Chapter 5
Maria rode with Mark and Ginny in a wagon that Mark brought back with him when he came back to help. Mr. Green and Mr. Beast rode on pones. I rode Twilight Queen, while Amy rode with Father and Alanna in the wagon we had used on the trip to Blue Lake. As we reach Ms. Mary's place we hear "I see you have chosen to be with the cursed people, not the ones that tried to warn you. Wait and see the curse that is on them will fall on you and one of you will become a monsters feast!" called Mrs. Cross. "That is enough Mamie. The curse cannot fall on them and you know it. It is on my family and no one else's. Stop trying to keep people from talking to us or I will find that wizard and have him place one on your family," called Mr. Beast. I wonder if this has something to do with his aunt.
"Mike, show the young man where his pony can be stabled for the night till they have a stable for her. Mark you said she was big but I thought you were joking, but I can see you were telling the truth she must be like the horses of old that worriers used to go into battle," said Ms. Mary. "Josh this way the stable is in the back," said Mr. Beast. "Oh and Paul can you go fetch some water, I am all most out and Jake is sick. So be a good little brother and help me," said Ms. Mary. I can see she is one that likes to give orders, just like Amy does.
Supper was great Ms. Mary is a great cook and has offered to help Amy, Maria, and Alanna learn how to cook and clean like a real country living woman. She even offered to teach us how to make cider; since I told her, I saw an apple grove in the back yard and told her about the old garden, since I might need her help to get it going again. Mr. Beast is going to train me at the house so that I can get it ready for winter in three months and he can save money on training at the same time. Mr. Green is going to help with the repairs to the roof and the stable. "Well I did say I would tell my aunts story after supper so here it is.
My aunt was a princess and she lived in a palace with her older sister. My Father and Uncle had moved out and my grandparents had died. It was her 19 birthday and she was to be tested, the night before the garden had become a forest, the very forest that is behind your house. She was beautiful, sweet, caring, and the best friend of the poor, servants, and farmers that supplied the palace. She went out of her way to help those that needed help. So I have no clue how she failed the test, when I passed and I was nowhere as good as she was and is still I hope. The test if you pass it will let the gardens return and the forest will disappear, but if you fail, the forest will stay and you will become a beast. My older brother failed the test and is a beast right now, just like my aunt has been one for 41 years now that means she would have only aged 4 years, one year for every 10 that pass.
I have no clue how long she can stay a beast and still have children. If she had passed the test then she would have married Lord Casey, a man that was no good. Since she failed, he married a Lady Angel, who was no angel. See, he was having an affair with twelve servant girls, against their will, and she was having the stable boys in her bed as well. Well when he found out about her unfaithfulness he tried to kill her, but she had found out about his as well, she killed the maids then him; but he had already had poisoned her so she died as well. No kids were left behind, so their lands where given to friends and what little family they had left which was not much. So I am glad that she failed the test, she did not have to marry that man.
I wish to warn you that while you will not have to take the test just from knowing my family, you can still fail into it if you go in the forest and get lost, so do not enter it unless you wish to find your way to the palace and meet my aunt. Know I cannot tell you her name nor how to free her if you should find the palace since if any of you find it young Josh will have to go to live there until he finds the way to free her. So please do not go in the forest, I do wish for her to be freed but do not wish to send any of you out in the forest just for her to have a small bit of hope that might not be worth anything.
"So you are saying that you aunt is a beast in the forest and she can only be freed is someone goes and lives with her till they free her?" asked Father. "Not just anyone but a young man that is willing to go to help someone in his family willing to give up his life to save the ones he loves. I can see that in Josh he would do anything to save his family, so if any of you were to find the palace he would try to save you. So please heed my warning do not go into woods. I do wish to see her freed, but I do not wish for the town people think I sent Josh to free her," said Mr. Beast. "We will listen to the warning and I can see why you warn us the town people do not seem to like you or your family very much, and we will try to stay safe and out of the woods but there is no telling what will happen in the come about in years to come," said Father. He is right but I wish I were a few years older so that I could go and free her so that he could see his aunt. So if she was 19 and has aged four years that means she is 23 years now I will be 24 in six years so after that I can save her if I wished to.
"I have seen all I wish to see." As the image fades, I still see that young man Josh face. He is a good-looking young man. I always check on my family outside of the forest on my birthday because they are always on the edge of the woods wishing me a happy birthday and that I may be freed soon. Mike always leaves roses for me to, and says that he wishes that he could have met me. Today he was helping a family move into their new home, I did not see a mother, but I noticed that Josh was an only son. Mike even told them my story, I still cannot believe it has been 41 years and I still cannot walk like a human. "Dear sister, he was a good looking young man now was he not," said my dear sweet older sister Alice. "Alice it does not matter how good looking he is not the one to free me. I am doomed to stay here as a beast forever and because of me you will never marry Jackson. Alice can you find someone to play to piano, I wish to hear it while I read," I tell her as I leave my tearoom. "Yes dear sister," she answers I cannot stand to be called by my name that means "Beauty".