AN: My version of Eclipse/Breaking Dawn. Ever wonder what the catalyst for the Quiluete/Cullen treaty was? Here's my version – check it out!
Thanks to my super-star Beta reader, TwilightFan4Life, always the encourager!
Disclaimer: My goal is to write as well as SM but at this point I'm only playing with her characters. I wish I could keep them but alas they belong to another - along with all the fandom, celebrity, copyrights, and money!
Chapter 10 Elu
Edward parked behind my Audi, which was parked behind my truck. It was starting to resemble a used car lot outside Charlie's house.
My truck hadn't moved since just before school let out for winter break, three weeks ago. I actually felt guilty that I hadn't driven it and I knew I should probably sell it. I certainly didn't need two cars but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. My truck had a lot of special memories attached to it.
I turned to Edward still full of questions but before I could start in on him, he disappeared. I blinked and then realized he was holding my door open for me on the passenger side. I shook my head and stepped out of the Volvo. With my bag in his other hand, he walked me to the door.
"I'll be back later tonight," he promised before I could ask.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" I finally asked him, annoyed that apparently, no explanation was forthcoming.
"What do you mean?" he asked too innocently.
I stared up at him exasperated then took a deep breath.
"Why were you so mad in the forest? And what did you tell Carlisle? And what did he tell you in his mind? And what did he mean when he said that your family would take care of everything?" I barraged him with my questions and my pent up frustration, which had been building during the silent drive to Charlie's.
He looked surprised and slightly amused, struggling to stifle the grin that was trying to lift the corners of his mouth.
"Just a misunderstanding, I'm sure," he said. "Carlisle will take care of it." He opened Charlie's door with the key from under the eave and gently pushed me towards the opening.
"Hey - what happened to the whole 'trust thing'?" I asked, my irritation escalating with his evasive answers. "I was wrong not telling you right away about Kanika on the Island but now you aren't telling me something." I demanded my hands on my hips, waiting.
He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.
"You know how I hate double standards," I added still waiting for his response.
He studied my face for a long moment, deciding, what to tell me if anything. Finally, he pulled me inside the house and shut the door.
"Bella, you know we have a treaty with the Quileutes."
I nodded.
He sighed. "It states they protect their lands on the reservation and we stay away from them."
I nodded again.
"It also states that they stay away from 'our lands', which they deem to be places where we hunt, live, or generally visit." He looked at me trying to ascertain if I understood his explanation.
I knew all this but it didn't explain why he was so angry back in the clearing. Was it because they were breaking the treaty being in the Park? The Cullens didn't seem territorial to me. It didn't seem like they'd care - treaty or not - if one of them was in the Park. It was almost a million acres after all.
"So are you saying they're breaking the treaty if they're anywhere in the Park? It's huge Edward, can't you share?"
"It's not our stipulation, Bella," he explained slowly as if talking to a child. "It's theirs. We're happy to share but they don't want to coexist with us. They don't trust us or themselves to be near us. Whenever we're in the vicinity, there's a danger that they might lose control and phase whether we're a threat or not."
I'd seen their volatile natures first hand and couldn't disagree with what he said about some of the werewolf's lack of self-control.
He continued, "So you see, it was very strange for one of them to be in the Park. It's against their own rules." He shook his head looking frustrated.
"What?" I asked sensing there was something more.
"I don't know," he said thoughtfully. "This one seemed different, somehow."
I remembered how he had seemed different to me too. He didn't look like any of the boys I had come to know last year when the Cullens were away.
Edward's mood shifted again as he kissed my cheek.
"I'll be back later. Don't forget school starts tomorrow," he said bringing me back to the present. He seemed to be anxious to leave.
I groaned. School. It seemed like years instead of weeks since we'd been to school. So much had happened.
Later that night as I lay on my side feeling Edward's cold body pressed against my back, his arms encircling me, his breath a whisper on my hair, I began to wonder again about the figure we saw in the clearing. Could it have been one of the Quileutes I knew? Could it have been another boy – someone new?
My thoughts flickered to Tom Kite. I would see him tomorrow in class and I realized I was anxious to talk to him. I had missed him during our three-week break. I wondered briefly if it could have been him in the forest but then realized how ridiculous that was. Tom was a Hoh Indian. He wouldn't be part of the Quiluete werewolf pack.
