Rumple turned and looked at her and softly responded "I haven't been up long sweetheart, why don't you go back to bed it's still rather early!" But she instead kissed him and responded "Well, I'm already up so I might as well start some breakfast!" Rumple looked her up and down for a moment and sighed.
Soon the sweet, oily smell and the sizzling sound of bacon filled the house, soon accompanied by even more smells that made Rumple's mouth start to water. Finally he left his chair and his spindle and headed to the kitchen to see what those sweet aroma's were.
When Rumpelstiltskin entered the room he found that she had already set the table and his usual morning tea was brewing, and on the counter sat several plates with bacon, biscuits and some kind of brown liquid he had never seen before in his life what was that? He wondered. Then he watched her throw some scrambled eggs on a plate, along with a pile of bacon and then the biscuits which had been cut into four pieces, and then he watched her ladle some of that brown stuff onto the biscuits and finally it was laid before him.
He waited until she joined him at the table before curiously trying a small taste of the brown stuff and he was surprised at how good that taste was. So he finally dug in to the biscuits with the brown stuff on he was happy with it, he had never tasted anything so wonderful in his life, he thought. Finally unable to contain his curiosity he asked "What is this stuff?"
Belle looked at Rumple in surprised "What you mean to say you've never had this before?" When Rumple continued to look at her she laughed "that Rumple is called Biscuits and Gravy! All you have to do to make it is add a little cream to the bacon grease and it makes this gravy, and it goes great with biscuits!" Rumple smiled and finally polished off his plate.
Slowly he spoke to her "Hun I really hate to eat and run but I have an errand to run in town today, I shouldn't be long, and you should be okay until I get back. I want you to take the day off today, forget your chores for the day, I want you to relax and help yourself to whatever you like in the house, read one of those books you like so much or something, I won't be long at all, I shouldn't be but maybe two hours at the most!" he promised. He started for the door and she called
"Rumple, your not fixing to leave without a kiss are you?" she teased. She was rather pleased though when he turned and headed over to her and gently kissed her. She slowly went to the room where he had his fire place, picked up a book that was laying on the table and began reading.
She became so submerged into the book that she never heard the squeak of the door opening, nor did she notice the solitary figure coming up behind her. In fact one minute she was at the most interesting place in her book, the next minute Belle was seeing stars and then nothing.
When she finally came to she found that she was in a carriage with cloth over her mouth and her hands bound behind her back. And she was well aware of the terrible throbbing that was coming from the back of her head. With the cloth over her mouth she couldn't scream but she found herself mentally calling for Rumpelstiltskin "Rumple please, I know you can find me!" but deep in the pit of her chest she knew that it would likely be several hours before the man even knew she was missing, before he would even get home and discover that she was not there to greet him at the door. He had said he would possibly be gone for two hours at the least, and she was rather certain that it probably hadn't been but a half hour at the latest.
Belle was full of terror and started trying very hard to think about a way to get herself out of this mess, who had kidnapped her? How would she escape from somebody she couldn't see? Would Rumple find her in time? Would he be able to save her? She really was scared not at all sure where Rumpelstiltskin was, what had been his errand? Will he get home in time to discover what had happened, would he bother to come looking for her? What if he thought she had run away on her own? What if he thought she had gone to the market or something? Would he wait or would he look for her? Would he think the worst of her? Would he believe she had left him? She sincerely hoped he didn't and that he loved her enough to come for her.
Belle tried to stay alert and watchful waiting for any moment that she could use to make a desperate bid for freedom. But she had no idea what to do, or who was driving the carriage. She figured the driver was the one who had kidnapped her. What did he want from her? What had been his goal? What was so special about her that he wanted her? But as much as she wanted to stay alert and awake the throbbing in her head finally got to her and she slipped back to sleep again. But in the back of her mind all she could do was keep calling to Rumple mentally she kept trying to assure herself to comfort her mind with the belief that he would find her that he would come for her soon. That Rumple would not abandon her and would not let her down. Rumple was the most powerful man in the enchanted forest, Rumple would find her, he had magic, and that would totally allow him to find her instantly. But she was not sure about it there was still a small amount of doubt in the deepest part of her subconscious the idea that he would not think to look for her simply because he might very well think she had left him, and what if he didn't love her enough to bother even finding out for sure what had happened played upon her mind as well.
The carriage soon rolled to a stop and a man wearing a dark mask lifted her limp form from the carriage and led her into a small hut where she was soon placed in a sitting position with her back against the wall. He held his knife pointed at her as he sat beside her. To Make sure that she didn't try to run.
When Belle woke again she finally saw the masked man and was terrified and worried about what was going on. The man seemed to since her terror, for he spoke softly to her.
"Don't worry Madam for I am not planning to hurt you, for you are not my intended victim you are just the bait for what I really want. You see I left your little friend a little note, a ransom note basically. When he gets home he will find it on the chair you were sitting in."
Belle glared at this man with hatred at that moment wondering what he was after,
then the man laughed "But you see girl you are the ticket to the death of Rumpelstiltskin! As long as I have you as a bargaining chip, he will do anything I say, if he cares about you, then he will give me the very object that will be his death!"
Belle's eyes widened and she began to cry, her hatred for the man turning to fear for Rumple, for her Rumple, this man was planning to kill him, if Rumple came for her he could be walking in to his death, she couldn't allow that, couldn't let him die. But what could she do, there had to be a way out of this. Her only hope was to hope that Rumple didn't love her, That he would ignore the note. But she knew that it was too much to hope. There was no way that Rumple would leave her to a man who has already threatened to kill her. For she knew that had to be the threat he had used against him, her life in exchange for his.
