MAIN CHARACTERS
FUNDY ISLES ARCHIPELAGO
Whitehead island
Owen (61) and Arlene (55)
- Philip (34)
- John (27)
- Sue (22)
Jack (30) and Gianna (32)
- Gus (5)
McManus island
John (48) and Nadia (48)
- Maddie (23)
Pendletonisland
Bella (31) and Edward (30)
- Finn (10)
Jasper (33) and Alice (30)
- Clara (12)
Ben (37) and Angela (35)
- Isaac (19)
- Nate (10)
- Hannah (six months)
Carlisle (57) and Esme (52)
- Chris (22)
- Chloe (10)
Masen (36) and Leah (34)
- Austin (20)
- Max (16)
- Lily (14)
- Emma (5)
Emmett (36) and Rosalie (38)
- Sage (7)
Embry (35) and Katie (29)
- Casper (6)
Jane (27) and Caroline (32)
Quil (29) and Claire (30)
Seth (28)
Tia (48) and Peter (52)
The Seawolves
Benito (62)- leader of the Seawolves
FINN
Mom and Dad wouldn't tell me what was going on. I hated when they did that. I wasn't a baby anymore. But it wasn't just Mom and Dad. Everyone was acting weird. They were whispering all the time and we weren't allowed out of their sights.
Now, Sage, Chloe, Clara, Nate, and I were sitting on the raft in the lake. It was the only place that the adults wouldn't be able to hear us. They wouldn't come in the water because they said it was freezing.
"They won't let me go anywhere," Chloe whined. Her legs were hanging off the raft, and she was splashing us as she kicked.
"Cut it out, Chloe!" Nate said, wiping water off his face.
"Daddy got mad at me when I came down here to play with Clara and didn't tell him," Sage said.
I was surprised because Uncle Emmett never got mad at Sage even when she was really bad.
"Even those guys called the Seawolves are here," Clara said. "They never come here."
I'd only met the Seawolves once when Mom took me down to meet the boat. I couldn't wait at home for her to bring back the baby goat she'd bought. Billy was so cute as a baby, but now, he was huge and ate everything, including the laces off my sneakers the time I forgot them in his pen. Mom was so mad that she made me spend the day picking gross mushrooms and digging up arrowhead roots from the mud on the left side of the lake.
"Jack and Gianna are here too and they don't have Gus," Nate said, looking nervous. "And Gianna just keeps crying. Even at lunch, she cried and cried."
"I heard that John and Nadia are coming tonight too. Dad told Mom that they were going to stay at our house," I said, frowning.
"Maybe we could ask Max or Lily," Nate whispered.
"I don't know," Sage said. "They think we're babies too."
Lily was only fourteen, but she thought she was a grown-up, so I knew she wouldn't help. Plus, she was really mad at us. Sometimes, we liked to spy on her because she'd get annoyed and chase us, but one time we caught her kissing a guy from McManus island when we had a Christmas party on our island. She begged us not to tell Masen, so we agreed if she gave us all her maple candy. It was all going great until Sage cracked and told Aunt Rose. Masen gave her lots of work to do as punishment because he said she was too young to have a boyfriend even though the guy was only thirteen. And even though she was the one in trouble, we all got punished by our parents.
"We could spy on them," Clara said. "I'm good at hiding."
I grumbled at that. We'd all been spying on Lilly that day, but only Clara got away without getting caught.
"Yeah… We know," Nate said, grumpily.
Uncle Jasper was so cool. He was always teaching Clara fun things. Her parents also never cared when she ruined her clothes with the potions we made out of algae or mud and other stuff. Aunt Alice wasn't even mad the time when Clara sprayed her with the perfume we'd made.
When I did that to Mom, she screamed and told me to go see Dad. He laughed really hard until I sprayed him with it too. I didn't think it had smelled all that bad.
"I don't know…" I said, hesitating. If they caught us, we were going to be in so much trouble. I hated it when Dad and Mom were upset with me.
"Don't you want to know what's going on?" Nate asked.
"Yeah, but…" I began, then stopped. I didn't want him to think that I was a chicken.
"We can hide in that big tree behind your house. It's really easy to climb and hide in," Clara explained, leaning in towards us.
Clara was always so calm about everything. Like right now we were all kind of nervous, but not her. She was busy playing with her raggedy blonde hair that looked like she never brushed it. The only time she ever got angry was when she was hungry. If supper was late, watch out.
"We can't all go…" I said. Dad had already told me that we were all going to be staying the night at Masen and Leah's, so if we all left Leah would notice.
"We can pick names. The top two people will spy with Clara," Sage said, her forehead crinkled in seriousness. It was strange to see her that way. She was always so goofy, just like her dad. She looked like Aunt Rose, but much sillier.
