A/N- Ladeda, another chapter.
nebulia- Heh... who needs sense when nonsense is so much cooler? It's okay, I forgive you for being all anonymous.
Kang Xiu- Hey, I'll take it. It sounds cool... huzzah for Future Shakespeares of the World.
Tziporah- Hm... yeah, and all the not-important names are different in those two translations, and I get so confuzzled... Patrie vs Patria, Euphrasie vs Euphrasia... what was the Fauchelevant one? It was like Ultime vs Ultimus... gosh, I'm such a dork.
ArgentineRose- I like the Norman Denny too, but I found a mistake in it on comparing it to the original French and the Charles E. Wilbour version... in the Parnasse and Gavroche scene it says he has a knife concealed in a case, when both the other translations say it's in a cane... I mean, that's obviously vital information to the plot, folks!
Mlle Verity- Aw, poor doltboy. I love him, really I do... but apparently I'm one of the very, very few.
Robyn-Enjolras- You aren't? -puts away knife and syrup-
Enjolras is skipping down the street, humming 'Do You Hear the People Sing?' He encounters Gavroche, who is wearing a charming top hat and leading a boy that is wearing an enormous overcoat.
"Hello," says Gavroche.
Enjolras beams at him. "Looky looky! See this pretty red flag?"
"It's full of holes."
"Those are bullet holes, gamin! I just came back from a tussle with the government! I probably would have beat them, too, but those National Guard are hard to catch... and they have big shiny guns."
"Liar!"
"What? They do! I should know... I'm the one who was being shot at!"
"Greenhorn! Liar! Prove it! Show me a big shiny gun!"
"Okay, I will!" Enjolras shouts indignantly. He storms off.
Claire is sitting at the previously mentioned sewer grate. After a moment, Eponine comes running out with only one boot on.
"Hi!"
Eponine looks up at her. "Oh, hello."
"What happened to your other boot?"
"Well," Eponine sighs, "it turns out that the fellow I was telling you about, Montparnasse, is a bit smarter than I'd figured. He realized that I'd run away from him, so he had some men jump on me and try to hold me down... I got away, but one of them got my other shoe."
"You're still running from him? Why?"
"I don't know! I just am. I'll tell you something, though – it's difficult to run when you only have one boot, and it's full of holes."
Claire starts. "I'll trade you that one boot for my shoes!"
"Really?"
"Sure!" says Claire.
They trade, and Claire smiles and waves as Eponine dashes away.
The young man from whom she bought the vest runs past, clutching a big shiny gun. Claire waves, but he doesn't see her.
Jacques returns to the bakery at the same time Claire does.
"Look!" he shouts. "I have a new vest!"
"We have everything," cries Claire, ecstatic. "The brat without a home... the vest as red as blood... the hair of blond or brown... the boot that's full of holes!"
At this precise moment Valjean walked in.
"It's the last midnight! Wait... that's later. It's been three days! Do you have everything?"
The baker and his wife hand him the four things. Valjean scrutinizes them all very carefully.
"Wait a minute!" he shouts, holding up the vest. "This thing isn't red as blood! It's a shade of... pink!"
"Jacques!" Claire groans.
"What?" the baker says. "He's old, I thought maybe he'd have bad eyesight."
"Well, I don't," Valjean says angrily. "I thought you had a red vest!"
"We did, but it got... really messed up," Claire explains. She pulls the dirty rags that are all that remains of Bloody-Red out of her apron pocket.
Valjean takes the rags. "Stupid people! You could have just washed it and given it to me! My daughter can sew it up... she has nothing else to do."
"Oh..." says Jacques.
Valjean leaves with the ragged Bloody-Red in his hands.
