by A. Anders
“Don’t hurt him, please!”
The monster said nothing in reply. Instead, he dragged Belle’s father to the stairs and down the tower.
“Papa, Tebo is outside. You can ride him back home. Be safe, Papa. I love you! Papa? Papa!”
Belle listened for her father’s reply. It never came. Soon she didn’t hear anything at all. The echoing footsteps were gone. It was replaced by silence and darkness.
With only the glow from the moon- or perhaps it was the sun – Belle guided herself to the window. Staring out, she saw nothing more than the tops of forest trees. Looking out, she realized that she was alone.
What had she done? She didn’t know. But she wasn’t about to let this be the last decision she would ever make.
Chapter 7
Belle sat in the darkness for what felt like hours. Eventually, she found a spot in the corner, curled up and fell asleep.
“Young lady,” a voice said out of the darkness. “Excuse me, young lady.”
Belle opened her eyes in response. It was no longer as dark as it was. Lit candles lined the small corridor outside her jail cell illuminating a tall, thin, elegantly dressed man.
If Belle had to guess, she would’ve said that he was a manservant. The only thing that made him look unusual was his gold-plated mustache. Belle had never seen that before.
“Young lady, what is your name?”
“Belle,” she told him excited to see another human being.
“Yes, Belle. My name is Mr. Kandel. I’m here to show you to your room.”
“My room?”
“Of course. Did you really expect that we would allow our special guest to stay in here? What are we, English? No, young lady, this is a French royal court. Here, we have manners,” Mr. Kandel said looking as persnickety as anyone could.
Belle rushed to her feet and headed for the door. Mr. Kandel withdrew a key and unlocked it.
“Are you sure it is going to be okay with the monster?” Belle asked the thin man.
Mr. Kandel opened the jail door and then stared at Belle. “The monster?”
“Yes. A monster locked me in here, and my father before me.”
The man looked at her confused. “I’m sure you’re mistaken. Please come this way,” he said ushering her out.
Belle moved hesitantly but happily. She wasn’t sure where she was being taken but she was more than happy to go.
“Remember, it is down the stairs, across the hall, up those stairs and then the fourth door on the right,” the man said.
“You want me to remember that? Why would you want me to remember that?”
“My dear, it is always important to remember where you came from so that you know where you’re going.”
“All right,” Belle conceded.
The two again dropped into silence as they descended the stairs, crossed the hallway, ascended the stairs, and then approached the fourth door on the right.
“And, this will be your room if it’s to your liking,” he said opening the door.
“To my liking? I thought I was a prisoner.”
“A prisoner? What would make you think that?”
“The monster. He said that I had to live out a life sentence here for my father trying to steal a rose.”
“Steal a rose? Picking or stealing of roses is not allowed here. That must be clear,” the man said turning to Belle sternly.
“No,” she replied startled. “I would never dream of it.”
The man smiled. “You would be surprised what you dream about here. But, as I told you before, there are no monsters here. We do however have another guest staying with us.”
“A guest?”
“Yes. Like you, he is here for, how can I say it, and extended stay. But he is no more your jailer than I am,” Mr. Kandel said again redirecting her focus towards her new room.
Belle turned and looked inside. The room took her breath away. Not only was it as big as the house that she shared with her father, but it was decorated with the most exquisite furniture that she had ever seen. The bed could sleep a family of people. The sheets and curtains were made of spun gold. Belle couldn’t believe it.
“Am I to stay here?”
“You are, my dear. This will be your home now. That is, for as long as you choose to stay.”
“You mean that I can leave?”
“Of course you can. But I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Why?”
“There are dangers in the woods that no one can protect you from. But as long as you stay within the wall, you will be safe.”
Belle thought about the wolves that had chased her there. Was that what the friendly man was referring to? What did that mean about her father? Had he made it through the Dark Forest alive? Belle’s heart sank thinking about it. Could she have sent her father to his death?
“In here you will find a selection of clothes. Our seamstress has a perfect eye so they should all fit you like a glove,” Mr. Kandel explained.
“Fit me? Are you saying that they were made for me?”
“Of course. We couldn’t have our guest stay here without a change of clothes. What have you mistaken us for, the Welsh?”
Belle left the chuckling man and explored the wardrobe. It was filled with beautiful dresses. She didn’t understand how it was possible. She had only been in the castle for a few hours. How could they have made dresses so quickly?
“They’re beautiful,” she said touching the silk ribbons and soft ruffles adorning them.
