CHAPTER 4:
Gaston was as surprised as anybody by the sudden appearance of Belle in the tavern, but he was not displeased to see her. Far from it.
LeFou was at his side, and the two men exchanged a glance that said: the fox is unkenneled.
Swelling with pride — for he felt sure that this was a sign she had come to her senses and reconsidered the marriage proposal — Gaston slugged down his beer in one gulp and rose to greet her. "Belle! Fancy seeing you in here," he smiled. "Do I need to guess the occasion?"
Belle looked around and saw several pairs of eyes upon her. In one case there was a lone eye upon her, from a pirate-looking fellow. She sighed in dismay; yet she had come to realize that Gaston enjoyed making a spectacle of his courtship. She might as well let everyone hear: if she didn't announce it herself, Gaston probably would.
In the time it took Belle to race from her home to the tavern, she had rehearsed several times exactly what she was going to say. She knew that she had to be very precise, in order to avoid making any promises that she couldn't or wouldn't keep. "I've been thinking about your marriage proposal…" she began.
The men of the tavern gasped and hooted with a tone of We all knew she'd come around. LeFou slapped Gaston on the back — which due to his meager height actually hit the buttocks region — in congratulations. "Told ya! You just needed to be patient!"
Gaston responded to LeFou's accidental groping by pounding him on the head with such force that he was knocked unconscious.
"…And I am happy reconsider the idea," continued Belle, unfazed, "provided, you can settle two concerns I have."
"What concerns?" asked a smiling Gaston, making a gesture like he couldn't imagine what these concerns might be, or that they were any obstacle of note.
"First," said Belle, "I want to have a long engagement. Six months at least." This demand was made with the intention that she could weasel out if needed. An extended engagement meant there was more time for her to do it in. "I need — time to settle the other concern."
"Which is?"
This was the part she had to word most cautiously. "You know that when I care about people, I'd do just about anything for them. I want to know that my husband will back me up when I have friends in need. I need to see a demonstration of this." Belle smiled nervously.
"So you… want me to lend money to your broke-ass father?" asked Gaston.
"No!" said an offended Belle. "In fact — I have quite another friend who needs my help. And he happens to need it right now. Come with me, and we can settle the question immediately!"
That sounded like a fine idea to Gaston. He followed Belle out the door, raising his hands in the air like a prize-fight champion. The taverners applauded and cheered for him, wishing him well in his victory and marriage.
Belle was mildly disgusted with herself, but she considered it all fair play: if Gaston presumed he could go about acting like he had every right to expect her affections for no reason whatsoever, it suggested she had a right to make a few demands of him in turn. And, if by some miracle he really did prove to be a better person than she thought him to be, she could always stick out the engagement and go through with the marriage. She had only promised to reconsider his proposal, but had never actually said yes.
"So, Belle," said Gaston as they left the tavern, "you only promised to reconsider my proposal, but never actually said yes. I'm going to need that answer now."
She furrowed her brow in dismay. "Well, Gaston," said Belle with enforced cheer, "that's what this test will decide. If you do a good job, then I will know for sure that I can be your fiancée — or not."
"If I'm not good enough for your fiancé, then you're going to die an old maid."
"Touché," said Belle. "But right now, my friend is being forced into a marriage with some kind of… evil Enchantress, and there's no time to waste. We need to get to the castle — the one in the forest — and save him."
"Your friend is a he?"
"Yes," said Belle sternly. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Not at all," said Gaston, amused. "So we have to save him from an unwanted marriage he can't get out of by himself, huh? I don't know my flowers, but I can recognize a pansy."
Belle decided not to argue about it. "It's no normal woman who has him. She has magic on her side! She's using spells to control him."
Gaston screwed up his handsome face in disgust. "Ugh. Witchcraft. He's not one of your book friends, is he?" Gaston always suspected books and witchcraft inherently went together.
Belle suddenly had a realization. "Books. Yes. Yes! Come to my house. Hurry!" She began to run for her cottage. Gaston shrugged and tromped behind her.
Bursting into her bedroom, Belle grabbed the magical book she had been given by the Enchantress. Before Gaston had even entered the house behind her, she cried aloud to the tome: "Show me a book that will defeat the Enchantress's spells!"
She opened the cover to find a grimoire. It showed illustrations for a variety of mystical operations, including designs for magical talismans and jewelry. She hurried to read through the headings, finding at last a picture captioned: Gyges' Ring of Invisibility to Preserve Against Any Witchcraft or Enchantment. It depicted a ring and a talisman, which the text assured, when worn together on the finger, would render one fully invisible to all perception and also immune to the effects of enchantment.
Still, Belle remained frustrated. There was no time to sculpt and smith elaborate pieces of jewelry. The time it had taken to recruit Gaston might have already been too much delay.
