No Revolution Flor You
By Linda J.
CH 8
Denise had lost all track of time as she freely roamed the forest and fields. She didn't worry about why she had turned into a beast or how long she'd stay that way. She only thought of her new found freedom and the joy discovering independence. No servants fawning over her, no rigid rules of protocol or manners. Although she was well aware that she would soon have to turn around and end her adventure, the day had not yet ended and there was still so much to see.
Every now and then she'd looked over her shoulder to make sure the castle was still in sight and every time she could spot it, a safe and comforting feeling filled Denise's soul and she would confidently travel on.
Then, off in the distance, she heard the sound of water running over stones while birds chirped from their perches and the breeze rippled gently through the leaves making a soothing brushing noise. She decided to follow the sound of the water and took off in a flash. Soon, she found herself on top of a tall bank that was about eight feet or so away from the babbling brook down below. The young beast then noticed a buck drinking freely from the other side of the brook. She awed at the sight of the deer as she also noticed how refreshing that cool water looked. Quietly and slowly she inched down the edge of the bank, not sure how close the buck would allow her to come near him.
Suddenly the deer seemed alerted to her presence and stopped drinking. He looked up and stared straight at Denise who stood frozen in her steps not even breathing. The buck seemed to calmly study the new creature standing in front of him then went back to drink more water.
A sudden warm and fuzzy glow came over Denise as she carefully exhaled and allowed herself to breathe again. She looked longingly at that oh-so-inviting brook and tried to swallow. The beast was absolutely parched. She knelt down beside the brook and cupped her hands to catch the water and drink. Even though her instincts told her to just stick her face in the water and suck it in, she wasn't about to lose all her humanity. She might have been a beast, but she certainly was not an animal.
The deer now rose it's head and began to casually walk around looking for something green and soft to nibble on. The patches of grass that clung to the
Edge of the brook was exactly what the buck was looking for and he began to munch away pulling at the roots.
Denise sat up and watched in quiet awe when suddenly the buck stopped dead in his tracks and sprang up his head with a quite terrified look in his eyes. Denise perked up and heard the noises too. It was the sound of voices.
It was definitely voices of young men, three of them she was certain. Then came the horrible sound of a gunshot quickly followed by the flutter of many bird's wings filled the air. In a heartbeat, the buck took off and Denise too was more than ready to leave.
She turned around to look for the castle expecting to see it just off a way, but it was nowhere in sight. An instant pang of panic grabbed her inner being as she now realized how out of her element she really was. Suddenly that joy of independence seemed less blissful.
The voices were coming closer now. She listened carefully, hoping to recognize at least one of those voices. Her heart sank and began to race even faster than it already was. They were not voices she was familiar with, they were strange voices and these strangers had a gun.
'What were they shooting at? Probably beasts,' she thought dreadfully to herself. 'and I'm a beast!'
She thought of running in same the direction the deer went, but that would only take her further away from home. So she started to climb the bank's ledge in hopes of backtracking her way back home. However, just as she made it to the top, she could hear the voices coming closer her way.
"Did you hit anything?" Denise heard one of the voices say.
"Sun was in my eyes," said another voice.
Denise knew her time to run was over. She had no other choice than to scramble up a nearby large tall tree and hide in the higher branches, hoping the men would simply pass by. Moments later, two young teenage boys came into view. The boys looked very much like brothers. Indeed they could pass for twins. Both were tall and brawny with dark thick hair. They stood a few feet from the edge of the bank in a stoic gaze as if they were marble statues of Roman gods.
The third boy who was struggling to keep up with the other two was nothing like a statue of a Roman god. He was short, pudgy and clumsy with dirty ash-blond, shaggy hair and a big ugly nose. He was dragging an empty knapsack on the ground behind him as he awkwardly made his way to the bank's edge.
"If you had brought father's dogs with us this time," Denise could hear one of the handsome boys complain, "We'd have enough meat for both of us already."
"So you could shoot another one?" the other handsome boy quarreled.
"I already told you that was an accident." the first boy smugly replied.
"Oh yeah?" the second boy hissed. "Then why did you laugh when I told you she died?"
"You've made those dogs fat and lazy!" the first boy insisted. "Father should have left them to me instead of you."
The other boy then shoved the first boy in the chest. "Father left the dogs to my mother and he left his guns to your mother. Your mother has sold all the guns except for that rusty old musket you in your hands, while my mother has bred a pen full of healthy hunting hounds. So, watch what you say to me," the second boy continued to shove the first boy in the chest.
"Chances are you'll be starving this winter, while my mother and I will have enough money to buy whatever we want to eat."
The first boy shoved back, "It would be just terrible if something awful happened to your precious "widdle" puppies. Say, like…" he shoved even harder a second time. "Like someone snuck some poison into the food one night. Then what would your mama get the money for food huh? Count on you to hunt? You've never fired a shot!"