"How are we going to choose?" Chloe said.
"We can do blue shoes," Sage said. Then ordered, "Everybody's feet in the circle."
With a sigh, I put my feet in the center as Sage said the rhyme that she'd read in a book, pointing at each of our feet. "Blue shoes, blue shoes, who's it? Not you," she said, pointing at one of Chloe's feet. With a whine, Chloe pulled her left foot out of the circle.
In the end it was between Nate and I to be the third person to spy along with Clara and Sage. I didn't want to be chosen, but I couldn't back out because I didn't want them to know I was scared.
"Blue shoes, blue shoes, who's it? Not you," Sage said, pointing at Nate's foot.
"No fair…" Nate whined, crossing his arms with a scowl.
"Don't be a sore loser," Clara said.
"Finn doesn't even want to do it. He's scared," Nate said.
"No, I'm not!" I said indignantly.
In a huff, Nate jumped up, causing the raft to teeter back and forth as he jumped in the water.
"Sorry, Chloe," I said. Only she and Nate hadn't been chosen.
"It's okay," she said with a good-natured shrug. She was a lot like her mom, Aunt Esme, who was always so nice.
That night we had to wait until Emma and Casper fell asleep. She was five and he was six, so they were both big on tattling, especially Casper who always ran to his parents Embry and Katie whenever we did something bad. He was so excited about being at a sleep over that he just kept talking and talking. Eventually, Nate made up a bedtime story for him, so that he'd fall asleep. By the time that happened, it was already dark out and Clara was itching to get going.
As quietly as we could, we got out of bed and made lumps under our blankets so that if Leah checked on us she would think we were sleeping.
Then, crawling on our stomachs we came out of the bedroom and moved down the hall. There was a little bit of light coming from Leah and Masen's bedroom door, but their door was shut.
"This is fun," Sage whispered.
"Shhh," I hissed, which caused her to giggle to herself.
Thankfully, Leah didn't notice as we made it from the back room and out the front door.
Crouched low to the ground, we ran up the hill and behind my house. It was a full moon, but I was still a little scared that I'd get lost. But half-way up the hill, I saw the light coming from our living room window.
Suddenly, Clara grabbed me and yanked me to the ground, taking Sage with us.
Before I had a chance to get angry, I heard footsteps nearby.
I recognized Peter as he walked past us, not noticing us lying still on the ground. He had a gun slung over his shoulder, which was strange because he never joined everyone in gun training.
Once he'd passed us by, we ran up the rest of the hill and behind my house. Clara quickly climbed one of the trees and then helped me and Sage. The tree was short and fat. Its branches spread wide, so we could climb it in just minutes and crawl out along the thick branches until we could see in my living room window. It was super uncomfortable because the branches were prickly and jabbed at me through my clothes. But, eventually, I wiggled enough that I found a comfy place on one of the branches. That was when I looked into the window and froze. It looked like Uncle Emmett was staring right back at me.
"Daddy," Sage whispered.
I was ready for him to say something to Mom and Dad, but after a few seconds he just turned back to look at the others in the room.
Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch. Dad had his arm around Mom's shoulders and she was leaning against him. That's how they sat every evening when Dad read us stories or even made up some, while Mom acted them out with shadow puppets on the wall. However, this time both of them looked really upset.
A man I didn't recognize was pacing back and forth in the living room. He wasn't a tall guy, but he looked kind of scary. He had all these drawings on his arms and a shaved head.
"It hasn't just happened on Wolf and Whitehead island. It's happening on the mainland too. They set fires as distractions while they grab the youngest."
"Was that what happened on Wolf island?" Dad asked. "There was a fire, but the whole family died in it."
Sage sucked in a big lungful of air, but Clara put her hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.
"Were the bodies found?" Katie asked.
Ben shook his head. "They were burned up in the fire."
"That's highly unlikely," a guy with red hair said. "A fire has to burn extremely hot to turn bones into ash."
"Did you know how many children were in the family?" Mom asked.
"There were two children," Ben said. "I'm not sure how old one of them was, but the other was born on Wolf island."
"From what I heard, another house was burned too, but the family survived," John said.
"Are there any children in the family?" The red-headed guy asked.
Ben answered. "There's only a mother and son and he is a teenager."
"Has anyone talked to the family?" The guy with designs on his arms said.
"We would have thought you'd have had contact with them, Benito," Uncle Carlisle said. "We don't really associate with Wolf island that much."
"They keep to themselves. We just help them get supplies," Benito said, running a hand over his bald head.
"Maybe that's where we should start," Uncle Jasper said. "Tomorrow, a few of us should go to Wolf island and talk to the family. Maybe they saw or heard something."
"What about my baby?" Gianna asked, tears running down her face.
