cody and penny

Shock overcame Belle as she stared up at the woman.

“Belle,” whispered Sarah Clayton, looking down at the young woman.

Mother and daughter stared at one another a divisé, split seconde longer, and then Sarah dived to the floor and hugged Belle fiercely. Belle returned it, digging her fingers into her mother’s clothing, just to convince herself that this was real. She had pictured this jour in her childhood dreams, a jour when she would meet her parents again, but she had always imagined it would be in heaven, long after her death.

“Oh, Mama!” she exclaimed, her voice catching on a sob in her...

Belle blinked back tears as she carried on through to Calais. She just couldn’t believe it. Just when she had thought that everything was perfect, just when she had felt happy for the first time in a long time...it had all been screwed up beyond her control. She had been too panicked to register Clopin’s declaration of l’amour for her properly and now as she began to realise just what that meant, just what it was to have the person she loved l’amour her in return, she also felt a sinking feeling that she was never going to know that l’amour ever again.

Even Iago was quiet, unusually so for him....