CHAPTER TWELVE
(chapter title – Mimi Runs Away)
Mimi turned and fled the room. The Beast calmed down, then fell into despair, realizing that he may have destroyed his chance with Mimi. She reached the stairway and grabbed her cloak. She rushed down the stairs, wrapping the cloak around her and burst past a confused Gordon and Mark.
"Wh-Where are you going?" Gordon inquired.
"Promise or no promise, I can't stay here another minute!" Mimi exclaimed.
"Oh no! Please wait!" Mark called after Mimi.
Gordon tried to respond, but Mimi slams the door behind her. He and Mark bowed their heads in sadness.
Mimi was now in the forest on Philippe. She began to ride through the forest, but Philippe came to a stop. Mimi looked up and saw wolves. She gasped, then pulled the reins and began to flee. She runs from side to side, making the wolves hit trees. Philippe ran out on a frozen pond, but his and Mimi's weight collapse the ice. The wolves chase her into the water. Some wolves begin to drown, but Philippe is able to get out of the water before anything serious happened.
He ran into a clearing, but became surrounded by wolves. He bucked, throwing Mimi off and wrapped the reins around a tree branch. The wolves began their attack on Philippe, but Mimi came to his rescue and beat them away with a stick. One wolf grabbed the stick in its mouth and broke half of it off, leaving Mimi defenseless. Another leapt at her, grabbing the corner of her cloak and dragged her down to the ground.
Mimi looked up and saw a wolf about to jump on top of her. It leapt and is caught in mid-air by the Beast. He threw the wolf away, then stood behind them and Mimi. They lunged at each other. One ripped a hole in the Beast's shoulder, and the others focused their attack on that spot.
Finally, the Beast threw a wolf against a tree, knocking it out. The others turned and ran in fear. The Beast turned to Mimi, looked at her despairingly, then collapsed. Mimi, grateful to be alive, turns back to Philippe and began to get on, but her conscience took over and she walked over to the fallen Beast.
Mimi was now walking back to the castle, with the Beast on Philippe's back.
She would never forget that awful night.