“Of course,” the comically pretentious man said. “What did you mistake us for…”
“Let me guess,” Belle said cutting him off. “The Scottish?”
The thin man twisted his gold-plated mustache in shock. “No, my dear. And I would have you keep such prejudices to yourself. We value everyone’s differences here. There is no room for such bigotry.”
“Bigotry? No,” Belle retorted embarrassed. “It was just that you had said the English and then the Welsh. I just thought that you would next say the Scottish.”
“My dear young lady, I’m sure that I have no idea what you’re talking about. But we are going to look past such ugly speech on your part and show you where you will be dining.”
Belle turned a bright red, embarrassed. She said nothing else as Mr. Kandel led her away.
Crossing the hallway and descending the opposite stairs, the two poured out into another hall. Across that was a dining room. In the middle was a long table. And covering every inch of it was the most magnificent spread of food that Belle had ever seen. There were succulently roasted pigs and turkeys along with endless side dishes and a plethora of pastries. The smells made Belle’s nose tingle with delight.
When was the last time that she ate? She didn’t know. Whenever it was she couldn’t wait to sample the first morsel. Her mouth watered in anticipation.
It was as Belle moved her eyes from dish to dish that she finally saw him. There was a man at the far end of the table. He was unlike anyone Belle had ever seen before. His face was refined yet rugged. His hair was nearly shoulder length and perfect. And he was dressed in the finest clothes that Belle could ever imagine. The sight of him took her breath away.
“Who is that?” She asked unable to breathe.
The skinny man suddenly put himself between Belle and the gorgeous man.
“He is no one you need to be concerned with.”
“But you brought me here to eat, did you not? Won’t I be sharing a table with him? Shouldn’t I know who I will be eating with?” She asked desperate to find out more about him.
“No. There is nothing you need to know about him. If you please, Belle, can you look the other way?”
Belle looked up at the thin man’s face confused. “You want me to look the other way?”
“Yes.”
It was with those words that Belle suddenly woke up. Her eyes popped open and she was shocked to find out where she was. She was still in her jail cell. It was cold and dark but yet not quit
e as dark as it once was. There was a lit candle on the opposite side of the room and there seemed to be more lining the tower’s spiral stairs.
“Hello?” Belle asked unsure of what was going on.
Belle worked her way to her feet and then approached the jail door. Resting her hands on the bars, it was barely a push that opened it.
“What’s going on?” She asked herself. “Hello?” She repeated, this time a little louder.
Standing in the doorway of her cell, Belle searched her mind. “Down the stairs, across the hall, up the stairs, and the fourth door on the right,” she told herself. “What’s going on?”
Knowing that there was only one way to find out, Belle followed the path told to her in her dream. The way was lit. Each time she made a turn, there was a flicker of light in front of her and a light flickering out behind her. She felt like she was being led like she was when she found her father. She didn’t know what to think of it, but she wasn’t about to stop following it until she figured it out.
“The fourth door on the right,” she repeated to herself.
Finding it, she stared at it. It looked just like the one in her dream. What was going on? Pushing her hand on the knob expecting to find it locked, it wasn’t. Swinging it open, inside she didn’t find darkness. The place was lit.
The furniture looked like it did in her dream. As did the gold sheets and curtains. How could this be?
Entering, Belle ran over to the wardrobe. Pulling open the doors she found dresses. Pulling one out, she held it up against her. It was her size. They were all her size. This couldn’t be happening. There was no way that this was all by chance.
Looking around dumbfounded, Belle remembered something else about her dream. There had been a man seated at the dining room table. It was someone that the persnickety man hadn’t wanted Belle to see. Would he be there now? Would the food be there as well?
Placing her hand on her empty stomach, Belle wasn’t sure which she would be more excited to find. No, she did know. The man she had seen was practically out of her dreams. Well, technically speaking, he literally was. And now without anyone to stop her, she was going to meet the beautiful man at the end of the table.
Running out of the room and towards the opposite set of stairs, she descended into the hallway before running to the dining hall. It was with gusto that she threw open the doors. Breathless at what she would find, her heart sank when the image before her registered in her brain. There was no banquet and no handsome stranger. In its place were a few plates of food and they were all within arm’s reach of the monster.
The ugly thing snapped his head up locking his eyes on Belle. Belle froze. She didn’t know what it would think. Would the monster say that she had escaped? She hadn’t, though. It was like someone had let her out.
Belle’s heart thumped as she waited for the monster’s next move. She felt hot and ready to flee. Would this thing jump onto the table, sprint across the room and eat her? Belle was ready to put up a fight if he tried. The monster would find that Belle wasn’t as helpless as its other victims if it had any. At her heart, Belle was a fighter and she wasn’t about to give up so easily.
