Howdy readers!
Cool western nicknames are back!
I'd like to thank my prereaders Crazy-legs "Letsjustdance" and Itchy-Trigger "GeezerWench"
This chapter reveals what happened to Jasper! Read on :)
Jasper waited until after dessert, and then stood up. There was suddenly a noticeable difference in his movements—a strength that hadn't been there before. He seemed to emanate confidence. Bella watched him as he pushed his chair in under the table because she couldn't take her eyes from the man.
"Thank you Doctor Cullen, Mrs. Cullen, for the lovely meal. Peter, come join me outside for a smoke," Jasper said as he excused himself.
Peter immediately recognized his brother had slipped into his role of "Major Whitlock". Usually this meant only one thing, Jasper was mad and planning on kickin' his ass.
"I think I'm goin' to stay here and have another piece of that wonderful pie," Peter said nervously.
"Peter, the pie will still be here when you get back. Come with me for a moment, brother." Jasper stiffly handed Peter his hat, and he reluctantly stood up from the table, thanked everyone, and followed Jasper outside.
Once the brothers had walked a considerable distance from the house, and Jasper had smoked half a cigarette, he had gathered his thoughts. He was ready to talk.
"What in Sam Hill were you thinkin', Pete?"
Peter started to say something but Jasper interrupted him before he had a chance.
"You knew I didn't want that girl to come with us, and you invited her anyway." Jasper inhaled the smoke aggressively, and then blew it from his nose like an angry bull.
"Your opinion isn't the only one that counts, Jas." Peter braced himself against his brother's temper.
"You damn well knew I didn't want her comin', and you went and invited her!" Jasper got in Peter's face and poked his finger into his chest with every word.
Peter crossed his arms over his chest and stared Major Whitlock down. "Charlotte is excited to have another woman come along. Don't you think she gets tired of takin' care of both of us men all by herself? Bella can keep her company and help her with the washin'. Hell, the girl can cook too, Jasper. I know I'm tired of eatin' Charlotte's burnt-ass food three times a day. That's enough reason to bring her along right there."
"I don't care. I want you to tell them she's not comin' with us. She's frail lookin'. You saw her in the kitchen. She's pale and weak; she could get sick and die." Jasper had finished his cigarette, and he reached for his pouch to make another one.
"All the more reason that we should take her with us. Whoever Carlisle hires might be a no-good scalawag, hell bent on getting' into her unmentionables. That would never happen with us, Jas. I'm married, and you're too old." Peter pressed his lips together in an effort not to smile.
Jasper knew he had lost, so he just took a deep draw of his cigarette, and then put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, Pete, but she's your responsibility now."
"Fine by me." Peter had taken a generous chew off of a tobacco plug, and packed it into his uninjured cheek with his tongue. "Hey, Jasper, I was hopin' to spend some time alone with the missus tonight. I'm goin' to set up our tent out here. I figure we'll stay a few days then hit the flats."
Jasper nodded and went to care for the mules and the new horse. At least it was a good horse; a dark bay gelding named Jenks. He decided to take a ride to clear his head.
Jasper knew that he was being irrational, but he couldn't admit the truth to his brother. The reason he didn't want Bella coming along was because she tempted him with her shy ways and her pretty, long brown hair. Peter had already figured it out, but he also knew Jasper would never admit it.
Bella was so different than the woman that had hurt him. Maybe that's what attracted him most, but that didn't mean she was safe. In fact, she was downright dangerous. She was the type of woman that he could fall in love with; which was exactly what he didn't want. Love was an emotion that he never wanted to rule him again. All it had ever caused him was grief and heartbreak in the past.
Nevertheless, it appeared that his brother and sister-in-law very much wanted Bella to come along. Resigning himself to that fact, and falling back on his Army training, he devised a strategy. He would avoid contact with Bella, and be polite but curt when dealing with her. He would have to deal with the situation until they dropped her off with the good doctor's nephew, her new employer. Then he would be free of her, and her alluring innocence.
As he turned his horse around to ride back to the wagon, he laughed at himself. The reason his nerves were so frayed probably had nothing to do with the girl. He was just keyed up from not being able to drink. Just realizing that he hadn't had any whiskey made him want some even worse, but that wasn't going to be the answer to his problems anymore. He wanted to stop. He wanted to do it for himself.
Meanwhile, back at Doc Cullen's house, Bella was showing Charlotte the contents of the cedar chest her grandfather had made for her. On the top, he had carved two stylized doves facing each other, and each bird carried a flower in its beak. Inside the chest, Bella kept some of her most-prized possessions: a few books and journals, a quilt intended for her marriage bed, and her mother's wedding dress. As a girl, Bella had always imagined wearing her mother's dress on her own wedding day, but looking at the long, white dress in her hands only made her sad. She briefly considered dying it black before folding it lovingly and putting it back in the chest. Then Bella picked up her father's sheriff badge and placed it on top of the dress before she gently closed the lid.
Bella traced the lines of the carved birds with her finger as she remembered her life with her grandparents. She told Charlotte of how they had raised her. Her mother had died giving birth to her, and her father had been so distraught over the loss of his beloved wife, that he spent all of his time in the saloon. Bella's maternal grandparents had loved and cared for her as their own. They had lived a wonderful life together until, one winter, a terrible illness had taken them both, and Bella was forced to move in with her father.
