Chapter Four: Into The Woods
"Goodbye, Papa!" Christine called out as Gustave hitched Alexandré and Étoile up to the cart the next morning.
"Good luck!"
"Goodbye, ma petite Belle," her father said affectionately.
"Is there anything that you would like for me to bring back from Rennes?"
Christine smiled slightly, already knowing exactly what she wanted.
"A red rose," she said immediately, "and your promise that you'll return home safely."
Gustave chuckled fondly.
"Every year, you ask for a rose..." he sighed.
"Why, Christine, are you so unlike other girls?"
Christine laughed.
"Really, Papa, do you really wish that I was like other girls? Those frivolous things?" she scoffed.
"Besides, every year, you have never failed to bring me a rose, and so that is what I want," the redhead said with a smile.
"I truly don't wish for anything else."
Gustave shook his head in fond exasperation, knowing that there was nothing he could do to convince her otherwise.
His little Christine, always so sweet...
"Then a rose you shall have!" he promised.
"Goodbye, Christine, and take care while I'm gone!"
He urged the horses on and they began trotting away.
"I love you..." Christine called after him.
"I love you too, mon ange!" he called back, smiling and waving at his daughter.
Christine sighed, watching until her father had completely disappeared.
She loved her father so dearly, it was hard when he went on his trips.
But she would be okay.
There were plenty of things she could do here to keep herself busy and pass the time.
There were still chores that needed to be done, and then perhaps when she was finished, if there was still time, she could get back to her book.
She turned around to go back into the house, almost running into someone who had been standing behind her.
She looked up at the familiar face.
Dark brown hair and light blue eyes with perfect white teeth smiling down at her.
"Vicomte," she said shortly, trying to hide her irritation.
He was always following her around, and always seemed to show up at the worst possible moments.
"Bonjour, Christine..."
Some hours later, Gustave was hopelessly lost in the deep forest that surrounded the tiny village.
As he rode along, everything began to look the same.
He could have sworn that he saw that same tree just a few moments ago...
He tried to tell himself that everything was going to be okay, but something deep down inside him began fretting a little bit.
"We should have been there by now..." he frowned in confusion, looking at a fork in the road.
Without thinking much of it, he turned left.
As the horses slowly made their way through the woods, there was a sudden flash of lightning and the horses reared, trying to avoid a tree as it fell, blocking their path.
"Mon Dieu, that was close..." Gustave gasped in relief, his entire body trembling at how close they had come to death.
He tried to whip the stubborn horses when they wouldn't move, but they still wouldn't listen.
"What has gotten into you two?" he asked.
Turning, Gustave stiffened.
Howling.
Wolves.
The horses broke into a full-fledged gallop as the wolves came into view and Gustave tried to steer them back down the path they had just come, but the horses seemed to have a mind of their own.
They raced on through the dark woods, the wolves following close behind.
Gustave felt fear rising in his heart, but he tried to tell himself to stay calm.
If they could only find a way to escape, maybe they could drop the wolves' scent on them...
But then the horses reared again, this time throwing both Gustave and the cart off of them.
Quickly scrambling to his feet, Gustave tried to reach toward the panicked animals and calm them, but the two horses were already out of sight.
But not the wolves.
The wolves were moving towards him, stalking him like prey.
He found himself backing up slowly, until his back hit something cold and hard.
He turned around to find a pair of huge wrought iron gates, frozen over with ice, and what appeared to be a large castle, looming ominously in the distance.
His legs shaking so much that they could barely support his own weight, Gustave fell through the gates as they creaked open, seemingly of their own accord, closing just in time as the nearest wolf apparently grew tired of playing with its food and decided to try its luck at killing said food instead.
His heart racing, Gustave lay on his back in the snow for a few moments, blinking dazedly up at the darkly overcast sky.
Finally, once he had recovered enough to heave himself to his feet, he made his way forward, toward the castle and whoever lived inside.
A/N: Please review to unlock Chapter Five...