Éponine tossed a sleeping bag into the back of Mr. Fauchlevent's car and dusted off her hands, the whole house had woken up early and had been busy packing for a week long camping trip as was Mr. Fauchlevent and Cosette's yearly tradition. Now they were to be accompanied by the three Thenardier's who had become a part of their family as well.
"That should be the last of it, right?" Éponine turned to Cosette, she was wearing a pair of denim capri's, a white tank top, her silver necklace, and a red and black button up plaid shirt she had stolen from Alex the last time she was at his house.
"I think so," Cosette nodded as she tossed in her small duffel bag as well.
Éponine smiled, "It's been forever since I went camping, I used to-" she trailed off and her smile faded away as the memories brought back reminded her of the life she used to have, the one she was leaving behind. "So, you do this every year?" she switched her train of thought.
"Yep," Cosette smiled, "every year Papa and I go camping, and now I get to spend it with my best friend!"
"Cosette, 'Ponine, a little help?" Azelma called to them, she was struggling with the bag containing the new tent Mr. Fauchlevent had bought so that the girls could all sleep together.
"I've got it," Éponine quickly ran to aid her sister and moving the tent into the car.
Mr. Fauchlevent stepped out of the house and went to the trunk to make sure all of their supplies was packed properly and that they didn't forget anything important. "We are good to go, everyone get in."
They all climbed into the car, Cosette in front with the three Thenardier's in the back with Gavroche stuck between his two sisters. Mr. Fauchlevent started backing the car out of the driveway and into the street so they could head to the lakeside town of Montrieul that was located not far from the Adirondack mountains.
Once there they stopped in a small store that was a sort of General store, in Éponine's opinion it was more of a convinience store that was mashed up with a tourist trap, they had stopped to by firewood so they wouldn't bring foreign bugs into the campsite. Éponine had been looking at the keychains that depicted various things like a sunset over a lake, a copy of the statue that stood in the middle of the town and other such things, they all had "Montriuel" printed at the bottom. Gavroche had been off fiddling with a pop gun and Cosette was taking pictures with Azelma of wooden carvings of comical looking bears that were doing things like fishing, grilling and even dentistry. Mr. Fauchlevent was at the register finishing paying for the firewood and soon they were all back in the car as they drove the rode the campsite that was very close to the camp shore. Mr. Fauchlevent took the car off the road and they were all bouncing around in the back as he navigated the dirt path that could barely qualify as any sort of a road and they finally came to a stop near the lake's edge.
Cosette quickly got out of the front seat and Mr. Fauchlevent popped open the trunk, the Thenardier's slowly emerged from the car as they watched Cosette and her father setting up camp almost like clock work. Éponine approached the trunk and started helping to remove the supplies, as she flung a large bag over her shoulder she turned to her siblings, "Come on you two, are you going to help or not?"
Her two siblings seemed to be released from their trance and immediately began unloading the packed car, once that was done they had to start putting everything together. They spread plastic tarps on the ground before they removed the tents from the bag and began to set them up, at first Éponine struggled to fit the poles together but once Cosette showed her how they clicked together it became easy and they all threw their belongings inside.
"I've sent Gavroche to collect kindling for the firewood," Mr. Fauchlevent explained.
Éponine suppressed a small giggle, even through her brother was about to be in high school she was sure he must have concocted some great mission for himself out of a simple task of collecting wood.
"Cosette, why don't you show the girls around a little bit before coming to help prepare dinner?" Mr. Fauchlevent suggested.
"Okay Papa," Cosette nodded and turned to Éponine and Azelma, "come on, you'll love this place," she took off and Éponine and Azelma followed her carefully down the path towards the river bank.
Éponine took in her surroundings as she kept going down the path and she saw out across the lake as it sparkled like silver, "This is amazing, I just, wow."
"Well then lets keep going, there is more to see," Cosette called from ahead.
Éponine sighed and kept walking until they were right up against the shore, there was a dock to one side, and on the other there was a tree with a rope dangling from one of the limbs, "Cosette... This is like some sort of fairy land!"
"Hey, wait up!" Azelma called as she finally caught up with them, "wow... What is this place, did I fall down a rabbit hole?"
Éponine giggled at Azelma's comment, in the sky the sun was beginning to set turning the water a gradient of reds and oranges. "I feel like I could stay here for ever."
"I know it's nice," Cosette spoke up, "but we still have dinner to prepare, which believe me, it's a lot of fun."
"My knife skills are lacking, and I don't think you want me to loose a finger," Éponine piped up.
"You won't cut off your finger," Cosette rolled her eyes, "I promise, and if you do, do your really need all ten?"
Éponine narrowed her eyes but still she followed Cosette back to the camp shop and as they got closer the friendly smell of a campfire hit her nose.
