They sat on a fallen tree for a while, wondering what to do.
"Why don't you steal me a dress that's drying, like you stole that cloak? I'll change my clothes and not attract attention like that."
"Steal a woman's dress? Oh, I don't know, I've never stolen anything, only apples from the priest's garden."
She laughed and her tired face seemed to light up with a smile:
"Did you get a good hit?"
Gaston showed her his tongue:
"Well, no, I was too pretty child for anyone to be seriously angry with me."
He was quiet for a while and added:
"There's no choice anyway. We can't spend the night in the woods without a fire, and without food we can't go any further. Don't leave here. At this time of day, at the edge of the forest, none of the predators will show up."
"How do you know?" she looked at him with respect.
"Well, I am a hunter, after all. Well, wish me luck."
Gaston walked out of the forest and walked a little ahead along the road to get away from the houses that were near that suspicious peasant. Finally, he walked into the village, trying to stay in the shadows, for all his wish he could not be unnoticed with his height. At last he saw what he was looking for, laundry that was drying on three stretched out ropes.
A woman's dress was there too, a dress of coarse cloth of some brown color. But it was better than nothing, and he had to hurry. Gaston pulled it off the rope, and, folding up the dress, hid it under his cloak.
Then he walked out of the village, hiding behind houses when passersby appeared, and returned to the forest. So far, everything was going well.
"Here," he tossed Belle a roll of the dress into her hands. "It's probably too big, but I really hope it's only for a few days and we'll be home. And I'll buy you the prettiest dress in town!"
"Oh, I want to go home so badly too, there aren't even words for it," Belle quickly took off her open dress and tossed it aside like something disgusting. She put on a simple dress and sighed contentedly. "Well, now let's try again, but this time following your plan."
Gaston and Belle stuffed the dress into a hollow tree so that it would not be conspicuous at the edge of the forest and went into the village. Gaston hid the bracelet, hoping to take it to the moneylender. Loan sharks don't usually ask too many questions.
This time they were lucky, they stayed the night with a nice family with three children. The head of the family had hurt his arm, so Gaston's help with firewood and other manly tasks came in handy, and Belle helped with the cleaning while the housewife took care of the children.
Belle told a pathetic story about how they had wanted to sell the things her father had made at the fair in Toulon, but they had been robbed and their horse stolen. It was convincing enough, and the story seemed plausible. More plausible than wanting to see the sea and what happened afterward. Gaston was given his master's shirt to work for in the morning.
At last it was time for supper. Gaston had already reached the end of his tether, and while he was chopping wood and the owners' son was munching bread, it was only by a tremendous effort of will that the hunter did not take the bread and eat it. Only the fear of being outside again at night could make him keep his temper.
There wasn't much food for dinner, but it was better than nothing at all. Gaston ate his portion quickly and, with his cheek resting on his palm, watched the children of the owners tugging at Belle to keep her from eating. Yeah, six kids was probably a lot for her. Three was the most she could handle.
They were even assigned a room and when Belle finally ate, they went to bed. Almost two nights without sleep and the fatigue from the road and excitement was doing its job, Gaston and Belle were both falling off their feet.
Gaston threw off his boots and flopped down on the bed. His eyelids were slipping of their own accord. Belle came over and sat down beside him.
"Gaston, you know there's something I've been wanting to tell you..."
- Hmm?
And then he fell asleep.
The morning sun woke the hunter. His strength was returning to him - he'd had a good night's sleep.
Gaston opened his eyes, feeling not quite free to move - indeed, Belle was asleep with her warm, soft arms around him, her pretty head resting on his chest. He gently touched her hair - the rays of the sun glistened in her auburn hair like little gems.
Gaston kissed her hair - soft as fluff, then again and again.
Then he raised himself up on his elbow and kissed her cheek, oh, her skin so warm and soft. He kissed her cheek again and of course he woke her up with that.
Belle stretched and opened her eyes. She smiled and sat up on the bed too and kissed his cheek:
"Good morning. It would certainly be even better if we were at our house."
