Chapter Twenty One

Jasper

As soon as I picked up my phone I could see I'd missed twelve calls from Charlotte and frowned. I hadn't heard a word from either her or Peter since leaving after the fiasco at Bella's party so why would she be so desperate to get in touch? Had something happened to Peter? Did she really think I'd give a damn after what he said?

"You OK Jazz?"

I turned, jogged from my reverie, to see Rose looking at me with concern.

"I don't know. Charlotte's been trying to contact me. I've had twelve calls from her, but no messages."

She frowned.

"That's odd. I thought they'd severed all ties for now? Surely it can't be that urgent or she would have left you a message, wouldn't she?"

I shrugged.

"I would have thought so."

I stared at my phone unease swelling up in me.

"I guess I'd better get in touch all the same and find out what's going on."

She smiled and nodded as I walked out onto the small balcony that joined our two rooms externally.

I guess she thought it would be a good opportunity for me to check up on Bella without being the one to make contact first.

Charlotte answered immediately and from her tone I could tell she was very upset. She began to speak so fast I had a job keeping up.

"Whoa, Charlotte. What's up? Is Peter in trouble? I hope it's nothing trivial if he is."

I still hadn't forgiven him for his attitude towards me and suddenly I wondered why I had bothered returning her calls at all.

"It's not Peter, he's fine. Well, he's not fine, but he isn't in trouble. Major, where are you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Where are you right now?"

That question I hadn't anticipated and it took me a second to recover.

"I... I'm in France with Rose and Emmett, why? What's going on, Char?"

"Just a minute."

I heard her yell to Peter and hearing her words to him tensed. Her calls suddenly made sense and the urgency. Peter had assumed I was involved in something, something that had worried both he and Charlotte.

"See, the Major is in France. I told you he wasn't involved."

When she came back on I was ready with some questions of my own.

"Involved in what, Charlotte? What the fuck is going on? What's that asshole blaming me for this time? Global warming? Ebola?"

Charlotte's voice was placatory now, but there was still a tinge of panic there.

"It's not like that, he didn't really think you were involved. I told him you weren't. He's just not thinking straight right now."

"Is he ever? And just what am I supposed to be involved in? Come on Char, make sense."

"Major, listen. Bella ran away from home after a row with Peter. She's been missing for more than two days now and we're really worried, we can't find her anywhere. Peter's already contacted Darius for help. We just wondered if you might have any idea where…"

Suddenly everything was crystal clear and I felt rage and panic, struggle for dominance inside me.

"No, Char, I don't. Why should I?"

"I know, I'm sorry, I guess…"

I cut her off.

"I'm on my way and you can warn Peter if he opens his mouth just once I'll shove my fist right down his throat and strangle him with his own fucking tongue."

Rose came running out having heard the conversation closely followed by an equally concerned looking Emmett,

"I'll arrange a flight, just tell me where we're going, Jazz."

I frowned at her, "We?"

She looked taken aback.

"Well, yes, you don't think we'd leave you to go alone do you? We can help."

I nodded, too worried myself now to think coherently. Cursing inwardly I berated myself. I should have known that strange feeling meant trouble, but I chose to ignore it and now Bella was missing. If Charlotte and Peter were concerned that made it even worse, they should have been able to track her down easily enough. And if they couldn't, then that begged the question, why not?

Bella

Luke was busy with his father away and his mother laid up after giving birth, so I amused myself with the younger children until he came to find me.

When ne did so he was very sweet and attentive, apologizing for his long absence and putting an arm affectionately around my shoulders.

"I was wondering if you were ready to see your room, it is rather small but I'm afraid with a new baby it's rather crowded in the house. I explained to Francis that you don't have much with you and she has put some things in your room, but if you need anything at all, just ask. I'm afraid I will be rather busy for a few days, there is business to attend to with father still away, but I'm sure everyone will make you welcome and show you around."

My room was small, at the top of the house, but it looked out over the village so I could watch some of the activities when it got too hot and humid to venture out which it did almost every day for the next four. No one else seemed to notice how oppressive it was, they sat outside to weave baskets, sew, and make pottery, but I was intrigued by the sight of several of the older children being led out of the village by one of the adults all carrying heavy baskets on their shoulders. My interest piqued I decided to follow them next time I saw them go.

I wasn't sure I would be welcome or allowed, there were a few places I had found locked and the gate across the entrance to the village was watched if not guarded, but the young man, Levi, who was in charge of taking a small group of older children out with the baskets welcomed my presence.

As we walked through the gate and turned left down a small well worn track I asked what they were carrying.

Luckily Levi knew some English and we managed between that, my limited French, and signs.

"Fodder for the farm animals."

"Oh, right."

I guess I hadn't thought about where the meat came from in the meals I had been enjoying.

"Is it large?"

He shrugged.

"Big enough. We have chickens, goats, pigs, and rabbits, but our meat is supplemented by hunting parties and fishing expeditions. The area is alive with possibilities, otter, deer, mink, foxes, beavers and armadillos to name but a few. Plus of course the fish we catch."

I was beginning to wish I hadn't asked, the thought I might have been eating fox or otter made me feel quite queasy.

Later I was to wish I hadn't gone at all. I guess it hadn't occurred to me that in order to use the meat the animals must first be killed. Give me prepackaged steak from the supermarket any day.

The children, however, didn't blink an eye, to them it was normal and natural. I was the odd one out in this company.