Charlotte told Bella that she hadn't been raised by her parents either. Her father had run off with another woman, and her mother had been left with four young children to raise and no money. Charlotte and her siblings had been sent to a children's home, and she had stayed there until she was old enough to work. That's when she met Peter. She was working waiting tables, and he became a regular customer.
Bella smiled as Charlotte told her about how Peter had romanced her. He proposed quickly and they had been married soon after. Almost a year later, they were still very much in love. Bella wondered why Jasper, being the older brother, wasn't married yet. Shouldn't he have been the first to marry? He was so handsome, she imagined that he could have any woman he wanted.
"So, does Jasper have someone special back in Texas?" Bella finally asked, unable to fight her curiosity.
"No, but he did and that's the reason why we're headed out west," Charlotte said, anger evident in her tone.
"Oh."
Charlotte watched Bella's face wrought with confusion as she considered what scandal could have possibly pushed the family away from their home.
"I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to let on that you know," Charlotte said as she leaned in close and spoke quietly so that only Bella could hear her voice.
Bella nodded her head and crossed her heart.
"Jasper was in love with a woman named Maria. I'll call her a woman, but I really want to use another word. She was no good. Peter always hated her, and he swore she was a witch. We never understood why Jasper was so taken with her. Peter thinks she used black magic over Jasper because he would do anythin' she said. It was like he had lost his brother. She was workin' as a dancing girl at the saloon, and Jasper would go over there and play cards. That Maria floozy was all over him. It was sickening," Charlotte said with disgust. "Anyway, Peter tried to warn Jasper that she was no good, but all that did was put a wedge between them. Jasper found out the truth soon enough though, and it didn't end well."
"What happened?" Bella whispered.
"Well, Maria was Mexican, and she was always cryin' about her family back home dependin' on her to send money to them. Jasper, bein' blinded by love or whatever, believed every word of it. He used to give her the money that he would win gamblin'. That's how it started, but eventually it got even worse." Charlotte shook her head slowly just thinking about all the trouble that Maria had put Jasper through.
"Jasper started losin' at cards. It was as if all his luck had run out," Charlotte continued. "He kept thinkin' that he could win it all back. He sold off half of the family farm before he figured it out."
"Why didn't his parents stop him?" Bella asked.
"They had moved during the war. When Jasper and Peter went off to fight, they had no one to help them run the farm, so they left to live with some relatives out of state. They had planned on comin' back but their father died before the war ended, and their mother passed away soon after. She died of a broken heart. In fact, the last letter Peter wrote to her was about Jasper selling half the farm. They said she died the day after she got his letter."
"That's horrible," Bella said, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth.
"I know, but there's more. Jasper lost everything playing cards, but it turned out he was being cheated. That witch Maria was sittin' behind Jasper the whole time and lookin' at his cards. She was tellin' this other man when Jasper had a good hand, so that he would know how to bet. Maria was just usin' Jasper—she was actually in love with the other man, and Jasper didn't find out until it was too late. The men ended up getting' in a big fight, and Maria ran off with that cheatin' lowlife and all of Jasper's money. All Jasper got out of it was a few scars and an attitude problem. It almost tore the whole family apart. Peter sold the rest of the farm to get the money for us to make a new life out west."
Bella nodded her head in shock, not sure of what to say.
"Jasper carries a lot of guilt. He got real depressed and took up drinkin'. Peter thought gettin' Jasper out of Texas would sober him up. He thought that this trip would do him good, but he's still affected." Charlotte shook her head sadly and then a small smile graced her lips as she patted Bella's arm. "He just promised Pete that he would stop drinkin' this mornin', so hopefully he's gettin' better."
"My father drank all the time," Bella said. The conversation had started to make her feel uncomfortable, and she desperately wanted to change the subject. Her eyes roamed slowly over the pile of belongings that sat in the corner, and she noticed her father's guns. She wondered if they were loaded. Her mind wandered to what had happened the last time that she had picked up a gun and she shuddered at the thought. "Do you know anything about guns?"
"Yeah, I know how to shoot."
"I'm scared to death of them. Can you tell if those are loaded?"
Charlotte gingerly picked up the sheriff's gun belt and checked both six-shooters. "No, they're not loaded. I bet Doc Cullen emptied them out."
"Oh, good, they were making me nervous."
"You should learn to handle a gun, since you're goin' to be comin' with us on the trail. I can teach you."
Bella hadn't considered needing to use a gun. She had assumed that the men would be around to protect her on the journey, but Charlotte was right. She wasn't a child anymore. She had become an independent woman. She would need to learn to protect herself.
AN: Next chapter were gonna skin on out of here and hit the trail! Yee-Haw!
I put a link to a tumblr page I started on my profile. I may add a pinterest page. I plan to post pictures pertaining to Twilight and the Oregon Trail. I just added a few so far, but there will be more added soon!
As always, Thank you for reading and reviewing. I love to read your reviews! Happyghost Love!