"That must be the reason why I haven't seen Combeferre at all today, either," I said, the sudden realization dawning on me. "I wonder where he is right now."
"Probably still with Marius, I suppose," said Jean Prouvaire.
"I am curious as to what they've been doing all day," Courfeyrac admitted.
"Do you think we should go look for them?" Jehan suggested.
I rose from the table, and replied, "We should. It is our duty, as companions, to watch out for one another." I motioned for the others to join me. "Let's go."
"What's all this about 'duty?'" Grantaire grunted. "Just accept it, Enjolras. You're useless without Combeferre at your side. I must admit, I'm a little jealous."
Suddenly savagely angry at him again, I wheeled around and slammed my fist down violently on the table in front of him. "Grantaire." I spat out his name in my fury. "If you so much as dare to utter my name for the rest of the day, I will NOT be responsible for what I do to you, do you understand me?" Then, without waiting for that scoundrel to reply, I spun around again and made for the door. "Courfeyrac, Prouvaire, will the two of you be joining me?" I threw over my shoulder. I must admit, that perhaps I was being overly dramatic, but, in spite of my anger, I could at least realize that my tremendous disappointment in Grantaire was clouding my vision more than a little. After he had returned from Fauchelevant's house last month, I began to nurture the hope that he might actually prove to be a useful member of society. But after today's little incident, my opinion of Grantaire had plummeted back down to lower than the sewers, and I thought to hide my feelings in the form of anger.
Jean Prouvaire and Courfeyrac hurried after me, with only passing glances at the now-despondent Grantaire. Seeing him in such a wretched state almost caused me to feel pity for him. Almost.
We reached the door, but, before I even had my hand to the doorknob, it opened under its own accord. Startled, my friends and I jumped back a few steps. But then I saw who had opened the door.
"Combeferre!" I exclaimed, rushing back towards him warmly. "Where have you been all day?"
Ignoring my amiable query, Combeferre brusquely pushed past me to enter the café. "I need a drink," he grumbled, impatiently making his way over to the bar.
My companions and I exchanged startled looks. It is not in the nature of Combeferre to be abrupt and ill-tempered, so the three of us were rather surprised by his little foray into irritability.
"Combeferre?" I said, questioningly. Again, I was disregarded. The reunion of Combeferre and myself was not what I had envisioned it to be.
Jean Prouvaire took the initiative, and chose a stool next to Combeferre at the bar. Courfeyrac and I followed his lead, and settled in on the opposite side of him. The proprietress was nowhere to be seen, so Combeferre remained dry for the time being; which was fortunate for me, because there is really nothing I find quite so offensive as another man lost in drink.
"Combeferre?" I repeated. Catching his attention was proving to be quite the chore.
"Enjolras." Finally! An answer!
"Where have you been?" I asked him.
Combeferre ignored me, and instead directed a barbed accusation at Courfeyrac, "This is your doing."
"My doing!" Courfeyrac exclaimed. "But what did I-oh yes, Marius…how did that go?"
"How do you live with that boy?!" Combeferre exploded. "He is maddening!"
Courfeyrac shrugged. "I have to ignore him occasionally. It keeps the headaches away."
"Ah…"
"Excuse me," I interjected. "Could you possibly relate to those who were not fortunate enough to spend the morning with Marius what actually happened?"
Combeferre nodded. At this point, Grantaire, who presumably had been listening to our exchange from across the room, came over to Jean Prouvaire and handed him a pencil and a fresh sheet of parchment. Jehan, being much more forgiving than I am, gave him a smile and a kind word of appreciation. Grantaire then hovered behind him, not bothering to find himself a chair. Perhaps the furniture would not be in such short supply if he had not broken a table and two chairs by heaving Courfeyrac into them.
"So Courfeyrac brought Marius and Tache to your place this morning," Jehan prompted, his pencil poised above the paper.
"Unfortunately, he did," Combeferre sighed. "And without even giving me a proper reason why, I might add. He more or less cast them at me and ran off."
"And I can't thank you enough!" Courfeyrac exclaimed, smiling rakishly.
Combeferre sighed again. "You're welcome. Anyhow, the first thing that Tache did when he saw me was to jump on top of me, and knock me down. I hit my head on the sidewalk, and everything was off to a grand start." To exhibit his abrasion, he turned his head, and parted his thick brown hair at the nape, revealing swollen lump. "Marius apologised profusely, but I waved him off. Then came the difficult part of getting Marius to hold the leash for himself. He fought me on that. It took me the better part of ten minutes to tie the leash unto his wrist. Of course, the fact that the dog wouldn't stop growling at him didn't make it any easier. Finally, Marius stopped trembling enough to actually walk, and we were off. Tache was not happy. He kept pulling on his leash, and growling.
I said to Marius, 'I thought he wanted to walk.'
Replied Marius, 'I thought so, too.'
After almost twenty minutes of pulling a most obstinate Tache down the Rue Mondétour, the dog finally just sat down in the middle of the street and stopped. And when I say in the middle of the street, I mean the middle of the street. I've never seen so many angry carriage drivers in my life."
"Oh dear…" murmured Jean Prouvaire.
"Everyone on the street started to yell at us to move the dog, but we couldn't! You wouldn't believe how strong that dog is! And in response to the shouting, Tache started to howl. He sounded like a wild animal."
"How did Marius react to that?" I asked.
"How do you think Marius reacted to that?" Combeferre retorted. "I really thought he was going to pass out. He grew pale, and he started to shake. Usual Marius, stuff, really. And then you wouldn't believe who came over to us."
"Who?' Courfeyrac asked.
"Fiera." "Fiera! What a great girl! I haven't seen her in days! How is she?"
"Well, as of right now, she's my saviour. She ran over to us, calling, 'Tache! Tache!' And the dog ran right to her! I could hardly believe my eyes. She led that beast over to the sidewalk. Grabbing Marius, almost as an afterthought, I'm sorry to say, I followed her in a hurry.
'Fiera! How did you do that?' I asked her once we were clear of the road.
She shrugged, answering 'I did.'
Anyhow, I saw this as my chance to get rid of Marius, so I politely said, 'Fiera, dear, Tache seems to like you so much. Do you think that you could take him for a while, and show Marius your secret?'
'Sorry, Courfeyrac's friend, but I have an engagement and I'm already late for it,' she said. At that, I cursed extravagantly under my breath. 'Maybe later! Good luck with the dog!' Courfeyrac, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that engagement, would you?"
Looking uncomfortable, and blushing heavily, Courfeyrac muttered back, "No."
"Are you quite sure, my dear fellow?" Combeferre pressed.
"I said, NO."
Combeferre chuckled softly to himself, most certainly proud of the modest retribution he was able to inflict upon Courfeyrac, and then he resumed his narrative. "I was more than a little upset that I still had to look after Marius, so perhaps it is just a little of my fault that he ran away."
"He ran away?" Grantaire repeated. His voice grated against my ears.
"Well, actually, the dog chased him away. After Fiera left, I took just a moment too long in turning back around. I heard barking, and the next thing I knew, Tache was pursuing Marius down the Rue Mondétour, howling and snapping at his heels."
"Excellent!" Courfeyrac exclaimed. "You've killed Marius. Now who will split rent with me?"
"Split rent? When did Marius split rent? When does he make money?" Grantaire demanded, while at the same time, Combeferre retorted, "It's not my fault! That boy should be able to take care of himself!"
"Well, he can't!"
Realizing that this would quickly regress into physical violence if I did not interfere, I stood, and raised my voice over the three of them. "STOP!" My voice affected them like thunder, and they immediately ended their squabbling.