Once upon a time...
In southern Georgia of the United States of America of the days of slavery, there lived a widower and his daughter. The widower name was Issac Hamilton and his daughter's name was Isabelle Hamilton. They were humble but very poor. Although they were poor, they consider themselves rich because they loved each other. Even though the townspeople thought Issac to be odd and eccentric, they knew he had a very beautiful and kind daughter. Isabelle was very sought after by many men who want to marry her.
One such man was named Charles. He was the town's best looking man and had many girls swooning in his presence. Charles wanted Isabelle to be his wife and he would not stop until he had her.
One day Charles saw his chance as Issac was mounting his horse Duke to go further south to sell some wares he had made. When Issac disappeared from view, Charles approached Isabelle and tried to impress her with his bulging muscles and manly looks. Isabelle was not impressed at all. For she was on her way to the local bookstore to return and borrow another one, when he stepped into her path. She kindly asked him to move and when he refused, she went around him. For several miles they did this dance until they got to town. There horse and buggies got in-between them and soon Charles lost sight of her
When she arrived at the bookstore, she asked the bookkeeper if there were any new books. Sadly there were none so she picked up a book that she had read many times before and when the bookkeeper mentioned it, Isabelle replied that it was her favorite, so the bookkeeper gave it to her.
While this was going on, her father had arrived at a plantation where weird stuff was going on. Like the grounds were being well kept but looks deserted. The front door slowly creaked open before he had a chance to knock, lamps were lighted with no explanation, dinner appeared on the table magically. Then he was suddenly face to face with a massive beast. He had a head like a bear, horns like a bull, body like a bobcat, mane like a lion, arms, legs and feet like a wolf. Issac was very scared. So scared that he fainted and when he woke up, he found himself chained to a wall in the attic.
When Isabelle got home, she was startled by Duke her father's horse returning without him. She calmed the horse down and mounted on the horse to search for her father. Duke led her to a plantation where she saw items used in farming moving by themselves. Suddenly she jumped as someone invisible asking her if she had come to break the curse that a voodoo priestess cast upon them?. She replied that she was looking for her father. She then ask what his name was and what is he doing here. He answered that his name is Jacob and that he is a slave. Isabelle then asked what does he do and how long has he been a slave for. Jacob then replied that his job is be the head of the slave quarters and take care of the household. He also said that he has been a slave since birth.
Then Jacob said, " Here, let me take you to my Master and perhaps he will let you see your father, but be warned, my Master is an angry man but not a man as well." Confused but relieved, Isabelle found where her father was, she followed Jacob by the light he was carrying which was the only indicator of where he was going. When Jacob showed Isabelle to his master, Isabelle was scared for she never seen such a manly beast before and she seen some beastly men. She tried not to show how scared she was when she asked to see her father. Jacob's master said she could but only if she would take his place. Isabelle agreed despite her father's protest. When Isabelle went to give her father a hug goodbye, her father was ripped away from her by invisible hands. Then he was tossed into what seemed to be a carriage with no horse.
A heartbroken Isabelle watched from the attic window as her father was taken away from here. As she was sitting by the window crying her heart out, she was startled by the attic door opening and there in the doorway stood the beast and Isabelle cried " I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye!" Then she heard Jacob's voice saying " Master, why don't you give her a room with a personal servant to help her during her stay as it can get very cold here in the attic." The beast agreed with that logic and led her to a beautiful room with lush plants filling the room. It had two French doors leading to a balcony overlooking the garden. In the middle of the room sat a queen size bed. Off to the side was another room which was the sitting room. From the ceiling of both rooms hanging is a crystal chandelier.
Then there was a knock at the door and when Isabelle opened the door, there stood a young girl about the age of ten who had hair so dark that it was almost black, skin was as brown as a doe's eye. When she spoke her voice was like a melodic dove. Isabelle was surprised she was able to see her and the girl explained that the reason she was able to be seen was because she was born after the curse. Isabelle was delighted to have a companion that she is able to see and touch. She asked her many questions like , " what's your name? What is like growing up knowing you couldn't see your mother and father but knowing they were there? Who are yourparents?" The girl answered Isabelle questions one at a time. She said that her name is Ruth and that it was all she known and that she knows that some day the curse will be broken and that her parents are Jacob and Rebecca." Then Isabelle said " well Ruth, since I will be here a while, what should we do first?" Ruth suggested a tour and Isabelle agreed. Ruth showed Isabelle the ballroom, library, kitchen and many other rooms in the house. When they approached the master suite Ruth said that Isabelle should never go in here. For if she did , she may never see the light of day again then Ruth ended the tour.