"That's right," Gaston sighed, loosening his embrace and pulling his shirt on. "We must get out of here soon, for gossip travels fast in these small villages. If the housewife goes to the market now and starts gossiping, she might meet the wife of that idiot who drove us away yesterday. And we're too conspicuous to be confused with anyone else. Damn... And from Toulon they may try to catch up with us and find out who hit that old man in the head."
"Yeah, you're right," Belle said, looking out the window. She had already put on that brown dress and was trying to tie up her hair.
"Belle, what was it you wanted to tell me the other night?"
She flinched a little, but when she turned around, she was already smiling:
"No, nothing. Nonsense stuff, I'd forgotten."
Hunter shrugged and started to pull on his boots. Okay, nonsense stuff, so nonsense stuff.
Belle drummed her fingers on the wooden window sill, then turned around. Her cheeks were flushed and her gaze was interested and sly. Like during her horrible conversations about all sorts of unseemly things.
"Gaston, ah Gaston," she called out.
"What?"
"Tell me how you seduce women."
"Why do you want to know, Belle?"
"I'm just curious," she rubbed the dress in her lap. "The books are all talk, but I wonder how men like you do it."
"What kind of men like me? Rude chumps?"
"No. Real men. How did you seduce women, without the fancy phrases and crazy acts they write about in ladies' novels?"
Gaston straightened up and felt his cheeks blushing again:
"Well, Belle, I have done nothing of the sort. It's enough to smile at a girl, to let her know I like her, that's all. I'm the handsomest and strongest guy in town, after all."
The girl stepped forward, gazing at his face with interest.
"He just smiled, that's all? And then? There's something you're not telling me."
"Well... Invite her for a walk, to look at my trophies. Compliment her a couple times. If the girl's brave, we could play a game of guess or kiss. It's nothing, Belle, it's really not that interesting."
"What do you mean, there's nothing interesting about it?" Belle's eyes sparkled and she moved away from the window and sat down next to Gaston on the bed. " What kind of game is this? Can I play it?"
"You? No, you're too smart for that."
"Oh, come on," Belle moved closer. "Let's play this game, please, please, please. Tell me the rules."
Gaston laughed nervously and shrugged his shoulders:
"The rules are simple, I ask a series of questions about myself and you assume the answers. If you're wrong, you have to kiss me. Then we switch. Silly, isn't it?"
"No!" Belle clapped her hands together. "It's a way of getting to know each other better and, of course, kissing. Let's play, please!"
Gaston looked at her cheerful face and some naughtiness came over him too:
"Okay, all right," the man put his hand on her thigh and, catching her questioning look, explained. "I used to play it this way, girls start to make mistakes and then they kiss me more often. You can do the same thing to even the odds." he winked.
Actually he was joking, Gaston wanted Belle to slap his hand or something, but Belle, that naive soul, did put her warm palm on his thigh and even squeezed her delicate fingers a little. The blood rushed to his head and his thoughts jumbled.
"Like this?" As if from afar, his wife asked him.
"Yes... Something like that."
"Ask questions."
His mind was completely blank, all he could think about her hand on his body.
"Okay, do you think I like rain or clear weather?" Gaston finally asked.
"I think you like rain, it's so soothing when it taps on the window."
"That's not true. When it rains, it's impossible to hunt, it washes away all traces and odors. Come on, kiss me," he leaned over to Belle and she kissed him on the lips. Ah, actually, really, it's a great game! "So, let's try it again... What time of year do you think my birthday is?" Gaston gave her thigh a little squeeze, and Belle blushed.
"I think... I think it's in the summer."
"That's true. Now it's your turn to ask questions."
"What's my favorite animal?"
He wonder what it is? Not a sheep?
"Maybe a cat?"
"No, it's a horse!" the girl laughed. "Come on, kiss me!"
He gladly did so, kissing her soft lips a little longer than the game suggested.
There was a knock at the door, and Gaston and Belle pulled away from each other regretfully. It was time to eat breakfast and hit the road.