Beauty and the Beast(6)
“How dare you steal my roses!” the Beast thundered. “After the hospitality I’ve shown you. I took you in, gave you a fire and food and a warm bed. How do you repay me? By stealing the only beautiful thing I have left!”
Henry’s entire body shook with terror. “P-please, sir, I thought the castle was abandoned. I only took the rose because my daughter Belle loves them so much that she asked me to bring her one when I returned home.”
The Beast stilled, glaring at Henry. “You have a daughter.”
“Y-yes, sir. I meant no harm. I’ll return the rose.” He hastily attempted to set the flower back onto the bush, yelping when his hand got caught on a thorn.
“You can’t return a cut bloom,” Beast growled. “It will wither and die. And for that, so must you.”
Henry tried to fight but it was no use, not against the Beast’s immense size and strength. The Beast opened his mouth wide, revealing horrific fangs, and came closer.
He will devour me, the merchant despaired.
But instead, the Beast bit down onto the back of the man’s shirt and dragged him back into the castle, taking no notice of the way the man’s body was battered against the hard stone floors.
They went down a narrow staircase, to the dungeon. Chains hung on the walls, and along the floor. The Beast threw him into the corner by a pile of hay, and said, “Chain him.”
To Henry’s horror, the chains on the floor crept around his ankles and locked in place, capturing him.
“Please, sir, I beg you,” Henry said. “Let me see my daughter one last time, and I will return to you.”
The Beast laughed at his proposition. “Why should I trust a thief to willingly come back to me, once you are freed?”
“Please, I just…I just want to see my daughter. I want her to know what happened, or she’ll never stop worrying about how I disappeared.”
“If I let you go see your daughter one last time,” Beast said, “and you betray my trust and do not return…I will go into town, hunt you down, and I will eat Belle—like the Beast I am.”
The merchant paled. “I could never allow that to happen, sir. Please, let me go, and you have my word I will return.”
The Beast nodded, and the chains around the man’s ankles unlatched.
“Go now,” he roared. “Before I change my mind!”
***
Back at the merchant’s house, Belle Castelle wiped her hands on her apron and stepped back out onto their tiny front porch, shielding her eyes from the sun to see if her father was heading down the road yet.
He shouldn’t have been gone so long. Her father was due home yesterday. What could have kept him? Perhaps the storm forced him to spend the night at an inn?
Finally, she saw him in the distance, running toward her. He had no packages, which could only mean that his ship hadn’t brought back the wealth he’d been hoping for.
Belle smiled and waved, glad now that she asked only for a rose.
“Belle!” her father gasped, running into her open arms. He hugged her tightly.
“I was worried, Papa,” she said. “Are you…are you all right?”
“No,” he whispered. “Something horrible happened.”
Belle looked at him, frightened. “What, Papa?”
“I never should have taken that rose,” he wailed.
Her stomach dropped at his words. “Tell me what happened.”
“There’s a beast, Belle. A horrible, enormous beast, and if I don’t go back to his castle as his prisoner…he’s going to eat you.” The man sobbed as he said the last part, overcome with emotion.
“Don’t worry, Papa. Let’s go straight to the Constable and let him know. They will take care of this Beast for us,” Belle said.
They ran to the Constable and found him dozing in his chair.
“Sir,” Belle coughed, waking him. “We have a problem. My father is being threatened by a Beast who intends to eat me if he doesn’t go to his castle as his prisoner.”
The Constable looked at the man, at the crazed fear in his eyes, and at the girl. “Very well, my child, I’ll take care of everything.” He stood and walked into the back room.
“See, Papa? I told you, everything will be fine.”
But when the Constable returned, he brought with him his wife Mrs. Sharone, the old lady who ran the Institution for Lunatics.
“A Beast, you say?” she asked dryly.
“Yes, ma’am, a huge beast, with the body of a gorilla, the mane of a lion, and the feet and tail of a wolf!” The merchant nearly fainted in terror just from describing him. “He’ll eat Belle alive if I don’t go to his castle!”