A lot of her aggravation and lack of coordination was sleep deprivation. She had not slept well the night before this misadventure had gotten started and then last night... Well, when she had gotten back from her 'date' Professor Jones had been sound asleep and so she had done her best not to wake him. Her RV 'bed' was the narrow bench for the dining table, not quite five feet long, even accounting for the right angle. He had kindly left her pillow and blanket on the bench and she had decided to sleep in her damp jeans. Not that she did so much sleeping. The night was full of noises, not the least of which was Jones' snoring. And her mind just ground over and over at Ranger Chris' words: "...there is a world out there that is meant for man to stay away from... There are things out there that can either kill you or forever change you in ways unimaginable… trust me."
Trust him… trust him? She hadn't known what to say, and after an interminably long silence during which she had opened and closed her mouth like a fish and brandished the marshmallow-tipped stick like child, she had finally dropped it into the fire and told him she needed to get back. She hadn't waited for him to smother the fire or repack his bag of tricks, but had just stomped off the the direction they had come, oozing indignation, disbelief, anger, confusion, and maybe most of all fear. It had been stupid and childish and she had spent most of the uncomfortable, damp night reliving it over and over.
She woke up before dawn with her head throbbing like she had bad hangover, the air in the RV was stuffy and stank of mildew. After a bit tossing and turning she decided to get up and get to it. The sun was soon to rise and the quicker she started placing cameras the sooner she could be back - maybe take a hot shower and nap in the afternoon when Professor Jones was out. Her goal was to place three cameras as their goal was to have eight and she would have liked to accomplish placing for only her backpack could only carry three with everything else needed to hike the terrain. Besides, the battery packs in their weather-proof containers were heavy.
It would have been better to have had the Ranger's map of the recent attacks, but she had always had a relatively good sense of direction and a very good memory. So she had taken the truck to the second trail-head and headed northwest toward the ocean. A few of the pins had been this direction.
So the landscape was beautiful, and she could see the appeal that brought three million or so hikers and campers to the area. Spread below her was a beautiful depression, devoid of trees, but filled with ferns. On the far edge three deer could be seen grazing. She could smell the ocean, so it could not be much farther.
"Ugh," Tatiana exclaimed as the earth gave way beneath her right foot as if in some horrible nightmare about man-eating plants. A sudden pinching had her cursing again, though this time not nearly as under her breath as when she had nearly fallen out of the tree two hours earlier. Clearly traipsing around the forest was a lot harder than she might have previously expected. Who knew there were man-eating roots or that every surface would be covered with moss and mud so slick it felt like walking on banana peels? She jerked her entire body to pull her foot free and succeeded, but the tangle of roots, sticks and vines prized off her pink Nike. Stupid shoe had been wet and muddy anyway.
"Ughhhhrrrrr," she groaned as she dropped to her hands and knees she pulled at the vegetation her foot had fallen through and managed to hook a shoelace. "Great," she hissed, sitting up and pushing the backpack straps from her shoulders. In the three hours she had been out here she had placed only two cameras. Two, and who knew if she would even be able to find the little suckers again to retrieve them or the footage. First things first though. First she had to get her shoe.
Five minutes seemed to pass as she freed her shoe from the death grip of the roots, it was both frustrating and tiring. If only she purchased more rugged foot like the expensive leather boots she saw at the camping store she would have been able to navigate the terrain better. At the time it seemed like a ridiculous indulgence to purchase such expensive boots that looked anything but comfortable she found that wet sneakers were pretty miserable and her ankle was raw where it was scraped. The low-cut socks she wore with them offered no additional protection. Perhaps once were placed she wouldn't need to come out here much. The batteries should last about a week, depending on how often the motion detector was tripped.
Her soggy shoes made a squish-squish noise as she picked her way downhill toward the clearing, hanging on to everything available, now she realized the value of the hiking staff. She figured that the clearing wouldn't be a bad place to film, or would it? That thought brought her up short and she spun in a slow circle, looking for a place high enough to be safe from human discovery and yet easily enough accessible that she could get up there. Having done this twice already she had a much better idea of how high she could climb and it was only about ten minutes before she was straddling a branch about eight feet from the ground, her back against the damp trunk. She admired the view and muttered, "How beautiful", it amazed her just how much the forest's beauty actually was.
She tied the backpack to a rope, which she had thrown over the branch so that she did not have to climb with it. After pulling it up, she started to dig out the equipment. This too was faster now that she knew what she was doing. Honestly, she should go redo the straps on the first one, but knew it would have to wait for another day. The battery pack was the hardest part to secure because it was so heavy and really poorly designed for this use. Still, in ten more minutes she was sitting with the portable screen held between her thighs, fiddling with the optics while eating a granola bar. She zoomed in until she could see the deer clearly, even to counting the points on the buck, then panned across, just looking at what there was to see.
