Madelaine// Gaston |1|

3

     The sun peaked over the crest of the hills, light shining into the small cottage that held Madelaine and Gaston. She had woken up minutes before the sun, seeing Gaston still asleep in the chair next to her. Madelaine quickly snuck out of her house, taking herself and her horse, which she has now decided to name Jeffery, and rode to where she always went in the mornings.

     The next village over.

     Where her parents had died. She went to her house every morning, collecting more and more things that her parents had left behind before dying. The only thing she was never going to grab was the doctors mask that laid on the chair. That will always stay there.

     As Madelaine traveled to the village, Gaston had woken up. He saw that the girl was gone, and nowhere in the cottage. He then grabbed his coat and shoes, riding back to his village. He got there, it being busier than ever. He kept saying 'excuse me' or 'pardon' but more people would get in the way.

     Once he saw she was nowhere to be found, Gaston grew worried about what could've happened. Before Gaston could mount his horse again, he heard hooves hitting the pavement hard. He turned to see Madelaine riding into town. She had a sack on her horse, one that usually wasn't there.

     It was almost a hour later by the time she had left. Madelaine had gotten everything she needed from her parents small house. She dismounted the horse, stopping in front of the inn. Gaston had noticed her and started to walk over. Though many people were in his way, yet again. This time he ran into Belle, his thoughts of Madelaine disappearing.

     Those two started talking while Madelaine noticed the short stubby man that goes by Lefou. She walked to him, Lefou seeing the girl immediately.

     "You must be the mystery girl," Lefou said, Madelaine's eyes widening.

     "No, I don't live in the village. But, I am looking for Gaston. I found," Madelaine paused, grabbing the sword from her horse, "this in the woods." The engraving on the handle had a 'G' at the stub.

     "How? He never loses it!" Lefou shouted, snatching the sword away. "Thank you, I'll make sure to give it back to him." Lefou turned, Madealaine following his gaze to the three girls staring at Gaston and Belle. "It's never gonna happen, ladies." The three girls watched as Lefou walked away, then they looked at Madelaine.

     "That Belle, she's never going to say yes to Gaston," one of the girls remarked.

     "I would say yes before he could even finish!" one exclaimed. The three giggled, Madelaine rolling her eyes and walking to her horse. She walked him to the back of the inn, putting him in the open to anyone stables. Then she walked back to the front to get a room. Once she got her room, she walked inside and booked her room. The inn-keeper gave her a key, and she headed to the room.

     Madelaine dumped out the possessions on the bed. Her parents, her aunts, family friends. They always gave her things to remember relatives by. Her parents had died around three years ago, and her aunt two. But she was past it. She was forgetting them as much as she could.

     She sorted through each belonging, remembering each thing she saw. She had always loved what her parents collected, and admired them. Her parents were collectors. They collected rare, hard to find objects and procured them for others. When they grew ill, no one did business with them, so they had to sell most of the items for money to pay a doctor.

     The sad memory came back to Madelaine, and she shoved the items back in the bag. Madelaine walked out of her room, then out of the inn. Only to see the bustling town again. She sighed, walking through. Different people getting in her way. After successfully making it through, Madelaine only bumped into Belle. She sighed, picking up the flowers that had fallen to the ground.

     "I'm sorry, Belle," Madelaine said holding out the purple flowers to Belle. Belle smiled, shaking her head.

     "It's okay. If we keep meeting like this then we're going to have a hard time being friends," Belle laughed, brushing off the front of her dress. Madelaine smiled, nodding. Her gaze fell to the flowers, wondering if Belle got them for her father once he returned home. Belle noticed her gaze, and nodded a bit. "Gaston, gave them to me. That's probably the third time he's asked me to marry him." Madelaine smiled, knowing Belle would never say yes.

     "Love will make you do crazy things," Madelaine said.

     "I'm not sure it's love," Belle said. The two walked through the town back to Belle's house.

     "He sure seems to care about you," Madelaine replied, pulling at the sleeves of her coat.

     "I told you, he thinks I'm beautiful and, it's annoying. I mean could you imagine? Me, the wife of that boorish, brainless-"

     "Well you obviously aren't going to marry him, why are you still talking?" Madelaine snapped. She cleared her throat, then looking at the ground. "My apologies, it's been a rough morning."

     "It's alright," Belle nodded, smiling slightly. They had reached her house, and the sound of hooves made the girls heads' turn. It was Belle's father, back from town.

     "Ah! Belle!" Maurice yelled stopping his carriage. He jumped off, Belle running to her father and hugging him. She then turned to Madelaine smiling.

     "Father, this is Madelaine," Belle said motioning to the girl.

     "Pleased to meet you," Madelaine smiled to Maurice.

     "Mademoiselle," Maurice said, lightly kissing Madelaine's hand. She nodded, being cautious to not be rude. He turned to Belle, smiling. "I brought something back for you." He reached into a bag, grabbing a small flower. Belle wasn't disappointed that it wasn't a rose, but she was happy to have a gift.

     "I love it, Father. Thank you," Belle smiled, accepting the flower. Madelaine looked over at Belle, spinning on her heels.

     "I best be going, it's still early enough to hunt and the best deer are visible at this time," Madelaine said, then turned to Belle's dad. "Monsieur."

     "Mademoiselle," Maurice replied. Madelaine walked away, making her way through the crowd to the inn. She walked to the back where Jeffery was, only to find Gaston leaning against the stable that her horse was no longer vacant.

     "Gaston, where's my horse?" Madelaine asked walking to him.

     "I guess you'll just have to come with me to find out," Gaston said looking up from the arrow he was spinning. Madelaine clenched her fists, then nodded.

     "Fine," she said, walking past Gaston to the familiar black horse she had rode on last night to her cottage. Gaston pulled her back, mounting the horse first, then offering his hand out to the girl. She accepted, stepping up onto the horse. "So," she started, "where did you hide my horse?"

     "You are very impatient, and Lefou hid him," Gaston said riding the horse out of the stables.

     "Then how do you know where it is?" Madelaine asked looking forward.

     "If you would let me finish, I told him where. Now, anymore questions before I whip the reings on him?" Gaston asked glancing back.

     "Go for it," Madelaine stated. Gaston jerked his arms, the horse going full speed to the exact location Gaston wants.

~*~

Editing Status: Done

OG Publish Date: March 28, 2017

Editing Date: June 4, 2017

Thanks for reading.

Bye Peeps