Belle's Adventures in Snow White Part 3

"Adam!" Frederick called as he came into the room. His servant, Bernard, immedietly scampered forwards to take his hat and cloak. "Master Adam is in the library, sir."

"Oh, fine; I'll go find him, then."

"Luncheon will be ready shortly, sire."

"Good, good; excuse me." Frederick took the stairs up to the library two at a time and practically flew through the door. "Adam!"

Adam looked up at his cousin from the large tome he was pouring over. "What?" he asked, startled. "Have the ogres started a war? What?"

"Adam, I'm in love!"

Adam laughed with relief. "That's it? For goodness sake, Freddie; you had me worried it was something much, much worse! Go on, then, who is she? What's her name? Where does she live?"

"She's a princess, her name's Snow White, only according to Belle, she's being forced to do the housework for her stepmother, the Queen..."

"Whoa, whoa!" Adam held up a hand. "Slow up a bit there, Freddie. Who's Belle?"

"A girl who works at the palace, I guess," Frederick shrugged. "She seemed alright; but Snow White...my God! You've never seen a girl like her! Raven hair, red lips, skin like snow..."

"She's apptly named, then?" Adam grinned. "What about this Belle girl? Is she?"

"What?"

"Apptly named? Is she a beauty?"

"Maybe. She was quite pleasant certainly. More your type than mine, I'd imagine."

"Gee, thanks!"

"No, seriously, she seemed alright. I'm going back there tomorrow on my way to King Leofrick's; if you want to come with me, I could introduce you to her."

"Nah, you're alright," Adam replied, eyes back on his book. "I'd rather fall in love my own way, thank you very much."

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Dreamily, Snow White hummed to herself as she went along, picking a whole bunch of wild flowers. Belle sat not too far away from her, smiling. She was happy and Belle was glad for her. But she was also suspicious; for it wasn't in the nature of Humbert the Huntsman to allow either of the girls to accompany him whilst out hunting for the Queen. Why the sudden change of heart, she wondered?

"Oh, Belle, look!" Snow cooed suddenly, dropping her armfuls of flowers.

Belle followed her gaze to where a tiny baby bluebird was cheeping mournfully. "Aw, poor thing," she said, getting to her feet. "He's probably lost or something."

"There, there," Snow murmured, picking up the poor little thing. "I wonder where his mama and papa are?"

The word "Papa" got to Belle but she pushed it to one side. "I'll go a bit deeper into the forest and see if I can see them."

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The forest was soft, tranquil and a mixture of greens and browns. Belle smiled as she walked along. There had been rumours when she was child, she could remember them even now, that wolves lived in the woods and it could be pretty dangerous in certain parts. She had asked her father once about the wolves; he had replied "wolves mainly keep to themselves, Belle. They won't attack if you keep your distance. As long as you don't stray from the path, you'll come out of the woods alright."

"Don't stray from the path," Belle muttered, remembering her father's words. There were no signs of any bluebirds in trees or circling the air above her. In fact, Belle kept looking up to check so often that she didn't realise that she had strayed from the path and was dangerously close to the edge of a steep bank sloping downwards, until she was startled by a sudden scream.

"Snow!" Belle shouted, whirling about and then she lost her footing and tumbled down the bank, rolling a little as she went, until she hit the bottom and gasped, all the breath knocked out of her. Raising a hand to her head to ease the dizziness, she froze as a sudden growl reached her ears.

She had fallen into the middle of a pack of wolves!

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"Oh, so, you're coming after all, then?" Frederick said as Adam walked into the stables, pulling on his riding gloves.

"No, as a matter of fact, I thought I'd got for a ride in the forest for a bit. I need to get out of the palace." Adam patted his horse and turned to his cousin. "How long do you think this conference with Leofrick will take?"

Frederick shrugged. "Days, weeks, months, who knows?" He swung himself up into the saddle. "I'll write."

"Right." The two men grasped hands in their usual brotherly farewell before Frederick urged his horse forwards and out of sight. Adam smiled as he urged his own palfrey in the direction of the forest.

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Panic and fear gripped Belle as she stumbled to her feet. They were all around her, the wolves, snarling and slavering. They were going to kill her; she knew she was looking death right in the face. Unless...

She took her chance, leapt over the nearest wolf and made a break for a gap in the trees. Branches snagged her clothes and threatened to trip her feet but she hurried onwards. She could hear them behind her; they were faster than she was, although they hadn't caught up to her yet, but they soon would.

She let out a cry of relief as she saw a river ahead of her. Would they follow her through it? It was very fast-flowing; surely they would be detered? Breaking her way through the criss-cross mass of tree branches and bracken, Belle urged her feet forwards and took a great leap.

Seconds later, she wished she hadn't. It was spring but the water was icy and each part of her body suddenly felt victim to a thousand knives. She splashed and struggled on through, although it hurt her limbs to move, but she didn;t care. She just wanted to put as much distance between the pack and herself as possible. She reached the other side what felt like a lifetime later. Scrabbling out, she realised with a sinking heart that they were following her; and now her limbs were too numb to move as fast as before.

Belle took to her heels again; mud and mulch splattering her dress, thorns scaring her skin and branches bruising her at every oppertunity. She had just reached the centre of a great clearing when it happened.

One of the wolves leapt right over her head and landed in front of her. Startled, she skidded to a halt, stumbled and fell back onto the grassy floor. The wolves behind her closed in, snapping and snarling. The one in front of her went for her ankle; she kicked out and it caught the hem of her dress firmly in it's jaws. She couldn't find anything to hit it with; no rocks, no branches and then one of the wolves behind her pinned her cloak to the ground, yanking her closer to the floor with it. She screamed in terror and covered her face as one of the wolves lunged...

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The attack never came. Belle looked up in time to see a man she had never seen before, weilding a sword which he had just used to bat the wolf away from her. Beside him, a large palfrey was kicking out at the wolves with its hooves, clearly unafraid of their snarling jaws and sharp claws. The man kicked at the one holding her dress; with a pained whine it released her and backed off, still snarling. The man's horse charged at it and the wolf scarpered back into the forest. Its fellow wolves followed; the one on her cloak stood where it was a few second more, snapping hungrily at the man. The man took a swipe with his sword; the wolf ran before he could make any contact with it.

The horse gave a triumphant whinney and stamped it's forefeet. "Easy, boy," Adam murmured, catching his bridle and turning to Belle who was staring up at him in fear, admiration and confusion. "Are you alright, Miss?"

Belle fainted.