The City had seen fit to attach a great tower to the back of her lovely cottage, and to make this tower a spiraling library, filled with books on every subject. At various levels in this tower, there were comfortable window seats, some with reading ledges, one with a writing desk attached, and even one with a bed-sized cushion where she'd slept on more than one occasion. But Beauty's very favorite was, of course, the one at the very top of the tower. It was smaller, but still the perfect size for her to curl up and read. And there was a ledge where she could set her tea.
That's where Beauty started her day, nestled in blankets and pillows, with her hands full of a copy of Dandelion Wine and a cup of jasmine tea steaming gently on the ledge. She'd been engrossed in her reading, and only came up for a sip of her tea now and again. It was during one of these sips that she happened to look down.
There was a man circling behind her tower, well off the sidewalked path that ran close to her front door. And this man, she saw, was wearing a very familiar jacket. Setting her tea down, she slid her bookmark into place and turned to study the man more closely.
It certainly wasn't the one who should be wearing that jacket. And, as her frown began, she could think of many reasons why Errol would've given someone his jacket. Perhaps the man was cold.. but it was unlikely in this forever-temperate City... Perhaps Errol knew this man, knew him well enough to... But there'd always been something about the way Errol wore his jacket that made Beauty believe it was precious to him.
Then there was another thought -- that this man had done something to get the jacket from Errol without his permission. And that thought had her hurrying down her long and winding library steps, toeing into a pair of well-worn flats, and then hovering by her kitchen window. By that point, the man was back on the sidewalk outside her cottage and heading away. When he was far enough gone that the sound of her door opening wouldn't give her away, she slipped out the door.
It was difficult to creep up on someone in the middle of a park, but in the morning light, that's exactly what Beauty was trying to do.