The Hoh were once part of the Quileute tribe, I reminded myself. Ms. Kite had taught us about how the Hoh had established their own tribe back sometime before 1856 when the Quinault River Treaty was signed.
No, I thought, that doesn't make sense. I would have known if he was part of the pack. And besides he would have known or rather been able to smell Edward on me just as Jake had.
I realized my imagination was running wild with me and I needed to rein it in. I also needed to get some sleep. I eyed the clock. Two-thirty. I sighed.
"Are you awake," his velvet voice caressed my ear.
"Mmm-hmm" I answered affirmatively.
"You should be asleep," he said in a disapproving tone, kissing my neck now that he knew he wouldn't wake me.
I closed my eyes enjoying the sensations he created wherever his lips touched my skin. I rolled over towards him and met his golden, glorious eyes. His lids drifted down as he reached the last few inches towards me and gently pressed his lips to mine.
I breathed in his delicious scent and immediately felt sleepy and dizzy. I kept my eyes closed and he softly kissed each eyelid all the while I continued to breathe heavily falling farther and farther into his 'drug-induced' darkness.
The alarm sounded much too early at seven the next morning. I stretched and reached for him. The bed was empty next to me. My eyes flashed open and I shot a glance over at the rocking chair but it was empty too. I felt an instant stab of loneliness but then immediately realized why he wasn't there. The unusual bright light coming through my bedroom window marked an anomaly for Forks-A sunny day.
On the one hand, I loved the uncommon sunny day in Forks, a rare gift indeed. But on the other hand, the Cullens couldn't come out into the public so I was alone at school and would only get to see them if I went to their house. So it had its drawbacks too.
I dressed and ate my customary bowl of cereal. Charlie left the house by six-thirty every morning so I always missed him since my first class didn't start until eight o'clock.
I walked outside, reveling in the sunshine. It actually felt warm and I decided to drive my new car with the top down – even though it couldn't have been over forty degrees out. I started her up and carefully let the black top down just as Edward had shown me. I put my new sunglasses on and drove slowly away from the curb.
The Audi, I had decided it was female, was really quite fun to drive. She was so small; maneuvering was easy unlike my battleship truck.
The wind was cold but felt invigorating as I drove through town to the small campus. I pulled up into the student parking lot and giggled to myself at how easy it was to park. I didn't even have to be careful not to ding my neighbor's doors as I got out, the Audi didn't take up the full space between the lines like my truck would. I looked up at the perfectly clear blue sky but decided I really couldn't trust it - not in Forks - so I opted to put the top back up.
I felt exuberant in the sunshine and found myself whistling as I walked to my first class. My mood dampened though as I took my customary seat at the back and noted Tom's apparent absence. I had looked forward to seeing him. He really was my only human friend in town since everyone else had left to go off to distant colleges in the fall.
I stopped by Ms. Kite's desk after class to inquire about her nephew.
"Ms. Kite, is Tom alright? I noticed he wasn't in class today," I asked the tall striking woman.
She looked up studying me with her dark brown almost black eyes. "Yes, well, he got some sort of bug over the holiday. I'm sure he'll be fine in a few days. He'll probably be back to class by Thursday or Friday." She assured me.
She looked back down to her papers then, dismissing me.
I left with an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach and hurried to my literature class. The rest of the morning passed uneventfully as I welcomed the distraction of school. I decided to head to the Forks Coffee Shop for lunch as that's probably where I would have eaten if Tom had been at school today. He didn't like the student cafeteria much – all prepackaged food.
I sat at our normal table and ordered the special for the day. I was reading The Odyssey now, having finished the Iliad last quarter, when I heard a familiar voice.
"Hey there, Bella."
I looked up and grinned. Tom strode toward me his black hair shining.
"Hey yourself," I said. "I thought you were sick." I was happy to see him and happy he was obviously feeling better.
"Nope, fit as a fiddle," he said. A strange sense of déjà vu twisted in my stomach.
"That's great!" I said ignoring the warning sign. Don't be ridiculous, I told myself.
