He nodded. "I see. Well, if he didn't say exactly when he got off work, then how can you know he is late?"
Tears bloomed in Gisèle's eyes. "I just… I just know how it works when he does art shows. He closes around dinner time. Even if he did decide to stay late, I know he'd call. The whole festival is probably closed by now! He should be home!" She drew a deep shuddering breath and began to weep.
Chief Darling laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "There there, Gisèle, don't cry!" Chloé and Reginé began to wail as well as if cued by Gisèle. Chief Darling looked uncomfortable amidst all the feminine hysteria. "Normally, a person isn't considered missing for twenty-four hours. But, I've known your dad for years. I agree it's unlike him. I'll start looking, alright?"
Gisèle nodded, smiling gratefully. He took a small note pad from his breast pocket, asked her a few questions, and promised to be in touch shortly.
***
Midnight found Gisèle sitting at the living room window, unable to pull her eyes from the driveway or the lane. A sparkling full moon hung high in the sky, and the shadows mottling its surface seemed like a face jeering down at her. She'd heard from neither her father nor Chief Darling.
But moments past the twelve chimes of the grandfather clock, a cruiser swung into the driveway. The crunch of its tires on the gravel was an ominous sound that sparked more anxiety in her sorrowful heart. She watched Chief Darling hop out and walk briskly to the door.
Despite the fact they'd slept most of the day, Gisèle's sisters were already back in bed. So, it was Gisèle alone who let him inside. He asked if they could have a seat at the kitchen table.
Seconds later, she was seated across from him, her nerves in tatters. "So?" she said anxiously. "What did you find?"
Chief Darling shifted nervously in his seat, not seeming at all eager to have this conversation with Gisèle.
"Well, you were right; the festival was already closed for the day. I had to track down the city's chamber of commerce president, which took a little time. And then she was able to put me in contact with the person in charge of the festival's vendors."
"OK. And?" Gisèle prodded, staring at him with teary eyes.
Chief Darling sighed. "Well, Gisèle, he said your dad never showed up this morning."
Gisèle gasped and shoved back from the table. She began pacing the floor, swiping at tears as they fell.
"Any idea where he might have gone instead of the festival?"
"No!" she cried. "Maybe, maybe there was an accident!"
"That was my thought too. Here's the thing though. I decided to make the drive to Caperstown, the way he would've probably gone. Thought maybe there was an accident that hadn't been discovered. But a few minutes into the drive, dispatch called me back. A patrolman found his car."
"They did? Then why'd you ask where else he might have gone? Where is he?"
"It's parked outside Java Enchantica. I woke up the owner who said he was working this morning. He never saw your dad. Then, he called the evening shift guy. He also doesn't recall seeing him."
Gisèle shook her head sadly. "So what now?"
Chief Darling gave her a sympathetic look. "Until we hear from him, or we talk to someone who saw him… We're kind of at a stalemate, kiddo."
She dropped back into her seat at the table, plunked her face onto her folded arms, and wept. The chief stood and circled the table where he comfortingly patted her shoulder.
"Try not to worry, Gisèle. We will leave no stone unturned. In the morning, the search is on," he promised.
Chapter 17
Gisèle spent a sleepless night tossing and turning. She reached for her cell phone at least a dozen times to try her father again. There in the lonely small hours of the morning, she tried to keep her mind from wondering what life without a mother or a father would mean.
Despite her fatigue, she rose again before the sun. She prepared a pot of coffee and promptly began to funnel it.
Gisèle was on a mission.
As soon as it had reached a decent hour, she began making some phone calls. She wanted to do some detective work of her own. The Pettigrews had no family to speak of. But she called several people she knew to be his friend. There were also a couple old girlfriends of his she reached. Everybody she spoke to was shocked to learn of his disappearance. None of them had any theories, but they each told her to keep them posted.