There was an abundance of ferns, moss, and trees as far as the eye could see. She realized that the forest definitely would be terrifying at night. All the pamphlets had warned against being out here alone even during the day and as she pointed that out the professor had scoffed at her and asked her if she was really scared. At the time she had been tweaked by his ridicule, but after the Ranger's veiled warning, "...there is a world out there that is meant for man to stay away from... There are things out there that can either kill you or forever change you in ways unimaginable… trust me."
Chris made his way under her skin his words lodged into her sleep-deprived brain. Maybe she should take a little nap here, before heading all the way back. And the trailer had no appeal whatsoever other than a source for dry clothes. She tucked the monitor away folded herself forward onto her backpack, pulling the hood of a green raincoat over her head. Her hands and feet dangled on either side of the branch like some sort of big lazy cat. It really wasn't comfortable. The equipment poked into her ribs and her hands were going numb, but somehow moving would just take too much work. She couldn't close her eyes for long - every noise seemed threatening - but she really could not see much with the plastic hood falling over her face.
She would just rest. Just for a few minutes. Just...a...few...more...
Moments later a tiny woman with a pixie haircut emerged from the woods, "Excuse me ma'am," she said politely. "Why are you out placing cameras on our land?" Alice said with a kind but firm voice with an odd supernatural musical quality to it as she looked down at the strange girl's feet and sighed, "and you shouldn't be out in the woods in sneakers and ankle socks… do you want to be eaten up with poison ivy or something?" Alice took a few steps closer to examine the girl who was exhausted and staring back at her.
Tatiana thought at first she had to be dreaming. It was a pleasant dream with wind chimes that spoke only to her. But the odd shape of the tree branch kept her from truly believing. Her blue eyes opened just a hair, then wide as her head then torso came up in jerky movements. "Whaaa?" She started, shook her head, and just stared. Below her was a child-sized woman, maybe her age? Maybe younger. It was hard to say. She was perfect. She had to be a mirage.
"I see you are looking for something," Alice said as she read the young woman, "and find it you will… and so much more." She looked at the one of the cameras that she placed in a tree. "That's a nice camera, but ours are better…" Alice said as she pointed up a tall tree that had a state of the art solar powered pan-tilt-zoom automated camera. "You never know when someone is going to trespass on your property."
The woman seemed to be almost talking to herself, which was good. It filled the awkward space while Tatiana just gaped at her. "I umm... didn't know I was trespassing. I thought I was still on public grounds." Lamely, she dug the map from her backpack. It really wasn't any help though since she clearly was not where she thought she was.
"Perhaps my family can help you find what you are seeking," She said, "my father… Carlisle is a doctor, you should come to the hospital and have your feet checked out… they don't look too well and if you have poison ivy, oak or sumac he can treat it there and prevent it from spreading too badly."
"They are mostly just muddy." Tatiana replied, kicking her feet out so that she could see them. The one shoe was unrecognizable. "The kid at the camping store tried to get me to buy boots. I guess I should have."
"Perhaps we can go shopping sometime and pick you out some decent hiking boots… if you are going to be out in the woods you need proper shoes… and a few other things I can think of that will make it better for you."
It was like making friends with an overeager puppy. She did not even know the girl's name and suddenly they were planning shopping trips. Pulling the knife out of her bag she cut the zip ties holding the camera and put the assembly away before lowering the backpack to the ground. "People ARE different in small towns," she muttered to herself. "Thank you," she offered, swinging over the branch until her toes dangled just above the ground. "For not shooting the trespasser." That thought quirked the corner of her mouth. "The Forest Ranger warned me the forest was dangerous. I thought he meant bears." Not the fashion police, she finished mentally. "Not man-eating roots or property owners." That thought made her think of Billy Black and the Quileute Council. She doubted they would be as friendly if they had caught her setting cameras on tribal lands.
Alice chuckled as she rolled her beautiful caramel brown eyes, "dangerous things in the woods… my dear friend, I'm probably one of the most dangerous things you will face out here." Alice had a premonition… a feeling that this girl will indeed become a very dear friend, a most trusted human. She saw the goodness in this young woman and knew that their paths will now intertwine throughout this young lady's life.
Assuming the petite girl was teasing, Tatiana repressed a snort, giving the girl a smile as she slipped on her backpack. "Mind if I tell the Ranger that? He had me all worked up about killer wildlife and people disappearing." She frowned. "You know, now that I think about it, I think I knew he was messing with me. He even offered to teach me to shoot. I mean, really. What kind of forest ranger wants to enable an inexperienced shooter to traipse about in his woods?" She snorted at herself in disgust. "And I fell for it." The whole evening had been surreal.
