Dating An Urban Legend
(The Tale of Jonathon and Danielle)
By Thomas Mc

Chapter 11 : Winterfest

Bursting with curiosity, Danielle fetched her parents and they were soon all sitting around the kitchen table. In the center of the table was a box, twelve inches long, four inches wide and a little over an inch deep. Jonathon began speaking. "As you know we, those called the Wells-Chandlers, have been around, living in New York, for a little over a hundred years. Yet until Alexander's rather spectacular début we were rarely seen by the public. There is a very special place hidden in the heart of New York that most people have no idea even exists. It is a safe haven, were those that have nowhere else to turn, can find refuge, friendship and help. Those that live there, help those that have been beaten down, to rebuild their spirit and regain their lives. They also help those that the regular authorities can not help. This place is the reason we were able to remain hidden from the world for so long. The existence and location of this place is the greatest, most important secret we know and we do not share that secret lightly. It takes a vote in the council before someone can be introduced to this place."

He now had their undivided attention as he opened the box he had brought with him. Inside were three incredibly beautiful candles. Danielle caught her breath and she heard her mother's soft gasp as they looked at them. Jonathon then continued speaking.

"We have a very special . . . holiday, there. Every year on December twenty-first we celebrate Winterfest. It's a really big party where we gather with those who know of us, and renew our friendships. We also use it to remember why this place exists and what we mean to each other. There's food and drink, music and dancing, and the company of many friends and helpers, both new and old." He picked up one of the candles. "These candles are an invitation to come celebrate Winterfest with us." He turned the candle in his hand. "The candles are also your passport to enter this place as well as part of the opening ceremony." He swept them with his glance. "Keep in mind, if you accept this invitation, you will be accepting the responsibility of protecting the secret of this place and the people that they help."

Jonathon picked up a two of the candles and extended them to Michael and Julie. "You have been invited because of your kindness and acceptance of myself and my family, because of your connection to my grandfather Charles, and because you are Danielle's parents." He took the last candle and handed it to Danielle. "You have been invited because I love you and I wish to share this very special thing with you."

Danielle felt shivers run down her spine as she took the offered candle. She suspected that for Jonathon this was a more serious step even than a proposal. She glanced at her parents and could tell by their expressions that they too understood how important this invitation was. Then her father responded. "We would be honored to come to your Winterfest, Jonathon."

Jonathon smiled. "That's great. The party itself starts at seven though the procession starts at at around six-thirty. It runs until midnight or until you are too pooped to party. Whichever comes first. Dinner is included. And if you decide to stay the night, there is plenty of room for guests." He paused. "We will be leaving as a group from our brownstone right about six so you will need to arrive there by five forty-five." He took Danielle's hand. "Now we had better be going if we want to get to the theatre on time."

~ ( BatB ) ~

Danielle was excited and nervous as she and her parents approached Jonathon's home. Wayne was out with his fiancé and Mathew was spending the weekend with their grandparents. Danielle's parents had understood that this invitation was only for them and Danielle. Apparently they were about to be let in on a very big secret tonight and she just hoped they would prove worthy of the trust Jonathon had bestowed on them. Ever since Alexander's spectacular coming out, she had wondered how the Wells-Chandlers had remained hidden for over a hundred years. She didn't really buy the idea that they simply stayed indoors for their entire lives. Through Shania's fascination with them she had known that the majority of reported sighting were in and around Central Park. She was finally going to get the answer to the one last unanswered question about them. For the tenth time she checked the box that held their three candles. They were still there.

Her father pressed the doorbell and in less than two seconds William opened the door. "Michael, Julie, Danielle, welcome. Come in, we're so happy you've come." Danielle was surprised to see several people were also there as they entered the parlor. There was Alexander and Alexandra standing next to the Mayor of New York and his wife. Over by the fireplace she saw the Senator from New Jersey and her husband.

William introduced everyone and invited Danielle and her parents to make use of the refreshments that were available. On the coffee table in the middle of the room was wine and soft drinks along with cookies, crackers and dip. After a few minutes, William announced, "Everyone is here now and we will be heading Below in about fifteen minutes. We don't want to be late for the opening ceremony."

"Jonathon mentioned something about an opening ceremony and it sounded like he considered it to be a very serious thing." Michael commented to William. "What is that about?"

William replied. "The first Winterfest, thought it wasn't really called that, was held the year after Vincent was found, on what was his birthday. The second year it was moved to December twenty-first. The opening ceremony first appeared in the third year and that's when it was first called Winterfest. With the exception of two lines that were added after the 9/11 disaster, the opening ceremony has remained unchanged ever since. It is a statement, a reminder, of what the community is all about." Soon it was time to head out. "Everybody make sure you have your candles." William called out. Danielle and her parents took their candles out of the box as Jonathon came up to her carrying his own candle.

Patricia approached the wall where the video display hung and reached into the narrow gap between the large screen and the wall. Danielle was surprised when a five foot section of the wall, where the display hung, swung quietly outward exposing what looked like a passageway behind it. Danielle felt a shiver pass through her as Jonathon put his arm around her waist. "Secret passageways hidden in the walls? This is getting very interesting." She remarked as she looked over and saw her parents looking surprised and intrigued at the opening.

