Hours later, Belle and Maurice were both sweating. Finding some of the voiceless servants was difficult by itself. A few were only able to jump up and down, clanging or knocking against things or even, Maurice remembered one poor fellow, by flushing themselves repeatedly. Lumière, Mrs. Potts, a beautiful feather duster named Plumette, Madame Le Garderobe and her friend in the form of a harpsichord had all tried to persuade the Beast to emerge with the rose with no success.

Belle pushed the hair out of her eyes as they emerged from the servants' quarters into a yard dominated by a large well. She scanned it briefly.

'Hello? Anyone here?' She turned to Maurice. 'If only we knew his name. It must be part of the curse. He must feel as if no-one cares about him.'

'Nil desperandum, my dear. There must be some records. Maybe there's something in the….what was that?' Maurice broke off, hearing a faint cry for help that echoed strangely.

'Help! Someone help me, please! I'm right here!'

They looked around. Maurice jumped to a conclusion. He leaned over the edge of the well as far as he dared.

'Are you in the well?'

'The hook broke!' The owner of the faint voice burst into tears. 'I fell off the bottom of the rope. I'm stuck!' She sounded very young.

'Oh my goodness. The poor thing!' Belle leaned over the edge. 'Alone at the bottom of a well.' She tugged the rope. 'It seems strong; I'm going to see what I can see.'

'You won't see anything down there,' said Maurice practically. 'Tell her we're coming for her. I'm going to get some light.'

When he returned with the ever helpful Lumière, Belle was already clinging to the rope with her hands and knees, head invisible from the edge of the well, reassuring the lost bucket.

'Can you hold onto my belt?' Maurice sat on the edge and reached out for the rope. 'Watch out above you, Belle. I'm coming too.' Lumière leaped for his belt and threaded a hand through securely.

'No, Papa!' She looked up at him. 'Stay there! You were ill a few days ago and it's very damp down here. Can Monsieur Lumière climb down to me?'

'Keep going, my dear; I'm just above you.' The cold and damp were making his chest ache again but he was determined not to let Belle go down into the unknown darkness alone. The huge stone sides of the well curved around them, slightly wider across than Maurice was tall. The air smelled of cold mud and stagnant water. As they dropped away from the moonlight and the shadows of the walls closed in, Lumière's lights cast only a faint circle around them. He could see very little beyond the rough rope he was holding. They kept going.

'It must be a very old well,' Maurice panted. 'Look how far down it goes.'

'I can't believe we aren't at the end of the rope yet,' Belle agreed. 'Hello? Can you see us yet? I aargh!' There was a scream and a splash followed by a cry of pain.

'Belle!' Maurice let himself fall faster than he should, the rope sliding through his hands. 'Are you…aargh!' The last few feet of the rope were slippery with mud and shot through his hands. He fell blindly and splashed down in cold mud and fallen leaves.

'Papa! Are you alright!' It was a miracle he hadn't fallen onto Belle. She must have had the sense to scramble out from under the rope.

'I'm fine…fine, my dear,' he said shakily. 'Are you hurt?'

She touched her hand to her head. 'I slipped and hit the wall a little when I fell. It's nothing.'

'Let me see!' He pushed back her hair gently. Lumière scrambled unprompted onto his shoulder and leaned forward. There was a graze with a light trickle of blood. 'Oh, Belle.' He wrapped his arms around her.

'It's nothing, Papa,' she said with a brave smile. She pressed the edge of her sleeve to the cut. 'I'm fine. But….' she looked up at the slippery rope that began well above their arms reach, '….I think we're stuck.'

'That's where I fell from,' said a tearful voice in the corner. Maurice started and spotted a heavy wooden bucket lying on its side in the mud. He pulled it upright. Large eyes carved into the wood blinked up at him. 'The hook broke,' it said again. 'It was really dark and I cried and cried and no-one came!'

Belle knelt down next to it, wrapping her arms around the wooden sides.

'Don't worry,' she said kindly. 'We'll think of something. We'll make sure you're safe. What's your name? Mine is Belle.'

