39
A few nights later, Éponine sat by herself in her apartment. Gavroche was having supper with Jehan and Joly; she had been invited, but had turned them down, having just taken out a new novel from the library that she wanted to finish. It was a well-written novel, and so far, it had proved to be an interesting storyline too, with lots of twists and turns.
Éponine wasn't sure how long she had been sat there reading, but before she knew it she had almost finished the novel, there only being a sliver of pages left to read. She put the book down for a moment, yawned and stretched her arms over her head. A quick glance outside showed her an inky black, starless sky, and she wondered how long it would be before Gavroche came back home.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. She got up immediately, assuming that Gavroche must have forgotten his key when he left earlier on; it had happened before, so it wasn't much of a surprise.
However, it was not Gavroche that stood in the doorway when she answered the door. It was a woman – specifically, it was the woman who lived with Inès. Her shawl was no longer covering her head, but was draped over her shoulders. It revealed uneven tufts of short fair hair, but her face was the same.
"Has something happened with Inès?" Éponine said immediately.
The woman shook her head and stepped into the flat without asking for permission. Éponine frowned at her, pushing the door shut.
"I'm sorry to intrude, but there's something I need you to do for me," the woman said.
"What?" Éponine knew that her face must be a picture of confusion because the woman managed an amused sort of smile in response.
"I saw what you did with that man," the woman said. "You made him disappear. I've seen it happen before – I've been here a long time – you can send people to the living world."
Éponine gaped at her. "I've never done that," she said.
"You did it the other day," the woman said. "That man that started a fight with you and your friend –"
"Douvillier?" Éponine bit her lip. "You – you're saying I sent him to the living world?"
"Yes, but there's no time for this," the woman said, a tad impatient. "There is somewhere I need to go, in the living world; there is a man who is dying, but he cannot die alone. I need to be with him when he dies."
"And this is my problem because…?" Éponine folded her arms over her chest.
"You can send me to the living world," the woman said.
"I don't know how," Éponine said, immediately. "I – I've never done it. When I sent – Douvillier – wherever it was I sent her – it was a complete accident, I don't know –"
"It's rather simple," Inès said. "I've seen it done and I went once, a long time ago. I know what to do. Come."
She strode over to the looking glass on the wall and swiped her hand over it. The glass rippled and changed, taking on the consistency of water for a few moments, and then there was an image within the mirror, but it was not the reflection. Éponine followed her, curious to see
what was happening.
Staring into the mirror, she saw the image of a tired-looking, elderly man, sat in a chair, in an unfamiliar building that looked rather grand to Éponine. The man looked very familiar to her – it was a face she was sure she had seen at least a handful of times, and yet, she could not place it. She had seen it when she was alive, she thought, but…The sight of him in a Portal was familiar, too.
"Touch it," the woman commanded.
"Sorry?" Éponine tore her eyes away from the man to look at the woman by her side.
"Touch it," the woman repeated. "Put your hand on it, and push."
Éponine's hand raised and she placed it, palm first, onto the mirror's surface. It felt solid at first, cool, but when she pushed it was like breaking through the barrier next to the river all over again. To her amazement, her hand vanished.
The woman tangled her fingers with Éponine's free hand, and suddenly shoved at Éponine. She stumbled forward, her head colliding with the mirror. She heard a shout somewhere behind them – it sounded like Gavroche, maybe – but it didn't matter because it felt like she had shoved her head into a bucket of cold water. Her shoulders followed and before she knew it her entire body was slipping through the looking glass.
It felt for a few moments like she was suspended in midair and she couldn't breathe, but then she was falling fast. She braced herself for the inevitable collision with the ground. Before she knew it, however, she was stood upright, both feet on the ground, and…She was stood a few feet away from the man in the portal. There was a soft pattering sound next to her and when she turned, the woman was stood there too. She had lost her shawl somewhere along the way, and was staring at the man with an almost reverent look on her face.
"You need to touch him so he can see us," the woman murmured, still not looking at Éponine but stepping forwards.
"So he can see us? Why would you want him to see us?" Éponine said, not moving.
"Because he is dying and I do not want him to die alone," the woman said. "I also have some things to say to him."
Éponine sighed heavily and began to walk forwards. Something caught her eye as she moved; she turned to look at a glimmering, pale blue light hovering in midair behind her. She paused to look at it.
"That's our way back," the woman said, her voice very quiet. "Don't worry, Éponine, it is not going anywhere."
Éponine moved closer to the man, still desperately trying to place his face. She had seen it before, she was sure. She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. She could feel the solid form of his shoulder, but she could not feel the fabric of his shirt or the warmth of his body. Somehow, even though she did not know this man, she felt disappointed.
The man's eyes flickered open. He looked so tired. He gazed up at her, and his sleepy expression rearranged itself into one of confusion.
But then the woman was stepping close to him, into his line of vision, and he stopped looking at Éponine and began to look at the woman instead.
"Fantine…?" he murmured, voice wavering.
The woman – or Fantine, she supposed – began to talk, in a gentle, hushed voice. Éponine had heard that name before, too, from when she was a little girl. Éponine tried listening to what she was saying – they were kind words, thankful words, and Éponine felt like she was intruding on a very personal moment.
So, keeping her hand on the man's shoulder, she stopped listening and thought of anything else. She thought of Gavroche and Hyacinthe and Combeferre and Enjolras, and how she thought she might want to be back in her flat by now rather than here, in the living world. She wondered what would happen if she walked away now. Would she be able to wander amongst the streets? Would she be able to find Marius? That was tempting…More tempting than the prospect of travelling beyond the river…
She heard a flurry of movement and turned to look for the source of it. Her stomach jolted. Cosette, dressed in white, hurrying towards them, and behind her…Marius.
He looked healthy, Éponine observed, and rather handsome in expensive looking clothes. It did not take a genius to realise that Cosette was in her wedding dress. Éponine felt her hand slipping from the man's shoulder as everything fell into place. She had seen this man before, as a child when he came to collect Cosette, and again in the streets when they found Cosette again; and Fantine, from snide whispers from her parents about Cosette.
She closed her eyes and pressed her hands over them.
Something touched her shoulder. It was Fantine, a worried expression on her face. "Is everything all right?"
"I…I can't be here," Éponine murmured, staring at Marius. He and Cosette knelt before the man – what was his name? She didn't know his name.
"I just – I just need a few more moments," Fantine said, and she was looking, too, but not at the man but at Cosette. Ah, yes, Éponine thought to herself; Cosette was her daughter.
There was crying from the three living people, crying and soft and sad words spoken between the man and Cosette, promises from Marius. Éponine ached. She wanted to look away, and yet, she couldn't.
Fantine took her hand and placed it on the man's shoulder once more. Éponine was dimly aware of Fantine beginning to talk again, and then the man's shoulder seemed to slacken and give beneath her hand. Éponine looked up from Marius' kneeling form to see that the man now stood behind the chair – and yet, he was still sat upon it.
Éponine tried to make sense of things, but she couldn't. Her mind wasn't processing anything at all beyond the fact she wanted to go home.
Fantine held the man's hand in hers, and then let go of it. The man – the version that was stood – slowly faded away before Éponine's eyes.
Fantine cast one longing look in Cosette's direction before covering Éponine's hand where it lay on the man's shoulder.
"Come," she said. "Let's get you home."
Éponine had never heard a kinder set of words in her life. Hand in hand, Éponine and Fantine walked towards the glowing, pulsing blue light, and together, they walked through it and returned to the world of the dead.