Chapter Seven
Missing
September 2004 La Push, Washington
Well, that was the summer holidays over. I was spending the last day, as I had spent most other days hanging out with the lads down at the beach since I had finally finished rebuilding the engine of the truck. I just needed to sort the body work out now and I was sick of Embry and Quil teasing me about the length of time it was taking, but to be honest, I hadn't made much progress because I had lost interest in it. I wanted something a bit less ancient to work on. Besides, I had plenty of time. I wasn't old enough to drive it for another year and a half, well, not legally anyway. I had fixed the huge dent the tree had made on it, but the whole truck needed a re-spray and I didn't really have the money or the enthusiasm for that. At least the engine was running smoother now and hopefully it would go a bit faster.
Things had gone quiet again on the Reservation since my father had inadvertently found out about the return of the Cullens, and we had all been led to believe we would be werewolves by Christmas. That was a year ago now and it had been twelve months of nothingness, so I had been right to be sceptical. It was all pure legend.
Sam's meeting with Dr Cullen had gone well and he had reported back that Dr Cullen and his family were keen to respect the treaty, and so far, he had kept to his word. Not once had they strayed on to our land, and not once were there any reports of individuals going missing. Life was back to normal.
If it wasn't for Sam and a couple of the older ones monitoring the situation from time to time we might have forgotten about it. They took regular visits to Forks, just for observation, although the visits were becoming less frequent of late. Apparently the Cullen kids attended school, the Doctor went to work in the hospital and his wife was seldom seen. Sam had met a couple of the foster children at the hospital, who had seemed a little tense, but polite enough. Well, they weren't really children, they were young adults, about the same age as Sam, he reckoned.
Charlie visited once in a while and went off fishing with my dad and Harry Clearwater. Not as often as he used to because a little tension had crept into the relationship. Charlie was put out by my father's reaction to Dr Cullen and his refusal to give him any detailed information. Harry too had proved evasive, both of them refusing to discuss the subject with Charlie. Charlie, and most of the people in Forks, thought that Dr Cullen was wonderful. I guess they had agreed to differ on that one, but it was obvious it niggled Charlie, nonetheless.
One time Charlie had visited, I had asked him about Bella and how she was doing. I wondered if she might be coming to visit in the summer, but he had reported back that she had declined again, which was a bit of a disappointment because I could have done with a distraction; anything to keep me from finishing off the decrepit old truck. Charlie had taken a trip to Arizona to see her instead for a couple of weeks during the summer. So, I had found my distraction down at the beach, as usual for the summer vacations, hanging out with Quil and Embry. There was a severe lack of anything more interesting to do.
Seth Clearwater had been absent today but no-one seemed to know why, and no-one was unduly worried. We all had days when we had other things to do. When he eventually showed up he looked really down in the mouth and was dragging his heels in the sand, his hand thrust deeply in his pockets, which was unusual for him.
"Hey, what's up Seth," I called out cheerfully to him.
"Sam's disappeared," he mumbled after he was a bit closer to us.
"What do you mean, disappeared?" I asked.
Seth shrugged. "He's been missing since yesterday afternoon. No-one has seen him. Leah has been calling him and he's not picking up."
We all shrugged and then Embry laughed. "I wouldn't answer either if it was Leah calling me."
A small ripple of laughter followed until we realised Seth wasn't laughing. Seth shared our views that his sister could be a bit of a pain, but he was staring at the ground now looking extremely dejected. "Yeah, well you haven't got to live with her," he replied after a long pause.
He turned to walk away and I felt his anguish so I called out "Hey, don't go Seth. Embry didn't mean anything, did you Embry?" and I nudged him in the ribs.
"No, sorry Seth, no harm meant." Embry added apologetically.
Seth turned around again to face us. "It's ok, I know what you mean. She can be a bit of a pain, mostly. It's just..."
"Just what?" I asked.
"Well," Seth continued, "She is all messed up. They had a bit of a fight and he just stormed out and no-one has seen him since. You can imagine how she is feeling. She thinks it is all her fault, well it probably is...We've been out most of the day looking for him, but he's...well, he's gone."
"He'll be back, don't worry. Leah and him are pretty serious. He'll calm down. He'll be back later with his tail between his legs begging for forgiveness."
"Yeah, I guess," Seth replied, with a huge sigh. "So, you guys haven't seen him then?"
