Only Skin Deep

I'll Be Here

The familiar smell of wood-smoke and slightly burnt dinner greeted her and she inhaled it greedily, her vision blurring with tears. She took another step into the living area of the cottage and held back a cry when her eyes landed on her mother, slumped dejectedly in her chair in front of the fire. The woman turned wearily, her glazed eyes passing over Belle only briefly before turning back to the fire. Belle moved closer.

“Mama?”

Mrs Saint-Clair jumped and her head snapped back to the doorway, wide eyes now focussed and staring at Belle.

“Annabelle?” she choked, rising shakily to her feet. “You’re… you’re…”

“I’m home, Mama,” Belle broke out sobbing. She dashed across the small room and flung her arms around her mother’s neck, both women now rendered speechless in their joy at being reunited. Mrs Saint-Clair was gripping Belle so hard she felt as though her back might break, and she did not care one little bit.

“You’re alive, my baby, you’re alive!” Mrs Saint-Clair wept into Belle’s shoulder. Belle gently prised herself out of her mother’s arms and grasped her hands in her own.

“Maurice…?” Belle managed to say, unable to even construct the proper question. Mrs Saint-Clair wiped her face with her sleeve and nodded at the floor, before gesturing wordlessly to the twin’s bedroom. Belle dragged her hands away and hurried over to the bedroom door, pushing it open gently.

The room was dimly lit by a single flickering candle, sending shadows dancing across the walls. Belle’s hand fluttered over her heart as she took in the sight of her brother and sister sound asleep in their beds, and she felt more hot tears well up in her eyes when she saw how pale and sickly Maurice looked. As she watched, he coughed feebly and turned restlessly under the covers. Belle stepped closer and knelt down by the bed, reaching out a hand to push the hair off of Maurice’s forehead. His eyes flickered open and they squinted up at Belle, foggy with exhaustion.

“B-Belle?” he croaked, struggling to push himself up onto his elbows. His tired eyes grew wider. “Belle?!”

“I’m back, angel,” Belle whispered, and Maurice used all his strength to leap forward and throw his arms around his sister’s neck.

“Angelique! Angelique, Belle’s home! Belle’s home!” he cried weakly to his other sister as Belle wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight.

“Wha… what?” Angelique mumbled sleepily. Suddenly her face lit up, and she flung herself from her bed and jumped on Belle’s back. “Belle!” she squeaked, and Belle manoeuvred herself around so that she could hug the both of her siblings at the same time.

“Did you miss me?” Belle half laughed, half sobbed as she buried her face in Angelique’s curls.

“Yes!” the twins chorused. They pulled away slightly and Maurice fell back against his pillows, coughing again but still managing to smile. Angelique looked at Belle in wonder.

“But… how did you escape?” she asked breathlessly, still gripping Belle’s arm. “Did you have to fight him? Did you have to fight the beast?”

Belle glanced over at the doorway, where their mother was stood crying silent tears as she watched her three children together again.

“No,” Belle answered finally, the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile. “I didn’t have to. He let me go.”

“He let you go?” Maurice gasped.

“He didn’t try to eat you?” Angelique added with a look of disbelief.

“No!” Belle shook her head. “No, of course he didn’t. He… he didn’t hurt me at all.” She felt her mother’s curious gaze on her, but didn’t turn around. “In fact… he was my friend.”

There was a brief silence.

“Your friend?” Angelique was the first to ask the question. “But I thought he was bad? He had fangs!”

“I think we may have misjudged him,” Belle replied carefully, giving Angelique another squeeze. She glanced over at Maurice who was fighting to keep his eyes open, still drinking in the sight of his returned sister. Belle could feel her mother’s stare burning into the back of her head.

“I think you both need to get back to sleep,” Belle smiled, manoeuvring Angelique back towards her own bed. “Especially you mister,” she added, kissing Maurice on the nose.

“Mmm…” Maurice hummed, his eyes going foggy once more. Suddenly they flew open again and he sat bolt upright. “But you will be here in the morning, won’t you Belle? You won’t leave us again?”

“I’ll be here,” Belle said firmly, pulling the covers back over his chest. “I promise.” She stood and backed up to the door, still not quite able to drag her eyes away from her siblings now they were back in her sight. “I love you both, so much,” she whispered, her heart aching.

Back in the living area, Mrs Saint-Clair rounded on Belle. “What on earth was all that about?!”

“All what, Mama?” Belle said vaguely as she ran her hands over the kitchen counter tops, still soaking in the familiar feel of home.

“You misjudged him? That monster?”

“He’s not a monster!”

“He stole you from us!” Belle’s mother snatched up Belle’s hands and held them to her chest. “I thought we’d lost you, I thought we’d never see you again! He did that!”

Belle shook her head, refusing to look her mother in the eye. “Can we not talk about this now?” she said softly. “I just want to concentrate on getting Maurice better.”

“We don’t know what it is, Belle,” Mrs Saint-Clare sighed, the fight suddenly gone out of her. “I’ve never seen a fever like it, and we can’t afford a doctor. Not one that will do him any good,” she added wearily. 

Belle’s heart thudded in her chest but she refused to think the worst, she couldn’t bear it. “We’ll sort something, we will,” Belle promised. “We’ll work it out.”