Gaston entered the room at last, quite ignorant about Belle's purpose. He looked around at the modest bedroom, vaguely wondering if this was all some ploy to seduce him, and consequently supposing it so.
Belle's mind was focused on the grimoire. She flipped through the pages, looking to see if there were some other spell that could be performed with greater haste. Gaston sat on the bed beside her and started to put his arm around her, but Belle — not having noticed — leapt from the mattress and bounded downstairs, much to the surprise and annoyance of her semi-fiancé.
She flew into her father's workshop. "Papa!" she cried. "Papa, I need your help!"
Maurice heard her. He stopped what he was doing. He could already guess her purpose had something to do with the Prince.
Belle raced to him with the book in hand, and pointed out the illustration. "I need a ring like this, right away! Right now! Do you know of any way to make one quickly?" She hoped he might have some secret high-speed forge or an alternative to metal that could be poured and set instantaneously.
Maurice took the book and examined it, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Without looking up, he called over his shoulder, "Hello, Gaston."
Gaston had just come through the door, and his towering figure was not one to be ignored or mistaken. "Maurice," he answered with a nod.
Maurice set down the book and took up a pair of scissors that were laying on his worktable. With a few snips, he had clipped the illustration of the ring from the page, and cut a hole in the center. The result was a ring exactly like the one in the book — made of paper.
Belle smiled in relief. "You're a genius!" She took the paper ring and slid it onto her finger. It was overlarge for her, but it was a ring. Still, nothing happened. At first she thought the magic had failed, but then she remembered that the talisman was needed in combination. She took up the scissors herself, and overcame any distress she would normally feel at damaging a book.
"What is all of this?" demanded Gaston. Belle had explained none of her antics to him. "I thought we were going to save your friend, not do arts and crafts."
"Get your horse, and anything else for the rescue," said Belle to Gaston, trimming the talisman into shape. "We'll set out immediately."
Gaston was rather miffed at being ordered around with no say in anything; but, he was willing to make a few concessions for his beautiful future bride. He obeyed the order with a "Yes, dear," that oozed with spleen, and he vanished out the doorway.
Belle took the talisman cutout and tucked it inside of the ring. Still she perceived nothing. She was dismayed: certainly papa's strategy for a quick-fix ring had failed.
"One more thing before you leave, Belle," said Maurice, turning round. He then looked all about him, mystified. "Belle?" he called. He suddenly hurried from the room, as if he supposed that she had left with Gaston.
Belle stood baffled at her father's behavior — but then she realized the ring had worked. He couldn't see her, even though she noticed no change as the user. She raced upstairs once more, and retrieved her satchel and the magic mirror.
By the time she had Philippe ready to go, Gaston was at her side, astride his own famous red-eyed horse, Tencendur. He was armed to the teeth, with his bow and quiver, gun and powder, several knives, slingshot, boomerang, a miniature trebuchet. Good lord, what weapon didn't this man have?
"So we're breaking into a castle?" Gaston asked to confirm their errand. Belle affirmed. "Jeez. We should have gathered a whole army to lay siege," he said, rolling his eyes. "If I had twenty minutes to sing a song, I could recruit us some help. But, I'll do what I can. I'm amazing like that."
Maurice was with them as they made their final preparations. Truly, the old man wanted to attend, to ensure his daughter's safety on this dangerous task — but, as they had only one horse, and he had already twice needed Belle to save him on recent misadventures, he could only rely on Belle's courage and Gaston's brawn to get them both home safely. There was a speedy but meaningful farewell exchanged between father and daughter, after which she set forth with her bulky new companion.
The afternoon was on the chilly side for the start of the spring season; and a rainstorm started up to further hinder their progress. The horses needed to walk slowly to avoid slipping in the thick mud of the forest. The few hours' journey to the castle took every bit as long as always. Belle was so worried for the Prince that, many times over, she almost stopped to check the magic mirror for an update on his condition. Yet she knew that to do this would be folly — at best it would prove needless; and most probably it would only depict to her a distress she could not alleviate, while hindering his speedy rescue from it.
By the time they arrived in view of the castle, night had fallen. Gaston said scarcely a word the whole time, to Belle's relief; but when they had the building in their sights, he remarked upon its appearance with surprise. Every time he had seen the place over the past ten years, it had appeared abandoned and decaying. Now, it looked like it had been built that very same day.
"That was the magic, before," said Belle. "Part of a curse that had been put upon the building and everyone inside."
Gaston stifled a groan. "You're lucky you're gorgeous, Belle," he said, shaking his head in dismay. Witchcraft was one of the few things that rendered even the strongman squeamish: it wasn't very punchable. Still, he knew that the most beautiful girl he ever met was testing him, and he was obliged to prove himself. "You know, I wouldn't put up with this for just anyone. It doesn't make sense."
