The Charming Gift

• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven
  
• Chapter Eight
  
• Chapter Nine
  
• Chapter Ten
  

C
rash!

The noise thundered through the castle, followed by the sound of breaking glass.

“Oh, no!” Belle cried. She jumped up from her chair by the fireplace. “What happened?”

“I think it came from the library,” Mrs. Potts the teapot said worriedly.

Belle rushed down the hallway. She hadn't lived at the castle for very long, but she could always find her way to the library! It was her favorite room in the entire castle.

Mrs. Potts zoomed after Belle on a tea cart. Her son, Chip the teacup, squealed as the cart zipped around the corners on two wheels. By the time they arrived at the library, Belle was already inside—along with Lumiere the candelabrum and Cogsworth the mantel clock.

“Oh, my word!” gasped Mrs. Potts. “Whatever happened in here?”

“It must have been the storm,” Belle said. She pointed to the window. A thick tree branch had crashed through it! Papers swirled around the library as icy wind and snowflakes blew through the broken window.

“Mama, it's cold in here!” Chip exclaimed.

“The castle records!” cried Cogsworth. “Hundreds of years of history!” He tried to leap into the air to grab some of the pages, but instead he fell flat on his face! Tiny gears and springs bounced across the floor.

“Hold on a minute, everybody,” Belle said. “Let's not panic. First things first. We need to cover the window to block the wind!”

“There is a board in the closet,” suggested Lumiere.

“That should do the trick,” Belle replied. She grabbed the board from the closet and quickly covered the hole with it.

“There,” Belle said, her teeth chattering. “Better already…even if it
is
a little chilly in here!”

“Better?”
Cogsworth repeated. “Look at this terrible mess! It will take hours to put all these papers in order again!”

“Not if we all work together!” Belle exclaimed. “Lumiere, would you light the fire?”

“But of course,” the candelabrum replied.

“A spot of tea will warm you right up, dear,” Mrs. Potts said. She poured the steaming tea into Chip. “It will warm you
both
up!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Potts,” Belle said after she took a sip of tea. “Hot tea is just the thing for a frosty winter day.”

“Ah, ah, ah,” Cogsworth corrected her, wagging his hand back and forth. “It's not winter
yet
. Not until December twenty-first.”

“Of course.” Belle laughed. “But it's hard to remember that winter isn't here yet when it's so bitterly cold out!”

“Mark my words, there
will
be a lot more snow by morning,” Mrs. Potts said wisely. “I can feel it in the air.”

“That's all the more reason to make sure we tidy up the library today—so that tomorrow, we can play in the snow! That's one of my favorite things to do…after reading, of course,” Belle replied. Then she turned to Cogsworth. “You must know all about the library's filing system. Where do we start?”

“Every item must be catalogued and cross-referenced. Then I like to color-code each item before I file them alphabetically by topic,” Cogsworth reported.

“I have an idea,” Belle said. “What if we start by organizing the papers by year?”

“I suppose that would work,” Cogsworth said, nodding his head.

Belle gathered an armful of papers and carried them over to a warm spot near the fire. She soon discovered that the castle's history was almost as exciting as her favorite book! There was a tattered treasure map, and even a picture of a dragon that lived in the mountains long ago!

A few moments later, Belle found a golden piece of paper printed with fancy lettering.

“What's this?” Belle asked curiously.

Mrs. Potts hurried over and glanced at the paper in Belle's hand. “Ahh, the Winter Solstice Ball,” she said. “Those were wonderful times—some of the best this castle's ever seen!”

“Go on, go on,” Belle encouraged her. “I want to know all about it!”

“It was tradition that every year, on the winter solstice, a grand ball would be held to welcome winter,” Mrs. Potts explained.

“Yes, the winter solstice,” Cogsworth chimed in. “That's the first day of winter—
and
the shortest day of the year.”

“The whole village was invited,” Mrs. Potts continued. “Everyone looked forward to it all year long. As the sun started to set, the guests would begin to arrive.”

“It might have been the darkest day of the year, but the castle glowed with light,” Lumiere said. “There were torches lining the path—”

“That made the snow sparkle!” added Mrs. Potts.

“And candles
everywhere
in the castle,” Lumiere continued.

“The garlands were even better,” Cogsworth said. “There were garlands of holly strung all around the ballroom.”

“We laid the great banquet table with golden platters,” Mrs. Potts continued. “There was every manner of food and drink that you could imagine!”

“What about dessert, Mama? Was there cake?” Chip asked eagerly.

“Of course!” Mrs. Potts replied. “We served chocolate cake and gingerbread and plum pudding and jam tarts! Oh, and cookies, of course. Hundreds of cookies!”

“Everything sounds delicious!” Belle exclaimed.

“It was,” Mrs. Potts agreed. “But the best part was the dancing.”

“Dancing?” Belle asked.

“Oh, yes, hours of dancing.” Mrs. Potts chuckled.

“It was spectacular,” Cogsworth said.

“After the sun set, all the guests joined the master on the balcony,” Mrs. Potts explained. “The stars twinkled in the night sky as everyone gave thanks for great friendships. Then, the orchestra would play and the dancing would begin.”