Jack looked really sad too.
"This is how we find Gus," Ben said gently. "We can't just run off searching. The Seawolves have been searching the water for any boats that might have him. But beyond that the only thing we can do is retrace the kidnappers' steps."
"That's not good enough," Gianna cried.
Jack put his arm around Gianna and held her tight.
"Shhh," he hushed her. "We'll find him."
"I'll go," Dad said as he ran his hand through his hair. "I'll go to Wolf island and talk to the family."
"Edward…" Mom said, in a worried voice.
She was chewing on her lip, like she usually did when she was mad or nervous about something.
Dad turned to her and kissed her forehead.
"We need to find out, Bella," he said to her. "I can't just wait around, watching for any intruder. We need all the information we can get. Whoever they are, they're snatching kids. Once I know more, I'll know how to protect Finn."
All the air left my chest and I had to gulp air to keep breathing. Gus was missing. A whole family on Wolf island died and Dad was worried that something would happen to me too.
"He'll be safe with you until I get back," he said. "Just keep your gun with you at all times and make sure he never leaves your sight. I won't be gone long."
"I think I need to go too," Carlisle said. "I'd like to check for bone fragments in the burned down house."
"I'll go too," Uncle Jasper said.
"I'll take you," Benito said.
"Is it going to cost us anything?" Uncle Jasper asked. He sounded weird. His voice was really flat, but maybe he was just tired.
"No, I won't charge you," Benito said, frowning at Uncle Jasper. "If a group is hunting for children, that's everyone's responsibility."
They all got quiet after that, so Clara gestured that we should leave.
Quickly, we dropped out of the tree and ran down the hill. I grabbed a hold of Sage's hand because I didn't want her to fall in the dark. I felt bad because she was crying a little. She was too little to have gone with us. She was only seven. I wanted to cry too, but I had to be a big kid.
Quietly we crept back into Leah's house and down the hall where we were all supposed to be sleeping.
Nate and Chloe were still awake, so we told them in whispers what we found out. I could tell they were really scared too, but Nate tried to hide it. Chloe was just quiet, so I couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"I want Mommy," Sage whimpered, a tear running down her face. I could tell by the hitch in her breathing that she was close to a full-blown crying fit, but I didn't know what to do. When Sage freaked out, she freaked out.
I breathed a sigh of relief when Nate pulled her into his arms and shushed her. He patted her back and let her snuggle against his chest to quiet her. Eventually, everyone else fell asleep but I couldn't. All I wanted was to be with Mom and Dad. Whenever I had a nightmare, they would let me sleep in between them. But now I couldn't tell them that I knew what was happening.
I couldn't help crying a little as I fell asleep.
EDWARD
I woke up early that morning with the sun only beginning to lighten the room. I wanted to get Finn from Masen and Leah's, so he could spend a few hours with us before I had to leave for Wolf island.
I tried to hide from Bella how worried I was about leaving the two of them alone, but I was pretty sure she knew. I'd tossed and turned all night, not able to shake the worry that Finn could just disappear and I wouldn't even know where to look for him.
"You'll only be gone for the day," Bella said, her head resting on my shoulder as I sat on the edge of the bed. "We'll stick close to home. Finn and I can work on winterizing our garden."
"Jack and Gianna were in their home when Gus was snatched. Home doesn't mean safety right now. Maybe you guys can spend the day with Rosalie and Emmett," I said, turning my head so I could look into her concerned eyes. I kissed her forehead, trying to smooth out the creases formed by her frown. "Safety in numbers, right?"
"Okay," she breathed out, kissing my shoulder. "Go get our boy."
I turned and kissed her lips before getting up.
"Stay in bed a little longer," I told her. "I'll get Finn and then make breakfast for everyone. John and Nadia will probably leave around the same time as I do."
Bella nodded and settled back down in bed.
Pulling the blankets up to her chin, she smiled gently at me. I couldn't help but stare at her for a moment. She was just as beautiful now as she was ten years ago when Finn was born. Really, she was more beautiful. She'd always been on the thin side, because back then we'd been fighting for our survival. Now, her face was softer, less angular. Bella sometimes complained about how her body had changed after Finn, but I loved it. She'd given me such a wonderful gift and I couldn't love her anymore for it.
"What?" she asked with a giggle.
"I love you," I said, smiling back at her.
"I love you too," she said, burrowing deeper in the blankets. "Now, let me sleep for a few more minutes."
"See you in a bit," I said, leaving her in peace.
I quietly crept through the living room, so that I wouldn't wake Nadia and John who were sleeping in the loft. I'd built an extension onto our one room cabin about five years ago when Finn had gotten older. Our bedroom now extended off the living room and Finn's room was in the loft. He loved it because it was just like a tree house in that he needed to use the built-in ladder to climb up there. Bella had been a little nervous about him sleeping up there alone, but I'd built a railing with thick slats, so that he couldn't fall off the edge.
