Belle and Pierre picked up the newspaper and read it together. The headlines read: "Louis XVI beheaded!!!" Belle let out horrible, ear-piercing sobs.

"LOUIS!!!!! He's..... He's....... he's dead!!!!!!!" she exclaimed. "HOW!! WHY!!!!" she screeched.

"Dear! Shuuuusssssh! We'll be discovered!" whispered Pierre. "You must keep quiet."

Belle stopped sobbing but began to cry softly. The world as she knew it was ending. Quietly and slowly she drifted off into sleep. Pierre watched his wife and children sleeping. He felt so useless. His family had to flee France for their lives and there was nothing he could do to fix it. Marie awoke and smiled up at Pierre.

"Are we almost there yet, Daddy?" She asked with her big baby blue eyes staring up at him.

"Not yet, Baby." He smiled back at her.

"Is that the newspaper, Daddy?" she asked. Pierre nodded. "Can I read it Daddy?"

"Sure Baby." He handed her the technology section.

Marie quieted down and began reading the newspaper. Pierre gazed outside the window watching his homeland grow fainter as they rode by.

"Hey Daddy?" Marie started. "Did you know that the total weight of the Guillotine is 580 kilos? And that the blade weighs over forty kilos? Or that it falls at a rate of seven meters per second? Dr. Joseph Guillotine invented it."

Pierre looked over at his daughter. "Marie, what are you reading?"

"The newspaper, Daddy!" She answered.

"You shouldn't be reading that young lady! Hand it over." Pierre said to his daughter. Marie handed the paper to her dad and looked out the window.

"Hey dad?" Marie asked. "What's a guillotine?"

"It's a killing device Baby. You don't need to be reading about it." Pierre answered.

"Why would the newspaper write about a killing device? Is someone going to die?" She asked.

"Yes Baby." Pierre answered gravely.

"Who daddy?" Marie asked.

"The royals and the nobles, Marie." Pierre answered. She was a big girl; she could handle it.

"Is that why we're leaving? So we don't get killed?" said Marie with tears in her eyes.

"Yes Baby. But we're gonna get out of here. We're going to cross the border into Prussia. Don't tell your brother though, that's not something he should have to worry about." Pierre moved over and gave his daughter a hug.

"Okay Daddy. I understand." Marie answered. She shut her eyes and fell asleep.