Eponine

CHAPTER 2: THE LADY ALL IN WHITE

By the inn at Montfermeil, there lived an inn keeper named M. Thenardier and his wife. The couple was known throughout town as cons and clever swindlers. Whatever bad reputation they got, publicity, whether good or bad is still publicity. Thenardier's inn is still a highly popular place among travelers, drunks and whores.

At times, M. Thenardier and his wife would appear as a saintly couple. Whether they did good or bad, nobody wasn't absolutely sure... Just, a cold winter night, a devastated Fantine carried her little daughter in her arms.

"I'll do anything you'd ask," the woman pleaded by M. Thenardier and his wife. "Just let my child stay here... She needs a place to stay in this cold, cold night..."

"And what would you give?" Mme. Thenardier would snarl at the woman, whose tears were enough to clean the innkeeper's wife's feet.

"Anything!" the woman cried in despair "just please accommodate my daughter here, just keep her warm and fed... Just give me time an' I'll pay you ten francs for my poor Cosette!"

"Ten francs you say? Where on earth could you get ten francs?" Mme. Thenardier would ask the crying Fantine all curled up in the floor.

When the woman did not speak, the mistress of the inn gave a sigh... "You are wasting your time y'know? Money is a hard thing to come by these days... If you ain't got money, you ain't getting any charity."

Fantine looked into the eyes of Mme. Thenardier. The funny thing is, that Fantine's tear stained bare face looked more beautiful than the Thenardier, whose face was outrageously powdered up and whose lips bled by biting too much.

Eponine watched the whole exchange without her parents' knowledge. It was indeed a cold winter night and in her innocent little heart, she knew that people should really stay inside.

A little girl stared at her across the room. The little girl was pale, her hair golden as the sun and her eyes blue as the clear sky. Her clothes looked dull and plain, which contrasted little Eponine's frilly floral prints. She looked cold and weak, but with a determination to live.

The two little girls exchanged glances. Each wondering what kind of life the other one had.

Cosette, the little blonde girl gave a small smile which might mean 'Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Cosette'. The little brunette girl across the room was about to do the same thing when M. Thenardier's voice roared in the room:

"EPONINE!"

Eponine's heart raced. Her father knows that she is there listening to things she isn't supposed to listen.

"Up to your room little mademoiselle, or else..." Mme. Thenardier said in a gentle but threatening voice. The little girl with red-brown hair left for her room immediately without looking back at the girl, who's clear blue eyes followed her until she disappeared.

XXX

When Eponine reached her room, she did what she always did: play with Nina. Her thoughts drifted to the little blonde girl... 'Does she have her own doll? Does she name it and play with it like the way I do?'

Her musings were broken when her mother entered the room... "Eponine my dear, vacate your toys and dresses from the storage room, we have a very special guest, and she'd be staying there... That little girl with shabby clothing, she is the one who'll stay over... Do you understand?"

"Mama, isn't the room small and cramped? She could share my bed if she wants to..."

"No!" Mme. Thenardier exclaimed "Girls like you could never associate with girls like her! Am I clear Eponine?"