With her heart still racing, Belle watched as the monster stared at her and then slowly rose from his seat. There was nothing frantic or scary about his movements. They were all calm and measured.
Picking up one of the many plates of food, it walked it to the end of the table nearest Belle. Setting it down, the monster returned to his seat and continued to eat. Again Belle was confused about what was going on.
Belle, taking it as an invitation to eat, sat down. On the plate in front of her was roast pork and cabbage. It was no banquet but it was still the meal of a wealthy man. Not being provided utensils, she picked at it with her fingers and popped a chunk of meat into her mouth. It practically melted on her tongue.
“Mmmm,” she moaned.
As she did, the monster whipped up his head and stared at her. No longer as afraid of him and she once was, she explained her response.
“The food, it’s very good.”
The monster grunted and then returned to eating.
As Belle stared at him, she remembered one other thing from her dream. The funny man with the gold mustache had said that she wasn’t being held prisoner. He had told her that the only other person in the castle was also a guest and that neither of them could leave because of the surrounding forest. Was the man saying that the monster was as trapped as she was? Was the monster someone that she should be afraid of?
Belle’s heart thundered as she decided what she would do next. Her mouth was dry as it opened. She clutched her fingers together trying to stop them as they shook.
“Excuse me,” she said suddenly grabbing the monster’s attention. A lump developed in her throat as she fought the urge to cry in terror. “My name is Belle. What’s yours?”
The monster’s long furry ears twitched. After staring at her, he returned his attention to his food. “I have no name,” he said with a mouthful of meat.
“Everyone has a name,” Belle said gaining confidence from his reply.
“Not me.”
Belle thought for a moment. “Then, what would you like me to call you?”
“Call me?” The monster looked up at Belle again. He was confused for only a moment. “If you must call me something, then call me Beast.”
“Beast?”
The Beast looked up at Belle annoyed.
“Beast it is,” she said with a conciliatory smile. “So, Beast, how long have you been here?”
With soup dripping off the fur around his mouth, he replied, “I’ve been here from the beginning.”
“From the beginning? Beginning of what?”
“The beginning of the beginning,” he said with no more explanation.
Belle thought for a moment and then spoke again. “Are you trapped here like me?”
“Like you?” He asked gruffly. “You are here as my prisoner. I am not trapped here like you.”
So the thin man was wrong, Belle thought. She was his prisoner. In this case, however, the whole castle was her jail cell.
“Oh,” Belle responded disappointed.
The two fell silent as they continued to eat. Belle, thinking about everything that had happened, looked back up at the slurping beast.
“If you are not a prisoner, then why are you here?”
The Beast looked at Belle surprised. “Why am I here?”
“If you are not a prisoner, then why is it that you choose to live here, by yourself. Certainly, there must be others like you. You had to have had a mother or a father.”
“There is no one else like me,” the Beast said before returning to his soup.
“How is that possible? Certainly, you couldn’t have popped out of thin air. Horses have mothers and fathers. Deers have mothers and fathers. Even fish have mothers and fathers. You must have come from somewhere. Everyone comes from somewhere.”
The Beast, who was gritting his teeth as Belle spoke, clinched his fist in boiling anger. Unable to contain himself any longer, he swept his arm across the table sending the dishes flying. Sending his chair tumbling behind him, he stood up and roared as Belle.
“I am alone. There is no one else on earth like me. I am a beast. A beast!”
The Beast stared across the table as the little girl shook. His chest heaved wildly. His rage boiled in his eyes. He could have ripped the little girl apart. He didn’t, though. In fact, he caught himself. He had terrified the delicate girl in front of him. He hadn’t meant to. He had simply lost control.
Slowly calming himself, the Beast stepped away from the table and exited. Belle trembled watching him leave. She hadn’t meant to upset him. She had thought that they had been getting along. She could now see her error in behavior, though. She shouldn’t have pushed him. Belle understood how much it hurt to feel alone.
Remaining seated, Belle gathered herself. The Beast was truly terrifying. His outburst had made her want t
o run away and hide. She wasn’t going to do that, though. She wasn’t going to back down even to someone as threatening as the Beast.
When Belle stopped shaking, she looked around the room. It was a mess. She wasn’t sure what there was to do in this prison of a castle, but there was something that she could do. If the Beast was truly alone, then he would be the only one cleaning up. She had crossed the line with him. She would make it up to him by cleaning up the mess he made.