Over the years, I'd gotten better at building and I was proud of our home that I'd built with my own two hands. It had taken a lot of blood sweat and tears, but every board, every notched piece of wood was placed there by me.
Carefully, I opened the door to the cabin and slipped outside without waking anyone up.
The air was cold, leaving puffs of condensation in the air as I breathed. With the seasons changing, I worried about Winter. Not only did we have to harvest in the next few weeks, but we had to find Gus and patrol the island to keep the kids safe.
I could see some people were already up. Many of them were going to the cookhouse for breakfast. A lot of people chose to eat together in the building that was in the center of our community. Emmett and Embry had built it for that purpose. Bella and I usually chose to cook for ourselves at home, but we often joined everyone after supper to play cards or tell stories to the kids.
I waved at them as I passed by on my way to Masen and Leah's. Once I got there, I could see through the window that Leah was already awake with Emma, so I knocked on the door quietly. When she saw me through the window, she waved me in with a smile on her face. It had taken Leah a long time to forgive me for the death of her mother. She'd always known that it wasn't my fault that Sue decided to help me escape from James. However, I was a constant reminder that her mother had died for no other reason than a blood-thirsty psychopath's need for control.
"He's not awake yet, but you can go get him. I'm going to get the rest of them up soon, so we can go to the cookhouse," she said, wiping flour off her cheek. We'd gotten a shipment of wheat from Wolf island a few weeks ago, so it looked like she was making bread.
"Thanks for keeping him last night," I said as I walked towards the bedroom. However, she put her hand out to stop me. "Masen told me what's been happening. Good luck today. I hope you find something that can help us keep them safe."
I patted her on the shoulder with a sad smile. We were all worried about our children. We'd all naively thought that these kinds of dangers were behind us.
I snuck into the back bedroom and couldn't help but smile. The kids were sleeping in a dog pile, not even in their own sleeping bags. Finn was sleeping on his stomach with Chloe and Sage practically straddling his back while Nate was tucked in securely next to them. I was surprised that Finn could even breathe. I snorted when I saw that for some reason Clara was sleeping the opposite way with one arm slung across Nate's legs and her feet practically in his face. Carefully, I lifted Sage off Finn, smiling fondly as she hung like a limp doll not waking up at all. She was a cute little girl with strawberry blonde hair cut in a short bob, and chubby cheeks that dimpled when she smiled. Next, I gently nudged Chloe, who was a clone of Esme, off him, causing her to role onto her back with a snuffle.
Finn stirred as I picked him up, so I quietly shushed him.
"Dad?" he asked sleepily as I carried him out of the room.
"Morning, bud," I said, smiling down at him.
Once we were out of the room, I sat him on his feet and helped him pull on his coat and boots.
"Why are you here so early?" he asked me with a yawn, rubbing his eyes.
"I'm going to be gone for the day, so I thought it would be nice to spend a few hours together before I have to go," I said, smoothing back his unruly hair.
At my words, Finn stood up straighter, suddenly awake.
"I don't want you to go," he said, a look that I couldn't quite identify in his eyes.
"I'm just going for the day, Finn," I said, slinging an arm around his shoulder and leading him outside.
However, instead of leaning into me like he usually did, Finn was rigid.
"I thought you said, you'd help me set up a trap for that grey squirrel behind the house," he said, stepping away from me only to stare up at me in defiance. "You made a promise, so that means you have to stay here and help me."
"We'll do it tomorrow," I said, pulling him back to me. However, he resisted.
"No! It has to be today!" he snapped, going from sleepy to angry at lightening speed.
"What's wrong?" I asked, in concern. Finn was not an angry kid. "Are you feeling okay?"
"No… so you need to take care of me," he said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.
His face was pale and his eyes looked a little red-rimmed, so maybe he was getting sick.
"Look, bud," I said. "Mom will take care of you until I get back."
Finn turned away from me and started stomping up the hill.
I followed closely behind him and saw that John was sitting on our front porch smoking his pipe. John's hair was completely gray now even though he was only in his late forties. It was a striking contrast with his tanned skin. He smiled and greeted us as we crested the hill. However, Finn stomped past him without a word in response.
"Finn!" I snapped, but he ignored me and went into the house.
"Sorry about that," I said. "I think he might be coming down with something."
"No worries," John responded with a slight smile. "We're all on edge and kids can sense these things."
I nodded, still feeling worried. I hated that on the day I had to go away that Finn was sick. It just made leaving him that much harder.
"I'm going to make some porridge," I said. "Come on in when you're finished."