When all those possibilities were exhausted, Gisèle dressed, put on her sandals, and burst out the door and into a dismal, drizzling day. She walked briskly through the rain, so lost in her thoughts; she didn't even notice the droplets soaking her. In moments, she was on Forest Way, in front of Java Enchantica, circling her father's car.
She didn't have keys to open it, but she peered inside the windows for any hint of something amiss. The front seat was littered with her father's customary chaotic clutter. In the back seat were various art works he'd been taking to the festival. She sighed and went inside where she took a seat in the remotest corner of the little place, wanting some time alone with her thoughts.
When a waiter came to see if she wanted a cup of coffee, she recognized him as the owner. "Oh hey," said Mr. Fontaine. "You're Ernest Pettigrew's daughter, aren't you?"
Gisèle gave nothing but a sad nod in response.
"Have you heard anything from him yet, honey?"
Another slow shake of the head, with a pitiful frown.
Mr. Fontaine shook his head. "Such a shame," he remarked. "Three disappearances in as many days. One of them Julienne Peabody, girl that disappeared last? Well she worked for me. Just a dang shame. Something sure don't add up."
Gisèle's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe she hadn't even thought of the missing girls. Could her father's disappearance be related? She slid back from the table and leapt up. "Uh, I'm sorry, I have to go. I need to speak to the chief."
"Oh, alright then. Good luck!" he called to Gisèle as she flew out the door.
***
"Gisèle! Gisèle Pettigrew!"
She'd barely taken three strides back toward downtown when a timid female voice called her name. Stopping, Gisèle turned slowly, only to find a pale blonde girl in an outdated blue dress and a white haired fellow running toward her.
"Gisèle!" the girl said again, as if to keep her in her place until she reached her. "That's your name, isn't it?"
Gisèle frowned deeply at the pair as they closed in on her. The girl's demure voice and everything about the two of them was utterly foreign to Gisèle. How did they know her name? Having formed a possible connection between her father and the other people missing from Enchantica placed her on high alert. Not to mention her frayed nerves.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Gisèle demanded in a tone that lacked her usual politeness.
The trees tossed against the bleak grey sky in the background as she came face to face with the pair of strangers. She felt chilled to the bone.
"I think I know where your father is," the blonde girl said, blatantly ignoring her question.
Gisèle's heart skipped a beat. Her eyes grew wide and instantly filled with tears. Mention of her father erased any apprehension she had over the strange situation.
"Where? Where is he?" she asked enthusiastically.
"We can take you to him," the girl soothed.
"He's safe? He's OK? Where is he?" she asked again.
"You must come with us now, and we will take you to your father," the white haired man said in a shrill, clipped manner. She studied his face and noticed he seemed far too young to have the white hair.
"Yes, yes!" Gisèle agreed without hesitation. "Let's go!"
The two strangers exchanged a small smile then turned without another word and walked back the way they'd come. Gisèle followed.
"Wait, we're going into the forest?" she said as they reached the mouth of the woods. Her new companions simply nodded and proceeded, their pace quickening once inside the shroud of trees and foliage.
"But why
? Where is my father?" Gisèle asked. They did not answer, just moved progressively faster. Gisèle practically ran, stumbling along to keep up. She ratted off a few more questions but the strangers seemed to ignore her completely. All she could think of was her father's beloved face. Since they knew who she was, she believed they really were leading her to him. Nothing else mattered.
She followed blindly along.
***
"You must eat this, and then drink this," the man said matter of factly, shoving the goodies toward Gisèle.
She eyed the candy and bottle suspiciously. She'd followed them for at least a mile through muck and mire and under the boughs of the strangest silvery tree she'd ever seen. This was the first thing either of them had said to her.
"What are they? Why are they here?" she asked skeptically.
He thrust them at her again. "If you want to see your father again, you'll do as I say," he said crossly. His fast, harsh way of speaking unnerved her.
The blonde girl nudged the little man and gave Gisèle a reassuring smile. "Please," she said kindly. "It's necessary. You'll understand shortly, I promise."
