Skin Deep

Chapter Four: I've Come for my Father

"I was allowed to return home only to say my goodbyes. I must leave for the castle again tomorrow and I will never again return."

"But father, you can't possibly leave us!" Rose cried out.

"Of course he can't," Beau said, his voice quiet. "It was I who asked for the rose, so it is I who must receive the punishment for its theft. I'm sure the master of this castle will take me in your place - I'm younger and would make a far more useful servant."

"I won't hear of it, Beau. You have your whole life ahead you and I will not allow you to sacrifice it for my mistakes. Besides," Pierre continued sadly, "we all know you are of far more use here than I am."

"No," Beau replied sternly. "The girls need a father. Louis and Gabe can and will manage the farm. I will collect my things and leave at once."

"But Beau-" his father started, but Beau was already on his feet and marching towards the bedroom where his few meagre possessions were stored. No one tried to stop him.

"Go away," Louis grunted from his room when Beau knocked on his door half an hour later.

Beau tentatively pushed open the door and was greeted by darkness: the curtains were tightly drawn against the glowing morning light. Beau took a step backwards, overpowered by the smell emanating from within - a potent mixture of stale sweat and unwashed socks. The mound of covers on the oak bed frame in the centre of the room indicated Louis' presence. His brother had returned to bed as soon as he'd learnt about their new predicament, which was exactly why Beau had come to see him.

"It's almost noon," Beau said softly, still stood in the doorway.

"Which means it's still too early to wake up," Louis grumbled, burrowing further under the covers.

"Not any more," Beau replied, trying to sound more authoritative that he felt. "I'm leaving within an hour and management of the farm is going to fall to you and Gabe. The animals will need feeding, the crops tending to, the pens mucking out. Estelle will be able to tell you what needs doing when-"

"So why doesn't she do it herself?" Louis snapped.

Beau marched into the room and tore open the curtains, flooding the room with light. So much for the soft approach. Next he snatched the covers from the bed, throwing them into a heap on the floor.

"You will not leave the running of this farm to a ten year old girl while you laze around in bed. You will not leave our father and sisters to starve to protect your own idleness."

Louis sat up, glaring. "It's not my fault we lost our money. It's not my fault you asked for that stupid rose. Why should I suffer-"

"Because it's what you do for family. You sacrifice, you work hard, you show some basic human decency," Beau snapped back. "Believe me, if I hear that any harm has befallen our father or sisters because of your uselessness, I will make you wish you had taken my place and gone to the beast instead. No monster will be able to match my wrath."

Beau turned and stalked from the room without giving his brother a chance to respond.

Half an hour later and he had saddled Philippe. His father and sisters gathered in the courtyard in the garden. His brothers were nowhere to be seen.

"They're too ashamed," Estelle told him quietly. "They know that it should be they offering to go in your place - you're of far more use to us than they are."

Beau shook his head. "It was my rose, so it's my punishment to bear. I won't allow anyone else to take my place."

Estelle sniffed. "You are the kindest, most honourable person I know. I will miss you terribly, brother."

"And I you - I shall miss you all," he told them, wiping the tears from Rose's cheeks and hugging Clara tightly. "But you'll be fine without me, I promise. You are stronger than you know." He gave them his most encouraging smile - they would be fine without him. It would take some adjusting, everyone would have to work a bit harder - especially his brothers - but he knew they could do it. They had to.

His father had given him detailed instructions on how to reach the beast's castle. Beau couldn't understand how even his father had managed to get so off course as to have found it - it was impossibly out of the way, situated where no one from their village ought to have come across it by chance. Beau was surprised to notice, however, that there was a small but bustling village some way beyond the castle. How could the people there bear to live in such close proximity to the monster his father had described to him while he got ready? If it was as brutal and terrifying as his father had led him to believe, why had they let it survive for this long?

The castle itself was grey and uninviting, gruesome grotesques clinging to the walls and hideous gargoyles jutting out from towered roofs. But the rose garden before it was as breathtaking as he had expected it to be; blooms of every colour and size. Unimaginable beauty in the soft smattering of snow that carpeted the floor beneath them. How did they survive it such cold temperatures? The castle must surely be enchanted.

Beau dismounted Philippe and left him to trail around the grounds - he would find a stable once had introduced himself to the master of the house.

He hadn't even made it as far as the steps when a cold voice behind him stopped him in his tracks.

"You are not Pierre Molineux."

{Sorry I didn't update last week - my little girl was unwell with chicken pox. Then yesterday I was at a wedding so didn't get time to post. I'm going to try my best to update again next Friday, but it's the easter holidays so I'm not getting as much writing time as usual. If you enjoyed this chapter, please vote to let me know. A description of the beast is coming in the next chapter, but I'd love to know what you're expecting.}