Chapter Twelve

Carlisle

I had found Jasper's call troubling, not the fact that he had contacted me, that had been a good sign, I had, after all, wondered if we would ever hear from him again, but the content of the call. I understood what he was feeling as well as Marcus had but I didn't understand why Marcus should point Jasper in my direction.

True I knew of one gift that was powerful enough to cause…...well no, that wasn't quite true. I knew of someone who could alter or make things go away but you wouldn't have the uneasy feeling that someone had tampered with your memories, you just wouldn't know and have no idea that you should.

Besides, I hadn't spoken to William in decades, ever since our difference of opinion that had divided us so completely. William would need a very compelling reason to use his gift, he laid low for a very long time hiding from the Volturi and he avoided anything that might bring him to their attention like the plague.

So, why on earth would William be using it to influence Jasper Whitlock? The two didn't even know each other as far as I was aware, they hardly moved in the same circles. Of course, if William had worked his magic on Jasper he was hardly likely to admit to it and certainly not to me, as I say we hadn't talked in decades.

I considered whether to tell Esme of the call, it would probably only upset her, she still missed Jasper but then decided I probably should, especially as he had sent her his regards. It was hardly a warm greeting to the woman who had considered him her son but it was better than nothing. Of course, I was right to be concerned, as soon as I told her she began to worry that he might have taken a road that we would consider wrong and be regretting it but she had been pleased he had remembered her.

"Can't you contact William? Surely if there is something going on with Jasper we should try to find out and warn him. He must be concerned if he called you Carlisle, especially after we made our feelings so clear when he left."

"My dear, I haven't spoken to William in years, why should he talk to me now? We didn't exactly part on the best of terms. Besides, I can't see William using his gift on someone unless it was to keep himself safe and that can hardly be the case here."

She didn't say anymore but I got the look, the one that says you will do as I want eventually, I don't need to ask again. It never fails and by day two I had caved in and agreed to call William,

"But I don't hold out much hope he will speak to me."

"You're going to try and that's as much as you can do, Carlisle. Just don't forget what you said, William would use his gift if he felt he needed to protect himself and the only people he would need to do that from would be the Volturi. The same Volturi Jasper now works for."

I considered she was way off the mark but I would ring him as I had promised her.

I waited until I was at work after my clinics were finished to call William knowing I was unlikely to be disturbed and as I did so I got the strangest feeling I had been here before but that was ludicrous, I was becoming as paranoid as Jasper and Esme!

The phone rang and rang until the answering machine kicked in and I was forced to leave a short message,

"William, it's Carlisle Cullen. I wonder if you would call me back, I need to speak to you quite urgently."

I guess I should have said more, maybe even apologized for the disagreement we had that had ended our friendship, but those kind of things were better said face to face or at least not on voice mail. All I could do now was to wait and hope he would call back, if not then I would have to accept our friendship was irretrievably broken.

I guess that was what I expected so I was rather surprised when an hour later as I was about to leave the hospital he returned my call.

"Carlisle, you said it was urgent."

His voice was cold and unfriendly and that hurt me, we had once been such good friends,

"Yes, William it is but first, how are you? It's been a long time and I guess I hoped we could…."

"Yes, it's been awhile, what do you need Carlisle? I know you wouldn't have bothered contacting me unless you wanted something."

"Actually I don't need anything. I just wondered if you could tell me if you have found it necessary to use your gift recently on well... let's call him a former member of my family."

"Why would I do that? You know I prefer to keep a low profile, it's safer that way."

"Yes, I thought so, it's just that he asked me if I knew of any one who could have altered his memory in some way."

"And you thought of me? How sweet. I can see your attitude hasn't changed any Carlisle which is a pity but not surprising. I'd be grateful if you didn't contact me again."

Something inside me forced another question out before I could stop it,

"Is there something I should know William?"

"No Carlisle, nothing. Goodbye."

He cut the connection and I put my phone down slowly feeling quite bereft, I had few good friends, few enough to grieve at losing one over something so stupid and banal. Still, he had made his feelings very clear and I would respect them. I tore William's number from my phone book and crumpled it up throwing it into the waste paper basket under my desk feeling the pain of separation as I did so.

When I got home I told Esme what had happened and could see she was upset on my behalf.

"I'm so sorry Carlisle, I know you valued your friendship with William, it's not often we find a friend who stays close over the centuries and I know the two of you were close friends for a long time."

"Yes we were, I first met William in 1723 in Paris where he was teaching Latin to the sons of the nobility. I think if not for our misunderstanding we would still be friends."

