Chapter 14

He thought long and hard about how he was going to confront Edward Walker with his newfound knowledge and what he wanted to reveal and what not.
He hid the key to the Old Shed That Was Not To Be Used in the shelter underneath his house and decided not to tell a soul about it being in his procession.

In the end, the talk with Walker initially went smoother than he had anticipated, the solemn man not looking at all surprised when he told them what he had discovered.

"I have had an inkling for some time now that you suspected something," he told them, arranging some books on a shelf in the one-room schoolhouse were Gold had approached him. "Ever since the night the village was invaded in fact. I knew it from the look on your face."

Comprehension dawned on him as the full meaning of the words sunk in. "The creature that approached Belle and me… that was you…"

Walker nodded imperceptibly, his back still turned to him. "I thought it best to avoid a direct confrontation. You were so determined in protecting Miss French."

His almost nonchalant words send another surge of rage through him.
"Is there anything at all living in the woods?" he asked, containing that rage with great difficulty.

"Apart from the usual wildlife?" Walker asked, smiling smartly as he turned around. "No, there's nothing in the woods. There always have been rumors though. I've heard them since I was a young boy, the rumors are even documented."

"But your daughter, Ivy… she encountered one of the creatures when she travelled through the woods to fetch medicine for Lucius Hunt…" He loathed how despite the anger and indignation he felt, his voice still sounded uncertain, how he doubted the truth still, even though he had beheld the evidence with his own eyes.
There was just so much that didn't make sense yet.

"What Ivy encountered was a fabrication of her own imagination," Walker responded calmly. "There was nothing in the woods that would truly cause her harm."

An imagination fed by years of lies and deception. The imagination of a blind girl who could not depend on her eyes to see what was real.
"You send one of the elders after her to scare her?" He asked disbelievingly. "You would do that to your own daughter?"

"Of course I did no such thing," Walker seethed, a sudden fury breaking through his undisturbed countenance. "It were unforeseen circumstances, but I am certain he would never have hurt her… in the end it was just a tragic accident."
He stopped abruptly, his posture turning rigid, confirming Gold's suspicion that he had said more than he intended to reveal

"Who wouldn't hurt her? Who did she encounter in the woods?" Gold repeated slowly, the dots connecting in his head.

"No matter," Walker replied hastily, his former ease completely destroyed now. "It is of no importance now…"

Then the penny dropped.
"Noah Percy!" Gold gasped, the full horror of what had transpired that terrible night catching up with him. "Ivy believes she has killed one of the creatures, but it was in fact Noah Percy, wasn't it?"

"He smashed a window and escaped, taking one of the suits we had hidden with him," Walker replied, starting to pace erratically, a vein throbbing on his forehead.
"We believe now that Noah knew for some time, that it was him that was responsible for the skinned animals that we found. I told Ivy the truth before she left, but then Noah escaped and chased after her into the woods… After encountering what she believed to be one of the creatures she is now convinced again that the creatures are real. Even more so than before."

"And you let her go on believing this?" Gold interjected incredulously.

"I cannot tell her she has killed her childhood friend, now can I?" Walker snapped back, his face flushing with anger. "Not when it was my fault to begin with… I knew someone was acting out of order, but I believed it was one of the other elders… I never suspected Noah… I never thought him capable of doing something so heinous… And it was Lucius that paid the price… and it would have been Ivy's price to pay had he died. I had to let her go to the towns…"

"But why keep lying?" Gold asked, quieter now. "Why did you let Ivy continue believing that lie?"

"When Ivy told us she had killed one of the creatures, we all realized instantly it had to be Noah… Noah's death made it possible for us to continue living our lives here. We all decided it was worth it… that Noah's death would not have been in vain."

"And by 'we all' you mean the council," Gold concluded bitterly. "You decided for all of us what would be best."

"Then what would you have us done?" Walked asked, defensively now. "What would you have done had you stood in our shoes?"

"I would have put an end to the fear," Gold answered immediately. "The village is going half mad with it. If you do not take control of the situation there's going to be an uproar."

"And that is why I need your help," Walker stated unexpectedly. "I want you to join the council. You know the truth now and I want you on our side. People are upset and they want the elders to take a stand. Appointing new, younger elders will accomplish that and it will salvage the fear that it is the youngsters that are responsible for the incidents that have occurred."

"But I would be obliged to continue the farce?" Gold asked, his mind reeling from Walker's suggestion.

"I do not believe it is lying," Walker replied. "At least not viciously so. This is how we keep our loved ones safe and protect them from danger. Isn't that what you want? It's your way to protect Belle… to keep her safe."

"What is your meaning?" Gold demanded, his heart seizing at the mention of her name and the implications this could have for them.

"If you join the council, the elders will support you in your wish to marry Belle French," Walker told him. "We will coax Maurice French into giving his consent. You'd be man and wife by the end of the month. Provided that you do not tell her of course."

An image of Belle, clad in a white, lace dress, her curls adorned with flowers and dancing around her shoulders, her smiling face beaming up at him as they exchanged their vows filled his mind and for long moments he could concentrate on nothing else.

This could be his chance to grab everything he had ever wanted.

"Give me time to consider."

Walker's proposition was constantly on his mind during the sleep-deprived night and day that followed.

Even a day ago he would have vowed that he would do anything, everything, if it would enable him and Belle to be together.
Now he was given the opportunity, but it seemed that it would not come without a price.

Becoming an elder would mean he would have to participate in and condone the lies that had disgusted him so upon discovering them.

But the mere thought of being able to be with Belle, to marry her and to claim her as his own for the entire village to see made his blood boil and his heart ache with longing.
She would be his as he was hers and nothing would be able to come between them.

