Beast and Beatrice

Chapter nineteen- Beatrice

  Beatrice watched with mixed emotion as Gilbert sprinted away. First, she felt dazed and off kilter after that mind-numbing kiss. All she could think was how desperately she wanted him to come back and kiss her again. She had been so lost in that passionate embrace that she forgot all else. Then, she was exasperated. How could he kiss her like that and then turn and just run off? Hadn't he felt anything? She could barely think or even catch her breath, let alone find the physical strength to move.

  Her body ached to be held in his arms again. She wanted more. More kisses, more of his arms wrapped around her. Just more. She wasn't exactly certain what 'more' entailed. She had no idea what came after those delicious kisses of his, but she was certain there was more. There had to be. Her body ached in ways she'd never ached before. It was as if a void had suddenly opened up inside her, and he was the only one who could fill that void. She yearned for him. This needy wanting had her so enthralled she found herself instinctively moving to follow him. 

  But then a large group of women marched past, heading down the slope to the bridge, jarring her from that passion-induced haze. Recalling herself to the present, she lifted her skirts and scrambled after the others. There would be time for mooning about later. She caught up to the women just as they reached the other side of the bridge.

"What do we do now?" One young woman asked.

"Spread out girls." An older, grey-haired woman directed. "Stay on the outskirts of the village but look for anything that will hold water. Buckets, pitchers, bowls, anything you can find."

  They all scattered. Beatrice and another young woman hurried towards a burned-out building together. There wasn't much left of the little structure. A couple of half-burned walls and a doorframe. Beatrice wasn't as familiar with this end of town. She couldn't tell if the building had been someone's home or one of the small shops in town.

"I don't think we're going to find much." The brunette scowled doubtfully at the charred ruin.

"We just have to keep looking." Beatrice replied.

  She stepped carefully across the threshold and found a water bucket sitting just inside the door. Considering the condition of the rest of the building, it was a miracle that the bucket was still fully intact. It looked virtually untouched by the fire. Plucking it up off the floor, she turned and passed it back to the other woman.

"Here, you take this to the river, and I'll see what else I can find."

  As the woman raced off, Beatrice returned to her search. The floor was barely visible through all the blackened debris. Fallen beams and charred remnants of walls blocked her way. She dared not go any further, so she backed out and moved on to another building. There didn't seem to be anything else salvageable in the next place, so she turned and moved on. After searching several more ruined structures and finding only one washbasin, she gave up the search and hurried back to the river.

   Apparently, her search had been no more successful than any of the rest. Between the group of them, they only had a dozen or so containers. But at least they had something. The women quickly formed a line from the river.

One young lad stood to his shins in the water and filled each container before handing it off. The older woman who seemed to have appointed herself the leader stood at the water's edge and passed the newly filled buckets up to the next in line. Beatrice stood between a petite, buxom redhead and a slender, older woman. A few other teenage lads ferried the buckets at the end of the line to the men fighting the blaze.
Everyone handled the pitchers through with all the speed and determination they could muster. Some water was spilled. It was inevitable, but the women persevered. And then there was an unexpected pause.