"What exactly did happen? You've never told me."

"Because it shows me in a less than good light Esme that's why. I had spent some time living with him before I traveled to Volterra and stayed for more than ten years as a guest of Aro and his brothers. He wasn't keen on my going, he never trusted the Volturi but I was young and curious.

When I returned William and I renewed our friendship, traveling through Europe and eventually sailing to the New World together. I practiced medicine and he continued to teach, there was still a thirst for knowledge among the aristocrats who had made new lives over here buying plantations and in the export businesses.

In 1887 I was invited back to Volterra and despite his objections, I went. Unfortunately, while I was there he was approached by the Volturi who had learned of his gift and he blamed me although I was not the one who initially informed on him. Although once they became aware of his gift I did admit to knowing him and offered to use our friendship to encourage him to join their ranks. I saw them as a force for good as I still do although I feel there have been some questionable acts done in their name over the years.

He felt my actions were a betrayal of our friendship because I knew his feelings about them. I'm afraid I said some terrible things, accusing him of paranoia and selfishness. I even accused him of using his gift purely for his own ends at which point we parted and he went into hiding. The sad thing was that although I still had a way of contacting him and he used his gift to keep himself safe he never used it on me. Even with my betrayal he still trusted me. So you see, his attitude is understandable."

"Do you know who did inform on him?"

"I discovered later that it had been a woman he had become close to. What he didn't know was that she was a hunter, a Volturi gift who sniffed out other gifts for them."

"And did you tell him?"

"No, what was the point? He wouldn't have believed me, besides she was killed a short time later by a nomad, so she couldn't have backed up my story and no one else except the Volturi knew of her gift. Eleazer took her position in Italy and I decided to let sleeping dogs lie. From his attitude today I think that was for the best."

"Will you tell Jasper what he said?"

"What's the point, my dear? If I had something constructive to say then I would. As it is, let Marcus come up with some other notion. Jasper is no longer a member of this family, he chose to go to Volterra so perhaps his problems do stem from going back to his old way of life."

"That's hardly fair Carlisle, the work he does now is nothing like he did in Maria's army."

I sighed rubbing my forehead distractedly,

"Yes, you're right and I'm usually the one defending the Volturi, but I won't call him Esme, I think like between William and me, the connection with Jasper is severed permanently. Now, are we going to see Alice and Garrett as planned? Or has something else cropped up?"

Esme smiled brightly and I was relieved that she had something else to distract her today.

"No nothing else, Rose and Emmett will be there too, it will be nice to have the family all together again."

"All except Edward that is."

"Oh yes, he called to say he's coming home next week for a visit, so you see I might just get all the family back together if I work at it. Now come on or we'll be late."

It was plain to see how happy Esme was at the prospect of having her family around her once more. We both knew it could never be as it once had, things change, people change, although the changes all seemed to happen when we left Forks, so was that an omen? I had considered selling the house there and now might be the time to bring the subject up, while Esme was in a good mood. It was certainly worth thinking about.

Esme

I knew I was deluding myself, the family would never be together as it had been, not with Edward in Milan and Jasper in Volterra. Even Alice and Garrett rarely stayed with us, they spent most of their time among his friends, Peter, Charlotte, and Darius. We had been such a happy and close family at one time and I often tried to work out the point at which it changed, hoping that if I could see why things had gone so terribly wrong I could change them and bring us closer once more but I could never put my finger on it.

When we moved from Idaho to Forks everyone had seemed so excited at the thought of a new start in a place we all loved. Only Alice and Jasper were new to Forks and they seemed to settle in very quickly, the mountains and the cloudy skies meant there was plenty of hunting opportunities and less sunny days to keep us indoors. They even settled into the high school without any problems although Jasper was apprehensive, it was all so new to him.

Then…...well, we were just off and away and I couldn't even remember why then slowly we drifted apart. Rose and Emmett were still as close as ever as were Carlisle and me but Alice and Jazz? Well. that was doomed to fail, they just weren't connecting anymore and that made both of them unhappy until finally, they had parted.

Edward moving away came as something of a shock, I had always expected he would stay whatever else might happen. He was so close to Carlisle, like a real son, and he and I were good friends after our rather shaky start with jealousy on both sides.

Even he couldn't explain why he chose to move abroad, all he could say was that things had changed, that he felt it was time to branch out alone although we were always hopeful that he would come home to us eventually, Emmett and Rose too.

Still, I had my family for some years and that's all most women got, a few short years with their children before they grew and flew the nest, I would just have to be satisfied that they kept in touch.