But let's leave her at that. Things had remained the same after that between me and Cosette for a while. I spoke not a word to her.
I'm four now. Montfermeil was a small little town and there weren't many other girls my age to play with. So the only other children around were the boys. Three particular boys named Michele, Luke and Jean Paul. The three urchins could always be seen about town, always where they weren't supposed to be. They often passed by the Inn on their way to throw rocks in the river. Michele was the oldest at seven, Luke was five and then Jean Paul was my age.
One crisp morning I was on my swing and I saw the boys heading our way. I ignored them, like I always did. All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain on my forehead. I look down to the ground and saw a pebble rolling to a halt. I felt pain again only this time on my arm. I looked up and saw the boys standing on the edge of the road and laughing. They were throwing pebbles at me!
"Mama, Mama!" I cried.
"Aw, does the little baby need Mama?" Michele teased, the others joined him. I was enraged! I jumped off the swing and picked up the biggest pebble I could find and threw as hard as I could. It hit Michele in the shoulder. He clutched his shoulder and stared at me, stunned.
I surprised myself so, I ran into the house. Mama was serving drinks to some customers. I clung to her skirts. Luckily Mama had already put the drinks down or I surely would have caused her to drop them. Mama looked down at me. I must have looked wild eyed. "Oh! Eponine, Ma petite pullet! What has happened?" she knelt down before me and put her hand to my forehead. I flinched for in stung pretty bad. When she took her hand away I saw drops of crimson on her fingers, blood! The people who were in the room were now staring. I had not known that when Michele hit me, he made me bleed.
"Come, ma petite, we shall clean you up. And you can tell Mama what happened." She took me to the kitchen, and I told her of the event that occurred. I didn't tell her exactly who, only that a horrid boy had come running up and hit me with a stone. Not wanting to look like I was in the wrong, I didn't tell her about how I threw a stone back at him.
I was happy to be center of attention again. Mama was fussing over me so she even made Cosette run out to the toy shop to buy me some candy. Papa aloud me to stay up late past my bedtime.
That evening I saw Cosette, in tattered rages. She was sleeping, under the table, exhausted from house work. She was resting her head on our dog, Kannel. They often slept together. I haven't spoken to her at all; in fact she doesn't say a word but "Oui or Non Madame or Monsieur". I didn't care what she said. Why should I care? Wasn't she after all a lowly servant? Nothing for me to care about!
I went upstairs to bed.
Michele avoided me after that day…well he tried to. Every time Mama would take me out he would stay out of my way but would keep watching. I would watch too, out of the corner of my eye.
I caught him and his boys throwing rocks at Cosette but when I came walking up, they fled.
I always thought Michele as nothing but a heartless creature that would never be proven otherwise. I never thought that he would have me put my courage to the test as he did a few weeks later.
I was kicking and hitting stones with sticks, when he came running up the road and started climbing the huge tree in our yard. 'Why should I care what he does', I thought 'he's only a nasty boy!'. Michele settled him self on a large branch and stayed there. I continued to kick stones. But I felt his eyes on me and I finally I looked back at him. We stared at each other for a moment. "Why don't you come up?" he asked.
I looked at the tree; I started at the roots and worked my way up to the branch where my enemy sat. A shiver went up my spine. The ground around the tree was dry and hard. Suppose I fell? Or was he planning to push me when I reached the branch? "What's the matter? Scared?" he asked with a smirk on his face. I was scared. I was terrified at the thought of breaking my neck.
I just wanted to run to the safety of my mother's arms, But I wasn't about to let this boy taunt me. I stood on the tree's strong roots. I reached above my head and gripped that hard lumpy bark. I inhaled a deep breath and with all my strength, pulled myself up. The tree bark had many holes and large spaces so it was easy to grip. I quickly found my footing. 'This isn't hard.' I thought. I took a couple more steps up.
Then I reached up to the branch which Michele was perched. As I looked up, a wave of dizziness swept over me. The world went around and round in a whirl. My grip on the limb loosened. I could feel myself falling. It was when I lost hold of the branch completely that I realized that I was doomed to fall to my death.
The light sensation of being in the air didn't leave. Have I fallen? Was I being taken in the Lord's hand and up to the heavens? I slowly opened my eyes, and was surprised to see that I was still in the tree. I looked down at my feet. I was dangling! That's when I felt the tight pain in my arm. A hand had caught mine. I looked up and saw Michele. He was lying on his belly along the limb and balanced with his legs hanging from each side of it. Silently he pulled me up far enough for him to grip me around my waist. Then he held me in his arms against him, where I remained for some time.
I was still very dazed and unaware of my surroundings. I had never been more frightened in all my life. In fact I have never been truly frightened before that moment. My arm still ached. I thought it would fall out of its socket.
Slowly my mind came drifting back to reality. I felt Michele had his arms around me. Was this the same boy who threw rocks at me? I lifted my head and met his gaze. He smiled. I noticed he had the most unusual eyes. They were a sort of brown and green color. They lit up when he smiled.
"There is a trick to it." He said. "To climbing"
"Is there?" I asked.
"Never look down…or up."