Disclaimer: Shares for Stephenie Meyer: 100 percent; Shares for Us: None.

A/N: A big thank you to my reviewers and to Peach (of course)!! This is the start of Part II, and, unless otherwise indicated, the whole thing will be in third-person limited Bella mode. So, yeah. Also, I tried to make Jacob as likable as possible, but his last impression on me was the slightly bitter Jacob, not the sweet, innocent boy we'd all like to see.

In an answer to the reviews, no, that witch was not Bella. Bella's going to be a helpless mortal for the entire story :). AND, yes, it says Mid-18th Century, not 17th Century. A good chunk of time passed by. Anyway, go on and read!


Part II—Chapter 3: Fairytale

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." – Carl Segan

-Mid-18th Century France-

"…And in their place there was furniture, scattered and strewn across the hushed lawn, inert yet mobile all at once. In the distance was the mournful yowling of wolves, echoing off among the peaks of the mountains and disappearing into the night, blending with the serene silvery glow of the moon. Upon the return of the beastly creature, he flew into such a rage that he destroyed the beautiful center of the castle. But in his dismay, he locked himself—his very soul and being—within the cold, stone walls forever, never to be seen by humankind again."

Isabella Swan raised her head from the book to Jacob, her delicate, heart-shaped face alight from the fervor of her reading. Her deep, brown eyes were equal parts wondering and questioning as she watched for her best friend's reaction to the tale. As her confidante, he was entitled to the honor of giving honest feedback on almost anything Bella asked for.

"Well? What do you think of it?"

Jacob barely stole a glance at her. He was preoccupied with browsing through the scrap metal from the silversmith and steering his friend around potentially dangerous obstacles, including the people that bustled busily around the marketplace.

Bella tapped her foot impatiently, closing the book with a meaningful snap. She knew that being a girl rendered her two-year seniority meaningless, but Jacob usually paid his due. "Jacob!"

"What?"

"What do you think of the—"

"Sir, is it possible for this to be welded into a cylinder?"

"I am not a 'sir', Jacob Black. And—"

He sighed, exasperated. "Not you, Bells."

Bella slowly closed her eyes and twitched her elbow away from his protective hand, moving off closer towards the door of the shop. She now wondered if she should have simply trailed after her two sisters instead; Jacob could spend half a day with the smiths, gathering pieces for what they both called his "project", a contraption that could eventually make a difference in the country. Possibly even the entire continent. Bella saw the potential in the "thing" (whatever it was), even though to others it appeared just a little more than a pile of junk pieced together. She trusted Jacob to know what he was doing. She just wished that he read a little more—that ought to be just as interesting as creating some odd device. And reading manuals most certainly didn't count, not in the least bit.

Resigning herself to an interminable hour of metal browsing, she plopped down on a stool and proceeded to flip through the handsome, leather-bound book on her lap. Arriving to the tale of a prince rescuing a maiden, she thought bemusedly, Surely princes in the true concept of the art don't exist. They can't possibly, in a world as rationalized as this.

No one could know this better than her. Her mother, beloved though she was, had run off to fashionable Paris to become an actress. She had to do it, Renee had often told her, or else she may just go mad trying to be a good little housewife in a too-perfect community. It wasn't because she was tired of her daughter—no, never! In fact, Bella had yet to give a definite answer to her mother's pleas of visiting Paris. She'd hedged around it a bit, so as not to hurt her father, Charles', feelings. Besides, she wanted to give her mother and her fiancée their leeway. Who wanted a growing teenager hanging around everyday? That wasn't her idea of a romance.

Speak of the devil, and he shall come. Bella grimaced, and raised the open book to her face, in hopes of hiding the sight of the overly-attentive figure otherwise known as Sir Newton's son.

'Darling Michael' was the young man who her sisters—and every other girl in vicinity, for that matter—sighed and gushed over obsessively. Bella couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Newton was a nice sort—too nice, perhaps, with just the slightest tinge of snobbery that came with a lordly lineage. That bit, Bella didn't blame him. She only wished he could bring his far-fetched hopes of marrying her down to a close. It was never going to happen. For herself, she wanted someone a little, oh, a little less generic.

Peeking over the book, she watched him saunter down the wide boulevard, shooting open smiles at the girls that vied for his attention on the sidelines.

"Sickening fop, Newton. You're not staring at him, are you?"

