For a week, Eponine read as much as she could. Joly always had hot soup near her hands and a pile of books at her side. After another week, she was slightly getting bored. She had read every book in Joly's bookshelf, and she had even read some of her favorites three times over. She was feeling much better now, so she got up to get one of her favorite books. She carefully got onto her stomach and reached for a green book. She had to take a couple out because it was packed so tight. She got her favorite books and pushed the others in. She was about three steps from her room when something dawned on her. When she had pushed the books back, the sound was hollow, not full. She looked at the clock and knew that Joly would not be back for a while. She went back and pulled out the books. She knocked on the space behind the books. It was hollow. Eponine ran a hand along the back wall of the shelf. It she hadn't been feeling for it, she would have missed the edge of a loose piece of wood. Eponine pried at it and it came off. She found the map and all the little things that the Friends of the ABC had slipped Joly. She read the pamphlets.
"Revolution." Eponine murmured. 'So they're planning a revolution! To overthrow the government?' Eponine felt a stab of sadness. From the stocked up pile of ammunition and how many different pamphlets there were, they had been planning this for a long time. And Joly didn't trust her enough to tell her. That hurt her deeply, but at the same time, she understood why.
(The night of Eponine's assault) Azelma was wondering down the streets when she came across someone moaning. With the swift steps of a cat, she went to see a tall figure lying on the ground, slightly moving. For some reason, she felt at ease to go over. She hurried over and recognized Montparnasse. He was covered in blood.
"Darling!" Azelma started to help him up, when a tight grip came around her neck.
"You lied to me! How could you?" Montparnasse clutched his good fist around Azelma's small neck. Azelma gasped for air. She had never been grabbed around the neck so hard.
"I never lied to you!" Azelma gasped, as Montparnasse held her off of the ground.
"Liar!" Montparnasse threw her to the ground. Azelma felt a crack to her knee. She suddenly felt her hair being grabbed, as Montparnasse dragged her back to the gang.
"Eponine's alive." Montparnasse accounted to the gang. Thenardier stood up immediately. Montparnasse threw Azelma to the ground.
"She lied. To all of us. Eponine is alive and well. The same old street urchin. But some man came to help her. She was digging up something. I'm not sure what it was." "That's fine. We now know Eponine is alive and has betrayed us all. We will find her. She can't hide forever. And when we find her," Thenardier let the sentence hang and smiled wickedly, before walking off. But he turned back to Azelma, and told the gang, "We don't like liars, have at her boys." Before Azelma knew what was happening, she was sent into darkness.
When Joly came home, he found Eponine sitting silently at the table with a cup of now-cold tea.
"Ep? What's the matter?" Joly hung up his coat and traveled over to the table. His eyes widened, as Eponine pushed a pistol forward to him. Along with that, everything he had attempted to hide was now out in the open.
"How-how did you find out?" Joly asked.
"It was an accident, truly. Why didn't you tell me?" Eponine whispered.
"I-," Joly, for once, was left at a loss of words. He saw the sadness that plagued Eponine's eyes.
"But I understand why." Eponine murmured softly.
"Since you know, you might as well know everything. Even the truth." Joly sat down across from her. He went on to tell her about everything. The meetings, the pamphlets, everything.
"But you must know, Ep, there is a grave chance that I may-,"
"No, don't say it! I know what you're going to say, but, oh God, don't say it!" Eponine wailed and covered her ears. Joly was just a bit shocked at her reaction to the thought of him passing. Joly reached over to take her hands into his.
"Listen, Eponine, I have already been writing out my will. You're my only living "relative", therefore everything will go to you. The apartment, the money, everything." "Me? But-but I can't, I'm not, I'm not even a real person. 'Nancy' is not a real person. Eponine Thenardier is. Without you," Eponine licked her suddenly dry lips. "I'm no one."
"You dare to even say that!" Joly gripped her hand just a bit harder. "You are my sister, whether you are Eponine or Nancy. You are my sister."
Eponine huffed, as she sat at the table. Her hand cramped from writing so much. There had to be a better way to do it. Instead of going it to town like she usually did, Eponine stayed inside and was writing out pamphlets of her own. She wanted to help Joly and the boys with the revolution. But what could a woman do? She then had an idea. She was just about to get up when a knock came at the door. She opened it, and looked down to see Gavroche. In his hands, he held a metal stamp.
"Oh, Gavroche, you're a genius." Eponine led him to the table. Gavroche set the metal contraption down, while Eponine handed him a cloth sack full of biscuits. Gavroche bit into one. He looked at her curiously and asked, "What is the brown stuff?"
"Chocolate." Eponine replied. "Do you like it? It's my first attempt."
"Mm-Hm." Gavroche shoved two more into his mouth before heading out. Eponine smiled. She had a stamp now. It would make her whole process faster. But she had to find somewhere to hide it without Joly finding it. She hid it under her underthings after wrapping it carefully in brown paper. Joly would never look there.
Azelma woke up and looked around. She was aching all over. She looked down to see that her rags were torn and she was bloody all over. She then remember what all happened. The gang, particularly Montparnasse beat her for what seemed like endless hours until she confessed everything. About what happened to Eponine, who helped her and where she was now. Azelma pushed herself up against the wall, before starting to cry. She knew that Eponine would have never given in, no matter how hard or how long she was beaten. There were countless times when Azelma had done something foolish and Eponine had taken the blame and the beating for it. Countless times. There were times when Azelma would be angry at her sister and she would do something foolish just to get her sister back. Azelma wiped her eyes and they turned dark. This was all Eponine's fault, not hers. If Eponine would had returned, none of this would have happened. None of it would have happened.