He sat down in the booth across from me and I put my book back in my backpack. The waitress came by then having spotted Tom and asked him if he wanted his usual.
"That would be great but could you double it?" he asked. "I'm really hungry."
"Sure, honey, no problem," she said delighted.
"Wow, you are hungry." I agreed.
"So did you get some cool stuff for Christmas?"
"Yeah," I said wondering how I would explain that my boyfriend bought me a
fifty thousand dollar car and a one karat diamond necklace. "How was your holiday?" I asked, hoping to distract him from the subject of mine.
"I spent a lot of time with the family. It was okay," he said rolling his eyes at me.
"So your Aunt said you were sick over the holiday. Looks like you're feeling better now," I reiterated.
"Yeah, it was really weird. I was sick as a dog for a few days and then this morning I felt fine." He shook his head but didn't meet my eyes, staying focused on his food instead. "I think I'm still running a temperature though or at least it feels like I am."
He continued to inhale his food not looking at me.
My stomach twisted again. "Hey, Tom?"
I wondered how I could do this without making him suspicious.
"Yeah?" He finally looked up at me.
"I was wondering if I could meet more of your family, sometime?" I asked trying to sound casual.
He looked at me his dark eyes puzzled at my request. "Sure, I guess, why?" The confusion was clear on his face.
"Well, I have to write a paper for my creative writing class and I thought I'd use some of your tribal history for the topic. Maybe, I could interview some of your family members?" I asked smiling sweetly at him.
I didn't want to lay it on too thick. I remembered how my amateurish attempts at flirtation had actually worked a little too well with Jake when I first moved to Forks and pumped him for information about the Cullens.
"Sure," he said again, his face brightening. "My Grandmother would be the best person to talk to. She knows all the old stories and legends and her mind is sharp as a tack," he said smiling, obviously fond of her.
"That would be cool," I said enthusiastically. "How old is she?"
"Um, I think she turns eighty this year," he said taking another huge bite of his double burger.
I did the mental math and determined that Tom's grandmother would have been nine years old at the time that the Cullens came to the area and agreed to the treaty with the Quileutes. If her memory was as sharp as Tom said, she might remember something about it. I tried to breathe evenly and not appear overly anxious but it was hard to keep my mind from racing ahead to the questions I would ask Tom's grandmother.
"So when do you think it would be a good time to talk to your grandmother?" I asked trying to keep the growing excitement out of my voice.
"Whenever. She doesn't go anywhere so it probably doesn't matter." He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and paid the waitress when she stopped by to pick up our plates.
"Do you think today after school would be too soon?" I asked hopefully looking up at him as we walked towards the door. He slung his backpack over one shoulder and I realized how high up his shoulder was. Did he grow over the holidays? I'd bet he was over six feet now.
"Naw," he said. "She'd be happy to have the company."
"Great!" I said completely failing to camouflage my excitement now. "When is your last class today?"
"I'm done at one-thirty," he said grinning, catching my enthusiasm.
"Me too," I said. "Let's meet at the parking lot and I'll drive us there." I offered knowing that he normally had to ride with his Aunt not having a car of his own.
"Sounds good," he agreed as we reached the door of the diner.
"Thanks Tom," I said smiling as we made our way back to campus for the final class of the day. I couldn't wait to start organizing my questions. I'd have an hour during Calculus to figure out what I would ask Tom's Grandmother.
So it was very convenient that it was sunny and that I had driven myself today. I didn't think Edward would approve of my outing but after all, I was only banned from seeing the Quileutes and going to La Push, no one ever said anything about the Hoh reservation being off limits.
I did call him though to let him know I wasn't coming to his house after school, claiming I had to do some research. It was sort of true – I was doing research.
I leaned against the Audi and waited for Tom. I didn't have to wait long. I smiled as I caught sight of him quickly covering the ground as he strode towards me. He smiled as he reached me and then looked around the parking area, confused.
"Where's your truck?" he asked still searching the small lot.
"Oh, I drove my new car today," I said grimacing as I realized I'd probably have to explain where it came from. I motioned to the car I leaned against and grinned sheepishly.
"Wow," he exclaimed. "Nice ride."
"Thanks," I said getting in and throwing my backpack behind the seat.