“How magical,” Belle said, sighing. “I can't think of a nicer way to welcome winter. What will the decorations look like this year—or is it a surprise?”

“Well, you see, child—” began Mrs. Potts.

“Not since the transformation—” Lumiere continued.

“We could hardly invite the entire village here now, could we?” asked Cogsworth.

Belle understood what they were trying to tell her. Long ago, a beautiful sorceress disguised as an old woman had begged to stay in the castle. When the prince sent her away, the sorceress placed a curse on the entire castle. The prince turned into a scary, ugly beast. Then the servants were transformed into household objects!

Ever since, they had been waiting for someone to break the curse: a girl who would fall in love with the Beast and teach him how to love in return. Until that happened, they stayed shut away in the castle, cut off from the village and the rest of the world.

Suddenly, Belle's eyes lit up. “I have a wonderful idea!” she exclaimed. “Let's have a solstice ball—for everyone
in
the castle!”

“But the solstice is only a couple of days away!” Cogsworth cried. “We could never finish all the preparations in time.”

“I think we could,” Belle said. “Look at how quickly we tidied up the library—and all because we worked together. We can do it!”

“You're forgetting something,” Cogsworth said. “What if the master doesn't want to have a solstice ball?”

“Shall we go ask him?” Belle asked.

Before anyone could reply, Belle was on her feet, clutching the invitation in her hand. All everyone could do was rush after Belle as she hurried off to find the Beast. No one knew what he would say!

B
elle rushed down the hallway. “Beast!” she called. “Beast, where are you?”

Belle looked everywhere—in the dining hall, the great room, the foyer, and even the kitchen. She finally spotted the Beast coming down the stairs from the West Wing, where everyone else was forbidden to go. The West Wing held one of the Beast's most precious possessions—an enchanted rose. As the years passed, the rose had begun to wilt, dropping one petal at a time. If no one fell in love with the Beast before the last petal fell, the curse on the castle would last forever.

“Oh, there you are!” Belle cried.

“What do you want?” the Beast snapped. Then he cleared his throat and tried to remember his manners. “I mean, what can I do for you?”

“I found this in the library,” Belle said, holding out the invitation. “I was thinking about how delightful it would be to have a solstice ball this year!”

“Absolutely not,” he said.

“Why not?” asked Belle. “Surely
everyone
in the castle would enjoy it!”

“Winter solstice—what's to enjoy about that?” the Beast grumbled. “The shortest and darkest day of the year. That's hardly a reason to celebrate.”

“I think it's
all
the more reason to celebrate!” Belle exclaimed. “Even the dreariest winter day is more cheerful when friends spend it together.”

The Beast saw how excited Belle was and didn't want to disappoint her. “Very well,” he replied, sighing. “But
only
for those of us inside the castle.”

“Oh, thank you!” cried Belle.

“I hope you're right,” he grumbled. His voice sounded grumpy, but everyone could see that his eyes had a slight twinkle as he looked at the big smile on Belle's face.

Everyone got right to work preparing the castle for the Winter Solstice Ball. Cogsworth supervised a parade of brooms, mops, and feather dusters, who cleaned the grand ballroom from floor to ceiling. Even Chip tried to help…but he kept slipping and sliding over the soapy suds! When they were finished, the ballroom sparkled.

Early in the morning on the day of the ball, Cogsworth tied a thick gold ribbon across the doors to the ballroom. Lumiere guarded the entrance.

“What's this?” the Beast asked curiously. He pointed at the ribbon.

“
Excusez-moi
, Master,” Lumiere said apologetically, “but we must, ah, redirect traffic
around
the ballroom.”

“But I always take a shortcut through the ballroom to get to the West Wing,” the Beast argued.

“I am sorry, Master,” Lumiere said. “We have finished decorating for the ball and would hate to spoil the surprise!”

The Beast was about to keep arguing, but then he smelled the scents of cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. He followed the smell to the kitchen, where Mrs. Potts was almost finished making all the treats for the ball.

“Something smells delicious,” the Beast said. He reached for a gingerbread cookie.

“Pardon me, Master,” Mrs. Potts said. “They're not cool enough yet to eat!”

Then the Beast noticed a tall pyramid of cranberry tarts. “How about one of those?”

“They haven't cooled yet either, I'm afraid,” Mrs. Potts told him.

“Mama wouldn't even let
me
have one,” Chip added. The little teacup hopped over to a platter of red-and-white cakes swirled with peppermint icing. “But maybe we could split one of these!”

“Both of you, out of the kitchen!” Mrs. Potts cried, shooing Chip and the Beast toward the door. “I was supposed to be at Belle's bedroom ten minutes ago!”

“Come on, Chip,” whispered the Beast as they trudged out of the kitchen. “I have some chocolate in my study. A piece for you and a piece for me!” Chip grinned.

Mrs. Potts smiled. Normally, she wouldn't have let Chip eat chocolate this early in the day. But today—the day of the winter ball—was special.

“Stove, please keep an eye on the kitchen for me,” Mrs. Potts called as she hurried toward the hall. “I'm off to watch Belle try on her gown. I can't wait to see her!”