Here's the next chapter, as promised.
A big thank you to everyone who's reading and everyone who put this story on alert. A special thanks to Magically Dorky, my one and only reviewer without whom fanfictioning would not be nearly as fun : ) This chapter is dedicated to you!
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
Enjoy!
Eleven Pipers Piping
Monday the Fifteenth of December
I awoke the next morning in a room that wasn't my own. It wasn't bright enough and the bed felt different, the sheets were stiff. I sat up and looked around; it took me a few moments longer to remember where I was. Charlie's house. I walked slowly down the stairs – intently focused on watching my feet to ensure they hit each step. The worst accidents always happened in the morning.
I reached the kitchen and found a note from Charlie:
Bella,
I'm at the station, didn't want to wake you. Help yourself to breakfast. I'll be home at four. We'll have dinner together at The Sullen Cullen.
Charlie.
I frowned at the note. 'Help yourself to breakfast'? Since when did...? Then I eyed the paper bag on the kitchen bench. I peered into it – blueberry bagels. I smiled.
After I finished my breakfast I looked around the kitchen. The fridge was practically empty and the cupboard home only to empty Tupperware containers and a few jars which I promptly threw out.
I had to go shopping. Charlie may be able to live off cotton candy and hotdogs, but I certainly couldn't.
I showered, changed and brushed my teeth. I went to my newly acquired desk to grab my keys and purse and stopped. I had my keys, but where was my purse?
I searched through my bedside drawers, nothing. I then turned the downstairs upside down as I became more and more stressed. I called Charlie and asked him whether he had seen it.
"Try the clothes you were in last night Bells," he'd wisely said.
"Oh... right. Thanks Dad," I hung up the phone after explaining to Charlie that I was going to do some grocery shopping, feeling ridiculously stupid.
I raced upstairs and picked up the clothes I had worn to The Sullen Cullen last night. Out of the pocket of my jeans fell a small figurine of a drummer that was dressed as if it were a member of a marching band. I smiled. Twelve drummers drumming. This was the object Edward had placed in my hand as I'd left the carnival last night. Its reappearance reminded me of our short conversation. As I had drifted to sleep last night I had wondered more about him. Was he another of Carlisle's kids? Did he go to school? Did he ride the carousel while no one was watching? As the thoughts got more ridiculous I pulled myself together.
I stood up and remembered how he had helped me up and explained Rosalie's bad manners.
"Damnit!" I said aloud.
I rushed out of the door and locked it behind me. I walked swiftly to The Sullen Cullen, surprised I could remember the way. I made it in fifteen minutes.
Esme wasn't at the ticket booth; I looked around at the empty car park and pushed through the gate. The carnival seemed so different now. No kids screaming, no lights, nothing. It was a ghost town, only more colour and rubbish lined the streets. I looked at my watch. It was only seven-thirty.
I walked straight ahead as I tried to remember the way to the carousel. Seeing as I'd arrived there on a whim last night, I didn't think there was any chance of me finding it again, but then there I was, standing in the exact spot Rosalie had knocked me down the night before. Just as I was about to get on my hands and knees to search for my purse, I felt a hand at my shoulder.
I turned to find myself face to face with Emmett the clown – minus the makeup. The clown costume looked ridiculous on the big guy without the presence of the bright makeup. He smiled at me.
"A little birdie told me I might find you here this morning," he said.
"Oh?"
"He asked me to give you this," he pulled my purse from behind his back, "and this," he whipped a sheet of paper out of his breast pocket.
"Thanks Emmett," I said.
"No worries Bella! Here's a map, just in case," he winked at me and made to walk away, then he turned and added, "It's eleven piping pipers today. Prize is free cotton candy for the day. You know you want it," he winked again as he turned and left me standing by the carousel, completely confused.
I looked down at the paper Emmett had given me. I carefully unfolded it.
It was a note.
Bella,
You left something behind last night. If you've received this note you're at the carnival. I won't be there until late tonight and as such, I was not able to steal a piping piper off Emmett this morning. Find one for me and I might just have a little surprise for you.
Edward.
I should have just gone back to Charlie's to do some shopping, but I felt strangely obliged to follow Edward's instructions. I looked down at the map Emmett had given me. Sure enough it had eleven little depictions of a man dressed in a kilt and playing the bagpipes in eleven different areas of the carnival. I found the carousel on the map easy enough – the closest piper was depicted next to an image of a clown's face, which was next to a hotdog stand.
It took longer than it should have, but eventually I found the place. It was an alley game – the one where you had to squirt water from the hoses into the open mouths of the clowns and fill up a balloon. I remembered failing terribly at this game when I was younger – the man running the game had given me a sympathetic oversized teddy bear which resided in my room back in Phoenix.
I wondered if Emmett had had time to hide all the pipers yet. Nevertheless I looked around and soon found a miniature piper hiding inside the mouth of one of the clowns. I shoved it into my pocket and left the carnival.
---
Four pm on the dot and Charlie walked through the front door as I was packing a few groceries into the cupboards.