Bella jumped, dropping the book with a hard smack onto the ground. She blushed at the curious stares that she received and hastily gathered the book back into her arms. Rising from the stool, she twitched her apron and skirt with what dignity she felt she had left, and swept out of the store in high dudgeon without a word to Jacob.

And she probably would have tripped over the chicken that chose at that moment to cross her path, had he not been there in time to steady her.

"Bella?" Jacob held onto her arm with his free hand.

"Are you finished here?"

"Yes."

"Oh, good. And I was just waiting to see if Newton would pass without popping out at me like he usually does."

With a laugh, Jacob led them into the active streets, Bella tucking the book safely under her arm and keeping a lookout for any more loose poultry.

"What's it to you?" she suddenly asked.

"Which?"

"What's your interest in whether I fancy Michael or not?"

Jacob remained thoughtfully silent for a moment, and Bella for the briefest second feared what thoughts were roiling through his mind.

"I just don't think he's good enough for you," he finally answered.

Bella scrutinized him, and then shrugged, ending the awkward conversation. She'd never dealt well with emotions, especially when it came tied hand in hand with the heart. Jacob cast it up to having two bothersome sisters, but she believed it was because she was more her father's child than anything else. Constable Swan preferred not to get sentimental, and often avoided the petty tiffs that her sisters got into after watching 'Darling Michael's attentions get distracted.

"So, where are we off to now, Miss Swan?"

She smiled. "To fetch Lauren and Jessica."

The smile fell slightly from his face. "Shopping for new clothes? Please tell me that they are at the store right around the block."

"If I told you that, I wouldn't know my sisters."

Jacob suppressed a groan and continued to plow through the crowded boulevard, avoiding the wheelbarrows and carts that threatened to plow right on their unfortunate selves. Bella tripped along after him, mumbling excuses to the people she happened to bump into. But, as always, her eyes were wandering about the marketplace in curiosity: on the stalls, on the people that shouted and encouraged attention, on the minstrels. Her senses couldn't help but absorb the energy that engulfed the entire street. It was both maddening and exhilarating, for such a small village as theirs.

Despite their village's size, it contained quaint wonders that made people forget its stature and instead fall in love with it for its own sake. The cottages that grouped along the highland were pleasing to the beholder, at their curling, yet modest ironwork and their appealingly red roofs. The thin, willowy trees and vegetation only added to the charm. And then there was the community's pride and joy—their church, with its graceful build and twin silver bells, both hung on either side of the mellow clock. From afar on a sunny day, one might even believe the place to have come straight from a storybook, what with the brooding castle and the deep green of the sprawling forests.

Bella glanced to her left as they bustled through, taking in the castle. Its grey, stone walls seemed stern to her, but somehow held some sort of gravity. Squinting at the windows, she could have sworn that a curtain shuddered back into its rightful place. She shuddered; maybe she did have an overactive imagination.

"Bella, they're there." Jacob wrinkled his nose and pointed towards a store flocked by women.

"What? Oh, right, them." She shook her head at her friend's odd expression, and smiled at him hopefully. "I don't suppose you're going to come with me?"

"Not a chance. Fat women are everywhere to help cushion a blow, so why bother?"

Bella pulled a face at his remark, turned on her heel, and dove into the shop. She skirted around a table piled high with fabrics, trying hard not to step on the hems of the dresses that the women flourished. Lauren, Jessica, please don't spend father's money, she silently begged. This place was worse than she thought. It was practically a battlefield.

"Jessica, dear, that will need to be…adjusted for your girth."

There! Bella hastily made her way to where her sisters were having their discussion, and found Lauren with several pieces of clothing over her arm, idly checking her nails while watching Jess posture for her.

"You can't buy all of that," Bella stated firmly, coming to stand beside them.

"Um…yes. Bella, doesn't that dress look simply awful on your sister?"

"Er, well, it's a bit flashy don't you think?"

Jessica rolled her eyes and tossed her impossibly curly hair over her shoulder. "Of course it's flashy, silly. It's for Michael!"

"But you'll be attracting all the wrong attentions if you wear that horrid contraption. Try something else, won't you?" Lauren sniffed, as she tried the effect of pink against her complexion. Jessica pouted, but continued to stare wistfully at her reflection.

Bella, not withstanding it any longer, placed a hand on either of their shoulders and began to steer them out of the store. She ignored their protests.

"Bella!" Lauren stared at her with wide, blue eyes. "I'm the oldest, and I say—"

"I don't really think it matters what you say on this issue, because you're going to drive us all to the poorhouse if you don't put those things down!" she hissed.

