Free The Eye of the Beholder by Elizabeth Darcy

did not know how Papa would maintain it once I was gone. My sisters surely would not be of any assistance to him, and I nearly wept as I thought of this. And yet I could not allow such thoughts to influence me; better to have him safe at home and eating stale bread than languishing in the dungeon of a cruel and terrifying beast.
    We knew that Papa would not sleep of his own accord the night before his supposed departure. As the day approached, he grew paler and more withdrawn. We often heard the sounds of his soft footfalls as he paced our sitting room all night long. Three days before he was to leave, he had packed and settled all of his affairs.
    As I descended the ladder the night before he was to leave, I grieved that Papa would wake to find that I had left in his place. In order to ensure that he would sleep soundly, I had slipped a preparation of herbs into his nighttime cup of tea. I felt badly about this deception, but I soothed my conscience by reminding myself that it had been done for his protection. I could not risk his waking and attempting to stop me.
    My sisters and I stole from the cottage, carrying the pack of provisions we had prepared for my journey. I had decided to go on foot, as the horse was needed to pull the plow. This meant I would be unable to move as swiftly as I would have like, which made it all the more imperative that I left long before Papa woke. He must remain asleep until I was far from home, when there would be no risk of his catching me, no matter how swiftly he rode.
    As I shouldered my pack, I turned to my sisters and seized their hands. "Please, I beg you, take care of Papa." I was unable to prevent my voice from trembling.
    Rowena pulled her hand away from mine with a sneer. "We have shall fare perfectly well without you."
    "Indeed," Thomasina added. "Your absence will scarcely be noticed. It is best that you go to the castle, for there is nothing for you here."
    I turned away from my sisters, tears flooding my eyes. "Perhaps you are correct," I said, not bothering to keep the hurt from my voice.
    As I began walking toward the forest, Rowena and Thomasina turned their backs on me and went into the cottage without another word. My throat thick with unshed tears, I paused for the briefest of seconds to look back at the place I had once called home before I began putting one foot in front of the other, focusing on making my pace as swift as possible.
    I did not recollect much of the initial stages of my voyage, for my eyes were much too blinded by tears and my heart too sorely pained for me to pay any heed to the sights I passed. Though Papa had not told us how to reach the beast's castle, I had the strangest sense that I knew exactly which way to go. I tried not to reflect on this, as I could only deal with one terror at a time, and the impenetrable darkness of the forest frightened me almost more than I could bear. It seemed to close in around me, swallowing me whole.
    Hours after sunrise, I paused at the side of the road, hurriedly drinking some water and eating a bit of bread and cheese, before concealing myself in the undergrowth and trying to rest. My sleep was fitful, interrupted first by a nightmare of highwaymen descending on me and murdering me in my sleep and next by one of a pack of prowling wolves devouring me whole. When I rose, I was more exhausted than when I had lain down, and my nerves were frayed. I decided I would not stop again until I reached the castle gates, and I laughed a little madly at the thought that the castle of a monster seemed safer than the murky road.
    At last, deep in the midst of the night, I caught sight of the beast's castle. The tall gates opened of their own accord as I approached, raising gooseflesh all over my body, but I did not stop. I was so eager to put the forest behind me that I hurried through them with little hesitation. I shall never forget the cold, loud clink as they closed behind me. It felt as though my heart stopped beating, and I