It then began to sink in that the community was pretty much self sufficient. They grew their own vegetables, prepared their own meat, fished, supplied the milk for the children from the goats, made cheese and butter and collected eggs from the chickens. They made their own pottery and I even saw some of the people weaving cloth and making rag rugs. This was like stepping back in time, but it had its advantages too. Everyone seemed to have time to stop and talk, to explain what they were doing, and even joke around. It an seemed an industrious, but contented community.

The following week went by rapidly as I found myself relaxing in the company of the community members who were all so friendly, even though I could understand very little of what was said. I soon picked up some words as Creole included a lot of French, but I couldn't hold a conversation with anyone except Luke, Jude, who had become my shadow, Timothy, and Ashley, and I didn't see much of her. I would need to be a lot more fluent to follow the rapid chatter that surrounded me.

Luke informed me when I asked after Ash that she was prepared to take her place as a full member of the community with Timothy's sponsorship.

"She will be busy for the next couple of weeks learning our creed and readying herself for the welcoming ceremony."

"What's that?"

"We always welcome those who enter our community and become an integral part of it. I know she had a very unhappy life before she came here and she feels she can make a difference by entering our community. I believe she and Timothy are discussing a wedding too. They became close even before she decided to come here and that leads to a life commitment in our eyes."

So, I was right, they had been sleeping together, and Luke sounded as if he didn't altogether approve.

"So, Ash is going to marry Timothy?"

He smiled.

"It would appear so. I'll speak to him about you spending some time with your friend. I'm sure we can work something out.

"Thank you, Luke. I would like to see her. I feel a little isolated at times."

He smiled and took my hands in his,

"I'm sorry. I have neglected you, Bella. I will make it up to you and I will ask Jude to teach you some Creole. You could continue with the children too, they seem to like you and I know with so many of our females pregnant or nursing Saul would be grateful for your help."

I nodded, suddenly feeling very ungrateful. It was obvious that with his father's continued absence Luke was very busy, the others all seemed to look to him to make any decisions."

"That would be fine, thank you."

He studied my face earnestly.

"You are happy here aren't you, Bella? Your happiness is all important to me. I really want you to feel at home. To settle here as your friend has, perhaps even to fall in love with me."

When he lifted my hand and kissed it, I blushed, but I felt wanted and loved and was happy to return to the school building when he was called away a few minutes later.

Was he saying he wanted us to get married like Ashley and Timothy? I really wasn't sure that's what I wanted, I was only a teenager after all with my whole life ahead of me. Besides... Something held me back from becoming too close to Luke. An uneasy feeling that there was someone else. Still, that was crazy, how could there be?

I had my afternoon snack with the children for the first time, in another of the cabins which had just one huge room with tables and chairs. Obviously this was just a refectory although most other buildings seemed to be multi purpose.

Sitting with Jude, who seemed delighted at the chance to teach me Creole, I asked him where the children slept. The cabins I had seen all looked too small for families which each had a few children not to mention babies and toddlers under eighteen months.

"They sleep here."

I looked around, puzzled, "In here?"

He laughed at my obvious confusion.

"Not on the floor, Bella. The chairs stack and the tables become bunk beds."

"Oh, I see. But why don't they live with their parents?"

He looked at me, apparently puzzled by my question.

"All the adults here are our parents, Bella. Most of the women, our mothers, are busy with the infants so everyone else looks after the children. I live here too. I will until I find a wife. Then the community will help me build a cabin for us and when the children are born, they will stay with us until there is no more room. Then they will move here with their siblings."

I nodded, not sure if this was a better way of being brought up than the one I was used to. If I had been born in this community I wouldn't have been subjected to my mother's various boyfriends and nomadic way of life. I would have been settled and could have put down roots like Jude had.

I joined the older children, helping them with their writing class. Every child learned to write by copying passages from the bible and then explaining the meaning of passages underneath after talking about it with each other. They were very serious during lessons, even the hands on, craft ones. Only becoming what I recognized as children after lessons were over.

Luke joined me later that afternoon and said he had spoken to Timothy.

"We will join him and see Ashley later for dinner, but there is something I want you to see. Come."

He took me over to the house and upstairs to see his mother and her new infant, a baby girl called Sheena which he informed me meant God's gift. His mother looked tired, but she was very proud of her baby daughter and I was allowed to hold the tiny infant for a few minutes. Babies had never really been my thing, but she was a fragile, pretty little thing, and grabbed my finger when I stroked her soft downy cheek.

"She's beautiful."

"Yes, she is. One of many beautiful daughters that will be born to the community this year. God willing."

Girls seemed very important to everyone here, the few female children were watched constantly and the two female toddlers I had met were treated like little princesses. Maybe the community hoped they would grow up and stay, marrying the males who outnumbered them right now. As a female I felt quite special, all the men here were very deferential and sweet when they met me. If I hadn't known better I would have said they were vying for my attention and that was nice. I guess it felt like that because I didn't see many of the girls or women and those I did were either busy teaching, with the babies or pregnant, but I guess the latter was only to be expected in such a young community.

It did occur to me that the mother's weren't much older than me, except for Francis and a couple of others. I couldn't imagine myself a mother yet, I was still a child myself in many respects, although I would never admit as much out loud. What did all the unmarried young men do? They didn't seem to disappear into town to find themselves girlfriends, if there was such a thing as a town nearby. In fact, they spent a lot of time with the married women, who I guess they saw as 'sisters'.

The strange thing was that although I lived in the main house I hadn't seen any of the other adults who lived there except Francis. Not even Luke's mom or Sheena since she had been born. It was as if I were slightly apart from them, which I guess was true. I hadn't officially joined the community or agreed to... yet.