My Dear Sister,
It's been nearly a week since the party and no one has found Natta. We found a small area in the attic of the barn where old farm equipment was being stored. No one had any use for the space now. Jack and I brought blankets up there and other things to keep her occupied. Every day I bring her food.
We all try to visit her as much as possible, especially Keeya who took on extra work just so she could go to the barn everyday to feed horses. Whenever she would get any sort of break, she would go to the barn. Sometimes Jack and I would go as well. Jack has been giving all three of us English lessons lately.
I spend a lot of time with her in the mornings after I sneak her breakfast. She seems lonely up there alone. I try to talk to her as much as I can, but I know she can't understand me well. This morning when I gave her breakfast, I told her a story.
"Hello," I said when I delivered her my leftover biscuit and a handful of strawberries.
"Hello," She said. She knew what the word meant.
"How are you?" I asked her.
"I am well. And you?" She asked. Jack had taught her this a few days ago.
"I'm good," I I switched from English to French. "I brought you breakfast. It's not as much as yesterday but it's all I could do."
Natta ate her food and smiled up at me.
"You probably don't like it up here, do you?" I asked. "I don't blame you if you don't. It's pretty small. You know, I used to live in a small house. Actually it was an apartment. It was about this size but the ceiling was higher. There were four of us there. There used to be five, but my brother left."
She finished the food and handed me the cloth napkin I brought it up in. She seemed to like it when I talked so I kept talking.
"One time I had to live in a very small place. It was inside an elephant. It wasn't a real elephant, though. It was a statue of an elephant. My brother lived in there. One time my Dad was in a bad mood. He was having his gang members come in the evening. He told me and my sister to get lost. He didn't want us there. It was very cold. I didn't have winter clothes. Eponine and I walked together in the cold. We were hungry. We saw a baker shop and were about to steal bread when we heard a voice yell "HEY!". We thought it would be the police but when we turned around we saw my brother standing there with bread in his arms. He said "You can have this. If you are cold come to my home." He took us to the elephant where he lived. We spent the night there."
Natta appeared to be listening, though I doubt she understood.
"It's funny," I said. "My brother was the youngest, but he was the most independent of all of us. He was so smart. He always knew how to get things. He shouldn't have died. It was not his time to die. Everyone has a time to die. That was not his."
Natta saw that I was sad and hugged me. She spoke English to me. "No sad. Happy." She said. Jack had taught her that yesterday.
I smiled at her. "Happy," I said. I thought back to the last thing I said to Gavroche. It was a few weeks before the battle. I saw him by the river when I was running errands for Father. He saw me and called me over. He asked me what I was doing. I told him I was going to tell Brujon, Babet, and Claquesous to come see Father. Gavroche told me to watch out because there were police everywhere. I said I would and ran off. I wish I would have known that that was the last time I'd ever see my brother. I would have thanked him and told him I loved him. I would have told him that he is the bravest kid I knew and that I admired him so much for it.
Tell him this for me,
Your Sister, Azelma