"Will do," John said and went back to puffing on his pipe.
Inside Nadia and Bella were awake and puttering around the kitchen. Bella had already put a pot of water on the griddle over the fire for tea and porridge while Nadia was setting the table So, I started pulling out the ingredients from the cupboards. Thankfully, we'd tapped the maple trees this year because porridge was quite bland without it.
As I moved around the kitchen, Finn came over and stood next to me.
"Can you show me how to make porridge?" he asked.
"Sure," I said. "But I thought you didn't like porridge."
"I like it with maple syrup," he said, grumpily.
"Okay," I said, lifting him up so that he sat on the counter.
I went about mixing the ingredients, showing Finn how much of each I needed. However, he didn't seem like he was paying attention. He had a grip on the hem of my shirt as I worked and then once the food was ready, he insisted on sitting on my lap as we ate. I looked at Bella in concern because he hadn't done that in years.
It was clear that he knew something was wrong even though we'd been careful not to talk about it in front of him.
I took him outside with me to feed Billy so that I could talk to him.
While he was handing me a bowl of feed, I asked, "Is there something you want to tell me, bud?"
He didn't say anything for a minute and then shrugged.
"Nah," he said. "I'm just not feeling good."
I knew there was more to it than that, but just then I saw Jasper waving at me from down the hill, signalling that it was time to go.
"Okay," I said. "Uncle Jasper is signalling that it's time to go. I'll be back by supper, okay?"
The look he gave me when I said that made me want to cave. He looked like me, but his facial expressions were like Bella's and right now he was giving me the sad look that Bella gave me when she wanted me to do something for her.
I looked away quickly before I cracked and ushered him into the house with me.
I took a moment to say good bye to everyone and then headed down the hill to Jasper's so the three of us could meet Benito who had dropped his anchor a short distance away from our island.
Once we were on the boat and headed out to sea, I realized that Finn never asked me where I was going.
I'd never been to Wolf island before, leaving the trading for wheat to others. So, I was surprised at its large size and the fact that it had buildings on it that were from before the world fell apart. I really shouldn't have been surprised. Our island was an anomaly in that it had been completely untouched before us.
Jasper drove our boat to a wharf where others were already tied up. There were a few people milling around on the beach, who approached us when they recognized the Seawolves vessel.
They quickly greeted Benito who had decided to disembark with us along with another Seawolf named Matthew who had once been a police officer.
"Benito, my friend. It's nice to see you," a short man with grey hair said, coming forward and shaking Benito's hand. His greeting was polite, but there was a tightness to his features.
"It's good to see you too, Harry. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances."
Harry's courteous façade dropped off his face and he just looked exhausted.
"So, you've heard," he said. "Things here are not good, my friend."
I noticed at that moment how quiet everyone was. There were around twenty people on the beach and all of them were going about their tasks, yet no one was talking.
It was then that Harry noticed us with Benito. Without acknowledging us, he turned an accusing eye on Benito.
"Who are these people, Benito? You know we don't like strangers on our island, especially at a time like this."
Benito extended his hands in a placating gesture.
"I know, I know Harry," Benito said, soothingly. "I've brought them to help. This is Edward, Carlisle, and Jasper and they are from Pendleton island."
Harry gave us a curt nod, but didn't let down his guard.
"This is not the time for trade," he said, flatly.
Carlisle stepped forward at this point.
"I've come to help. I'm a doctor," he said, calmly.
Harry's eyes widened and a look akin to relief spread across his features. However, it was short-lived when he turned to Benito.
"I don't have anything to trade right now," he said with a defeated look.
"I'm not charging you," Benito said. "These three volunteered to come."
With a smile of thanks, Harry turned to us and shook our hands.
"Thank you so much for coming. Forgive my rudeness. It's been a difficult few days. The Hacheys could use your help. We have a medic on the island, but he doesn't know a lot about how to treat something like this. They got out alive, but Sandra and her son Leo are having breathing problems from the smoke," he said as he ushered us off the beach and towards the houses.
It was strange to walk past houses that were just like the ones that I lived in with my mother, father, and sister. Small bungalows lined the road, some even with window boxes of flowers.
However, the minute we were sheltered from the wind coming off the ocean, the unmistakable smell of smoke hit me and then I saw ahead of us a pile of rubble and ash that was once a family home.
"They're staying with their neighbours," Harry said, gesturing towards a house across the street.
However, before we got there, Jasper stopped us.
"We're not just here to help the family whose house burned down. We'd like to take a look at the other family home."
Harry frowned.
"I don't think—" he began, but was cut off by Jasper.
"There was a fire on Whitehead island set by intruders who were looking for children," Jasper said, bluntly. "We think the same thing might have happened here."