'I know,' she sniffed wetly. 'He called you that. I'm not stupid. My name is Marie.'

'Oh, Marie. Don't worry. Everything will be alright. We just have to work out what to do next.' Belle wrapped her arms tighter around the weeping bucket. 'There must be a way out,' she reassured her. She looked up at the dangling edge of the rope, thick with slippery mud.

'I think,' Lumière said, 'that if you could get me to the rope, I would be able to get out and return with reinforcements.'

'Good man!' Maurice measured the distance. 'Belle, my dear, do you think you could stand on my shoulders? Between us that should do the trick.' He leaned against the wall and made a stirrup of his hands. Belle leaped nimbly up from his hand to his shoulders, steadying herself against the rough stone wall. He shook a little under her weight and braced his knees. She was nearly as tall as he was now. Lumière scrambled between them, blowing the flames near his hands out.

'That's it, Mademoiselle,' he encouraged. 'Just a bit higher….and a little bit more. I have to get past this mud…that's it!' He clung onto the rope, digging his hands in. 'Adieu for now, mes amis. I will return!'

They settled down to wait. It would take the little candlestick a long time to make the ascent. Without the light, the cold and darkness seemed worse. This poor, poor child. Maurice crouched next to the young bucket.

'Tell us about yourself, my dear. Do you have any family in the castle?'

'No,' she sniffed again. 'I'm an orphan. My auntie works here.' A few tears fell from the corner of her eyes and splashed inside the bucket. 'I want to see Sophie again and Celeste and the kittens. I haven't seen them for so long. Do you live here too?'

'It's rather a long story, my dear.' Maurice drew his cloak tighter around him. 'But we do have plenty of time.'

The explanation took some time. Marie had never been allowed to set eyes on the prince. She knew him by reputation only as a man handsome and wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. She knew nothing of the rose and the events which had led to it. For Marie, the world had changed when she had gone out in the darkness of a very early morning to draw water from the well, felt dizzy, had seen the world go dark and had woken as a bucket dangling halfway down the well. For nearly ten years, the well had been her world. She told them about the family of snails she had seen crawling up and down the sides of the well and how the clouds above her sometimes looked like angels and sometimes like cake. Eventually, worn out by talking, she yawned.

'You will wake me up when something happens, won't you?' she asked anxiously.

'Of course we will,' Belle assured her warmly. Marie gave a shiver that shook her planks, yawned again and closed her eyes. Left alone in the darkness, Belle and Maurice shivered themselves. The night was growing colder and they were past their ankles in cold mud.

'Lean against me, my dear.' Maurice wrapped his cloak around them both. He could feel her shaking with the cold. He knew he was himself. Time passed slowly.

'You don't think…' Belle began and hesitated. 'Papa, you don't think Agathe might get impatient do you?'

'No, surely not.' Maurice coughed. The damp was worse than the cold for his chest and breathing was becoming a strain. 'I'm sure she isn't counting the time at all,' he said with all the conviction he could muster. 'She did say she liked the forest and she set no time limit on us.'

'Yes,' she said. 'Yes. I'm sure you're right.' She sighed and shivered deeply, stamping her feet to try and warm them up. 'I'm glad about that. It just feels as if we've been down here for a long time. How long do you think we've been at the castle?'

'It's hard to tell. Perhaps five hours, give or take a bit. That's not including the time we took to ride to the castle, of course. I wasn't counting exactly but it took rather a long time to extricate the chef.'

'That poor man! I'm glad he's out of the kitchen at least.' She looked up at the distant patch of sky. 'I can't wait to see them all turned back. Imagine how happy they'll be! I wonder if they have a lot of friends and family around Villeneuve.'

'Oh, I'm sure they do. A lot of them will be local men and women. Ga -,' he stopped suddenly. 'A lot of people are bound to recognize them.'

'I know what you were going to say,' she said. 'Papa, seriously, what do you think of him after tonight? What do you think I should do?'