"Are we really going to live at the poorhouse?" Jessica ventured timidly.

She went unnoticed. Lauren drilled her gaze into her younger sister's icily, resentfully. Bella met it with a stubbornly determined expression. Finally, with a melodramatic sigh, Lauren dumped the dresses over a chair and pranced out of the shop.

"Isabella Marie, that was either the most foolish or wisest decision you've ever made me do."

Bella followed behind her, dragging Jessica by the wrist. "Why wise?"

"Because those dresses might just be too loud, after all."

Jessica threw her gown into the arms of a passing lady at the words.

"Looking like simple, sweet village girls might just be what we need to get—"

"Bella!"

Lord, why?

"Michael, what a pleasant surprise!" Lauren gushed, slyly pushing her sisters to the back.

For once, Bella was grateful for her obsession. Now, if she could just find a way to escape…but no, Jessica's hand was clamped tightly against her own to contain her bubbling excitement. She grumbled, scowling. And where did Jacob go? She could've sworn he was just standing at the entrance.

"Good day to you, too, Lauren, Bella…Jessica," Michael greeted them, and took a wary step back at Jessica's muffled squeal.

"He spoke to us!" she whispered excitedly to Bella, who rolled her eyes.

"Oh, wonderful." They were definitely in over their heads.

"So, what brings you here to the market, when you could be at home working on your business skills?" Lauren asked curiously.

Oh, sister, what else? Shopping perhaps…for a bride. Bella snorted, but promptly became solemn at their attentions. Where was Jacob Black when you needed him?!

"It's a beautiful day today, and I thought that you ladies would be out buying ravishing new dresses for a cotillion." His eyes were fixed only on Bella. She smiled weakly.

"Oh, that's much too fancy for us simple girls," Jessica tittered.

"I could have been fooled. Would you care to join me…?"

Without another word, Bella's hand was thrown away by Jess in the same fashion as the gown. She began to back off as her sisters looped their arms through their victims', and beamed at Michael as he glanced between them in bewilderment. A small flame of pity flickered within her. The poor, poor boy.

"Bella, aren't you coming?" he asked, twisting his head backwards, fully expecting her not to refuse.

The flame sputtered and died. "No, thank you."

"I insist—"

"Michael, don't mind her, she'll only spoil the day. Now, off we go!" Lauren chirped gaily, leading the way back into the crowded streets and waving to Bella with her free hand. "Tell papa that we'll be home later on in the evening!"

Freed, Bella waved her hand enthusiastically. Perhaps Jacob had gone to the apothecary without her for Billy's herbs.

"Where're they going now?"

Bella flinched inwardly, before turning around with a glare. "Would it kill you to give some sort of warning?"

Jacob shrugged, and tore off another piece of the bread and cheese he held in his hand. "If I yelled at you, I'd choke on my food. So, yes, it would kill me," he answered in a muffled tone.

"Gosh, you're hungry," she muttered, ignoring the comment. The bread was almost a yard long.

"Growing boys need food. So I left for a while to get some."

"You get too much of it."

"And you get too little of it. What are you trying to be, a stick?"

"Hush, you'll choke." Bella began to pick her way to the apothecary back up the road, staying close to the buildings at her right.

Instead of responding, Jacob swallowed noisily, following close to her elbow.

The apothecary was one of Bella's favorite stops when wandering down the roads, simply for the purpose of visiting her friend, Angela Weber, whose family ran the tiny store. At the present, her family was out on a trip to another country, leaving Ange to run the business on her own.

The tiny bell on the door tinkled lightly as Bella pushed it open. A soft mew and a pattering of feet could be heard from somewhere across the shop as they entered, taking in the familiar sights of the store. Small, neat tables bore mass merchandise, while the walls were lined with shelves containing a collection of books—all of them informational. The herbs and bottles of medicine were kept in the back of the store.

"Angela?"

"Hey, Bells, do you think my father should get this? You know…in case he poisons himself?"

Bella turned to see Jacob holding a medical volume in the air. She frowned.

"Why on earth would he do a thing like that?"

"Depression, perhaps?" Angela emerged from the storeroom, stroking a fuzzy, orange kitten in her hand.

Bella smiled at her friend, who was looking at the both of them amicably. "No, he's just joking."