Harry eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"While a fire was burning on the shore of the island, people broke into a family's home and stole their child. One of them apologized to the mother and said that they were only there for her child."
"Oh my god…" Harry said, pulling at his hair in stress.
"But the Hacheys children are grown up. And the other family…" he began but trailed off.
"I'd like to see the other home, so that I can look for bone fragments. I have a feeling that we're not going to find any that belong to children," Matthew said.
I cringed at how blunt he was. Here he was talking about bone fragments when a family had possibly died. A family that I was sure Harry was close to.
All the color drained from Harry's face and he nodded.
"I'll join you after I help the Hachey's," Carlisle said.
I decided to stay with Carlisle, hoping that I could find something out from the family.
Jasper, Matthew, and Benito stayed out on the veranda while Harry knocked on the door.
A small woman who was in her mid-fifties opened the door with a look of sadness and exhaustion on her face.
"Harry," she said with a sigh.
"Hi, Ellen," Harry said, softly. "Are Sandra and Leo awake? I've brought a doctor."
The woman looked over Harry's shoulder at us and sighed with relief.
"Yes," she said. "I'm just trying to make them something to eat. Leo can't keep any food down. Come on in."
The minute I stepped inside, I felt claustrophobic. The air inside was stale and there was a faint hint of smoke permeating the room.
"I'm sorry about how stuffy it is in here," Ellen said apologetically. "We can't keep the windows open because the air is still smoky."
"I understand," Carlisle said. "My name's Carlisle and this is Edward."
"Thanks for coming," Ellen said with a sigh.
"We're sorry for what you're all going through," I said, sympathetically.
"Thank you. It's been a hard time for all of us. We're all trying to support the Hacheys as much as we can and the Hendersons are… were… well-loved," she said, getting choked up mentioning the Hendersons.
"Sandra's in the living room and Leo's in the rec room downstairs," she said, gesturing to the left.
With a pat on the shoulder, Harry said, "I'm going to leave these two with you, Ellen. Benito and a few others want to see where the Hen… where the other house was."
"Okay," she said with a faint smile.
Once Harry had left, Ellen gestured towards a room on the left.
"Sandra's in there and Leo's down in the basement," she said, gesturing towards the end of the hall. "He only comes up to eat. He's taking it all really hard."
Ellen led us into the living room and introduced us to Sandra.
Sandra looked very sick, with a rasping cough that shook her frail body. Carlisle opened his doctor's bag and pulled out a stethoscope and medicines that he'd created. We'd all chipped in to get Carlisle medical equipment for Christmas a few years back. It cost us a lot to have Benito's men go to a hospital for supplies because they were extremely dangerous places since a lot of patients who didn't get treatment turned into the undead. We would have liked to have gotten him medicines, but any that could have been found would have expired. Therefore, Carlisle made his own. He'd become quite adept at making his own medicines with the natural ingredients that surrounded us. He couldn't treat everything, but it was amazing what he'd been able to do.
After listening to her lungs, he prescribed a tea and some chest balm to help with her breathing. Mostly, it would just take time for her lungs to clear.
Next, we went down to the basement to see her son, Leo. As we reached the bottom of the stairs, we could hear his harsh coughing. Ellen knocked on the door.
"Leo, I've got a doctor here to check you out," she said.
"I don't want to see a doctor," a young man's voice said. "I just want to be left alone."
However, Ellen didn't budge. She'd clearly been through this before with him. "We're coming in."
Ellen pushed open the door.
It was dark in the room. The windows were small, only letting in shafts of sunlight in the gloom and he hadn't lit a lamp to illuminate the space. The young man was sitting on a couch on the opposite side of the room. His hands were in his hair and he was rocking back and forth slightly.
"I don't want any help-" he began, but was then cut off by a harsh cough that wracked his body.
"This isn't up for discussion," Ellen said. "You've got to stop worrying your mother. She's sick enough."
Leo's head snapped up at her words, a look of guilt swallowing up his features. He looked to be around seventeen or eighteen with dark hair and glasses.
"Fine… fine…" he said, slouching back against the couch, with his head titled back and eyes closed.
"My name is Carlisle and this is Edward," Carlisle said, stepping towards the couch and sitting down on the coffee table in front of Leo.
Leo's head snapped up again.
"I don't know you," he said, his eyes widening in alarm. "Where did you come from?"
Carlisle raised his hands in a soothing gesture.
"We're from Pendleton island. We've come to help."
I left Carlisle with Leo and went in search of Jasper, Benito, Matthew, and Harry.
As I walked past rows of houses, people eyed me suspiciously. However, when I asked for Benito, they seemed to relax and pointed in the direction of the burned down home.