"Well, Gaston," replied Belle, "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't suppose you've more strength than sense."
Gaston considered the remark a mere compliment, and at the encouragement he hastened ahead.
The couple reached the giltwork gates of the castle. The bars, dotted with raindrops, sparkled in the moonlight. Gaston got down from his horse to open them.
When he touched his yellow riding glove to the metal, there was a sharp and painful zap through his fingers that made him yelp. He released the bars, puzzled. He reached out and touched them once again, likewise being stung with a greenish energy.
"There's some kind of venom all over the gate," said Gaston, shaking out his injured hands. A snake bite was the nearest sensation that he knew to this.
"It must be a spell," said Belle, alarmed. For a moment she was afraid that they wouldn't be able to enter; but she remembered that the ring and talisman were supposed to overcome any spells. Now to put it to the test. "Hang on," she whispered, digging through the satchel for her paper cutouts. When located, she placed the ring and talisman upon her finger.
A disturbed Gaston watched her vanish into thin air.
A moment passed, and then the gates seemed to open of their own accord, splashing water as they flew. The ring's power of invisibility applied to the unseen spirits and forces that operated the magic used by the Enchantress — if these powers were insensible to a target, the magic could not take effect.
Belle removed the ring and immediately returned to a visible state. The talisman was becoming damp in the wet night air, and she grasped it protectively in her hand — a paper ring and talisman made sense for speedy manufacture, but she could already see that they might not hold up through the night. She would have to be very careful with their use.
Visible once again, she gestured for Gaston to follow her. She had an idea of where she wanted to go, and was familiar with the place after her time spent with the Beast.
"I think we can sneak around back without being noticed," she said to her companion.
The horses were left at the gate to fend for themselves. The semi-affianced pair stepped onto the property, and began as if to circle the building. Well-groomed shrubs and evergreens surrounded them as they crossed the shining walkways. Belle marveled at all the foliage, thinking she had not remembered so many plants being at the castle.
Suddenly the plants reached out with long rough branches like tentacles, and seized the astonished couple. Belle screamed. Gaston reacted quickly, going for his hunting knife and slicing at branches as they came for him. At his back, another batch of bushes reached and nearly knocked him over. An orange tree knocked the knife from his hand.
Unusually well practiced in octopus wrestling for someone who lived in the mountains, Gaston found this strange adventure demanded much the same skill set. Thus he sometimes let the snaking branches wrap around his strong limbs, only to flex his muscles with such force that the wood snapped apart. He sometimes bit the tendrils in two with his marvelous teeth. Still, he was grossly outnumbered by the arboreal monsters.
Meanwhile, Belle was being smothered in branches, and her screams were stifled as the tendrils began to encircle her face. In her hand she still held the paper ring and talisman. She could not see them, and was forced to feel them out amidst the chaos of the branch attack. Finally she got her finger through the paper, and vanished. The confused branches released her, perceiving no more target to hold.
Without her appearance to draw attention, Belle bolted at once for the tool shed. She knew she could find an axe in there. Her intent was to chop down the plants, hopefully kill them, and thereby secure Gaston's release.
As she threw open the doors of the shed, she heard behind her a gunshot. She winced, hoping it wouldn't attract attention from the Enchantress or any other enemy beings. She spent a moment to rummage about in the dark shed and find what she was looking for.
Just as she emerged with the axe in hand, a roaring orange glow came from the side of the castle where she had left Gaston. The scent of the rain and wetness was poisoned with a burnt gunpowder stench. Something was on fire.
Racing with alarm, Belle returned to the scene and found everything blackened and charred. Some small flames were still aglow, but speedily drowned in the wet garden. One tree seemed to have been ripped out by the roots; the others were all burnt to a charcoal crisp.
Gaston too was blackened and singed, and his shirt was torn open in several places; but evidently he was unharmed. Belle found him plucking the remnants of branches from his clothes and retrieving his dropped weapons from the ground.
"Gaston, what happened?" asked Belle. He did not respond. She realized that the ring's power of invisibility was cloaking any noises she made. She removed the ring and asked the question again, visible and audible.
Gaston looked at her. "Ah! There you are. Yeah, I used a powder charge to burn everything down. Figured that would get 'em. Can't use the gun anymore, but, wouldn't have mattered otherwise."
While Belle was happy that Gaston had emerged safely from the misadventure, she was dismayed he had employed such a showy solution. "I can't suppose people in the castle didn't see that," she groaned.
"Ah, don't worry," said Gaston with a smile as he dusted soot from his tattered clothing. "We'll be in and out in no time. In and out. Get it? Get it? …Aw, you are such a prude, Belle."
