Beauty and The Beasley

Chapter 21

Bree strolled to the farmhouse in her pinafore. She really hated those clothes. They chafed in the wrong places and Lizzy hadn't made any attempts to wash it. Bree would've done it herself but she had been too preoccupied to remember doing laundry.

She picked up the bucket and gave Jonas a drink. The horse neighed and struggled to fit its mouth into the pail.

"I know, we haven't hung out in a while. I've just been really busy with too many things."

She picked up the pail and headed for the tap then began to fill it up. Miraculously, Herb hadn't called her to give his own interrogation regarding the thief. Bree did not think she was that important considering the army of employees he had and how busy he was.

Even if he wanted to talk to her, he'd have his son do it.

Bree strolled to the pen and counted the pigs. Always count the pigs. But she really didn't have to count anymore. No one would be snatching the pigs anymore - no one she knew at least.

"Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen." Bree pointed as she counted. The pigs looked healthy and despite how fat they were they still moved with so much energy - running around and shoving their faces in the mud.

"Hey, hey, hey. No splashing." Bree cautioned and stepped back to avoid getting drenched in mud.

She dumped the feed into the feeding trough and watched the pigs eat. They did eat like pigs. She turned and stared at her leaf covered trap that perfectly blended in with the environment from where she stood.

If anyone went too close, they would realize a funny looking playground lounged near the Pendulum. She was lucky that work on the site had been put on hold for a long time otherwise she would have been lost as to where to hide the trap.

She was already thinking of returning it to Jimothy. She had initially intended to kill the pig snatcher but had gotten a compromise instead and so the trap was basically useless. She wondered if Jim would take back the trap. They'd had a deal.

The only reason he agreed to build the trap in the first place was because he wanted his freedom so bad, something Bree now realized she couldn't give.

She knew she had to go talk to him about her meeting with his brother. The revelation Sir Richard had given still made Bree's head spin. She thought of little Berry and how she would have looked like if she'd grown up with Jimothy. She took away the beautiful polka dress on Berry and replaced it with a dirty and tattered one. She replaced the smooth silky skin of her face with a coarse one, the environment with the forest and her wild hair decorated by leaves and mud.

In foresight, Berry looked frightening and Bree was thankful the child had a better home. If she were to be in Mr Richard's shoes, she would've also snatched the child immediately from her biological father. Jimothy was in no position to be a father. He had knives on his chair outside and loose nails on the ones inside. He wore a bullet belt and carried a crossbow around like it was a rubber slingshot.

Bree rubbed her forehead. Thinking too much gave her a headache twice the size of her own head. The only good thing she held on to was the fact that her mother was recovering. Bree had never been so happy. The mere thought of made her want to cry and laugh and scream all at once.

"She moved a finger this morning." Dr Palmer had said.

Maybe moving fingers would soon become moving eyelids. Bree couldn't wait to see her mother's eyes. They had the same droopy eyelids and pitch black pupils. Her father had been the total opposite - he had brown eyes like Norman's.