"Don't ever threaten my dogs again!" the second boy screamed and tried to take a swing at the first boy.
The two boys then began to aggressively punch, push and shove each other back and forth getting closer and closer to the ledge. The third boy finally caught up to the other two and sat down on a nearby tree stump. "Too bad Gaston didn't leave either one of you any of his hunting skills," he huffed under his breath.
Instantly, both handsome boys stopped their shoving and turned their scorn on their companion.
"What did you say about our father?" both boys angrily sneered in unison and slowly began to approach the third boy.
"Now, now Andre, Clovis," the chubby boy quickly stood and began to back away. "Everybody knows what a great hunter Gaston was. I'm sorry that neither one of you are as good as him."
"Is that so?" they began to circle him. "You're sayin' we can't hunt?"
"No, no, no!" the boy frightfully insisted as he tried to keep his distance on both teenagers who are attempting to surround him. "Of course not!"
"Well I think you did!" the second teenager, Clovis, accused him as he quickly snatched the knapsack away from the boy.
"Hey!" The boy focused all his attention on Clovis as he grasped at the air trying to retrieve his bag. The first teenager, Andre, took advantage of the boy foolishly forgetting that he was right behind him and grabbed him around the waist.
Denise gasped at the sight, but remind still as stone as she watched from above. Clovis had now stripped the drawstring from the bag and began tying the boy's hands together behind his back. Clovis then put the large sack over the boy's head while he and his half-brother sadistically laughed.
"Ah not again!" Denise could hear the boy complain from underneath the sack.
"Oh yeah, you simple minded ass-licker," Andre cruelly snickered as he and Clovis began to twirl the boy around on his feet. "Again!"
After about 13 complete cycles and they turned the boy loose, leaving him to stagger and fall to his knees.
"Now, let's see how good you are making it back home." The two older boys grabbed their belongings and went back in the direction they came, leaving their companion alone with his hands tied behind his back and a sack over his head. Denise watched quietly as the two bullies left her sight while the boy underneath, clumsily got back on his feet.
"I said I was sorry!" the boy grumbled irritatedly as he continued to waver to and fro from the dizziness. He tried to take a step then two only to lose his footing on the stone that was in his way. Denise could hear the boy was beginning to breathing hard under the heavy bag and it began to worry her. The bullies' poor victim continued to stumble about, calling for his friends to forgive him and return to his rescue but Denise could only hear their footsteps getting fainter and fainter.
She was deciding whether she should climb down and assist the lad when suddenly he made it to the edge of the bank then tripped and fell, rolling down the bank and landing in the brook with a splash.
Without hesitation, the young beast shimmied down the tree and rushed to the boy's aid. "Are you alright?"
The boy was trying to stand up from when he heard the girl's voice and froze with fright, then began turning his head left and right not sure which direction the voice came from. "Who, who is that? Is it you Blanche?"
At first, Denise didn't know if she should respond; she'd never been anyone's rescuer before nor had she ever introduced herself to someone, that was something servants did. "Ah…" she quietly and nervously spoke, "no, it's not Blanche."
The boy was seemingly alarmed at her answer as he finally found his footing. "Oh," his voice seemed a little shaky. "M-m-mich-elle?"
Denise was now in the water too and the boy could hear her quickly approaching. He began to step backward. "Charlotte?"
Denise would not answer however and now he turned to run for his life, blinded or not. "Nicole? Marie? Justine?" He began yelling out names as he tried his best to run through the brook only to stumble again and fell to his knees. "Ow!" he seemed to almost mention as an after-thought.
"Are you alright?" Denise asked again.
"Yah, at least the water isn't freezing like it was last time they left me here."
"The last time?" Denise asked unbelievably. "Have those mean boys done this to you before?"
"Oh yeah, all the time." the boy responded casually. " Now let me finish guessing your name."
"Wouldn't you rather I take that sack off your head first?" Denise wondered out loud.
"No, no, no. That would ruin the surprise. I like this game." the boy happily chirped. "Um, Olive?"
"No," Denise answered impatiently. "Listen…"
"Yvonne?" the boy rudely interrupted then began to rapidly throw names at her. "Margot, Alix, Sara...?"
"No! No! No!" she was beginning to lose her temper.
"My name is Deni…" suddenly stopped in the middle of her name. She turned her head and listened carefully.
"Denise!" the boy yelled in excitement. "I guessed it! I guessed it!" he began to sing.
"Shhh!" she practically growled. "Those boys are coming back."
Instantly the boy's enthusiasm vanished. "Oh rats!" he grumbled as he finally began to stand up again. "That's the end of fun for me I guess."
Feeling sorry for the lad, Denise quickly hoisted him over her shoulder and began running away in the opposite direction knowing it would take her even farther away from the castle. "Not if I can help it."