"Not really." Jacob placed the book back on the shelf and stuffed his large hands into his pockets with a shrug. "At times I'm sure the old man's finally become senile. Lately, he's been mumbling about some bull about our heritage and magic." He rolled his eyes to show exactly how ridiculous he found it to be.

"Magic?" Bella and Angela asked in unison, Bella's voice curious, in contrast to Angela's skepticism and light amusement.

"It's nothing. Just a bunch of old stories—"

"Stories? Like the ones he used to tell us when we were little kids?" Bella felt a slight deflation in the pit of her stomach. A part of her had hoped that there was something relatively new and unusual to Billy's so-called mumblings.

"Yes, that. And that one story you were telling me about earlier about with the monster wolves and bloodsucking furniture. Fairytales," Jacob added, taking long strides towards the front counter, where Angela was already gathering what they needed.

"Oh." Picking up the kitten from the floor, Bella tilted her head towards the ceiling, pondering now on Jacob's obvious uneasiness with the situation. It was strange, considering that they told each other everything. And Angela was a loyal person—she was never one to spread rumors.

"Oops."

"Oops?"

Bella gently placed the kitten on the floor, letting it scramble under a table as she looked to see what the trouble was about. On the desk were laid out the herbs she saw so frequently, that both she and Jacob had memorized the order. There was angelica, arnica, and juniper for muscle soreness and rheumatism, as well as basil for Billy's blood levels. That was it. She edged closer to the table where Jacob was frowning down at the package and Angela was rummaging through stores. There was nothing else they needed other than those herbs.

"Angela, are you okay? You've been doing this for as long as we can remember, working this voodoo medicine stuff. I wonder if you've finally cracked?" Jacob picked through the plants.

Angela rose from the bottom shelves sheepishly, and cast about herself hopefully, as though wishing for whatever she desired to appear. "I was planning to add in chamomile—you sounded terribly worried for your father's mentality, Jacob. I'm sorry, but I seem to have run out of stock for that."

"It would've been useful," Jacob agreed, gathering up the bundle. "But it's the thought that counts."

"I'll gather more at the forest today and close up shop."

"Now?" Bella took her book from Jacob to lessen his load. It seemed awful, to close up business just for their sake…

A brilliant idea popped into her head.

"Wait, I could run into the forest for you and grab the chamomile."

"Bella, you don't need to do that," Angela made a quick refusal.

"Yes, I do. What's the worst that could happen anyway?" she asked.

Jacob muttered under his breath. "You could trip and fall over a pebble and clobber your head on a tree branch. A squirrel could come and bite you on the rear end, leaving horrible marks on your—"

"Honestly, what's the worst?" Bella interjected, stamping down on his foot.

Angela regarded them both for a moment, before saying carefully, "Well, you might get lost, for one."

That was a pretty bad situation. "I could put something on fire as a signal. What else?" she persisted.

"Bella, there have been reports of wolves around the area. They could seriously injure you, not to mention dismember you to pieces."

"Far worse than a squirrel," Jacob added.

She waved it off. "I still have the fire, and it's burning. What else?"

Angela sighed. "What about huge, hulking, bear creatures?"

Bella blinked. "Do those exist?"

"They might." A glimmer of amusement hovered at the edges of Angela's features.

"Come on, Ange. I've been left with this," she gestured to Jacob, "for the entire day. Don't I deserve some peace and quiet? Peace and quiet that only a forest could offer?"

"Peace and quiet that could mean imminent death?" Jacob helpfully provided along the sidelines. "I mean, your atmosphere doesn't exactly include the words 'peace' or 'quiet' in a positive way."

"This is exactly why I need it. Please?" Bella looked to Angela beseechingly, who let out a chuckle.

"Bella, you've got a good imagination. What if those monsters in that story Jacob was talking about earlier—about the furniture and the giant wolves—came out to get you? Along with an evil fairy that places curses on everyone and everything?"

Bella could see that her friends were both simply hoping that she would call her proposal off and move on to more rational pursuits. Angela had even gone so far as to picture things that didn't exist, and Jacob hadn't even bothered to openly mock it—there was an ironic twist to his mouth that signaled it, however. She was beat. Two to one just wasn't fair.

"Fine," she sighed. "Bye, Ange. Come on, Jacob, let's stop pestering people."

"I can go."

She stopped dead in her tracks. What?

"What?" Angela blinked at him.

"I can go for you. Billy wanted me to go hunting for game later this afternoon. That way, I'd save you the trouble, and I'd save myself the extra coin." Jacob grinned at Bella, who stared at him in disbelief.