Joly and the men kept on planning the revolution at the café. One night, he was walking home as usual when he felt something hit his head. He felt dizzy as he stumbled and dropped everything he was carrying. His vision was blurry, as a fist hit his face. Another pummeled his stomach. Joly gasped. He didn't even have time to register what was happening. But instinct kicked in. He was too hurt to fight back, but he yanked out the whistle that hung around his neck and gave three short blows and one long one. He felt himself being dragged to an alley. It was there when Joly took notice of who was attacking him. It was the man whom Eponine had called Montparnasse, a larger man, and a couple others. They beat him mercilessly.
"So, you're Joly, Eponine's so-called saviour." Montparnasse scoffed. "Tell me, you bastard, have you bedded her as well? Taken advantage of her? Is she a prisoner being held captive or is she suddenly living the life of a queen?" He kicked Joly in the stomach. The comments made Joly snap. He staggered up and socked Montparnasse straight in the nose. The large man grabbed Joly around the neck and was about to snap it, when a cock of a revolver was heard. Enjolras, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Jehan, Feuilly, Lesgles, Bahorel, Grantaire, Gavroche and even Marius were there, their guns aimed at the group of four. The large man immediately dropped Joly to the ground and tried to pull out his own gun, but Jehan fired a direct shot to his hand. Combeferre stepped forward and recognized Montparnasse immediately.
"I thought I had taken care of you, but I guess I was wrong." Combeferre growled. Joly backed away and grabbed his own gun.
"You stay away from Eponine. Don't make me kill you. But this is for Eponine." Joly raised his gun and shot Montparnasse in the lower stomach. He was aiming for Montparnasse's thigh, but he was too injured to aim straight. The group scattered immediately. The Friends of the ABC took Joly home. For the most part, he was alright.
The gang took Montparnasse to their secret location.
"We need a doctor." Babet spoke up.
"Oh, yes, a doctor will help a handful of thieves." Thenardier snorted. Montparnasse tried to breathe. The man called Joly had fatally injured him. The gang did not know anything about doctoring wounds, so they did not know how to stop the bleeding. By each moment that went by, Montparnasse felt weaker and weaker.
"I am going to die." Montparnasse gasped. Thenardier and the gang all respectively took their hats off as Montparnasse drew his last breath. Azelma watched around the corner. Watched the only man who she had ever loved die. He died at the hands of him! Azelma bitterly thought of Joly. I will get you back, Monsieur, for the sake of Montparnasse.
The date for the revolution was drawing closer and closer. Joly was gone more often and Eponine was busier than ever. Eponine would make her own pamphlets and send Gavroche and his friends out to put then everywhere. Their payment was a hot meal and biscuits, so they were more than willing. They would slide them under doors, through cracks in wooden walls, in between the window pane and the windowsill. Joly and Eponine could not speak more than five words to each other in this time. What could they say? Joly was going off to battle and the chances were that he was not going to come home. It made Eponine cry at the thought of it. The day finally came. Joly woke early and leaving a final letter for Eponine, he slipped out the door. The streets were crowded with civilians. Joly stood on one side of the street with Enjolras, Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Jehan. Grantaire, Feuilly, Lesgles, Bahorel and Marius stood on the other side. General Lamarque's coffin was paraded on a horse drawn carriage.
"Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men, it is the music of a people who will not be slaves again, when the beating d your heart, echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes." Enjolras' voice grew louder, as did everyone else's. Enjolras nodded to Joly who nodded to Jehan, who nodded to Marius on the other side, as they all scrambled upon the carriage, waving flags. The parade was stopped and the National Guard was in front of them.
"Draw!" The man shouted. The soldiers drew their swords
"Charge!" They charged at the people. Joly shot at two men. They both fell off of their horses. He reloaded the ammunition and kept shooting, dodging the swords. With the help of the people, they ran to the streets.
"We need as much furniture as you can throw down!" Courfeyrac called out. Tables, chairs and dressers fell. The boys helped to tip a carriage over.
A piano, two coffins, some wheels and mattresses were also thrown down. With the barricade now made, Enjolras stuck three flags along the top.
"Vive la France!" They all shouted. Joly took up his position with Jehan, Enjolras, Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Marius. For now, they were alright. Eponine woke up about half an hour after Joly had left. She read his letter that went like this: My dearest Eponine, You have been so much like a little sister to me. Since the day I found you I knew that you were something special. I knew there was a reason that I had found you. You have been such a blessing in my life, words cannot describe how much you have impacted my life. And I cannot thank you enough for that. As I have stated, there is a will with only your name included. Take the money and what comes with it and live your life. I love you, so much. Much more than you can ever know, more than words can express, more than anyone has ever known. With all my love, Joly.
Eponine ran to her closet and pulled out a pair of men's trousers, shirt and cap. She made sure to wrap her chest as tightly as she could, all while still being able to breathe. She got dressed and grabbed the last giant stack of pamphlets and headed out the door. Eponine knew that Gavroche was also at the barricade, so she recruited some of his street urchin friends to help her distribute the last of the flyers.
Azelma dressed quickly. She needed a better disguise. She stole an old brown shirt, pants and boots and took Montparnasse's gun that was lying under a crate that he usually sat on. 'This is for you, my love'. With that last thought, Azelma tucked it into her waist belt and grabbed her hat. Off she went.