There was very little left of the house. The charred remains of the Hendersons' home stood in the pale morning light like a skeleton. Nothing had escaped the fire. Even as far as the road, glass littered the ground, indicating that the windows had blown out. The neighbouring houses even had scorch marks and signs of the vinyl siding having melted.
I found the four of them sifting through the ash, looking for bones. I felt sick to my stomach when I saw that they'd already found some.
"As of yet, I haven't seen any sign of bones that would belong to a child," Matthew said to the others. "There were two of them, am I right?"
Harry nodded. "One of the children was five, the other seven."
I shuddered at the thought of such young lives snuffed out. We'd seen so much death, but the death of a child had never gotten any easier and I hoped it never would.
"But you think that two adults were killed?" Harry asked.
"Yes, this is the pelvic bone of a man," the man said, point out the bones on a blanket laid out on the grass. "This one is from a female."
"So, you think the children are alive?" Harry asked, with hope in his eyes.
"There's a chance, but we have no idea where they are or how to get them back," Benito said. "My people haven't found any signs of them and the other communities who have lost people are reticent to talk to us."
Harry gathered people in the center of their small village to discuss what we'd discovered. Carlisle had brought Sandra and Leo to the square as well as Ellen and her family. Leo, however, kept to the fringes of the crowd, looking scared.
I got Jasper's attention and indicated that I was going to talk to Leo.
Casually, I walked over to Leo and stood next to him as we listened to Harry talk.
"You okay?" I asked, not looking at him.
"What do you care?" Leo grunted.
"Your people have been through a lot. I don't completely understand, but I can sympathize," I said, carefully.
"You don't understand anything…" the boy muttered.
We were silent for a while before Leo spoke.
"I don't belong here. I'm going back to Ellen's," he said.
However, before he could leave, I grabbed his wrist.
"What do you mean? Of course you belong here. I don't know your people, but they clearly love you and your mother," I said, trying to be comforting.
"They don't know what I've done," he muttered under his breath.
I let go of his wrist, but I followed him out of the square as he headed towards Delilah's house.
"Why are you following me?" he snarled, spinning towards me when we were out of sight of the square.
"Something is eating at you," I said. "I'm a stranger, but I can tell that you know something about the fires."
"No…" he said, dragging his hand through his hair. "No…"
He turned away from me and started walking faster, clearly wanting to lose me.
However, I kept following him.
Suddenly, he veered away from the road and to a large oak tree which he punched hard enough that I'm sure he broke a bone.
"Hey… hey…" I said, pulling him away. "Take it easy."
Great wracking sobs broke from Leo's chest and he collapsed in my arms.
"They're going to hate me… It's my fault…" he said, his voice muffled against my chest.
"Shhh," I said, soothingly. "It's going to be okay…"
He was a lot older than Finn, but in that moment, he was a child seeking comfort.
"It's not," he choked out. "It's never going to be ok again."
I settled us down at the foot of the tree and tried to soothe him.
"Take deep breaths… in… out…" I said, trying to get him to copy my breathing.
Eventually, his sobs quieted and he sat up, but he didn't look at me.
"I talked to the men who killed the Hendersons and burned our home," he said, in barely a whisper.
I was shocked, but I tried to remain calm, not wanting to spook him.
"What happened?" I asked.
"It was the middle of the night when I was jerked awake by someone's hand pressed over my mouth. I tried to sit up, but someone had me pinned down to the bed. That was when I felt a gun pressed against my temple."
He became too choked up for a moment, but after a few seconds with a shuddering sigh he pulled himself back together.
"I think there were only two of them, but only one of them talked. The man said that if I made any sound that he'd kill me and then my mother. He already knew that we were the only ones in the house. Then, he asked me tons of questions. First, he asked me what year I was born. When I told him that I was born in 2009, he got angry and hit me," he said, quietly.
I looked at his face and noticed a bruise across his cheek and a cut lip.
"He then asked me if there were any families with children born after 2012 in the community. I told him that I wasn't going to tell him, but then he threatened my mom," he continued. "I wouldn't have said anything, but he told me all the horrible things he'd do to her to make me talk. He had a lot of guns and knives on him."
Leo covered his face with his hands at this point, tears leaking out from between his fingers.
"Keep going, Leo," I said, soothingly. "You need to tell me everything."
"They're going to hate me… Everyone… I should be dead…" he sobbed.
I waited patiently, knowing that he'd keep talking. He needed to get it out.
"I told them about the Hendersons. Fred Henderson was in the army, so I thought he'd be able to fight them off or at least give me the chance to tell the others. But once I told the man about them, they hit me and knocked me unconscious. I didn't wake up until I was being dragged out of our burning house."
I didn't ask him why he didn't tell anyone because it was clear the guilt was killing him.
