With very few minor exceptions the characters are the creation of Stephenie Meyer and belong exclusively to her. Thanks to my niece Shannon Fawr for being my beta reader and for adding all the lovely touches to the tale. Also many thanks to my research assistant, Jonathan Dobson, for all the times he answered my call for just another odd piece of information.
High Noon
Chapter 11
QuilCullen was starting to look like Esme's projections. The exterior was nearly complete with its five large turrets, its new helipad and hangar, and its new kitchen. The prospect from the front was pleasing and the Cullen ladies, other than Esme, were having their first view of the place.
Leah had been invited to join them but had declined, saying that she would be happily surprised when they moved. As requested, she had shared her color preferences with Esme and Carmen so that they were able to design her room and bath according to her taste.
The castle was still a hulk of grey stone. In fact it was a great deal larger than when the Cullen men had first seen it three months earlier. Edward had flown them over from Inverness in the helicopter. He stood by the hangar, letting the girls enjoy working with the interior design of their new home.
Bella had sighed happily when they approached the building from the air. It was exactly the way she always thought a castle should look. She was reticent about expressing her excitement about this move, thinking she was the only one who felt that way, but she could not miss Rosalie's eagerness to see it from the inside or Alice's wide grin. Esme, too, was clearly excited, confiding to the others, "This is the first time I've worked on a real castle… and I've always wanted to try one."
The entry was new. It was the lower floor of the turret overlooking the front of the castle. The door was a modern version of a medieval door. It was dark wood, studded with nails, with ornate hinges. Inside the entry Esme explained, "I thought it would be interesting to have other medieval things here… a suit of armor, weapons on the wall, and so on. The door opposite – into the great hall – was the original front door."
The original door was a thick slab of ancient wood that was so dark it was black. At ten feet tall and six feet wide it was so huge that it would dwarf even the tall vampires and Quileutes. It closed behind them as they entered the great hall. Esme turned to look at it. "Good. They fixed it. We'll still be able to hear it open and close, but it no longer slams. When Carlisle and I first saw the castle it sounded like the crack of doom when it slammed shut, and it's not echoing so badly in here now that the tapestries Carmen made for us have been hung. By the time we get the furniture in, it should be fine."
The walls in the great hall were twelve feet high and large tapestries hung ten feet down on each side with three across half of the back of the room. A giant fireplace that the tallest of their group could easily walk into occupied the center of the room. A fire in it would be visible from any angle. The great hall ran across the south side of the castle. The turrets on the southern corners had large window seats built into them.
"I thought one corner could be a computer area and the other devoted to games," said Esme. "What do you think?"
"Sounds good to me," responded Rosalie. Then she turned the conversation to the subject that interested her the most. "Where's my suite?"
"We'll get to the suites shortly," Esme promised. "I want you girls to see everything!"
Bella, Ness, and Alice had gone over to look at the tapestries. "These are wonderful!" Ness exclaimed. "I love the fairy tales!"
When you paid attention it was easy to pick them out, one to each tapestry. Sleeping Beauty was represented. The stories of Cinderella and Snow White completed the trio on the back wall. Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid each represented one side of the room.
"I'm glad you like them," Esme said. "Traditionally tapestry themes are either myth or history but I liked the notion of fairy tales more and I remembered how much you had loved them as a child."
Alice hugged Esme, saying, "They're perfect! I like the classical look to each figure, too. These aren't Disney versions. They look real."
Bella stood closely following the story of Cinderella before turning to answer Alice. "Maybe they are."
Esme looked startled. "What do you mean?"
"You have to admit it's possible," Bella continued. "Look. These stories are generally known. Stories about vampires are known too. Few people have any idea that we exist. Or that the Quileutes could turn into giant wolves – most of their own people don't know it even though, again, they know the stories."
Ness followed her reasoning, her eyes growing larger with wonder. "So it's possible that fairy tales happen too… somewhere."
Bella nodded. "Exactly."
"That is such a cool idea," Ness breathed.
