CHAPTER 4: THE MAN IN THE LONG YELLOW COAT

It happened in Christmas 1823, Montfermeil was very colourful and

bright. The town was crowded, so the Thnardiers inn was full. Cosette
was eight years old then. One evening, Mme Thnardier ordered her out
to fetch the water at the nearest place possible. It was half-away down
the wooded hill. Mme Thnardier alse asked her to buy some bread. She
was upset, she was cold and hungry, so she dragged the bucket along
the street. She hated so much to fetch the water. She couldn't resist to
stop in front of one of the stalls and see the lights, the shinning glass,
the beautiful objects and most of all a golden-haired doll in a pink dress.
Nobody in the village had the money to buy that doll.
However, Cosette stopped dreaming and continued along her path down
the hill, into the frightening darkness of the forest. She started to fill the
bucket when the coin that Mme. Thnardier gave her, fell out into the
water. She didn't realize that.
The bucket was so heavy and she had to rest several times, her progress
was so slow, so she cried to God's help.
Suddenly, an enormous hand, that came from the sky, took the bucket
from her. There, next to her, was a white-haired man, dressed in a long
yellow coat. She was not afraid of him, he had sad eyes. She trusted him
and told him all about the Thnardiers and when they were aproaching
to the inn, she asked for the bucket to not being seen and beaten by
Mme. Thnardier.
They both entered the inn, the man asked for a room. Mme Thnardier
shouted at Cosette for being late and gave the room to man without any
interest.
Mme Thrnardier shouted at the girl again, claiming for the bread or the
money. She went pale when she noticed that the coin fell out of her
pocket. Mme Thnardier stood impatient asking for the money, the girl
was speechless. Then, the man said, showing a coin in his hand: "I`ve
just noticed this on the floor. It must have fallen from the child's pocket".
Thnardier took the coin and walked away.
Two well dressed girls entered the room and kissed her mother, Mme
Thnardier. They played around the place and then, one of them left the
doll on the floor. Cosette, taking care of not being seen, took the doll and
began to play with it. Minutes later, the girls saw her and run to Mme
Thnardier crying for her doll. Cosette. The woman rushed across the
room towards Cosette to punish her.
The man intervened asking what was happening there. She answered
that that nasty girl was touching her daughters' doll with her dirty
hands... The man left the inn and minutes later he returned with the
beautifull golden-haired doll from the stall from the road. He gave it to
Cosette. The silence filled the room, everybody was shocked and started
to ask to themselves who was this kind and rich man who could afford to
buy such an expensive doll and then gave it to a poor little girl.

The Thnardiers gave him the best room of the inn. The next morning
they charged three times the price of the expenses. When he was paying
the bill, Mme Thnardier complained about their poorness and about
Cosette expenses because of the fact that she wasn't their child. The
man asked what would happen if he would take the girl from them, in
order to save them of spending more money on her. Mme Thnardier's
husband asked him to wait and lied that they love Cosette and that they
had debts but she was more important than any money. "How much do
you need?", asked the man. 1500 francs answered Thnardier.
The man ordered to fetch Cosette and when the little girl came, he gave
new clothes to her. Moments after, there were a man and a girl, with
their hands taken, walking through the streets of Montfermeil. Nobody
recognized that she was Cosette, neither her, that by the time just had
one thought: she was traveling closer to God.
Sylvia Gmez Bowen
LEVEL 6