Mr. Fauchlevent with the help of Gavroche were tending the fire which was glowing brightly and cheerfully, with that under control the girls started cutting vegetables and making sure the propane stove was in working order.
They all worked together as well and efficiently as any professional kitchen and the camp site smelled wonderful as they all sat down for their supper and they all ate in relative silence as the stars glowed brightly overhead. Then they cleaned up their plates and their spaces and let the fire die to embers, "Make sure you put that out completely before you go to bed," Mr. Fauchlevent instructed them, he was going to bed early as was Gavroche so they could go fishing in the morning.
"We will Papa," Cosette nodded.
"Don't worry Mr. Fauchlevent we won't let the place burn down," Éponine cut in but immediately she felt awkward, she had been living with Cosette and her father for months now and they were even in the process of adoption. Still she was not able to bring herself to call him "Papa", "Father" or any other terms of endearment like that.
Mr. Fauchlevent smiled at her and ducked into his tent living the girls in the dying firelight, since their main source of heat was gone they were now bundled up. Éponine wore a pair of sweatpants that belonged to Cosette that read "Hugo High Cheer!" down the leg and her sweatshirt was plain red and was yet another article of clothing that really belonged to Alex. With a long stick she was poking at some of the wood that still glowed with a faint red, a flashlight was sitting in her lap, "So I guess we should probably go to bed soon? I would feel bad if we woke them up by being crazy."
Cosette, "I suppose, besides this place is a lot more fun in the daylight," she then got up from where she was sitting, "Hey 'Zel, can you help me get some dirt to put on the fire? 'Ponine can you take the bucket and fill it with water?"
They worked together to put out the remains of the fire so that not even the smallest spark remained, "Only you can prevent forest fires!" Éponine declared in a deep voice, she then preceded to cough, "dammit I can't talk that low!"
Azelma and Cosette were giggling as they turned on the flashlights and entered the tent with Éponine following, it was a tight fit for the three girls and their gear but it wasn't impossible. Although Cosette seemed to have a better ability of changing into pajamas in the small confines of the tent more so then the Thenardier sisters. They all snuggled down into their sleeping bags and switched off the flashlights.
"Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!" Cosette whispered.
Éponine frowned, "Don't jinx us!" she whispered back, "The last thing I want to deal is bed bugs!"
"'Ponine hush!" Azelma turned to her sister, "just go to sleep."
xxxxxx
"Race you to the lake!" Cosette hollered as she ran, they had already finished their breakfast and had changed into their bathing suits and were running towards the lake.
Éponine ran as fast as her bare feet would carry her over the ground as she sped towards the destination, but Cosette had the advantage of already being familiar with the surrounding area. "This, isn't, fair!" Éponine spoke between breaths as they finally made it to the lake shore.
Cosette stood by the edge and was laughing, "I guess I win?" she said with a shrug.
Éponine rolled her eyes, "I still say it wasn't fair."
"Whatever, are you swimming or not?" Cosette asked.
Éponine glanced at the rope tied to the tree, "Of course we are going to swim!" she went over to the tree holding onto a branch to reach out for the rope. Unfortunately the branch broke and Éponine fell into the water below.
"Oh my god, 'Ponine are you okay!" Cosette ran to aid her friend.
Éponine coughed and sputtered for a moment, "I meant to do that!" she shouted up to Cosette.
"Yeah right," Cosette snorted with laughter.
"Don't tell me I missed out on the fun, what happened?" Azelma asked.
"Your sister fell in," Cosette replied.
"I'm telling you, I meant to do that," Éponine replied as she got out of the lake, "all of that was completely intentional."
"Because of course you planned that the branch would snap and you would fall in," Cosette nodded.
Azelma burst into a fit of giggles, "The branch broke? Way to go 'Ponine, I think you deserve a medal for that one."
"You better watch yourself 'Zel, 'Ponine just might kill you with that death stare of hers," Cosette smiled.
"Screw both of you," Éponine glared at her younger sister and her best friend.
xxxx
Sadly their week in the woods came to a close and they had to return to the reality that was Paris, "Well you missed Alex didn't you?" Cosette asked.
"Of course I did," Éponine replied, "but unlike you and Marius we can stand to be away from each other at more then an hour at a time."
Cosette narrowed her eyes, "Oh come on we aren't that bad, are we?"
Éponine shrugged her shoulders slightly, "A little."
Cosette rolled her eyes, "Whatever, now help me pack up this tent, it's not a one person job."
"Aye yay Capt'n!" Éponine offered her a mock salute and both girls began to laugh.
"Well we will probably be back same time next year," Cosette smiled as she looked around the campsite one last time as she and Éponine worked the tent back into it's bag.
"Yeah," Éponine bobbed her head, "same time next year."