Tom got in the passenger side, looking a little uncomfortable. "What happened to your truck?"
"I still have it but I guess I need to sell it," I said sighing at the thought.
"Really," he said perking up. "How much do you want for it?" He asked his eyes bright.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "I'll have to ask Charlie. He bought it for me from the Black's when I first moved here two years ago. I don't have any idea what he paid Billy for it."
"Well, let me know," Tom said still excited. "That's a great truck, a classic."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Great in an accident too," I acknowledged from experience.
We both laughed as he directed me out of town towards the reservation. We traveled down highway 101 for several miles chatting along the way, the ever-present greenness slipping past us as we headed deeper into the forest.
"Turn right at Lower Hoh road," Tom instructed as we neared the intersection.
We had traveled well south of La Push. I hadn't realized the Hoh were this far from the Quileute. It looked a lot closer on Ms. Kite's overhead slides in our history class. We went another few miles and I noted that we had actually entered the Olympic National Park.
Then the horizon opened up as the Hoh River came into sight and the Pacific Ocean beyond. There at the mouth of the river was the tiny Hoh village. The village was comprised of several long houses just as Ms. Kite had described in class along with a few additional modern looking buildings.
Tom pointed towards one of the long houses by the river and I pulled up next to an old nondescript dark colored four-door sedan. I turned off the ignition and looked over at Tom.
"It's not much but it's home," he said, looking a little embarrassed.
I felt like I'd been transported back in time. The long houses looked absolutely authentic like they had been standing exactly as I saw them now for hundreds of years, which of course they had. The river, beyond the house, was rugged and wild, untamed by man or time. Debris piles lined the shores where skeletal remains of ancient trees had been carried down in the relentless current from high up in the mountains. It was beautiful in its own way, a reminder that nature has its own order.
We entered the house. It was dark and cool inside. Tom set his backpack down by the door and led me to the living area where a fire was glowing in a wood burning stove and an old woman sat nearby in a rocking chair looking out through the window to the ocean beyond. She looked up at our entrance, eyes black in her withered face.
"Bella, this is my grandmother, Elu."
"Grandmother, this is Bella Swan. She wanted to meet you and talk to you about our history," he explained, softly touching her shoulder with his fingertips.
"Hello, Bella." She motioned to another chair nearby with her wrinkled hand.
Her voice was quiet but strong and she gazed at me with eyes that were somehow both young and ancient at the same time. I could only imagine the things she had witnessed in her lifetime.
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Kite. Thank you for talking to me today." I said trying to be respectful while containing my exhilaration over the potential historical information she might possess.
"Call me Elu," she said, the corners of her thin lips curling upwards.
"Elu," I tried it out. "That's beautiful. What does it mean in English?" I asked assuming it was an Indian word.
"Full of Grace." The answer came from Tom who pulled up another chair to join us near the warm little stove. "She doesn't like to tell people," he explained.
I nodded and looked back to her smiling, already feeling a kinship with her. "May I ask you some questions about your family and the Hoh tribe?"
She looked over to Tom who returned her gaze and nodded almost imperceptibly. She nodded to me and spread her hands as if giving me permission to begin.
"I'm writing a paper for a class and I was hoping to use the history of your people through your eyes as the topic," I began. "Tom tells me that you originally came from the Quiluete tribe and you joined the Hoh tribe when you married."
Her dark eyes were suddenly troubled, the lines in her forehead deepened, and I instantly wished I had started with something else. She looked to Tom and spoke quickly, fluidly in their native tongue. Tom translated.
"She says it would be easier for her to answer your questions in her language and asked me to translate," he explained.
"Oh, of course," I agreed, relieved that it was the language barrier and not the question that concerned her. I pulled a notepad out of my backpack.
Elu spoke quietly and swiftly stopping every few minutes for Tom to translate.
"She says she grew up in La Push with the Quileute tribe. Her father was Quil Ateara, one of the Quileute Elders. When she was seventeen she fell in love with Wendell Kite from the Hoh village and moved here to live with him and his family," Tom translated.
I worked hard to control my surprised reaction at her ancestry. From previous discussions with Tom, I had known that his Grandmother had grown up in La Push but I had no idea that she was of the Ateara lineage.