We all shrugged and shook our heads simultaneously, looking around at each other and then back to Seth.
"We'll let you know if we do," I offered. What else could we do?
"Ok, thanks. I'm going to head back now. I only came down here to ask if you'd any ideas. I'd better get back. Dad should be back from Forks soon. He's gone to the police station to speak to Charlie."
"Ok, Seth, see you later. It'll be fine." I called out after him. Quil and Embry said their goodbyes too and we watched him disappear up the beach in the direction of his house.
"I don't think I've ever seen Seth look so down," Embry commented.
"Charlie will find him," I added. "Wonder where he has gone? It's strange that he should stay out all night."
"I'm gonna head back too, I'm done here today," Embry said.
"Yeah, me too," Quil added. "Race you!"
And they were gone. I watched them racing up the beach, Embry almost falling over as Quil gave him a shove. I threw a pebble into one of the rock pools and watched the ripples forming and then took one last look out to sea. The sky was turning a pinkish-red and the sun was dipping towards the horizon. It would be going dark soon and I was hungry. Time for me to head back too.
Charlie's car was outside the Clearwater's house when I got back to the village. I contemplated for a moment whether to call in and see if there was any news, but decided they would tell me later if there was. I didn't want to get in the way. It was then that I spotted my father in the doorway of our house anxiously watching the Clearwater's house from his wheelchair.
"Hey dad," I called as I approached the house. "Any news about Sam?"
"Don't know, Charlie's just arrived. I was about to go over but I saw Embry and Quil running back and thought I would wait for you. I figured you wouldn't be long." There was a hint of anxiety in his voice and he was biting his lip. I could sense his eagerness to find out what Charlie had to say and so I guessed my stomach would have to wait.
"Ok, come on, I'll push."
"Thanks Jacob. It's hard work for me on my own because it's all uphill."
"Yeah, we ought to make this ground a bit flatter for you, get rid of all these bumps."
Maybe I could get the other lads interested in sorting that out. Maybe I should have done that during the school vacation instead of wasting my time doing nothing in particular. It wouldn't take too much to make a smoother runway between the houses.
"Terrible news," he said, shaking his head as we neared the house.
"Yeah, I sure hope he's ok."
"I've been expecting something like this to happen ever since those wretched Cullens turned up."
"You don't think they've got anything to do with it?"
"I'm sure they've got everything to do with it," my father said, with bitterness, as we entered the Clearwater's house.
There was quite a gathering inside and they all turned to look at us.
Evidently Charlie, and probably everyone else had heard my father's comment. "Now Billy, you can't go making accusations," Charlie scolded. "I know you've got your reasons, whatever they might be, but there is nothing to suggest..."
"I warned you Charlie," my father interrupted him mid sentence. "I'm just surprised it has taken so long."
"Look, I've already been down that particular road with Harry today, and I'll not hear any more of it, Ok?" Charlie said firmly but with a hint of exasperation.
My father grunted and exchanged knowing looks with Harry.
Charlie gave them both a glare and then continued with his briefing, turning his back on my father. He had arranged a search party. A group of men were covering the area north of La Push and another group were concentrating on the area east, towards Forks. They were going to stay out all night if necessary until Sam was found. Harry and Charlie were going to search the area south of the Reservation. Someone would more than likely turn up something by morning, and then if not, well it was just a question of waiting. Sam wouldn't have gone far. He had taken nothing with him and he had no money.
Leah sat sobbing uncontrollably in the corner, with Sue comforting her. "Is there anything I can do?" Sue asked.
"No, you stay here with Leah; she needs you here at the moment," Harry told her. "Besides, Sam may come back and then you can call Charlie on his cell phone."
Sue nodded.
Charlie shot a reproachful glance at my father and headed out of the door closely followed by Harry, who had stopped to pick up his shot gun.
"Come on dad, let's get you home. I'm starving."
"Nothing new about that," he replied. "Let us know if there is any news won't you Sue, and if Jacob can help?"
"Yeah, sure Billy, thanks," she replied and she managed a feeble smile. "Emily's coming over tomorrow so that will be a help, won't it Leah?"
Leah nodded and pushed a tear out of the way. Her eyes were swollen and puffy from hours of crying.
"You take care," I told them. "Like dad says, if there is anything we can do..."
"We'll be fine...thanks Jacob." Leah broke down again and so Sue held her closer and as we left she was comforting her saying, "There, there, don't worry. He'll be back."