Hilary and the Beasts, Part 27

Hilary and Maple were the only ones at breakfast the next day. Betty said she had work to do on her scripts, and everyone else was busy or doing chores. Mrs. Fox delivered Maple her usual waffles, but she seemed rather tired. There were dark circles under those normally sparkling brown eyes. Even that scarlet lipstick she favored didn’t seem to glisten like it usually did.

She finally sighed and pushed the waffles away. “Thanks, Mrs. Fox, but I’m not hungry. I sorta didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Maple, it’s not like you to avoid breakfast. Usually, you eat more of it than the rest of us.” Hilary patted her sister’s shoulder. “Talk to me. What happened? Nightmare?”

“Yeah,” Maple sighed. “A real doozy, too. It was so scary! I ain’t never had a dream that intense, even the ones we all shared.”

Hilary frowned. “Can you tell me about it?” Mrs. Fox continued to wash dishes at the sink in back of them, but Hilary swore she seemed to lean in a little to hear, too.

“Well, I’ll see what I can remember.” Maple closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. “It starts in Eagle’s office. It’s late at night. There’s one bright bit of moonlight showin’ through the window. All I can see is papers n’ records n’ maps…and then, I swear I hear a voice.” She frowned. “It’s so beautiful…deep, gentle, resonant…but so sad. I try to listen, to understand it, but, no matter how much I try, I can’t seem to catch the words.” 

Her voice and large, dark eyes became far dreamier. “That’s why he turns up, my Prince Charmin’ from our dream, the tall, cute, baldin’ guy. He looks gorgeous in that black tux, with those sweet whiskey eyes that always seem kinda sad. I swear, he took one look at that blue bead and ruffled gown I wore to the Frick Mansion last July and turned so red, he glowed in the dark.” 

Hilary rolled her eyes as Mrs. Fox snorted. “That gown always was a bit low-cut on you, dear.”

“I don’t think he really knew what to do with me at first. I kinda get the idea he ain’t that used to bein’ around ladies.” Maple chuckled. “He sorta just threw a bouquet of yellow roses in my arms. He tried kissin’ my hand, but he ended up gettin’ my arm instead. I told him it was ok. Most guys don’t wanna kiss my hand. They just wanna go right into…you know.”

“I know all too well,” Hilary muttered. She wasn’t sure she liked where this was going, either.

“It took a few minutes to get him warmed up, ya know?” She grinned. “I leaned into him, put my arms around him…and Hilary, he weren’t no shadow. I couldn’t see much, ‘cause it was so dark in there, but I could definitely hold him. I know I smelled the roses, the musty ink on Eagle’s papers. I know I held him, gave him a squeeze, laid my head on his neck. It felt…real good. He was just so warm! Hilary,” she made a face at her older sister’s raised eyebrow, “he weren’t nothin’ but a gentleman. Never did more than rub my back a little an’ nuzzle my neck.”

Mrs. Fox grinned. “I don’t think this sounds that bad, Maple.” Hilary glared at her. 

“Oh, I wish it had gone on all night!” She sighed. “But he finally let me go. He picked up the papers an’ tried to read them, but…he couldn’t talk. He still couldn’t make a sound. I didn’t hear nothin’ come out. He kept tryin’ to read them, but I couldn’t understand what he was sayin’. I never was much good at readin’ lips. And all this time, the record kept goin’ on in the background. I couldn’t understand the voice, either, even though I stopped and listened.”

Maple gulped, her eyes wide and sad. “Hilary…when I turned back around, the look the guy was givin’ me…it made me feel so bad for ignorin’ him. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it, and just…when he looked into my eyes, he wasn’t just sad. He looked like he was gonna cry. He kept talkin’ to me, even though all I could hear was the gibberish on the record.” 

She smirked as she tapped her fingers on the table. “I thought he could do somethin’ a lot more useful with his mouth than standin’ there openin’ it like a fish, so I grabbed him, gave him the biggest hug I could, and nibbled at his ear. You shoulda seen the look on his face when I bit a little at his shoulder. I’ll bet a girl ain’t been that forward with him in years.” Hilary chuckled. Mrs. Fox snorted again, but said nothing.

That was when Maple’s face fell. “We were just about to kiss in the moonlight, lookin’ into each other’s eyes, the whole romantic nine yards, when…ooh!” Her furious growl nearly matched Bear’s. “When those…those romance-wreckin’ monsters suddenly burst in! They didn’t even knock! They just broke the door down! I can tell you, I wasn’t real happy about that. They totally ruined the moment…and my roses, too! My roses wilted the moment they came in! That wasn’t fair! He gave them to me!”

Hilary patted her shoulder, frowning. Mrs. Fox leaned closer, the dishes forgotten. “What happened after that?”

“I showed those big ugly monsters the what-for, that’s what!” Maple snapped indignantly. “I gave ‘em a couple of good rights, then jumped on the biggest one’s back an’ rode him like one of those buckin’ broncos. My Prince Charmin’ fought pretty good, too. You’d never know it from lookin’ at him, but the guy has a damn good right hook of his own.” She closed her eyes. “I swear I saw him clearly just once in the moonlight, when he threw one of the monsters over the desk. He looked so familiar! Damn it, I’d seen him before!” 

“You’d be surprised,” Mrs. Fox muttered behind them. “I’ve had to give those three idiots more ice after brawls…”

“He tried to defend me, Hilary,” Maple whimpered. “He really did. There were just too many of them. I kept fighting them, but two of them just shoved me on the floor an’ held my arms n’ legs down. It took three of ‘em to get him down. God,” her own chocolate eyes were haunted, “the things the largest monster did to him! They swept all the papers on the floor, said they were gonna shred ‘em with their claws. The papers…they flew everywhere. The record…they grabbed that, too. They were gonna break ‘em all. They tore down the maps, stuck their claws into ‘em until they were nothin’ but ribbons.” 

Hilary rubbed her sister’s shoulder as she continued, her voice much softer and far more frightened. “The largest had this big, thick leather collar on a long chain leash. He said my Prince Charmin’ was bein’ bad, that he shouldn’t have been talkin’. That…that monster locked the collar on him, an’ just kept pullin’ an’ pullin’ it tighter, ‘til my Prince could barely breathe.” 

Maple closed her eyes. “The biggest monster…he said my Prince was a cold-hearted coward who cared more about paper than people. He said at the end of the year, he’d be a pretty pet bird in a cage who couldn’t do nothin’ but squawk. He and those…those fiends kept yankin’ at his neck, beatin’ at him, just for talkin’ to me!” When she opened them, they brimmed with tears. “I tried to get loose, tried to kick, tried to fight, but they just slammed me over the head. And that’s when I woke up, screamin’.”

Mrs. Fox brought Maple the largest strawberry muffin in the bread box. “Here, honey. You deserve this, after that. You poor thing. That sounded horrible.”

“It sounded familiar.” Hilary rubbed Maple’s back. “Maple, after you eat…and you do need to eat, even after that nightmare…I want you to talk to Betty. She told me a couple of weeks ago that she had a similar nightmare involving the man in the white tux from our dreams.”

Maple nodded, tearing absently at the muffin. “This has all gotta mean somethin’, Hilary. But what?”

Her older sister sighed as Mrs. Fox brought them coffee. “I wish I knew, Maple. I wish I knew.” Mrs. Fox frowned and sighed herself, but said nothing.