'Earlier in the evening I would have said it would be best for you to see as little as possible of each other,' Maurice said judiciously. 'After this, I think we certainly owe him a visit. I understand you were…very concerned for his safety. As was I, of course. It would be reasonable to visit him once or twice. We'll want to talk about what happened here.' He took her cold hands in his own, fighting for breath. 'But my dear, I think you need to be rational. A single action, heroic as it was, does not make a man into a paragon of any kind. Perhaps you both need to appreciate each other's strengths and weaknesses…at a distance.'

'But it was brave,' Belle countered. 'It was different to everyone else in town, too. He wasn't part of the mob. He expected people to be better.' A shadow blocked the sky and the rope began to shake as someone made their way down. 'Oh, thank goodness. Someone's coming! I'm so glad! I want you to come up to a fire as soon as you can.'

'He expected them to do as he said.' Belle started to say something but he cut her off. 'I'm sorry if that sounds unkind, my dear, but it's the truth. I respect the idea behind it but the fact remains, he issues orders to people and expects admiration.'

'You don't think that making a huge effort to help someone you don't even like might be admirable?'

'This is playing devil's advocate. We'll move, Belle,' Maurice said slightly desperately. 'Let me take you to a bigger town. We'll manage, somehow. God knows I don't want to lose you to anyone but you deserve to meet pleasant, educated, gentle young men. If the only young man in town whose courage and convictions you could respect is one who tries to ride roughshod over you…' They both looked up at the little spark of light that was growing stronger.

'I promised I'd go back to him, Papa,' she said stubbornly. 'I have to make sure he's alright. I have to see him.'

The shadow reached the end of the rope and dropped down into the mud beside them.

'I've come to save you!' Gaston announced.

Maurice fell back against the wall, speechless with shock. For a moment he tried to speak and could get nothing out. Belle stumbled back a couple of paces then threw herself at Maurice, eyes wide.

'Papa! You're alright, are you?'

'Yes, yes!' He coughed heavily. 'Just a shock,' he mumbled.

'Belle! Maurice!' Gaston took a swift stride through the muddy water, kicking the bucket by accident. Marie woke with a sharp cry. Caught by surprise, Gaston cursed and jumped backwards.

Belle pressed her hands against her temples in disbelief. 'Is it really you? Oh…Gaston!'

'I know what you're going to say,' he assured her, eyes fixed on hers. He set his lantern down in the mud and held out his hands to her. 'Just when you needed a hero…'

'I get you. You…you idiot!' She took his hands, looking up at him. 'What are you doing? You almost died!'

'You think I'm an….what…..Aren't you pleased to see me?' Gaston was plainly confused, rapidly shading into hurt.

'Yes, I'm pleased to see you. Of course I'm pleased! And I'm excited about saving people and getting them home to their families and you're here and you're going to help and that's wonderful.' She took a deep breath. 'But I'm also worried about finding everyone and getting them turned back and worried that Papa is ill and now there's this huge extra thing that I'm scared that you're hurt and this is too much effort for you…'

'You were feeling all that at once?' He looked suitably impressed. 'I understand you're overwhelmed. Don't worry about anything now. I'm here. You can thank me later.'

'Gaston! Did you hear what I just said?' she demanded.

'Yes! You're pleased to see me,' he grinned.

'And the rest?' she prompted.

'Er…something about saving people? And…Maurice is ill,' he managed. 'Oh, and you're worried about me but you needn't be.'

'I do need to be.' She sighed. 'Somebody does. You almost died tonight!' She almost reached out to touch his chest where the blade had struck but drew back her hand. He was still wearing the bloodstained shirt. 'I would have come back,' she assured him. 'You know I would have. You should be at home, resting!'

'Oh, I rested for a few hours. Then you weren't back so I thought you might be in trouble.'

'We're very grateful for your assistance,' Maurice said sincerely. Angry as he had been earlier, some things required wholehearted thanks and this was one of them. He was surprised himself that the captain was still standing up, let alone able to ride and climb but some experience of Gaston told him that this shouldn't be entirely unexpected.