William led them through the opening and down the several flights of stairs that were located behind the wall and around two corners. They passed through another concealed doorway into a utility tunnel and made their way some distance down that tunnel. They came to another concealed doorway that opened into an ancient looking brick walled tunnel. Danielle looked back to see her father looking around in fascination. Her mother was clinging to her father and gazing wide eyed at the tunnel around them. From there they walked a fair distance until they came to a large chamber with several tunnels leading away from it. Danielle had always had a pretty good sense of direction and she figured they were about sixty feet below ground and located below Central Park, somewhere near the band shell. In the center of the chamber floor was a large circular shaft with an iron stairway lining the side.

Another party arrived in that chamber at about the same time. Danielle recognized Devin and his retired supermodel wife Emily. There were three other leonine males and their families with Devin and Emily, none of them currently known to the general public. Danielle had only seen them once at the Wedding last September. They were Emily and Devin's three children that the media had been speculating about. Greetings were exchanged and the entire group started down the great stairway. She looked around in amazement thinking that these tunnels must be pretty extensive. Things were beginning to make sense. This was how they had remained hidden for so long. There must be access points inside the park. She wondered where they might be eventually heading. As they continued down this seemingly bottomless shaft, Danielle began to wonder just how far down they were going when she heard her father who was directly behind her mumble, "Journey to the Center of The Earth."

Jonathon beside her chuckled. "It's not quite that far down." There was a pause as they reached a landing along the endless stairway. "Here we are." They were at an opening in the side of the shaft.

As they passed through the opening she asked Jonathon. "How far down does it go?"

"I don't know." He laughed. No one I know has ever been able to screw up enough courage to follow those stairs all the way to the bottom. Legend has it that once a party lead by Vincent went all the way down to the bottom in pursuit of an evil madman called Paracelsus who had kidnapped his Catherine."

Danielle became aware that they were now in tunnels that had been carved through solid rock. She noticed lots of what appeared to be small one and two room apartment like chambers opening off the tunnel they were following. Behind her she heard her father softly exclaim, "Amazing . . . Unbelievable . . . Who could have known?" She agreed with his sentiments.

They entered a large very crowded chamber that reminded Danielle of the underground lunchroom in Carlsbad Caverns. "This is the community dining hall" Jonathon informed her. They hadn't been there more than a couple of minutes when Danielle's attention was drawn to a very regal looking white headed lion who called the crowd to order and reminded them to be sure they all had their candles. She recognized him as Jacob, oldest of the Wells-Chandlers currently alive.

Jacob led the whole community down through the most incredible tunnel Danielle had ever seen. The sides were almost machine smooth and they were covered with some of the most beautiful paintings. Jonathon informed her that these were called Elizabeth's painted tunnels. The procession seemed to naturally slow down a bit as everyone looked at the paintings. Danielle was overwhelmed by the beauty of the paintings as they filed past them. Each painting hinted at a story hidden within its images, just waiting to be told. Danielle noticed her parent's heads swiveling from side to side as they passed from one amazing scene to the next, trying to take it all in.

"Beautiful aren't they." Michael remarked reverently as he gazed at the paintings.

"They are absolutely incredible." Julie whispered, her eyes bright in appreciation.

They came to a stairway that passed along one side of a great bottomless fissure in the rock. There was a stiff wind that blew back the way they came. The stairway ended at great wooden double doors mounted into the rock wall. Devon handed his candle to his wife Emily then removed the massive bar, it must have weighed over three hundred pounds, from the doors. He pushed the great doors open as Jacob turned and faced the crowd. "Will you let me lead you through the darkness?" He asked. To the sound of the crowd's murmured assent, Jacob turned and stepped into the dark opening.

"Just follow my lead and don't worry about how dark it is at first. It's all part of the opening ceremony." Jonathon told Danielle and her parents. The chamber they entered was so large that she could not see the far walls in the dim light from the doorway. There was a flair of light and she spotted someone lighting a candle on a table about sixty feet further in. As her eyes adjusted to the dim illumination, she could just make out rows of trestle tables and benches. Jonathon led her and her family to one of the nearest tables and instructed them to grab a seat. "Don't let the darkness bother you." He told them. "It only lasts a very short time." Once everyone else was seated, Devon pushed the great doors closed and the room was plunged into near darkness, with the exception of the one candle at what Danielle was informed was the children's table. All of the whispering had ceased and the only sound was the rustling of Jacob's clothes and the scraping of his chair as he took his seat.

A spark flared and Jacob's candle came to life as he spoke. "The world above us is cold and gray, summer, a distant memory. Our world, too, has known its winters, so each year we begin this feast in darkness, as our world began in darkness."

Devon took over as Jacob used his candle to light the ones on either side of him. "Long before the city above us raised its towers to the sky, men sought shelter in these caverns." The flame was passed on to the candles of those on down the table.

William, who was seated about five seats away continued. "In those days these tunnels were dark places and those who dwelt here, dwelt in fear and isolation." Danielle saw that the flame was being passed to the rows on either side of theirs.

