Babes And The Beast

Chapter 8: Helping

One day, Mabel found an old puppet theater and refurbished it. She had Candy performed The Lonely Goatherd; A musical kiddie story she had found in a book about a goatherd who attracts a pretty girl with his yodeling. It was cute, if a bit hammy. They did many other stories like that. Silver Hands, The Loathly Lady, Beatrice and Benedict; all stories about the power of love and romance.

They also got to know the staff members. Now that the big secret was out, everyone was eager to share their life stories. Wendy and her brothers had come to work there after their father died. Miss Susan escaped her husband who had once hit her so hard that she couldn't open her eye all the way. Soos and his grandma had been hired right off the road when he was ten.

"We didn't really live anywhere. My mom was dead and my dad wasn't in the picture. We were just passing by the gate when Mister Stan came out and asked if I knew how to fix a carriage wheel."

"Just like that?" Mabel asked.

"Just like that." Soos went on. "Apparently his last carpenter was sacked for stealing, so they needed a new one right away. I barely knew how to use a hammer, but I agreed.

I didn't do a very good job, but Mister Stan said it was 'good enough' and said me and Abuela could stay at the castle as long as we liked."

"Aww. That's sweet."

"Yeah." sighed Wendy, "The two masters were like that. Always taking in people who had nowhere else to go. I think they liked having a bunch of people to take care of."

"Wow. Now I really want to help them. I'll be in the library."

Ten minutes later, he was banging his head against his favorite desk.

"Nothing! No ideas! Stupid! Empty! Brain!"

Wendy nudged him in sympathy. "It's a tight spell alright. Even Robbie's tried to find a cure."

"Who's he?"

"Robbie's our grocer. He was right outside the castle gate when it happened, so the curse affects him a bit ... differently than the rest of us."

"How so?"

"It's hard to explain. You'd understand better if you saw him. He normally comes by once a month to drop off the food we need. In fact, he should be here by now. I wonder what's keeping him..."

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"How's the arm?"

"Oh fine, just fine. Thank ye kindly for asking."

Old Man McGucket sat in the back of Robbie's wagon among bundled packages of food. His right arm was tightly wrapped in a cast and fixed to his shoulder with linen. It had taken three days to find a town with a good hospital and four more days until he was well enough to travel. The old man had borne it all morosely, barely speaking even when spoken to.

"We should be arriving in about two days. You can visit your kids when we get there."

"Yeah, alright."

"And they're perfectly safe. I can assure that. The boss is a bit of a grump, but he wouldn't hurt children. At least not on purpose."

"Dually noted."

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While Dipper was pouring over tomes in the library, Mabel was grilling Stan about past liaisons.

"Ever try dating a centaur?"

"No."

"Blind lady?"

"No."

"One of the female wolves?"

"Definitely not. I dated a woman who claimed to be a werewolf once. But she ended up being part of an Unseelie cult, so that was a no."

"Tea time!" trilled Miss Susan as her trolly rolled in. She poured some earl grey while Mabel snatched up cookies.

"She's so nice!" she said through a full mouth once the trolly left.

"Yeah. Pretty too. You should've seen er when she was younger. I used to have such a crush on her."

"Really?..." Mabel tapped her chin; an idea brewing in her mind.

The next day, Stan found the table in his room set with lunch for two. Miss Susan wheeled herself in.

"What you doing here sweetie?"

"Miss Mabel said you wanted to discuss something over lunch. Did you make this?"

"Heck no. You're funny. Mabe's must've set it out. Don't know what she's up to."

Susan nibbled a sandwich. "Probably just playing tricks. I remember when I was that age. Such a mischief maker I was."

Stan took a sandwich and gulped it down. "Well, we might as well catch up. Any new recipes?"

"As a matter of fact..."

"JUST MAKE OUT ALREADY!" Mabels' voice screamed from the doorway.

"I'm real sorry about this." Stan said to his befuddled coffee pot.

Later, Mabel talked to the girls in the room.

"So, were you guys his servants?" she asked Pacifica.

"Most certainly not." The mirror girl said with a shake of her blonde locks.

"Then, who are you?"

"Well, I was a sorcerous in training, and the girls were my ladies-in-waiting. But then we came here and tried to break the curse. And ended up falling victim to it."

"Aww."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. We make do. Plus, it's not like anyone misses us back home."

"No one? Not even your parents?"

"... I doubt they missed me when I was traveling."

Mabel stood up and hugged the mirror the best she could; stretching her arms all the way to the edges. "Well I'd miss you." She murmured. Pacifica blushed behind the glass.

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Eventually, Dipper gave up on finding a solution in the books and just sat there talking to Ford; who himself had a lot to say regarding his brother.

Sometimes I'm angry at him. Not for what happened, but for keeping me locked up so often. Sometimes, months would go by without him touching me. I never thought I could miss being touched so much.

Dipper rubbed his thumb across the paper; the same way he used to rub his thumb across his sisters' cheek when she cried.

Do you know what the worst part is? The last time we had a real conversation, I told him he was smothering me. Now he's cursed because of something I did and I rely on him for everything. That's real hell.

He hugged the open journal to his chest and rocked back and forth. "We'll fix this. I promise we'll fix this."

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I made three references to other shows in the first paragraph; see if you can guess them all.
The plays Mabel and Candy out on are actual stories. 'The Lonely Goatherd' is from 'The Sound of Music'. 'Beatrice and Benedict' is an alternate title for the Shakespeare play: 'Much Ado About Nothing'.