A brand of stark terror Gisèle had never known before began inching up inside her. It made her cold and worked its way up to grip her throat like a clawed hand strangling her. She fleetingly thought of all those horror novels she loved so much that earned her such ridicule from her sisters. This fear was so far worse than that.
But she had to find her father. She took a deep breath, and then did as she was told.
***
It was too much, simply too much. She followed them down a checkered path, skirted by flowers and forest. Somehow she'd found herself in the most beautiful, magical, and dreamlike place shed' ever imagined. But since she wasn't imagining it, and after the outrageous manner in which shed' arrived… After the darkness and the colors, the spinning and the falling, the river did not make her wet. The whole thing was simply too much to fathom. She felt her sanity crumbling.
She continued to follow them because she had no choice, but she wept bitterly as she did. They seemed not to notice as they led her on and on.
They eventually came upon a fork in the road. To the left, she saw a village in the distance. To the right was a path leading into the misty forest.
Finally the pair paused and turned to her.
"We are going into the woods," the man snapped. "Do not step off the path."
Chapter 18
After another seemingly endless trek, they came to a mansion roosting in the trees. Gisèle gasped as it appeared to them. It was painted a dozen different colors with towers, balconies, and elaborate stained glass windows. It would've been majestic were it not in such obvious disrepair. The sprawling manor was like a once happy thing that had died and been left to rot.
They led her to the massive front door of the place. The blonde girl pushed the door open, revealing darkness and a musty smell beyond.
"He's in there," the terse man stated. He shoved Gisèle and she stumbled into the darkness. The heavy door slammed shut behind her.
She threw herself against it, savagely beating the door. She screamed bitterly, trying the door only to find it seemed to be locked from the other side.
"Gisèle!"
She stopped short, becoming instantly quiet.
"Daddy?" she screamed into the darkness.
"Gisèle! Gisèle! Get out of here!"
The voice was muffled and distant, but it was her father. She'd recognize it anywhere. She raced into the darkness.
***
She found him in a dank cellar. Lit only by pale moonlight that snuck in a few small barred windows near the low hanging ceiling, Gisèle could barely make him out, shackled to the dingy stone wall. He sat on a dirt floor among various debris, skittering insects, and a few squeaking rats.
Upon her entry, he leapt to his feet and fought against his restraints.
"What are you doing here?" Ernest cried. "I said to leave, Gisèle! Get out of here and RUN!" His face crumpled and he began to weep.
Gisèle ran to him and threw her arms around him, crying mournfully to herself. He gently pushed her back.
"GO!" he demanded frantically. "Now, run!"
"No, Daddy! Not without you."
Their squabble was interrupted by a raspy voice.
"You can save your father."
She gasped at the sound of the voice and cowered against her father, who enveloped her protectively.
"It's him," Ernest Pettigrew whispered. She felt her father trembling from head to toe.
"How? How can I save him?" Gisèle said into the nothingness.
"Do not speak to it!" her father demanded in a distraught whisper.
The terrifying voice sounded again. "If you agree to stay, I will return your father to Enchantica, unharmed."
"NO! NO!" Ernest shouted. He took Gisèle by the shoulders and shook her gently. "No," he said, speaking directly in her face. "Now, I mean it, Gisèle! GET OUT OF HERE!"
Gisèle stepped away from her father and turned her face upward, to address the empty air again. "Yes, OK, fine. Just let my father go."
Ernest wailed, savagely yanking against the shackles, demanding his daughter be released.
"Mr. Pettigrew," the voice rasped. "You can leave, and neither of you will be harmed. Or, you can refuse, and both you and Gisèle will be killed."
"I said I'll do it!" Gisèle screamed.
In a matter of minutes, the white haired man came into the cellar, this time accompanied by a decrepit looking black man. They unlocked Ernest's restraints and dragged him kicking and screaming from the room.
The door slammed shut with a resounding boom. Gisèle fell to the floor and wailed.
***
It seemed as though a long time passed before Gisèle heard the voice again.
