Chapter Five: Escape

Discreetly, Belle pushed open the front door of the cottage, and she looked to the right and then to the left. Rumple and Baelfire stood behind her, waiting patiently for her to give them the go ahead.

"Papa, when can we go?" He whispered, shuffling his feet, trying to be as quiet as possible, which was almost impossible for him to do.

"No, not yet, but do you have all the things you need?" Rumple asked his son. Bae nodded slipping his small hand into his father's larger one that was slightly hairy on the knuckles.

Belle turned and nodded gesturing for them to follow her outside. She pulled her hood over her head tightly clutching the book that hid beneath her cloak, absent mindedly caressing the spine. She looked behind her to see if the other two were following her and smiled at the sight of father and son holding hands. The image brought to mind memories of when she would hold her own father's hand as they went to market.

Mid-step, Belle stopped causing Rumple to bump into her. "Belle what is it?"

Her eyes rounded and she shivered violently, and slipped the book into a hidden pocket within her cloak. Rumple's eyes shifted in the direction of where she was looking. There were three men on horses interrogating Rory and his wife.

Rumple narrowed his eyes and began walking forward, but Belle placed her arm in front of him to keep him from moving forward.

"Don't. Those are Hunters and they will kill you easily and faster than you can run away."

"That's Graham," she pointed to the leaner one with dirty blonde curls. "Graham is a tracker. He has the ability to catch your scent within 2 miles as long as he has it already. He is nicknamed the wolf. He also is very swift on his feet. The one with the black hair, that's Gaston Verlaine. He's of noble birth and can shoot from great distances. He's also very strong, so it's best to be quick in your movements. He's also very arrogant with quite a temper, but I wouldn't attempt to piss him off."

Rumple noted that Belle shivered again as she described Gaston's abilities and temperament. He would have to ask her about that later.

"The grey haired man is Rutgar. He shows no mercy and cannot be reasoned with. He's a particularly vicious and brutal hunter."

He nodded to all her explanations of the three gentlemen. "So what you're saying is don't cross or at least be weary of them. Are they the ones who are after you?"

She nodded. "They were probably sent though."

"Sent? By whom?" Rumple asked, raising his brow.

"Either Cora or King George, her lover," Belle said. Rumple did not miss her look of disgust.

Rumple touched her arm frowning. "You don't have to worry. I won't let any of them come near you."

"I appreciate that, but I wish you would stop volunteering your life to protect mine," Belle replied. Keep Baelfire close," she warned.

"Do ye hear that son? Stay close to me and see those men over there? Don't go anywhere near them," Rumple told his son, who nodded vigorously.

"Are you sure you want to continue on with me? This is your last chance to turn back," Belle said looking at both of them.

"Not a chance. You're part of life and our friend dearie. We won't let ye go on your own if these people are after ye. How will we get out of here Belle without being seen?" Rumple asked.

His loyalty warmed her heart, but made her anxious at the same time. If something happened to him or Baelfire on this journey she would never forgive herself. It seemed she couldn't persuade them though. She wouldn't give up trying to convince them otherwise.

"I think we'll have to try the old fashioned method by going in a different direction from where the hunters are coming from," she said.

Rumple smiled. "I might be able to navigate us through town without being seen, but if anyone does see us we're in trouble," Rumple said.

Belle's brow crinkled as she asked, "Why, would people in this town actually sell us out?"

"I'm not the most liked person in this town. Either they ignore me or mock me for my cowardice for running away from the battlefield," he said shrugging it off.

He had grown used to how the town's folk treated him, with only a few exceptions, and accepted the mocking. After years of being bullied by Milah, the way the town's folk treated him was nothing more than children on the school yard trying to act tough.

"What happened?" Belle asked, forgetting for a moment they were trying to escape being seen by the Hunters.

"I'll tell you about it once we get out of town," Rumple replied.

Belle nodded. "Well lead the way then Rumple."

"Follow me. Bae, are you ready? Remember that game we use to play where we pretend we were escaping from the evil queen's knights? We're going tae play that," Rumple told his son.

Baelfire nodded and squeezed his father's hand. The two led the way with Belle following behind. Belle kept glancing behind her praying they weren't seen or followed. They slipped between buildings and when they would reach one turn where there was someone on the other side; Rumple would guide them in the opposite direction.

Rutgar's creature lifted its head and inhaled deeply as it caught a familiar scent. The creature took off and Captain Rutgar ordered his horse forward. Graham and Gaston followed keeping their eyes and ears out for a familiar auburn beauty.

"She must be here somewhere," Rutgar muttered.

"I can't wait to get my hands on that bitch," Gaston shared with Graham. "Whenever they don't need her for her powers I'll be sure use my own powers over her." Gaston hadn't noticed Graham's grimace as he talked of what he would do with Belle once they had her.

Gaston licked his lips imagining himself on top of her caressing her creamy flesh as he marked her as his own little toy. She would have been his if she hadn't run away in the first place and it all started with her finding that stupid book and becoming this librarian person. If that hadn't happened she would have been his wife, but now she had these crazy notions inside her head. Belle had always tried to defy him, but now she had magic.

At least he didn't have to worry about those two idiot gypsy boys, who were always protecting her. Why did Belle prefer their company anyway? They were the blood of thieves, the scum of this world, and they were always trying to frighten people with their curses.

Once Belle was his as she was supposed to be, he would eliminate these silly notions of superiority she had, but first they had to catch her. That shouldn't be too hard as she was just a stupid woman, and no one would protect a freak with her powers.

When they were close enough to a way out of town, Belle paused for a moment, and closed her eyes as she took a long slow breath.

"Papa is something wrong with Miss Belle?" Baelfire said frowning.

Rumple approached, hesitantly, mimicking his boy's expression of concern. "Belle, what's wrong? Do you need to rest?"

Her eyes shot open and they were wide with fear. "Rutgar is getting close. His creatures have caught our scent. We must go now," she urged.

Rumple nodded and taking his son's hand he quickened his pace. They were not far from the outskirts of town when Baelfire looked behind him he screamed as his eyes unconsciously looked upward. A creature swooped down from the roof of one of the buildings baring his pointed teeth.

Rumple stared in horror, but his instincts to protect his son and Belle took over and he yelled, "Run!" He grabbed Belle's hand, and hurried them out of there as the creature gained on them.

"You can't run forever Princess," Rutgar shouted.

Belle looked behind her, eyes once again wide in fear, and stuck her hand inside her cloak pocket. Inside were various stones of different colors that were given to her by Jefferson the last time she saw him, they were called traveling stones, and she tried sift through her pocket for one. Once she grasped one of the stones, not caring which one was which, she rubbed it with her fingertips picturing the safest place she could think of. The one place that was home away from home…..