Alice looked like she was thinking over the idea and Esme started to say something, when Rosalie interrupted them. "Whatever. Carmen did a beautiful job but we don't have electric yet, so let's move on. When is the generator coming anyway?"
"Next week," Esme automatically replied.
"Good. Then we can work nonstop. Meanwhile, I love the way you added all these arrow slots at various heights on both sides of the door so that you could add more glass and brighten the place up."
Esme smiled. "Some of the arrow slots are original… and they gave me the idea. It needed considerable brightening. It's cloudy most of the time, anyway, but I always like to capture as much natural light as possible."
"What is that huge open area over there?" Ness asked, pointing to an area that covered the other half of the back wall. "It looks almost like a balcony, but why would anyone put a balcony inside?"
"That was the music gallery. I think I've improved on it. Come on up and see what you think," Esme invited.
They ascended the grey stone grand staircase. "How many staircases are there?" asked Bella.
"Seven," Esme replied. "This one and a large one that is not as ornate toward the back as well as one down from each turret. All of the turret steps start on the second floor. They access the third floor and the roof. This one and the back stairs only go to the second floor. I had their access to the third floor sealed off so that the office would be more secure."
The others nodded. Every Cullen home had a secure area where documents could be forged, computers hacked, or any other necessary aids to their human cover could be handled in house.
They looked down into the great hall for a moment, and then Esme opened a door that led into a music room. The walls were covered in cabinets. Esme opened one, murmuring, "Felt lined to guard against moisture." There was room for thousands of CD's in the cabinets she indicated. "Edward's piano will go there," she said, indicating the center of the room. "He has additional cabinets to use any way he'd like. There are speakers in here and speakers below. They can be turned on and off separately. The space here is for the sound system when it comes in." They looked around the room's three walls and the open side that was a stone railed balcony over the great hall. "You know how much I love listening to him play. The acoustics are incredible."
"What about when he's moody and just playing for himself?" Rosalie asked sourly.
"Then, if he wants, he can close off the room with these doors," Esme walked to the wall that joined the balcony and pressed a button that released folding doors. When unfolded from each side and secured they provided a faux wood fourth wall. She then replaced them in their disused position. "I hope he won't want to use them often."
"Has Edward seen this?" Bella asked.
Esme smiled. "Only in my head, perhaps, and I've tried to avoid thinking about it around him. Why don't you bring him in so we can show him, Ness?"
Ness nodded and left to find her father. Edward looked up as she approached and a startled look, quickly erased, flitted across his face.
Esme led the others around the rest of the second floor. There were doors into the stairs for each turret. Otherwise the turret suites were totally private and separate. There were four guest rooms, each with a bathroom. There was a library and a small laundry room. Esme made a large north facing room into a design studio for herself. There were fireplaces everywhere.
"Surely not all of these rooms needed fireplaces," Rosalie said.
Esme shrugged. "They were already here. That's the only way people had of keeping warm. I think they must have imported wood because our forest is too small to have supplied wood for so many fireplaces… Anyway, I just incorporated them into my designs… only those in the turrets are new."
The new turrets were on each corner as well as the one in front. Esme had tentatively assigned them but wanted the girls to determine for themselves which they preferred before she decorated them. She had chosen the northeast corner for herself and Carlisle because she liked the view of their small woods to the north and enjoyed watching sunrises with her husband.
After some discussion she could see that her original choices for them were valid.
"Emmett likes sunrise, too, so the southeast works for us," said Rosalie.
"Jasper and Edward both like to do a lot of their work at night," said Alice, looking at Bella for affirmation. Bella nodded her agreement. "So Jazz and I will take the northwest, giving Edward and Bella the southwest… I assume the front turret is for Jacob and Ness?"
"Yes," smiled Esme. "I wanted them to feel that their accommodations were equal to any of ours. It faces south so the light there should be good."
The Cullen family office took up most of the third floor but Jasper and Carlisle both had studies up there too. Everyone took a quick trip to the roof where they looked over the battlements and watched Edward and Ness enter the castle.
"I want to get down to the music room and see whether Edward likes it," Esme said and practically flew past the others, closely followed by Bella. She knew that his first expression would tell her if she had been successful in designing something he liked.
