw a tear in his eye. "She promised." He quickly shook it off, standing tall again. "Éponine never breaks her promises. She'll be here, Monsieur. You can wait with me of you like."
Marius nodded, climbing inside the elephant with Gavroche, and wondering why it was that both siblings insisted on calling him Monsieur instead of Marius. They sat in the belly of the elephant and talked.
"So Gavroche, how come you live in the elephant and Éponine lives at the Inn?"
Gavroche's gaze hardened. "She'd live here with me if she could. I can never convince her to stay." He pouted.
"But why..?"
"Because of our father." He spat the word like it was poison. "He threw me out when I was 4 and I've been on the streets ever since. Me and my boys live here, and Éponine brings us food. When she can."
"And what about Éponine?"
"As far as I know, she's under father's control. Sometimes she can't even come visit me. But not today," he said, brightening. "She promised. She'll be here."
Marius considered telling Gavroche about how their father treated Éponine, but was unsure of how the boy would take it, or if he already knew about it.
"Gavroche?" he said carefully. "Would your father ever hurt Éponine?"
Gavroche's eyes widened, then he frowned, scrunching up his face in thought. "Once," He said slowly. "Éponine came to my elephant late because-" His voice trailed off, and he slumped in defeated realization. "She's not gonna come today, Monsieur. You should probably go do whatever you rich people do."
He climbed out of his elephant and jumped down to the ground. "Let's go, fella's!" He yelled, forcing a cheery tone, and Marius ducked and dodged as a small swarm of children appeared from inside the elephant and scrambled over him. He followed and caught Gavroche's blond curls bouncing away at the head of the herd.
Marius sighed, making his way to the cafe. Maybe his friends had seen Éponine. He doubted it, but it never hurt to hope.