A woman with strawberry blond hair spoke. "It was a land of lost hope, of twisted dreams, where the sounds of footsteps coming down a tunnel were the sounds of terror, where men reached for rocks and knives and worse at the sound of other men's voices." Slowly the Great Hall got brighter and brighter as the flame was spread from candle to candle.

Jacob again spoke. "At last a few people learned to put aside their fear."

William spoke next. "And we began to trust each other, to help each other."

Patricia took over. "And each of us grew stronger, those that took the help and those that gave it."

Jonathon lit Danielle's candle from his and whispered, "The next two lines were added after 9/11." She passed the flame and the message to her father and noticed a suspicious hint of moisture in his eyes. Several people had began lighting the candles in two enormous lowered chandeliers as Devin recited the next line. "And we became a community, a family."

Jacob again spoke. "And when men with evil in their hearts brought pain and destruction to the outside world, we stepped out together and gave help and assistance where ever we could."

William spoke. "We are all part of one another. One family, one community." There was a moment's pause. "Sometimes we forget this, so we meet here each year to give thanks to those who have helped us, and to remember. Even the greatest darkness is nothing so long as we share the light."

As they raised the now blazing chandeliers, the whole room was dazzling as the mica and quartz in the rock walls glittered with reflected candle light. Danielle and her family sat there stunned by what they had seen and heard. There were tears on her mother's cheeks. Her father's eyes were bright with emotion as he remarked quietly to himself. "This is where it all came from." He looked at his wife. "This is the place where the Wells-Chandler Foundation really had its origins."

As soon as the ropes that supported the chandeliers were tied off several people began passing out the food. Michael remarked to Jonathon. "This is so fantastic. I have to keep reminding myself that it's not a dream."

"It is so beautiful, so magical, down here." Julie remarked in a voice husky with emotion. "And all of you grew up here?"

"Pretty much. We have some places 'Above' that have access to the tunnels, like our home, but we do spend a large part of our lives down here." He paused. "Vincent and Catherine lived in the brownstone with their kids but they also had a place down here where they often spent their weekends.

Jacob called the room to order. "Attention everyone. I've been told that Alexandra has an announcement."

The babble died away as Alexandra and Alexander stood up. "Actually we have two announcements." She told them. "Alexander has passed his training and on January second he takes his place on one of the Presidential guard details of the Secret Service. He will be the youngest ever to achieve that honor." The crowd cheered. "That same day I start my four month internship at the Smithsonian anthropology department." More cheers.

Everyone dived into their meals. The food turned out to be quite good. Most of the table conversation revolved around Alexander and Alexandra. There was also a good deal of talk about Karen's involvement with another Secret Service agent. It also seemed that all three of Devin and Emily's sons were planning to officially announce their existence to the world. Though they had been at Alexander's wedding they had avoided the press representatives that had been there. Their existence was known but they had not yet appeared openly in public. Access to the wedding had been strictly controlled so it didn't count as a public appearance. Danielle's parents mostly just ate and soaked it all in as they continued to gaze around in amazement.

Soon everyone had eaten their fill and the dishes were collected. Then everyone was drafted into clearing the Great Hall for the second part of the celebration. Six of the tables were moved over below the stairs at the back of the hall to be used as a make shift stage for those with musical talent. Another dozen tables were set up off to the side to be used for games and snacking. Most of the bench seats were set up around the central area so people could sit and rest or talk between dancing. The rest of the tables were stacked against the far wall. Then the musicians took the stage and began to play. William and Patricia were the first onto the dance floor followed by Devin and Emily and Joseph and Paulette. A few seconds later Jonathon drew Danielle along as he followed Alexander and Alexandra out onto the dance floor. Danielle already knew that Jonathon was a good dancer and she was really enjoying herself. They were into their third dance when she spotted her parents dancing nearby. Shortly after that she spotted Alexandra's parents. She hadn't even realized they were here until then

Later they were sitting over at the tables sharing a sweet drink and shooting the breeze with the Mayor of New York, of all people, and his wife. They were talking about Jonathon's first semester of college. The mayor's wife, Tibbie, asked Jonathon if he had chosen his major yet. Jonathon told her that he had decided to major in space engineering. Danielle added that he never got over his visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. When asked about her own plans Danielle told them that she was thinking of going into accounting. About then Alexandra's parents came over and joined the conversation.

After a while Danielle danced one number with her father while Jonathon danced with her mother. Her father told her how glad he was that she had found Jonathon. Then she was back with Jonathon and they were soon engrossed in each other.

It was fairly late and the crowd had begun to thin out when Danielle noticed that she didn't see her parents anywhere. She asked William about it and he told her that they had run out of steam about a half hour ago and were too tired to make the long trip back above so Patricia had shown them to the north remote chambers. The reference meant nothing to her but Jonathon assured her that he could show her the way any time. There was something in the look on his face that made her wonder if there was something significant about that location. Danielle was getting tired and he wrapped his arms around her. "I think you're about ready to call it a night as well." He smiled. "Maybe we should find you a guest chamber for the night."

"That would be nice." She replied as she leaned into his embrace.

Continued in Part 12

'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.