Now that he knew that there was nothing in the woods, he would be able to protect her and take away all her fears. Even if he couldn't tell her the truth, he could soothe away her worries and keep her safe, never having to be afraid that he would fail her.

And even if he felt aversion at the thought of becoming part of the council and their manipulative ways, there was no denying that he could do some good, once he had joined.
He could advocate the case of Bessie Morton and ensure that her confinement came to an end. He could oppose to Albert Spencer's ridiculous plan of installing a tight curfew for anyone under thirty and making marriage mandatory.

He would not be able to tell the truth, but perhaps in time he would manage to convince the rest of the council to assure the townsfolk that they were not in immediate danger from the creatures. Perhaps in time the lie would grow to be less of an untruth and then it wouldn't be so bad anymore.

At the end of it, it all depended on the question wether or not Belle truly wanted him and he found that the mere thought of outright asking her made his heart clench with nerves.
Walker's proposal had a put a pressure on their relationship that made him feel deeply apprehensive.

In the weeks that they'd been together he had never voiced his feelings for her or found the courage to inquire after hers. Instead he had taken every moment she had granted him without questioning it, terrified of scaring her away with unwanted declarations or claims that would make her feel stifled.

Would she agree to a marriage with him? Would she be willing to tie her life to a crippled man twice her age?

They hadn't spoken in over two weeks. Would she still think favorably of him? Or did she resent him now for the humiliation and scorn she had suffered because of him?

He wanted her with everything that was in him, but he wasn't ready to ask her yet. Wasn't ready to deal with her rejection.

By the end of the day he was nowhere nearer to making a decision, despite his constant agonizing over it.
Then the matter was taken more or less out of his hands when he passed the barns on his way back from the shop and he found himself suddenly being grabbed and pulled behind a haystack.

For a split second he was about to panic and lash out with his cane, but then he felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around his neck and a warm, beloved body crawling into him.

"Belle…" he whispered disbelievingly, burying his hands in the messy bun of curls and cradling her close. "Belle…"

"Finally!" she breathed against his neck, burrowing even closer into his arms. "I've missed you so much, Nicolas…"

He pulled back slightly, cupping her face in the palm of his hand, his eyes sweeping over her face.
"I've missed you too, sweetheart…"
She looked pale and wary and there were large, grayish circles underneath her eyes, causing his heart to clench painfully.

When she placed her hands on his chest he was shocked to find them raw and covered in angry, red blisters.
Taking her hands in his he raised them to his lips, gently kissing the torn nails and battered skin of her fingertips.
"What did they do to you?"

"They've assigned me all sorts of chores," Belle replied with a shrug. "They hope that hard and honest work will make me see the error of my ways. I am supposed to be mucking out the barns now…"
It was only then that he noticed she was wearing a rag of an old dress and heavy boots.

White, hot anger surged through him and at the same time his heart was breaking for her. "I'm so sorry, Belle… I'm so sorry…" he rasped, tears slipping into his voice.

"Well, I'm not," she replied, a stubborn glint appearing in her eyes, her hands sliding back up into his hair. "We don't have much time… they'll come to check on me soon… but I wanted to see you…"

He pulled her close again, drinking in her warmth and her scent, his mind reeling. He had to find a way to get her out of this dreadful situation. It was because of him that she was suffering so and he would make it right.
And if becoming and elder was what it took, then he would do it gladly.
He didn't care if had to don a suit himself and chase children down the village if it meant she would be safe and comfortable again.

"You don't deserve any of this, my darling," he told her, his voice laced with guilt.

"It's no matter, she answered, pressing her forehead against his. "They do not decide my fate… only I do…"

His breath caught in his throat at her words, the blood suddenly pumping in his ears, his face burning with shame. All of a sudden he felt no better than the manipulative, controlling Walker with his schemes of cajoling her into marrying him and letting her continue to live in fear, making decisions for her because he believed they were best.

Belle deserved the truth.
She deserved to make up her own mind.
Even if it meant she did not choose him.

"Belle…" he started with some difficulty. "There is something you should know… something I need to show you…"

She gave him a surprised look, a bit of sparkle returning to her eyes. "Oh… what is it?"

He shook his head. "Not here… do you know where the Shed Not To Be Used is?"

She gave him a nod, her frown deepening.

"Try to get away tonight and meet me there at midnight. I'll wait for you until two o'clcok… after that I'll know you haven't managed to come and we'll try to find another time. But you need to come there… and you need to be alone."

"Is everything all right?" She was once again caressing his hair, worry evident in her voice and involuntarily he leaned into the touch he had so yearned for in the past weeks.

"It will be," he promised with more confidence than he felt.

Her teeth worried her lower lip for a moment and then she was plastered against him again, her lips crashing to his.
It took him only a moment to respond, his mouth hungrily closing over hers, his tongue begging for entrance.

He was starved for her and he kissed her with a desperate devotion. He felt like he was falling off a cliff and had been falling for a long time, ever since he had come across that first skinned animal. His whole life was spiraling out of control with a dizzying speed and only with her in his arms he didn't feel so helplessly terrified.

Her hands were fisting the hair at the back of his head now, pulling him impossibly close as she pressed herself against him, until he no longer knew where he ended and Belle began.

When he finally pulled back they were both panting heavily and he watched how her eyes widened in agitation as they heard voices approaching the barn.

"Quickly!" she urged him in a low whisper. "I'll distract them, you go around the barn… I'll see you at midnight."

He limbed out of sight as quickly as he could, his heart pounding.

One way or the other, the bough was about to break.

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