That night as Ruth was sleeping in the servants quarters off to the left of the sitting room. Isabelle couldn't get to sleep. She kept thinking about the warning Ruth gave her about the master suite. Then her curiosity got the better of her and she got out of bed and snuck into the master bedroom. The first thing she saw was a jar of a single stem of a marigold with petals already at the bottom. As she was looking at the jar, she was forcefully turned around and saw it was none other than the beast. The beast was snarling and foaming at the mouth saying angrily " What Are You Doing Here? I Thought You Were Told To Stay Away From Here?" Isabelle was so scared that she ran out of the room and our the front door. Soon she was lost in the woods and couldn't find her way out. All of the sudden she her growling and she slowly turned around and saw two bobcats licking their chops as they were very hungry. Then they lunged at her but we're intercepted by the beast. They wrestled and tussled and the bobcats lost and ran away whimpering. As the beast turned around to ask if Isabelle was alright, he collapsed to the ground. Isabelle afraid for the beast's life ran to him and helped him to that house by putting the beast's limp body onto Duke.
When Isabelle got to the house, she put him on a daybed and nurse him back to health. As she was attending to the beast's wounds, she applied some pressure to stem the flow of blood and as she did he roared in pain and yelled that it hurts. She fired back saying if he would just hold still it wouldn't hurt as bad. They both yelled back and forth saying things like if Isabelle hadn't ran away he wouldn't be hurt in the first place and if the beast hadn't scared her she wouldn't have ran away. The beast had to think of a response to that and finally said that she should have snooped in the first place. Isabelle had to admit that she was wrong to snoop and that she tried not to but her curiosity got the best of her. She also said that he should learn to control his temper if they were to co-exist with each other. Then she thanked him for saving her life. The beast said your welcome and that he accepted her apology as well as he would try to control his temper. Isabelle finished with what she was doing and went to bed.
Slowly the days turning to weeks, weeks to months and months to years and Isabelle and the beast starts to fall in love. Everyday Isabelle would find flowers and books in her room and sitting room. She found this to be sweet as the beast attempts to court her.
One day while she was reading in the garden, Charles her persistent suitor from her past found out where she was and tried to rescue her even though she told Charles that she didn't need to be rescued but he just didn't listen. He grabbed Isabelle and ran. When he grabbed Isabelle, she started screaming. When the beast heard Isabelle's screams, he and his slaves grabbed everything they could find and raced to her rescue.
When Charles saw the beast and the floating objects, he turned white and dropped Isabelle to the ground. Then the beast raced to Isabelle and asked her if she was alright. When Isabelle confirmed that she was ok , the beast let out a sigh of relief saying thank God. Then he roared in pain as Charles struck the beast in the back with a concealed knife that he had hidden in his boot.
When the slaves saw what Charles had done, they surrounded him and killed him in revenge. As Isabelle was holding the dying beast in her arms the beast said " I know it won't matter as I'm dying but I wanted to tell you that I love you." When the beast finished saying that he passed out from the pain.
When Isabelle saw that he had passed out, she thought he was dead and started crying saying " Please don't be dead! I don't know what I would do if you are dead for I love you too!" Then miraculously the beast's body sat up shedding his fur and became a man. As this was happening the slaves started to become visible again . Then the man opened his eyes and whispered "Isabelle" When Isabelle heard her name, she immediately knew that this was her beast. She threw her arms around him and cried.
Then they turned as they heard running feet as Ruth came running crying Mother! Father! And the family hugged and cried as for the first time in Ruth's life they could actually hold her. Then Ruth came to Isabelle and hugged her, thanking her for breaking the curse. Then the beast turned man told Isabelle his name. He said " my name before I became the beast is James " Soon Isabelle and James were married. He invited Isabelle's father back and gave him a house which was the summer house. As a gift to Isabelle for their first anniversary James freed all the slaves which was unheard of during that time, but because of the loyalty and adoration that the now freed slaves had for Isabelle that they stayed on as paid workers.
James and Isabelle had many children. The childrens names were Issac James, James Issac, Charles Andrew, Andrew Charles,Ruth Isabelle and Isabelle Ruth. Ruth stayed on as the children's governess after James paid for Ruth's schooling.
Issac Isabelle's father died at the age of 90 years old and was buried in James's family plot. Then one day 60 years later when James and Isabelle was old and gray they died in each other's arms. When morning came and they were discovered dead there were cries of grief across the plantation as they were transported to the family's burial plot. There they laid with the quote on their tombstone saying " Here lies the Southern Belle and Her Beast"
The End!