"I haven't the pleasure of meeting the Ranger yet, but Jacob has told us so much about him." She smiled as she introduced herself, "my name is Alice…" after a pause she added, "Alice Cullen, and it's a pleasure to meet you. I have heard that there is a professor in town surveying the woods for a new species of wolf." Alice had her own obsessive compulsive issues and could not keep herself from looking at the girl's muddy feet… she had three pairs of hiking boots at home that would fit her nicely… two of them were Prada the other was made by Timberland. She took note of the girl and thought to herself, Timberland… definitely the Timberland as she would worry about damaging the expensive Prada, and as she looked her up and down she thought of hiking pants, shirt, and clothes she could wear when not hiking like a couple of beautiful dresses and jewelry… after all her new friend was quite pretty.
"Tatiana Bishop," she fell in step with her new acquaintance, which was harder than she wished. It was like walking next to a dancer en pointe. Tatiana had never felt clumsier.
"It is my pleasure to meet you Tatiana," she said with a beaming smile. "I've observed that something seems to have you wound up like a two-dollar Timex. What troubles you so?"
Taking care over a rather large log, Tatiana admitted, "When the new ranger tried to scare me off the project, telling me stories of windego and bears..." In that moment the obvious clicked into place and she stopped, unconsciously stomping her foot. "He is half Quileute! Oh, I am so stupid!" With an exasperated sigh she shook her head and started marching with angry purpose, muttering to herself. "Of course he would try to scare me off. Oh I am a fool." She gave Alice a sheepish look and quickly recapped the project, ending with, "I truly had not meant to trespass. Although, if I had to run over a boundary I am glad it was yours and not the Quileute Nation's. They aren't happy about this at all." And sent their emissary to chase her out of town, she added mentally. Ranger Chris would pay. She didn't know how, but she had all summer to figure it out.
"Yes the ranger is half-Quileute," Alice said as her visions flashed back to the late 1970's when Billy Black could walk… and little Chris was just barely in first grade and his mother moved away from the reservation after his father's funeral. Alice was able to see glimpses of his time between leaving the reservation and his return, her gift showed her... but since his first phasing, his timeline became less certain. "He's had a rough childhood, from what Jacob told me, he left the reservation at a very young age… you probably know as much, if not more, about being a Quileute than he does." She looked at the muddy tennis shoes… it was really getting to Alice and she knew that something would happen to them the moment that she got them off of her feet.
"I really don't mind you placing your cameras, but since this is all in the name of research and our cameras have months of recording already on them why don't you come by sometime to our house to review the recordings." Alice knew that Jasper had already removed any incriminating footage of the wolves and vampires and most wolves would not go where the Cullen's cameras would record anyway. "Perhaps you could get a jump by reviewing our recordings." Alice had flashes of a great blonde wolf and this girl looking at each other face to face… her premonitions were seldom wrong. "Why don't you come by our house now and shower, believe me I have plenty of extra clean clothes, I am the family's shop-a-holic, and my mother Esme would be glad to fix you a bowl of hot soup or something?"
Ordinarily Tatiana would politely refuse to go home with a stranger. And she had to admit that despite her size and friendliness there was something about Alice Cullen that did not feel right. And yet there was something so compelling, as if the girl was lonely. Plus hot food, a non-public shower, and a respite from the damp sounded like heaven. "Thanks Alice," she offered the girl a small, grateful smile. "I am glad you found me."
"You are the most pleasant surprise I've found in the forest in a while," Alice said with a musical quality to her voice, "as far as the Quileutes go… they have their reasons why they don't want trespassers on their land. To them it is sacred and there are generations of their dead buried in the woods. It's a great disrespect for anyone, even other members of the tribe, to go traipsing through their area without knowing the relevance of the land they are stepping on." It seemed like mere moments, and Alice was certain that Tatiana could not find the house if she tried when they arrived at what appeared to be a modern palace with all glass walls that showed nearly every part of the main rooms inside the house. "This is where I live," she said brightly… "Come let's get you cleaned up… I think my Dad's home he will look at your foot and I have three pairs of hiking boots I've never worn and at least a dozen that I have… some only once. Hopefully a pair of them will strike your fancy… I think those tennies are done for."
'Whoa,' Tatiana thought, her gaze broke only to look at her shoes. "Your mom won't want me messing up your house. It's beautiful..." Like a dream set among the ferns and huge trees with the river only a stone's throw away, the house was idyllic and clean. How could anyone keep that many windows so shiny in this wet timberland?