Tom continued after Elu spoke again. "She and my grandfather had two children, my father Dale and my Aunt Melanie – who you already know."
"Please tell me about your childhood with the Quiluete tribe," I requested, a little too anxiously.
"I had two brothers," she said via Tom. "One was two years older and the other a year younger." Elu continued in the fluid Quileute native tongue, telling me details about her family and their daily life. "Many hours of the day were spent on simple survival activities – cooking, hunting, caring for the sick, the young, the old. The Quileute like the Makah Indians were sea hunters. Hunting for whale, seal, and fish from their canoes, large and sturdy enough to traverse great distances out at sea."
I listened intently, taking notes as Tom translated his grandmother's words.
She paused and I prompted with another question.
"Why did the Hoh separate themselves from the Quileutes and form their own tribe, establish their own reservation?" I asked, feeling this was perhaps one of the most vital of my questions. A question that had never been answered to date as far as I could ascertain
Elu listened as Tom translated my question to be sure she had understood my English correctly. Once he finished, she looked past me out the window to the ocean. Her gaze was very far away, perhaps, as she recalled some distant childhood memories.
She sat silent for a long time before she finally began to speak.
"When the white man began to come to our lands, they brought many diseases with them. Many of us died from their sickness." Her eyes narrowed still focused out on some distant point. "My husband's people tried to stay secluded, away from the disease that took so many."
She was quiet again as she sat staring out the window.
I decided to come back to this line of questioning later. Obviously, there was more to their separation as they continued to enforce it long after the health crisis was over.
"I've heard some old legends about the Hoh and the Quileute," I said hoping she could expand on them or give me some indication as to their validity. "Some say that your people are descended from wolves."
"Yes," she affirmed. "There are legends that we are descended from wolves. It is against tribal law to kill them, even now," she said her eyes returning to me.
I had to be careful now.
"I have also heard legends of a man, a beautiful, pale, blonde-haired man that came to this area before any other white man arrived. Do you know of him?" I studied her deeply lined face, trying to read her expression in the dim light.
I saw her face soften and a wistful look flit across it. I glanced quickly at Tom and he was staring at me strangely, not realizing how informed I was on the local legends.
Finally, she began to speak and Tom continued to translate.
"Long ago, there was a man that came here. No one had ever seen a pale-face before. The legends say he was very light skinned, with hair like the sun, and he spoke in a strange tongue. He stayed with our people for a short time and learned some of our language. He was a medicine man and studied our healing ways from the tribe's Shaman. He helped a young boy who was trapped under a fallen tree. The man moved the huge tree off the boy's leg but the leg was badly broken. He set it and it healed straight. This stranger became a friend to the Quileute people. He was kind and very strong and his skin was very cold. Some were afraid of him."
She paused and watched me as I listened to Tom and took notes, scribbling furiously on my little pad. I wished I had brought a recorder.
After Tom was silent for a moment, she continued.
"Other pale-face men came a few years after he left. My people thought they would all be like him but they weren't. Some were good but some were bad. They brought the disease with them and many of us died from it. Then more Cold Ones, like the blonde-haired man, came to our area. They were strong and beautiful but they were not kind like the first one. They killed some of our people and some of the pale-face people too but not with sickness."
She paused again, studying me. Wondering, I presumed, if I already knew those stories too.
"They fed on those people, on their blood." I stated rather than asked.
I wanted her to tell me everything she could remember and not have to worry about scaring me with vampire stories.
I slowly closed my notebook assuring her she could trust me with things not to be shared with others.
Tom stared at me incredulously but translated my words. Elu nodded seeming to understand that I knew much more than I was letting on. I was anxious for her to continue. I hadn't known of other vampires coming to the area after Carlisle, this was new information for me.
"What did your people do then?" I asked urging her to continue.
She spoke quietly and Tom leaned closer to hear her while continuing to relay her memories of their tribal past.
"My Great, Great Grandfather and the other tribal leaders prayed to the Wolf Spirit, our guardian, for many days and nights. They prayed for deliverance from the evil, Cold Ones. But for a time nothing seemed to happen. Then when my Great Grandfather and some of the other boys in the tribe came of age, their prayer was answered." She stopped eyeing me again.
