Chapter Twenty Five
Charlie
I felt happier after talking to Bella, pleased she would be home soon and even more delighted she would be ringing Renee, the woman was driving me crazy, as if it was my fault Bella hadn't rung her as usual. There was no way I was letting on that I didn't know where our daughter was so I just said Bella was busy and must have forgotten. Of course, that just made matters worse and it was my fault as usual for not reminding her to call her mom. What I had ever seen in Renee I couldn't remember but these days she just drove me crazy at every opportunity. She had been furious that Bella didn't want to leave Forks to live with her and took her spite and envy out on me as often as she could. The person I was pissed off with right now was Harry Clearwater. Bella told me that Leah had rung Harry but I hadn't heard anything about that. Last time he rang me it was to complain that Bella had instigated the whole thing and he had no idea why when in fact he knew exactly why Leah had run away. Deciding I would do better to confront him face to face I decided to drive over to the reservation right now.
Harry
As soon as I saw the cruiser and Charlie's face as he climbed out I knew something had happened but it came as a shock when after hammering on the door and being led into the sitting room by Sue he went straight on the offensive.
"When did you hear from Leah, Harry?"
So, he'd spoken to Bella but how much had she told him?
"You spoke to Bella? What did she say?"
His keen eyes studied me closely,
"Why? Is there something I should know Harry? Something you aren't telling me? Like why Leah left?"
My glance flickered to Sue,
"Why don't you make coffee Sue. We can sit down and talk about this like friends."
"I don't want coffee Harry, I want to know what exactly is going on and why you lied to me. I thought we were friends."
"I didn't lie to you, Charlie. I didn't know where they had gone only that Bella was with her and they went in Bella's car, it was her idea to leave Forks with Leah."
"Harry, let's forget we're friends and have been since the fucking Ice Age, Leah ran away and you know why. Bella went with her because she was worried about her best friend. Now, why don't you tell me what drove Leah to run away from home and why she's going to live in Alaska? Because I sure as hell know you don't have any relatives there."
Sue left the room and I motioned for Charlie to take a seat which he did, but not his usual place by the fire, instead he sat at the small dining table, turning the chair to face me.
"What's going on Harry? Why didn't you tell me you'd heard from Leah? You knew I was worried about Bella and that I knew they were together."
"Leah is no danger to Bella Charlie, if you are thinking there may be danger to your daughter you should be looking elsewhere."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
I knew I was treading dangerous territory here and tried to diffuse the situation.
"Leah said Bella was going to ring you so I didn't think it necessary to tell you myself but I apologize. I'm actually glad Bella is with Leah, especially now she's had an accident. Did Bella tell you when she'd be back?"
"As soon as Leah gets to wherever in Alaska she's going."
I nodded,
"So Bella will be home soon and Leah will be safe. I don't think either of us needs to worry anymore."
What I wanted to say was that only Bella would still be in danger but I couldn't explain further without betraying our secret so instead I held back.
"Well, I'm glad you're so happy. Are you going to tell me why Leah left so abruptly and why she's not coming back?"
"I'm sorry Charlie but I can't, it's personal, private."
He got up slowly staring at me,
"Why do I think there's something going on that I should know about?"
I shrugged,
"Maybe Bella will be able to explain when she gets back."
"So, Bella knows?"
I nodded thinking to myself that no matter how much he questioned Bella he wouldn't get any more out of her than he got from me, not if she kept her promise and didn't want to let her dad know he had a coven of vampires living in Forks, one of whom was dating his daughter.
Charlie
I left none the wiser but with a nasty taste in my mouth and aware there were secrets in Forks, on the reservation, secrets that made me feel extremely uneasy in my hometown For the first time since I was born here I felt I didn't know the place at all, everything had changed. More unsettling was the knowledge that Bella was aware of whatever these secrets were. As I drove back to town it suddenly struck me odd that Harry hadn't mentioned that Bella had spoken to Carlisle about Leah's accident or didn't he know? And what was it Harry had said? "Leah is no danger to Bella" what an odd thing to say. Why would he assume I might think that? He said I should look elsewhere, was he hinting that Bella was in danger from someone? From the Cullens maybe? That would be about right, paranoid as he was about the family.
Something else finally got through my thick skull, I'd heard Jasper Hale, Bella's boyfriend and Carlisle's foster son was also missing from school. Were the two connected? Where was Jasper? Had he gone along with the girls? Had he followed them later and was he with them now? It seemed unlikely knowing how much the Quileutes including Leah according to Bella, hated the Cullens, but I couldn't dislodge the thought that a lot more was going on than the little I knew about. I could visit the doctor and ask him outright but I'd look pretty stupid if he had a good explanation for his foster son's absence besides I liked Carlisle. I couldn't see him deliberately misleading me when it came to my daughter. So, when Bella returned she would have a whole lot of explaining to do.
Harry
I rang Denali and left a message for Johnny H explaining that Leah would be arriving there in a week or so with her friend Bella who knew our secret. I knew there would be awkward questions about that later but I had time to come up with a good answer if Leah didn't open her mouth and put her foot in it. After all, it had been she who told Bella about the guardians. Annie, who took the message asked why there was such a delay and I had to explain Leah had broken her leg in an accident. She could tell them her story when she arrived, I was glad she had agreed to go to Alaska, it would have been hard to place her anywhere else and she couldn't come back here, the pack and the other elders had made that quite clear.
Emily and Sue had both spoken to Sam, begged him to accept Leah, they just didn't understand it was impossible. Leah wasn't a member of the Quileute pack, she was an outsider and as wolves, the pack would turn on her and kill her. It was for her own safety that she has to leave the reservation. I know Sue had called other guardian tribes to see if any of them had heard of female guardian in a pack but she was told quite firmly that there were no female guardians outside legend. One thing she did find out and that almost broke her heart was that obscure legend which spoke of a lone female guardian, a bear I think, who wandered alone changing to human form more and more infrequently until one day she found herself stuck in bear form. Deciding to make the best of it she found a mate to cure her loneliness then she found she was sterile, unable to have cubs, and tragically her mate turned on her and killed her. Whether it was true or merely a story we had no way of knowing but I tried to point out the female in the story was alone and Leah would not be, she would be among the guardian tribe in Denali and with another female but I don't think it made any difference to Sue's fears for her daughter.