Alice smiled, "We hire a team of window washers to come once a week, we can go in through the garage, there's a mud room there. My family often goes hiking out in the woods ourselves, you can rinse your feet off there and mom always has a supply of fluffy towels to dry them off with."
Alice brought her into the house after cleaning off her feet and took her to a room that was almost a complete hospital emergency exam room. "Dad is an ER Doctor and he keeps a small clinical exam room equipped in case someone gets hurt in the woods. They can bring them here and he can stabilize them before going to the hospital. Good thing he's off today. Now to get those feet looked at."
Carlisle was sitting at a large Apple iMac ordering medical supplies for the Quileute clinic, the Cullens donated thousands of dollars' worth of necessities to the tribe. He looked at Alice, "Good afternoon ladies, Alice, who is your friend?"
"This is Tatiana Bishop, the professor's assistant. She has had a rough go of it out in the woods this morning and got her feet all scraped up. Can you check her out?"
Carlisle led her to the small room off to the side where he treated people and tapped the exam room table inviting her to get onto it. He smiled as Tatiana sat down causing the paper on the examination table to crackle, "Young lady, those are some nasty scrapes I hope you have had all of your vaccinations… if not please come by the hospital tomorrow to get a tetanus shot. I want you to keep this covered with some antibiotic cream three times daily." He used some special cleanser to wash her feet, "this will neutralize any poison ivy, or anything that would cause you to itch, and you really need to have a good pair of hiking boots to wander around the woods around here."
About that time Esme brought in a tray with a large soup mug full of homemade chicken noodle soup, "this should help you feel better after stomping about in the dampness." She looked at Alice and winked as she made sure there were some holes in the tennis shoes to prevent her from using them again.
Carlisle smiled, "there you go… Alice why don't you take her up to the guest room so she can shower."
"I've already got that covered," she said with a smile, "I'll take her to my room for some girl-time." And with that Alice took her upstairs a bedroom-suite that included four rooms, a bathroom with the most luxurious shower that would rival any health spa, a sitting room set up much like an old-fashioned parlor, a large room that served as her closet, and a tiny room that accommodated a full-sized bed and not much else… it was never used and just for show.
Tatiana's fears of imposing were for naught. The Cullens' hospitality was almost pushy, though no one could compete with Alice. And once Tatiana stopped fighting it she found she truly enjoyed the younger girl's enthusiasm. Her closet on the other hand was truly impressive, larger than her bedroom, and tightly organized to maximize the available space. Esme kept an amazing house. What would it be like to have grown up like this? As the hot water beat her back, Tatiana mused that Dr. Cullen was too young to have made any money as a doctor, so one of the elder Cullens must have been born with a silver spoon. Esme, she thought. That would explain why the house looked like a magazine layout.
The fairy-like vampire smiled as Tatiana sang in the shower… she had a very good voice as she suspected. Alice picked up her clothes and placed them in a plastic shopping bag. There was no washing machine in the Cullen house… no one ever wore the same clothing twice, with the exception of shoes. There was a steady stream of clothing constantly arriving in and going out of the house. Alice smiled as she loved to dress Bella up as a human and she suspected she now had a better challenge than Bella. She suspected that Tatiana did not realize how beautiful she actually was… or at least lacked the confidence to rock some fashion.
When Tatiana emerged from the shower Alice already had selected six outfits, two for hiking and four just to show her how beautiful she was. The two girls laughed, giggled, and enjoyed themselves for about an hour and a half… Alice neatly folded up the clothes bagged up the clothes into shopping bags as soon as Tatiana took them off. When finished Tatiana was wearing a good outfit to go out in the woods and place the cameras. A good sturdy pair of Timberland hiking boots, boot socks, and a pair of Columbia outdoor pants and camp shirt. Good sturdy clothes that would protect her well.
"Alice!" She begged, having submitted to a fashion show. Many of the girl's clothes did not fit as loosely as Tatiana wore her clothes, though she had produced an array of hiking boots that she was certain rivaled the camping store's selection, especially given her size.
Her new friend smiled, "Yes… I think we've done enough now." Knowing she gave her one outfit that would drive the Ranger nuts when he saw her in it. "You are more beautiful than you give yourself credit."
Tatiana frowned at that. "It's too much. Besides, I'm spending the summer mucking about in the woods with the bears, mountain lions, and windego. I doubt they are going to care if my shoes match my outfit." Of course clearly Alice cared and she was the self-proclaimed danger in the area.
Rosalie stood in the door and smugly said, "Yes… the clothes really don't change the flavor of the human that's wearing them. After all you can wrap a piece of candy in wax paper or gold foil, it still tastes just as good."
