Vive La France

(I'm Aimee. Inspector Javert's only child.) I ride on my horse regally. Trying not to look at the beggars beside me, attempting to grab at my saddle and stirrups. I've been told to kick their hands away, but I simply can't do that. I ride next to my dad. He looks at me and smiles. Its a rare sight when he does that. Our horses trot through the street. My horse, I call him Monsieur Boone. My dads horse is called Monsignor. I wince as he periodically kicks at the beggars. After we finish our patrol, I take Boone for a ride like usual. As we ride, he suddenly rears. A gamin, an orphaned boy, ran infront of him. I yell at him. "Hey! Kid! Watch where you're goin'!" He turns with a wide smile on his face. "Pardon me miss! I am the great Monsieur Gavroche. Pleasure to meet ye!" I've seen this gamin before on my rounds. But this is the first time he has seen me without my father. " Im Aimee Javert. Nice t' see you too." "You ain't like them, are ye? I've seen you, you aren't like yer father." I stop and look at him. "no, no i'm nothing like 'im" He undoes a pin on his jacket and gives it to me. I study it. It's big and dirty. "Thank you." He nods. " 'tis only a gift from one ol' rebel to another." I feel somewhat awkward because I have nothing to give him. "I'll see ya t'night!" He smiles and frolics off. I'll see ya t'night? What could he mean by that? I shrug it off and continue riding. I keep an eye out for the gamin, but he seemed to have disappeared. As I arrive home I head into my room. I clean it up and collapse on the bed, smiling and taking in the comfort. Around midnight I hear my window slam and Gavroche lies next to me. I jump up in surprise. "Gavroche! What are you doing?! My father will kill you!" I whisper urgently. He laughs and says "The p'lice can't catch me!" I look at him and grimace. "err... You should go take a bath or somethin'." He looks at me astonished. "I ain't never 'ad a bath b'fore!" He whispers in awe. I drag him to the bathroom and fill up the tin tub we use for bathing. He begins undressing and I quickly leave the room. After a while he comes out wrapped in a towel he found in the closet. "That was borin' as heck!" He pouts. I tell him to dry off and put his clothes back on. When he finishes, we sit and talk. "How'd you get in here? I'm on the second floor!" I say. "I'm real good at climbin' an' the window wasn't locked." he says proudly. In the other room I hear my dad moving around. Gavroche is already out the window and I see him running off into the night. The next day after my rounds and my dad leaves I'm immediately ambushed by Gavroche. Who apparently was running under Boone somehow. He really is a quick little guy.