Chapter 18

The day went by slowly. He definitely felt the aftermath of the night, every time the hammer hit the wood or when he had to bring more heavy objects. 

It must have been around noon when a familiar person entered the workshop. "Enjolras? What are you doing here?" Grantaire said. He was pretty sure Bahorel was really capable of fixing minor reparations himself. And if the ship had larger injuries, they would have told him the day before, right?

Before Enjolras could answer, sir Thenardier himself appeared. "Ah, captain, it's good to see you, very good indeed. Please excuse the behaviour of my help. He's a hard worker, but ain’t the brightest, if you know what I mean. How can I help you, captain?" He almost pushed Grantaire away, and honestly? Grantaire was a bit too flabbergasted to react. He had known sir Thenadier was a businessman. Sir Thenadier had his contacts, was well known by the people in town and the many ships who used Nassau for their businesses (mostly pirates). It wasn't the first time Sir Thenadier had taken credit for Grantaire’s work, but like this?

Enjolras' fame seemed to have triggered his business instinct even more.

"What about a new mast? I have some masts all the way from Africa. The wood is just splendid, if I may say so myself. The marine won't know what's coming for them." He stepped closer and closer. It wouldn’t be the first time he had robbed his customers - and not only with the prices he asked.

But before he could reach Enjolras' pockets, Enjolras spoke up and stopped sir Thenardier's attempt to sell him stuff.

"Actually I came here for your errand boy. I need to borrow Grantaire for a few hours. I assume that is no trouble?" The way he stood there, in his red captain’s jacket, talking with every inch of authority he had… Grantaire would give him everything he would ask for. He would follow him to the end of the world.

Thenadier nodded way too quickly for it to be convincing. "Of course, of course captain. No trouble at all. I'm sure he will help you just fine. But you must understand… he is one of my finest employees. Missing him for a day will delay my work quite a lot…" Thus far 'not the brightest', huh?

Enjolras merely smiled. "There shall be a compensation of course," he said. He took a bag full of coins out of his pocket and handed it to the ship builder. "This will cover it, I'm sure."

Thenadier looked inside the bag. It was plenty of compensation, worth almost a week of work. "I just remember, we got a big order this week that I must finish on time. An important customer, you must understand," he started. Wordlessly Enjolras gave him a smaller bag. Judging by the sound, this one was also filled with coins.

"And-" A stern look from Enjolras was enough to make Thenardier shut up.




"Why did you do it?" Grantaire asked. Enjolras and him were walking on the beach. "Why did you pay all that money for this?"

"You ask a lot of why-questions," Enjolras said. It was no answer.

"You do a lot of things that don’t make sense to me," Grantaire retorted. Who would pay money for his company, especially almost a month’s worth allowance? No one had that money to spend on important things, let alone to… walk on the beach? Enjolras hadn’t told him what important things he needed Grantaire so badly for. It wasn’t like Grantaire had some special skill. Any crewmember could help Enjolras, and yet here he was, walking alongside the captain to an unknown destination.

But when had Enjolras ever told him something? The captain tended to wait until the last possible moment to share his information. Grantaire wasn’t sure whether it was on purpose to make sure no one would ruin the plans, or whether the captain was just so focussed on his goal that he simply forgot he needed to tell other people about it.

So  Grantaire waited. He simply followed Enjolras on the beach, until they had left Nassau far behind.  He had made Enjolras the promise not to worship him, and yet here he was, blindly following the man. In the end, what was the difference?

“I wanted you to meet someone,” Enjolras said. Grantaire had no idea where that ‘someone’ would be, as it felt like they were in the middle of nowhere here. And how important was this ‘someone’ that it couldn’t wait till after Grantaire’s work hours? It was the question he asked Enjolras.

In response Enjolras laughed. “Well, for most people it's not very important, I guess. But he is. To me at least.” Still very cryptic, as Enjolras seemed to be. It was almost impossible to get a straight answer out of the man. It was  still infuriating, but somewhere along the way Grantaire had realized that shouting wouldn’t get him his answer any quicker. Even though it still felt like a good option, to shout at him and shake him until he finally gave the whole answer.

Enjolras whistled, two long tones and two short. It stayed silent for a bit, but then the tones were answered with matching tones. Shortly after a boy appeared from the bushes. He was around ten years old Grantaire figured.

“Grantaire, this is Gavroche,” Enjolras said.  “Gavroche, meet Grantaire.” 

“Uh, hi.” Grantaire offered the boy his hand. The gesture was ignored. He had no idea who this boy was, but judging from the way Enjolras was looking back and forth between Gavroche and Grantaire, he was important? 

Suddenly a realization hit Grantaire. Was it… Could it…. Gavroche did have curls like Enjolras… Was he his kid? 

(Was there a very beloved Miss Enjolras he should know about?). 

He hadn’t really known how to act around Gavroche from the moment he had appeared from the bushes, but now he definitely didn’t know it anymore. Was this a subtle way of telling Grantaire to piss off? That last night was an even greater mistake than before and he was meddling in a very happy marriage? (But Enjolras had been the one to initiate the kiss this time).

“I found Gavroche like two years ago living in this forest,” Enjolras said. It shouldn’t give this much of a relief to hear there wasn’t a Miss Enjolras or an Enjolras Junior. Or was there, but it just wasn’t Gavroche?

“You mean I let you find me,” Gavroche retorted.  

Enjolras nodded. “Fine, Gavroche let me find him. He lives here all alone, without many people knowing about his existence. He’s doing quite fine, I must say.” 

“Then why  did you bring him?” Gavroche asked, subtle as ever. 

“Because Javert is coming to Nassau.” Grantaire had no idea who this ‘Javert’ was, but judging by the face of Gavroche he was bad news.

“So I can’t come around as often as before to check on you. But maybe Grantaire can.” Enjolras faced Grantaire. “I always check on him when we’re in Nassau. I stay here for a while, we play some card games and I check if he needs anything.” So here had Enjolras been all the time he had disappeared for business. Looking after a young boy who definitely needed someone to watch him.

“But with Javert in town, they’ll be watching me as a hawk.”

“Who is Javert?” Grantaire asked. Apparently he was important, but Grantaire couldn’t figure out the whole story without knowing who he was. 

Gavroche looked like Grantaire had just asked what the color of the sky was. “Inspector Javert, at your service Sir. Here to save this damned town from their undoing,” he said in some voice-impression of the man.

“Inspector Javert is one of the most devoted pirate-hunters in the country,” Enjolras said. “He is fixed on saving Nassau from the rats. And even though he wouldn’t just arrest me or my crew without recent cause, they will be watching me, ready to strike the moment I make a misstep.” 

“And so you’re stuck in Nassau acting like a perfect law-abiding citizen,” Grantaire summarized the entire thing.

Enjolras nodded. “If you put it like that, then yes. And visiting Gavroche would put both him, me and my crew in danger.” 

“And you want me to go in your place?” The simple nod was all the answer Grantaire needed. “Not that you don’t look like a nice kid, but why me? Why not Combeferre or Courfeyrac?” 

“You’re not officially part of our crew. You’re just one of the rescues, if anyone would ask. So they won’t be watching you as closely. And I trust you. I trust you to keep Gavroche’s existence under the radar.” Grantaire wanted to ask why the boy needed to be a secret, but held his tongue. Somehow he had the feeling he wouldn’t get an answer.

“So I just… hang out with Gavroche?” Grantaire asked. He didn’t feel like he had anything to say in it, but if he could help Enjolras  Gavroche with this, why would he say no?

Enjolras nodded.