"They changed into wolves," I stated this, again assuring her that I already knew some of this history and could be trusted with the rest.
"Yes," she said. It was barely a whisper. "They were the only ones who could kill the Cold Ones. But, sometimes the wolves were killed too."
She paused lost in thought and then continued. "The war between the Cold Ones and our Wolf protectors waged on for three generations. My father, Quil Ateara, was part of the last pack. His pack killed the last of the evil Cold Ones."
"What year was that?" I asked.
"1933, I was six years old," she said. I noted her eyes looked flat and there was no intonation in her voice as she said this in her unusual language.
"Do you remember what it was like?' I asked hoping she wouldn't be offended by my question.
"Yes," she said a pained look on her face. "It was terrible. My mother was so scared - of him and for him. She knew he was protecting the tribe but sometimes the Wolves scared her. They scared me too. Watching my father turn into a…." she trailed off.
"So then it was over? After the Wolves killed the last of the Cold Ones?" I asked wondering if she would tell me about the Cullens.
She paused, deciding again. "No."
I nodded, encouraging her to go on.
"A few years later, when I was nine, more Cold Ones came," she said.
That would be 1936. The year they signed the treaty with the Cullens. I tried to conceal my anticipation.
"But this time, it was the good one. The first one or another that looked just like him. He was fair, and tall, and beautiful and his eyes like his hair were golden not like the red-eyed evil ones." She paused, the wistful expression came across her face again.
"Did you meet him?" I asked trying to understand her expression.
"Yes," she said softly. "He found me in the woods. Two pale-face men had taken me when I had gone to a nearby spring for water. They were taking me back to their campsite. He heard me scream and was suddenly there, snarling at the men, baring his teeth. They dropped me and ran. He knelt down and spoke to me in his strange, musical language. I didn't know what he said but I felt safe when he picked me up and carried me home."
She paused for a moment, her thoughts far away once again as she smiled remembering her savior. I could picture Carlisle's rescue of the young Elu. I understood the feelings she recalled having experienced being saved by Edward on several occasions. It was clear that she had been enamored with Carlisle. I could understand that too.
She began to speak again. "When we returned to La Push, he took me straight to the house. My father was there and he was so angry as we came through the door. Father started to quiver like he had back when he was fighting the evil Cold Ones. But I clung to the beautiful man and told my father he had saved me from the pale-faced men. He calmed down and then they talked.
His name was Carlisle and he told my father that he was a friend to the Quileute people. That he had come before and that was how he knew our language and that he meant us no harm. My father still didn't trust him though and I could tell he didn't like the way Carlisle smelled because he kept wrinkling his nose. I thought he smelled good though, sweet, like…."
Tom hesitated and looked at his Grandmother with a puzzled expression. She repeated the word again in her native tongue and he shook his head looking back to me translating, "honeysuckle."
I laughed softly understanding this too. Tom rolled his eyes at us.
"Carlisle asked my father why he was so angry, that when he had come before, our people were happier. Friendlier. Father explained that the white man's illness and the murderous Cold Ones had almost devastated our tribes. Between the white man's diseases and the Cold Ones feeding, many had been lost. For three generations, certain Quileute boys were chosen by the Wolf Spirit to protect the tribe and only they were able to kill the Cold Ones. He told Carlisle about the Wolves, to warn him to stay away."
She paused and took a sip of water from the glass on the table next to her chair. I looked over at Tom but he avoided my eyes.
"Carlisle explained that he and his family were no threat to our people because they fed only on animals. Father wasn't too sure but he did remember the legends of the cold skinned man with hair like the sun from his boyhood. The only good Cold One. And he had saved me after all. Father determined that perhaps a truce could be reached with Carlisle and his family. My father wanted the war to end. They met with Ephraim Black and came to an agreement, a treaty of sorts."
I could tell that Elu was tiring but I was anxious to hear what she thought the treaty had stated. "What did the treaty say?" I asked gently.
She took a deep breath as she listened to Tom translate my question.