'It was very brave,' Belle agreed, apparently settling on the one thing she could say without arguing. Gaston automatically preened. He surveyed the sides and bottom of the well.

'What were you doing down here anyway?'

'We came down to rescue her,' Belle explained, indicating the suddenly shy Marie. 'But it's impossible to get back up onto the first bit of the rope. You…shouldn't have dropped down like that. I'm afraid you're stuck, too.'

'Oh, it's no problem,' he said confidently, giving the silent bucket a long look.

'How are you going to do it without any more rope? It can't be done.'

'Like this!' He braced his shoulders and feet against the wall, took a deep breath and began to walk up the sides, pushing up with his hands on the rough stones until he was about shoulder height to them. 'Can you get up here, Maurice?'

'I think so. Will you give me a foothold, my dear…that's it.' Maurice pushed himself up from Belle's hands and scrambled onto Gaston.

'Can you get onto the rope?' Gaston's voice was strained and Maurice could feel him slipping slightly, bracing his feet to try and get a better grip. He stood up, running his hands along the damp wall.

'Not yet….almost…yes.' He took as firm a grip as he could in hands that were blue with the cold and pulled himself up. The effort made his gasp for breath but if there was any time he was determined to stay strong, it was now. He locked his hands and knees around the rope.

'Good…pass me that.' Gaston reached down awkwardly.

'That? I'm not that! I'm a girl!' Marie protested.

'Of course you are,' Belle told her warmly. With an effort she managed to lift the heavy bucket up to Gaston.

'There you are.' He took hold of her with both hands. 'I can see your eyes now. Of course you're a girl. No boys have pretty eyes like that.' Maurice wondered to himself why Gaston seemed to know exactly what to say to every girl except Belle. He threaded the rope through her handle and tossed the end up to Maurice. 'Make a knot in that.' He braced his shoulders again and reached down a second time. 'Belle, grab my hand. I'm going to swing you up.'

Looking down, Maurice could see Belle's dubious expression in the lantern light but she stretched up her hand to him.

'Now jump!' He pulled her up until she sprawled across him. Immediately she stood up, rocking unsteadily as she tried to balance on his legs. She bit her lip in determination and pulled herself onto the rope, going up strongly hand over hand until she was past Marie. 'Keep going,' he called. 'It might not take three people. I'll wait till you're at the top.'

They pulled themselves up the rope as quickly as they could. Maurice could hardly feel his feet but he hung on with his hands and knees. Every movement was one step closer to fresh air and then a proper warm fire for them all. He set both hands on the edge for a final effort and heaved himself over and onto the ground. Belle scrambled over a moment later and leaned back over. 'We're up!' she called. Lumière was there, jumping from foot to foot.

'So you are both safe! What a relief! Your big friend found you?'

'Yes, yes.' Belle was watching the rope and didn't turn around. She laughed, more from exhaustion and relief than because anything was funny. 'Our friend found us.' She leaned further over, shoulders tense. Eventually, Gaston dragged himself over the edge far more slowly than the Gaston of a few days ago would have done. He sat down on the edge of the well, resting his elbows on his knees for a moment, head bowed forward, getting his breath back.

'Oh, I knew you shouldn't have come.' Belle was at his side in a moment. Once again, Maurice saw the captain visibly torn between pride and basking in her concern. Surrounded by the enchanted castle, he chose pride.

'I'm fine. Absolutely fine.' He brushed some of the mud off his coat and made to stand up.

Maurice moved first. 'Just wait a moment while we get Marie up…' Quiet as he was, in over thirty years of trading Maurice had seen his fair share of drunkenness, sickness and fights. Let him sit down for a moment. He knew with absolute certainty that if the young man tried to stand he would be on his knees in a couple of paces. 'Belle, come round here - no this side, you'll get a better grip - and hold onto this. Now, pull together!' He watched Gaston out of the corner of his eye. He saw him touch a cautious hand to his ribs where the blade had struck hardest, look at his hand and then brush away the evidence.