"Absolutely, positively—"

"Yes, of course. It's located up north, where the oaks start to grow."

"Thanks. Come on, Bella, let's stop dawdling and leave Angela alone."

Bella glared up at him, seething, but allowed herself to be dragged out of the shop by Jacob, who had begun to whistle merrily. Again, she was underestimated. She was sure that if she'd only stubbornly latched onto her argument, Angela would have let her go on the errand. She would have taken extra care of where she went, as well; no one need have worried for her excessively.

As soon as they reached the corner, she pulled her wrist out of Jacob's grasp and faced him, her chin set at a mulish angle. "That wasn't fair. Your argument was superior to mine, with the advantage of a win-win situation."

"Life isn't fair."

"I know that," she exhaled noisily, and then changed tack, staring up at him entreatingly. "I can come with you, can't I? Charlie will let me, he trusts you not to let me escape from your imprisonment longer than a minute."

"Bella, no."

She pursed her lips, crossing her arms. "Why not? This is unlike you, not to drag me into a jaunt."

"I need to shoot down bouncing rabbits," he explained. "And it will be rather difficult to pay attention to you while aiming. Rebecca swore she'd kill me if I didn't come up with at least four decent kills."

"Tie a rope from your waist to my wrist."

"You'll trip me up on purpose!"

"No, I won't. Please?"

"No. Please? I'd rather not get killed by my own sister."

Squaring her jaw, Bella marched off and away towards the direction of the Swan household from a side road. It was a humble cottage, at the edge of the village and at the foot of the hills leading into the mountains. Jacob kept up with her easily.

"Bella?"

"And you say I have crazy siblings."

"At least Rebecca can be reasonable. Bella, what do you say?"

"Yes, okay. I'll agree to your ridiculous idea."

"Promise," he said seriously.

She clucked her tongue in irritation. "Fine, I promise and swear to the heavens and back that I won't violate our compromise."

Humming in satisfaction, Jacob took her hand again and pulled her into a sudden run.

"You look dead. I thought you needed this to liven you up," he told her.

Bella concentrated on making sure she didn't fall and humiliate herself in front of the people that traipsed along the side of the road.


"Hi, honey. Where are your sisters?"

Bella laid her coat over a chair and leaned on it as she smiled at her father. She'd been dropped off at her house with a quick and cheerful farewell from Jacob, who rushed to his own house, closer to the main square of the village. Charles Swan was busily tucking in a blueberry pie, and only gave his daughter half his normal attention.

"They're coming home a bit later."

"Oh, all right, then. Why?"

"Gallivanting about Michael Newton…" she trailed off vaguely.

Her father chewed thoughtfully. "Sir Newton's boy, isn't he? Nice young man, that. Responsible with his deeds. Bella, why don't you consider him? You could do a lot worse than marry—"

Did he use my name, Newton's, and marry in the same sentence? Bella cringed away from the thought. "But, I could do better than him, couldn't I?"

"Perhaps, if you went into the city like your mother insists you do."

This was an old topic. Bella knew that her father believed she could live her life to its fullest potential in Paris, as compared to staying, which was his secret desire. "Father, I like it here. Who needs those fancy artists and nobles?" she added jokingly.

Charles nodded agreeably. "It's high time you started thinking about your future, though."

"I'll be sure to start on that." She suppressed a yawn. Her father noticed anyway.

"Start on it in your room. Bella, you look beat. Go rest."

"I'll see you in an hour, then, at dinner. Don't eat the whole pie," she added, beginning to walk off to the hallway. She didn't bother to listen for a response, knowing that he would save room for the main course, as always.

Opening her door, she immediately fell upon her bed, closing her eyes and allowing the day's exhaustion to seep entirely into her skin. It was a long day. Its events played back over in her head, and again she wondered what was wrong with Billy, other than the usual, physical problems. She'd also forgotten to ask after Ben while in Angela's company. Ange adored him—it was a hard thing to ignore. Bella could've almost called it love…

The last thing that was on her mind before she fell asleep was her book, which lay at the foot of her bed, innocent and serene.


A/N: Not quite a cliffie, but that's all right. There are more opportunities for that later! Just wait 'til the next chapter...

To those of you that forgot, Rebecca Black is Jacob's older sister, as mentioned in either Twilight or New Moon, I forget which one. He's got another sister, I know...but I she didn't feel like showing up in my mind, and thus, was not written in.