Having not noticed the entrance of what had to be the most beautiful woman ever to draw breath, Tatiana's expression was one of perplexed horror at the bizarre statement, though her face went blank as she openly stared at the blond. Maybe beautiful wasn't the right word, she mused. Even with disgust and boredom playing over her face, the blond was beyond beautiful. If she smiled she would have put any starlet ever to shame.
Alice looked at the sudden interloper and sternly said, "If I were to be eaten by a bear I would think I would look my best before it happened."
Rosalie frowned, "Alice, you know the dangers out there in the woods... Don't be so flippant about it, there are things that really eat people." She looked at the new girl in the room after hearing the entire conversation that went on from hers across the hall. "In fairness I don't think this young lady knows what she is getting herself into... we should teach her how to shoot or at least use a bow." Rosalie frowned, "and look at her... she's just a little bit more graceful than Bella was before she came to us."
Visibly backing up a little and telling herself not to be stupid, Tatiana looked from one Cullen to the other. How many were there? "Ah, I umm," gritting her teeth she forced herself to just shake her head. No way in hell was Tatiana going anywhere with this one - who looked like a thug in preppy clothes, right down to the predatory grin. Their words were polite, even charming.
Jasper came into the room and used his abilities to calm down the situation a bit. He smiled as he closed his eyes and focused on peace. "Ladies, I think Rosalie is a bit overreacting here." He smiled as he went over to Alice and hugged her. "My darling, who is our new friend."
Alice smiled, "This is Tatiana Bishop, she is the assistant to Doctor Jones, the scientist who is doing the wolf study in the woods."
The young man with extremely messy curly hair extended his hand to her, "It is my pleasure to meet you." He smiled... his eyes were the same caramel color of everyone else in the home so far.
And just like that it was gone. The building panic washed away as if it had never been. Tatiana's shoulders dropped and jaw loosened; blue eyes went soft and almost sleepy. "Umm, hi," this was getting awkward - so much so that she didn't even notice how cool the newcomer's hand was during the very brief contact, or the faint scars, which would have been so visible in the bright lights from the vanity.
"Tatiana, have you ever taken a self-defense class, do you exercise?" Rosalie asked. "It would be my pleasure to exercise and train with you sometime soon... that is if the professor gives you enough time off." Her eyes drifted to the larger man in the doorway, "I suppose I could volunteer Emmitt to place all her cameras in the appropriate sites for them. All you would need to do is mark on a map where you want them." Rosalie turned her head to door and raised her voice slightly, "Emmitt hon, can you come here for a moment?"
A strapping young man stepped into the door, "Yes honey." He said well-trained already knowing what was going on as he heard everything from out in the garage where he was working. "Did you need something?"
Rosalie smiled, "would it be possible for you to help this young lady place her cameras into appropriate sites for their research?"
Emmitt nodded, "it would be my pleasure."
Numb and not caring why, the only human in the house merely nodded. Later she would worry about Professor Jones firing her, but in that moment, she could have curled up in a ball and gone to sleep.
Alice smiled, "then that means it would give you a head start on your research... and all you will need to do is watch the footage.
Tatiana merely nodded, unable to form a protest and without the will to speak.
Jasper nodded at Emmett as he left, "thanks for your help... do you mind giving me a hand with my car?"
Emmett nodded, "not at all..." and the two of them left to go out to the garage leaving the girls once again by themselves.
Rosalie started again, "seriously, there are a lot of wild things out in the woods... even a small raccoon can do some damage if you don't know how to deal with them."
The instant the men left Tatiana's breath left in a whoosh and her knees collapsed beneath her so that she sat gracelessly on the thick white carpet. The panic built until she was unable to breathe. Nothing like this had ever happened to her - well, at least since she had been a child. There was nothing to fear! Just a bunch of really, really pushy locals.
"I'm okay," she said waving Alice back. Her words sounded more angry than reassuring, as if she had been shoved to the floor and not nearly fainted from lack of air. "I think I need to get back," nothing would please her more than bolting for the door, screaming. In fact, it was an effort to get to her feet. Her traitorous legs felt like jelly and her gait down the stairs in the new black leather knee-boots resembled nothing so much as a newborn colt.
When Alice drew her away from the front door and toward the back of the house, it was all Tatiana could do not to pull away. Of course, it would be rude just to leave. Esme had been kind to her. Actually, now that she thought about it, they had all been nice to her. Why was she being such a child, jumpy like a little girl after a night of ghost stories? It was all the fault of Ranger Chris. She shuddered as the name popped into her mind unfettered… yes indeed, all his fault.