Beauty and Two Beasts

Chapter 1-3

“No, Belle. For sinners, God has no mercy,” Mrs. Cannon added.

Her husband turned to her shocked. “Mrs. Cannon? Why would you say such a thing to a wonderful girl like Belle?”

“Mr. Cannon, this girl is a sinner and a harlot. This girl is not the type of person that we want in our shop. We are God-fearing people and the shop is in our home.”

“Mrs. Cannon?” Her husband asked again. “How could you say that about Belle? We have known her since she was a baby. She has always been a good girl.”

“Mr. Cannon, a bad apple always eventually shows its worm.”

Belle looked at the two flabbergasted. She had no idea what Mrs. Cannon was talking about. “Why are you saying this, Mrs. Cannon? I demand you apologize to me.”

“I will not. God sees all things. He knows what you did at the stream yesterday and so does everyone else in this town.”

Belle went white with shock. How could anyone other than Trudeau know that? He would never have told anyone, so how could Mrs. Cannon now know?

“Whatever I did or didn’t do, I’m sure is none of your concern. But I can assure you that whatever I might have done was between me, my God, and my fiancé,” Belle said confidently.

“Your fiancé?” Mrs. Cannon said allowing her narrow birdlike face to express surprise. “Since when has Trudeau become your fiancé?”

“Since yesterday when he proposed to me.”

“And I suppose that he knows that he is your fiancé?” She asked doubtfully.

“Of course he does. He was the one who asked me,” Belle said defiantly.

“Well, until you present your fiancé to us, you will have to buy your supplies elsewhere. Mr. Cannon and I won’t allow a sinner such as yourself into our business or our home.”

“But I need the flour to make bread for dinner. I have been buying flour from your shop ever since I was a little girl.”

“And as you have proven yesterday, you are not a little girl anymore. But the question remains, are you now a respectable woman of God?”

Belle was flustered. She was not expecting to tell anyone about her good news and least of all under the threat of a woman like Mrs. Cannon. But if she knew about what she had done with Trudeau, others had to as well.

Mrs. Cannon had said that the entire town knew. Could that be true? Could her most intimate moment now be gossip for the idle minded women of the hamlet? If so, how had they found out?

Belle left the shop feeling her confidence waver. Looking around, everything now looked gray. She hadn’t noticed it before but now she could see that everyone was staring at her. The whole town had stopped to gawk at her and many of them leaned to each other and whispered.

A hollowness developed in her chest. Panicking about what everyone knew, she couldn’t breathe. They all knew what she had done with Trudeau and they were all judging her for it. Unsure of what to do, she yelled at them.

“Trudeau is now my fiancé. We got engaged. He left with Mr. Lafleur this morning to get a ring. He is going to be my husband. It is a wonderful thing,” she insisted convincing no one.

It was then that Belle heard her name shouted from a carriage headed into town. “Belle!” The voice screamed grabbing everyone’s attention. “Belle, you must come!”

Belle looked past the disapproving faces surprised at what she saw. It was Mr. Lafleur. What was he doing here? Trudeau had told her that the two were headed on a weeklong trip. Trudeau had insisted on going with him so that he could buy a ring.

“Mr. Lafleur?” Belle said running past the scornful townspeople to Mr. Lafleur’s approaching carriage.

“He is calling for you, Belle. You need to see him.”

“Who?” Belle begged terrified to admit who it was.

“It’s Trudeau. We were on the path through the Dark Forest when wolves attacked. The young man saved my life but now I fear that he won’t make it. He’s calling for you, Belle. I’m afraid he will not survive.”

At once, everything that was good and happy in Belle’s life drained out of her. She ran to the back of the carriage praying that none of it was true. It wasn’t a mistake, though. The bloody man who lay dying on the bed of Mr. Lafleur’s carriage was her love, Trudeau. She was stunned and devastated looking at him, but as his chest raised struggling for breath, Belle climbed onto the carriage and threw her arms around her dying love.

“Trudeau, please don’t leave me. I love you so much. You can’t go,” she said as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I love you too, Belle. I wasn’t able to get you your ring.”

“I don’t care about the ring,” Belle said her chest beginning to heave in devastation. “All I care about is you. Stay with me. Please! I beg you! I won’t be able to live without you!”

Trudeau did everything he could to reach out and take hold of Bell’s hand. He couldn’t. And as he tried, his chest fell expelling his last breath. As Trudeau stared at the only girl he would ever love, the spark disappeared from his eyes. Trudeau died.

“No!” Belle yelled trying to beckon her love back to her. “No, Trudeau. Come back to me! I can’t live without you,” she screamed. “I can’t live here without you!”

As if her soul had been ripped from her heart, Belle threw herself on top of her love and bawled endlessly. She cried until her eyes burned and her throat grew raw. Her bellows echoed off the buildings and reverberated through the town.

No one approached her until her father arrived. He pulled Belle off of her lost love and cradled her in his arms. She was inconsolable but her father promised to hold her tight until the day that she could again breathe easy.