"They agreed that Carlisle's family wouldn't come onto the Quileute reservation. They wouldn't bother any of our people nor would they bite any human. Ephraim and my father agreed that they would stay away from Carlisle's territory and would not tell the pale-face people about them. They agreed to this truce as long as neither side broke it. I never saw Carlisle again although I thought about him and dreamt of him often," she admitted shyly.
"His family settled down near Hoquiam but left four or five years later. And that was the end of it." She finished seeming almost sad to have come to the end of her story.
The Hoh are very secluded I thought. They didn't seem to know what had been going on since the Cullens had returned or that they even had returned. An idea popped into my head.
"Elu," I started "if you could, would you like to see Carlisle again?" I asked trying to mask the anticipation and excitement in my voice.
She looked at me puzzled and then recognition lit her eyes. She suddenly looked twenty years younger and a small smile creased her cheeks. "Yes," she whispered in English.
"Can he come here?" I asked not sure if the treaty covered the Hoh reservation too.
"Yes," she said again. "The Hoh did not make the treaty with him only the Quileute. The Hoh have stayed very separate. They did not agree with the Quileutes praying to the Wolf Spirit and changing their boys into monsters." Tom's voice broke on the last word as he translated. We both looked over at him.
I hadn't thought too much about his reaction to all of this history as he translated for Elu. I had studied her expression as she spoke and only listened to his words not really taking note if he was shocked by what she said or if he already knew all of it.
Elu continued. "After I married Wendell and came to live with the Hoh, he explained to me the disagreement between the Hoh Elders and the Quileute Elders and why the Hoh chose to stay secluded. It has been that way ever since. I missed my family but I remembered the monster that my father had become to fight the Cold Ones and I didn't want that for my future sons."
"So once the treaty was signed, your father and Ephraim stopped turning into werewolves?" I asked although I thought I already knew the answer.
"No," she admitted. "As long as the Cold Ones were nearby, they continued to transform into wolves and continued to patrol the area. My father, at thirty-six was getting too old for this and it took a hard toll on his body. Once Carlisle and his family settled in Hoquiam, they were far enough away that the transformations slowed and eventually stopped. Soon the Quileute werewolves became legend and my generation was the last to see them."
I nodded as the pieces clicked together in my brain. Elu had said that the Cullens only stayed in Hoquiam for four or five years before moving on. Elu's oldest brother, father to Sarah Black (Jake's mother), would have only been fourteen or fifteen at the most at the time the Cullens left around 1941. No chance for another generation of werewolves.
Until four years ago, when they returned to Forks.
I glanced out the window and realized the light was fading. Elu looked exhausted and I decided it was time to go. I smiled at the withered woman who had loved Carlisle as a young girl.
"Thank you so much." I said leaning towards her. "I'd love to visit you again, if that's alright," I asked hopefully.
"Yes anytime," she said in English smiling at Tom and then at me.
I hoped she hadn't gotten the wrong idea about the relationship between Tom and me. Perhaps she thought I was interested in their history because I was interested in him. I hoped not.
Tom walked me out to my car. His expression was unreadable and I wondered now what he thought of our exchange and my obvious knowledge beyond what I had learned from his Aunt in our history class. I waited for him to speak first.
"Well, that was interesting," he said finally as I slung my backpack into the passenger seat of the Audi.
"Yes," I agreed looking up at him.
"I guess you know a lot about our history," he stated the obvious.
"Jake told me a lot of the things your Grandmother said today," I tried to explain.
"Hmmm," he pondered that for a moment. "I'd like to talk with you more about this later, Bella," he stated rather than asked.
"Sure Tom. Let's do lunch," I suggested with a chuckle. That seemed to break the tension and he smiled and laughed too.
"Okay," he agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you," I said as I closed the door and started up the engine. It purred like a kitten and I thought of Edward. He liked this car for me because it was quiet in contrast to my deafening truck.
I drove home through the darkening forest, thoughts of vampires and werewolves swirling through my head. There was so much to think about, so many new pieces to my puzzle. I was anxious to talk to Tom tomorrow. Now that I knew he was descended from the Ateara line just like Quil and Jake, I was anxious to find out if he really did carry the genetic marker. To see if he was transforming into a werewolf, if that really had been him we'd seen in the clearing. But for now, I wanted to get home and start making some notes.