It told her that its name was Pierre Damien. Gisèle didn't care in the slightest who or what it was, but without much choice, she listened to the eerie whisper.
The tale that unfolded as incredible and Gisèle found herself drawn into it, despite herself. Pierre spoke of a curse that had robbed him of his physical body, his parents, and eleven years of his life. He spoke of magic and loneliness and finally of finding her through an enchanted mirror.
And falling desperately in love with her.
Pierre amazed her with how familiar he was with her own lonely existence. Different than most, he knew she was mostly ostracized by her peers and that her own sisters made her life miserable. He spoke of wanting to save her from that, and give her the magical life she'd always dreamed of.
By the time he neared the end of his tale, he'd tugged at her heartstrings; she couldn't help it. That anyone could know her so well, understand her deep inside, it touched her. But then he revealed that he had to provide a sacrifice to the witch in the woods if he wanted to return to his life as it once was.
Gisèle scurried into a corner, cowering and afraid once more. Her hopes plummeted as she realized his sad story was just a farce.
"Gisèle, my love! Don't cry! What I mean is that I'll happily sacrifice my old life. Throw it all away forever. Stay in my present state, forever! If you can love me as I am!"
She began to calm again, relieved. "Pierre," she said in a tiny voice. "Where are you? Please show yourself to me!"
After a moment of utter quiet, a foul smelling draft passed through the cellar, lifting the hair from Gisèle's face. And then the beast materialized before her.
Gisèle began to shriek, a piercing unhuman scream of insane horror. Her hair turned white before his eyes, the sight of him so horrified her.
***
Pierre Damien wept so bitterly as he dragged Gisèle into the woods, that his sorrow seemed to permeate the air and cause the trees to tremble. She fought him like an animal, seeming to have entirely lost her mind.
He should've known it would never work.
"HERE! HERE IS YOUR SACRAFICE WITCH!" Pierre screamed.
He didn't know what to ex
pect. After a long time he feared it hadn't worked. He wondered if he had to kill Gisèle himself.
But then the smell of sulfur seeped around them and he knew the witch was near, even though he did not see her.
Then just like that, some unseen force jerked Gisèle from his grasp. She was dragged crazily fast into the trees and devoured by the shadows.
When the sound of her scream finally faded, Pierre turned. His face broke into a grin when he found his parents standing there. They knelt to welcome him into their open arms as he'd returned to the state he'd been in at eight years old.
He fell joyfully into their arms and it was as though not a day had passed. The beauty was forgotten.
Part V
Wishes
Chapter 19
It always embarrassed Alan LeBeau when his girlfriend came to his house.
He shared a small ramshackle farm with his mother Helene LeBeau, and twin brother Jack. The place, situated just outside Enchantica, had once been a profitable operating farm with rolling cotton fields and healthy animals. But after his father passed several years back, it had swiftly declined. Helene did her best to keep it up, but simply wasn't a capable farmer or good in finances. First she failed to give the machinery proper maintenance and after that the crops began to fail. Then, unable to afford feed and care for the cattle without crop money coming in, many of the animals died before they could be sold off. The small farmhouse began falling into disrepair. They were down to one milk cow, and the mortgage lender darkening their door far too frequently.
Alan's girlfriend, the lovely Roxan Richelieu, on the other hand, came from one of the wealthiest families in Enchantica. They were both seniors at Enchantica High, and it had shocked him during their sophomore year when the beautiful girl took a shining to him.
Alan felt inferior to Roxan's social status from the beginning, and that feeling never subsided. Particularly since her father made no secret of his hatred for Alan. A cold and old fashioned man, Mr. Richelieu made clear he expected his daughter to graduate and marry a man from a wealthy family who was worthy of her. Alan had no idea how he might support Roxan if they did eventually marry, and deep down he feared Mr. Richelieu was right about him. However, drawn to Roxan's exotic dark beauty and her sweet kind disposition, he went against his better judgement and fell in love with her.
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