Maybe if he had told someone earlier, they would have had a greater chance of catching the kidnappers, but there was nothing that could be done about that now. Instead, I questioned him about the intruders.
I noticed that Jasper was coming down the road at that point with Carlisle, but I gestured for them to stay away.
However, Leo couldn't describe them because it had been too dark in the room. All he could tell me was that the man smelled like alcohol. But it didn't smell like the beer that we drank or any alcohol that we were able to make, he said it was stronger than that.
I gave the boy a hug and told him that he needed to come clean to his mother and Harry about what had happened.
He looked scared, but he was resigned to it.
"What if they want me gone?" he asked. It wasn't common, but I'd heard of some people being banished for breaking the laws of the community.
"They'll forgive you," I said. "And if they don't, we'll figure something out."
He looked at me with a hint of hope in his eyes.
I patted him on the back and helped him stand up.
"Let me tell them what happened. Go back to Ellen's. If they have questions for you, I'll come and get you," I said as I looked into his tear-filled eyes.
All the air left his lungs in a relieved gush that fogged up his glasses, which were already smudged with tears. He looked very young in that moment.
"Thank you," he said and practically ran down the street towards Ellen's.
Jasper and Carlisle approached me then and I told them everything.
We didn't get home until shortly before supper. I was exhausted from the stressful day that followed Leo's revelation.
All I wanted to do was be with Bella and Finn, but I knew that there were still long conversations ahead.
"Let's meet at the cook house tonight," Jasper said. "Maybe Alice can take care of the kids tonight. I can fill her in on everything after."
I could hear the sounds of our children playing in the distance, making me walk faster. There was nothing more comforting than the sound of laughing and squealing children. It was so innocent and carefree.
When I came around the corner, I saw outside of Emmett's and Rosalie that the kids were climbing all over Emmett who was on all fours chasing after them. I watched with a grin as Finn launched himself onto Emmett's back, shoving what looked like a wet facecloth down his shirt. With a roar that made Sage and Chloe squeal, Emmett collapsed to the ground, but not before hooking an arm around Sage, taking her to the ground with him.
"Daddy!" she shrieked as Emmett tickled her. Nate, who was laughing hysterically, tugged on Emmett's arm to get him to release Sage. Emmett pretended to be overpowered and let her go, only to reach back and yank Finn off his back. Finn screamed and tried to fight him off, shouting at the others, "Save yourselves! Save yourselves!"
With a growl, Emmett tugged the wet cloth out of his shirt and squeezed it over Finn's face and hair.
"Arrgh," Finn cried out. "You win! You win!"
Emmett let him go with a laugh and helped him sit up.
It was then that he noticed me.
"DAD!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and running at me full speed. I braced myself as he launched himself at me, but I still staggered at his weight when he wrapped his arms and legs around me.
"Hey kiddo," I said with a grin.
"I missed you," he said, squeezing my face between his two hands.
"Me too," I said, kissing his cheek. "Where's Mom?"
"She's getting supper ready with Aunt Rose. I think she's going to make us eat broccoli," he said, his face screwed up with disgust.
"It's good for you, buddy," I said, setting him on the ground.
"Yeah, yeah..." he said as he reached up and pushed his unruly wet hair off his forehead.
"I think she's making artichoke mash too," he said with a crooked grin.
I tried to cover my look of dismay because I hated artichokes.
"It's good for you, Dad…" he said, copying my deep voice.
"Yeah, yeah…" I said, wrapping my arm around his neck in a headlock and pulling him towards Emmett's and Rose's house.
Supper was a boisterous affair even with Nate, Chloe, and Clara having gone home. Sage and Finn talked continuously, telling me everything they did that day down to the last detail. Emmett, Rose, Bella and I were quieter, knowing that we had serious things to talk about.
When we told them that they were going to have a sleepover again tonight, I expected them to be happy. However, both of them immediately went silent and looked upset.
"I want to go home with you and Mom," Finn said, his brow furrowed and his mouth in a tight line.
"Just for tonight, bud," I said, ruffling his hair. "Tomorrow, I'll spend all day with you."
He hung his head and didn't respond.
I looked at Bella in concern.
She shook her head and crouched down in front of him.
"How about after we get our work finished tonight, we'll come and pick you up," Bella said, caressing his cheek. "We'll even put you to bed in our room, so tomorrow you'll wake up with us."
Finn smiled at that. "Okay, but Dad you better not snore."
"I can't make any promises," I said, pinching his cheek.
That night once the kids were settled at Jasper's and Alice's we made our way to the cookhouse. Everyone else was already there, sitting in tense silence.
Once we were seated, Jasper spoke, "We believe that they're kidnapping children that were born after the world fell apart. We think they're looking for kids who are immune to the zombie virus."