"Afternoon Bella," he said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Hey Dad," I said.
"You want a hand with that?" he asked, indicating to the shopping.
"No, it's ok, almost done now."
He watched TV for what was left of the sunlight as I reread Wuthering Heights. At six o'clock he decided it was time to go and have dinner.
In the car he informed me that it was just going to be us and the carnies that I had met yesterday at dinner. Apparently The Sullen Cullen wasn't open at nights on weekdays.
Charlie walked me casually through the gates and over to a large tent on the far left hand side of the carnival.
I was greeted by a smiling Alice – wearing normal clothes and still managing to look amazingly like an elf. She smiled at me, "Hi Bella! Hey Charlie! Come sit down, we've just finished cooking dinner."
We sat on assorted crates and boxes in a tight circle and ate a delicious Esme-style spaghetti bolognaise. I was pretty quiet through dinner, discovering by listening to the conversation that Edward had been out that day getting supplies for the carnival – sugar for the cotton candy machines and mustard for the hotdogs, that kind of thing. As I was just finishing my last mouthful Alice's sudden shout nearly knocked me off my crate.
"Edward!" Alice ran to greet him.
I watched as Edward hugged her back and caught my eye over her shoulder. I turned back to my food. He walked over to join our circle as Alice told him all about their day at the carnival – I didn't really hear what she was saying as I tried to inconspicuously catch Edward's eye again. Eventually Alice stopped talking and I was surprised to find Edward sitting beside me.
"Did Emmett give you your purse?" he asked.
"Yes," I said as I rummaged through my pocket to find the piper. I pulled it out and offered it to him, he laughed as he took it.
"I didn't think you would bother," he said grinning. I just shrugged, smiling back.
"Well, I suppose this means you can have your surprise," he smiled as he reached for something in his pocket. He produced a single purple flower and offered it to me but, as I reached out to take it, a small amount of water hit my nose. I gasped in surprise and took my hand back to wipe the water from my face. Edward grinned mischievously. He offered the flower again and this time I quickly snatched it out of his hand. On closer inspection I realised that it was one of those flowers that clowns carry and use to trick people into receiving a face full of water. I laughed, "Surely this is more of an Emmett stunt?"
He grinned, "It's a Carnie thing."
There was a brief pause until I asked, "What's so important about the piper anyway?"
Edward smiled, "We do it every year. You should see my collection – I haven't missed one yet. Emmett can't wait for the day when I fail to find one. It always gets pretty tense closer to Christmas – less and less of the calling birds and the golden rings for me to find," he laughed good naturedly.
I laughed lightly as I looked up and found that everyone else in the tent had gathered together for a game of limbo. The atmosphere was light and I felt freer than I ever had in the presence of strangers.
Edward caught me watching them, "Did you want to play?" he asked.
I immediately shook my head, "I'm not the most coordinated person," I explained.
He laughed and I spoke again, "Tell me about them," I indicated towards the rest of the 'Carnies', "How did they all find this place?"
He answered without hesitation, "Well, Carlisle owns this place now. His great grandfather took over the carnival after the previous owner – a friend of the original Mr. Cullen – died in a fire. That's why it's called 'The Sullen Cullen'," he grimaced uneasily, "Great grandfather Cullen's wife came up with it, apparently she was a little bitter about her husband's dreary mood. We are told she had a rather dark sense of humour."
I nodded and he continued, "Carlisle has always lived the Carnie life, his father was very proud of this place. After he died, Carlisle and Esme took complete ownership. Carlisle met Esme when he was in his twenties one spring break when the carnival was visiting her hometown. She's been a Carnie ever since. They married and Emmett was born not long after."
"How old is Emmett?" I asked.
"Just turned twenty-three," Edward responded, "Him and Rosalie are next in line to be married," he whispered, pointing the two out who were laughing close together by the limbo game, "We picked her up in Connecticut a few years ago. We were in dire need of a ride mechanic, and Rosalie Hale just happened to be a bored mechanic who fell for Emmett."
He paused as he watched the rest of the group and then continued, "We also picked up Jasper there," he indicated to the blonde boy who was twirling Alice underneath his arm, "He's Rosalie's brother, though he didn't join us until last year. He doesn't really talk about himself much, but from what I've heard he was an Army Ranger, though he's only 19."
I nodded and asked, "Are him and Alice together?"
Edward laughed, "Not yet," he responded and then, "Alice works with us during the holidays – she still goes to school back in Washington. She tells me that once she's finished school she's joining the carnival permanently."
"You and Alice seem pretty close," I observed.
"We go to school together," he said, "I've known Alice the longest of everyone here."
That rejected my theory that Edward was Carlisle's son, so I asked.
"So what brought you here?"
This time he hesitated, he was about to speak when, "Hey Bella, time to go, I have work in the morning!" Charlie, a little tipsy. I looked back at Edward, but he'd already left to join his 'family'.
Ten Lords a Leaping is coming soon... Reviews are much appreciated! Hope you're enjoying this.
