Rash Declarations
All through the day, Cosette and her friends stayed indoors, until early afternoon, when Montparnasse ventured out on an errand. At nightfall, as a precaution, Eponine stacked up all kinds of debris under the windowsill, anticipating fighting on the Rue Reuilly.
At 7 pm, while Cosette was preparing a simple supper, the loud crash of broken glass sounded from the street.
"They've come!" Eponine shrieked as she ran to the window to take a look outside. As everyone had feared, the streetlamp closest to the house was broken; glittering shards of glass lay on the table. However, instead of a horde of rioters, only a small gamin was seen running from the scene.
"Gavroche, you wretch!" Montparnasse shouted from downstairs. "What do you think you can get from that?"
The girls burst out laughing upstairs, despite the nervousness in the air. "At least he's only causing that sort of trouble," Cosette observed. A few moments later, Montparnasse arrived at the door of the flat.
"I suspect you know what that brother of yours did?" he asked Eponine pointedly.
"What do I care what he does? I'm only his sister!" Eponine retorted.
Just then, a knock sounded on the door. "Who goes there?" Montparnasse asked.
"Marius Pontmercy."
Cosette jumped up. "For some time I thought..." she murmured as she opened the door. She smiled with relief at the sight of the rather haggard young man. "How did you get this address?"
"From Courfeyrac, who asked Azelma," Marius replied. "Is Eponine with you?"
"I'm here, Monsieur," Eponine said, now making her appearance.
Marius nodded to her. "Your mother is asking for you,"
Eponine's expression soured. "I don't want to go home, M'sieur."
Montparnasse and Cosette exchanged worried looks. "It's too dangerous," Cosette said.
"But with the fighting everywhere, it hardly makes a difference. Besides, I think it's better for her to be with her family," Montparnasse pointed out.
Cosette noded grimly as she fetched her hat. She smiled sadly at Eponine. "I'm sorry, mon amie, but we have to go."
Eponine rolled her eyes. "You're acting like an old woman, Cosette."
"Just get your hat and coat, Eponine," Montparnasse ordered. Grudgingly, the girl obliged. Cosette nodded to Marius, who offered her his arm as they went downstairs, followed by Eponine and Montparnasse. Cosette carried a long stick, while Montparnasse had a knife. Eponine had picked up a few stones on the way out, while Marius still remained unarmed.
The four young people walked quickly through the now darkened Rue Reuilly towards the other lighted streets nearby. Not a single fiacre was in sight, and most of the houses were shut from the upper storeys to the cellars. However, the ominous sound of fighting and cannons could be heard from other parts of the city.
As they rounded a corner that led to a darkened avenue, Montparnase suddenly froze. "We aren't alone," he whispered.
Cosette looked around. "I do not see anyone."
Suddenly, a clear voice could be heard singing,"Allons enfants de la Patrie! Le jour de gloire est arrive!"
Marius and Cosette stared with horror as Enjolras, Courfeyrac, Bahorel, and Grantaire came into sight, along with a whole group of men they did not recognize. "AGood evening Citoyens!" Courfeyrac hailed them loudly.
"Dieu, are you all fighting?" Cosette asked them.
Enjolras nodded grimly. He had with him a musket, apparently taken off some National Guardsman. "The hour has come. Pontmercy...Montparnasse, where are you going?" he asked the men.
"We're accompanying her," Montparnasse said, indicating Eponine, "back to her parents. They are asking for her."
"It's a difficult matter," Eponine said by way of explanation.
"And where are you going?" Grantaire asked.
"Fauborg Saint-Antoine," Marius said.
"There's a good crowd there, Citoyen Enjolras," someone said from the rear of the group. "It is there you must go if you need help."
Enjolras glanced at his companions, then at the four others in front of him. "If you care to go with us, be warned, there is some danger on the way."
Suddenly, Eponine paled. "Guardsmen!" she yelled.
"Who goes there?" a seargent called. "Disperse immediately!"
"Non! Vive le Charte, a bas les Bourbons!" Bahorel roared.
As masonry, pots, and other sundry began to rain out from the windows in the nearby houses, the entire crowd dropped to their knees or took shelter under eaves. Some National Guardsmen fired at the houses, then at some of the insurgents. Enjolras and some others retaliated, thus adding to the uproar.
In the middle of the confusion, Cosette saw Marius trying to hide himself while vainly searching for the others. "Marius! Stay down!" she screamed at him. However, as her voice was drowned out by the melee, she ran over to him and pushed him to the ground.
He stared at where she'd fallen beside him. "Cosette---"
"I can't let you get hurt!" Cosette said through gritted teeth as a few bullets sailed overhead. "Now where are the others?"
"They can't have gone far---" Marius said as he looked around. He noticed that Cosette had reached for his hand and was squeezing it tightly. "What are you doing?"
"I think---" Cosette whispered before she fainted. It was then that Marius noticed the blood running down Cosette's right shin and ipooling onto the ground.
