Memoirs of Les Amis de l'ABC

Chapter Sixteen: Help, I Need Somebody

Sybill gave Courfeyrac a small, apologetic smile. "Good evening, monsieur."

"Good evening," Courfeyrac slurred quickly. "Mademoiselle, I need your help."

"What is it?" Sybill inquired with a concerned air about her.

"Let us sit down," Courfeyrac announced.

The dark, curly-haired man started walking towards the garden that was only a few paces away. He sat upon the small marble bench that the two had frequented before. There were flowers everywhere in the garden, but they were not as beautiful in the dim light of the night. Sybill watched for a moment as she questioned whether or not she would join him. The girl watched as the man gazed upon the moon and the stars above with such a pleading aura that she felt the need to help him immediately.

Sybill had been warned by Gavroche that morning that there was a great chance that Courfeyrac would be calling upon her that evening with a request of utter urgency. The girl had been taken aback by the news, but she also embraced it with a hope that the two would become close friends once more. The past five days since his offer of a relationship had left her feeling a little sad over the loss of her new friend from the little town. Their friendship had been brief and the fight briefer, but she still missed the charming ways of the boy with the smirk that moved mountains.

"And what is it?" Sybill inquired as she settled herself beside him on the bench. "I do hope that you realize that you can trust me, dear friend. I do so greatly value our friendship."

"Mutual," nodded Courfeyrac quickly. His mind was far away on another woman who was somewhere unknown.

It had been three days since the night when Courfeyrac met Galya outside of the burlesque show. He could not shake the girl from his thoughts no matter how hard he had tried. Though he felt it strange considering how he had originally found himself taken with Sybill, he believed he was rather charmed instead by the engaged, red-haired, Russian burlesque performer. There was something quite exotic to be said and had about her. Courfeyrac had arrived at the burlesque show each night in hopes of finding her but to no avail. He then knew that he needed to have a plan of action which required the utilization of at least three women. He already had Muschietta and Éponine enlisted for his cause, and though he thought it embarrassing and awkward to ask Sybill for her assistance after her refusing him, he knew she was a great candidate for the task.

"Yes, dear friend, yes I have a proposition for you," Courfeyrac began. "I was wondering if you would be so altruistic as to assist me in the search for a woman."

Sybill chuckled. "My, I do hope that you have a specific woman in mind, and that you are not merely going to wander the streets for the first woman you do espy."

"No, no," Courfeyrac laughed in his drunken stupor from the gaiety he had had with arranging the plan with Grantaire and Bahorel earlier. "No, I do have a particular beauty in mind. I met her three nights ago at the performance of a...a show. She performs in a show. I met her outside of the performance in the cold, gave the lady my coat, and we... We shared a sort of interest I will say. Alas, now I cannot find her. Will you find her for me, dear Sybill?"

Sybill looked into Courfeyrac's eyes to detect whether he was mocking her in some strange way. The moon that was behind her reflected into his eyes. The girl bit her lip. "Monsieur, you are serious?"

"I am," he quickly gushed.

Sybill stared at him strangely. "Monsieur, I know nothing of performers. We do not run within the same social circles. What is this girl? An opera singer? A ballet girl?"