Alice was standing in her trance state and Rosalie waited to see what it was about. When Alice came back to her surroundings she gave Rosalie a blinding smile and danced toward the steps downward.
"What did you see?" demanded Rosalie.
"Nothing bad," Alice replied blithely, "and you'll know in a few minutes."
Rosalie shook her head irritably and followed Alice down to the music room where Edward was turning slowly with his hands on his hips. He walked over and glanced down into the great hall. Esme showed him how the fourth wall worked. All the time he looked silently with the bright look in his eyes that Bella associated with happiness. The women in his family watched him, smiling.
Finally Esme punched him lightly on the arm. "How did I do? Do you like it?"
Edward laughed and swung her around. "It's incredible, Esme! I would never have thought to do this! The original music gallery had to have been smaller and several feet below the second floor."
"It was," Esme agreed, "It just gave me the idea of where the perfect place for music might be…"
Her son dropped a kiss on her forehead. "You are a genius," he said admiringly.
Bella smiled to see him so excited, then her brow wrinkled. "Esme, didn't you say that there were quarters for the Quileutes too?"
"Of course, dear. They're on the first floor. I'll show you." Esme led the way downstairs.
A large arched door under the music room opened from the great hall. Beyond it was the back staircase and a passage to the galley kitchen. On one side of the kitchen was a small dining room and on the other was a laundry room.
Leah's room and bath was under Carlisle and Esme's suite. There was also a sitting room for all of the Quileutes there.
The bottom of Jasper and Alice's turret was turned into bedrooms for Seth and Embry with a shared bath. Esme turned to Bella and Ness. "You girls know them better than the rest of us. What do you think? They are always welcome in the rest of the house, but I've noticed that they really like to have their own space also. I've tried to design it so that they have the entire north side of the first floor."
"You're right," Ness said. "They do like to have their own space."
"I think your entire use of space is inspired, Esme," said Bella. "You seem to have thought of everything."
"I like what I've seen," offered Rosalie.
Edward observed, "It's starting to get dark. Since we don't have a generator yet, we need to get back."
"Wait a minute!" Alice looked around and then turned to Esme. "It's looking pretty livable already, Esme. When were you planning on having us move?"
"June, I thought. Another month," said Esme. "There's still a lot to be done on the suites because I wanted to customize them to everyone's personal specifications."
"I have a lot to do in that month," Alice said gaily. "I have a wedding to plan before we leave for QuilCullen."
"We're not getting married again yet," Rosalie said absently. She looked at Bella, who shook her head, and back to Alice. Suddenly she was more aware and curious. "Anyway, I plan my own. Are you?"
"No," said Ness. "I am."
"But your birthday…" Bella began, but saw Edward shake his head slightly.
"Is in September," Ness finished. "Close enough if we are moving here in June. I wanted to get married on the beach at La Push, but Jacob wasn't sure about doing it there and Edward doesn't want to violate the treaty to that degree." She sniffed disdainfully. "As if the treaty even really exists still…"
Edward came over and slipped his arm around Bella's waist. "In the end, she decided to get married in Denali. I told her we would take care of transporting everyone from Forks that she wants to invite." He looked into Bella's eyes and saw that she was hurt that none of it had been discussed with her. Edward murmured into her ear, "I only found out when she came outside and was thinking about it. I swear that was the first I knew…."
Bella nodded, then sighed. "Et tu, Alice?"
Alice shook her head, setting her black curls swinging. "I found out then, too, because that was when Ness made the decision. Before then she had only been thinking about it."
"Does Jake know?" Bella asked Ness.
"Not yet."
"Don't you think he might like to know before everyone else does?"
"Yes," said Ness. "And he would have if Edward and Alice didn't read minds and have visions. That's not my fault." She drew herself to her full height. "Jake wants to marry me. I doubt if he'll object to moving the wedding up three months."
"I don't think he will either," Edward said.
"She also wants me to plan it with her because she wants to be involved, but has no experience... and I do," sang out Alice happily. Her eyes met Bella's. "And I didn't have to beg."