47

Harry and Sue arrived moments after Jacob finally managed to calm Leah down enough to change back to human form. Alice and Rose offered to trim her hair short to make it easier for her when she next changed, but she refused to let any of the vampires near her yet, her control wasn't great and she shook constantly, trying to hold herself together. Seth was just the opposite, though he too had only phased for the first time that day it was obvious to Edward that he had full control of himself. The way he helped Emily get to the Cullen's proved he was fully able to phase both ways at will.

The whole of the Clearwater family at last gathered around the small bed Emily was asleep on in the study/hospital. Harry looked to have aged a decade since Charlie had last seen him, which was only a few days before, the two men had been fishing only the previous weekend and Charlie worried for his friend, his health wasn't the best. Edward nodded to his father-in-law in answer to his plea, he would keep an eye on the older man while he was there and he warned his father to do the same. Carlisle agreed silently, and shared Harry's medical history with him, if the man lived out the year he would be lucky. Edward considered warning Charlie, but the man had enough on his plate at the moment, what with the damage the wolves had made to his home and the issues with his ex-wife.

The Clearwaters were very shocked at seeing not only Seth (who they had all been expecting to change) at the Cullen house, but Leah too, and in clothes that were obviously not hers. Things were rapidly explained to the couple, and Edward was surprised that even though Harry was worried about Emily, most of the man's thoughts were centred on his daughter. Why she had phased and what that meant to the tribe. He silently listed the 17 or so girls that were within the same age range of the already phased males. Was the whole tribe going to end up as wolves? What would that mean to the next generation… would there BE a next generation if no one aged and so couldn't carry a child to term? Harry stood at the doorway to the room, his thoughts churning.

Sue moved to stand by her niece. Even though she was 15 years younger than her husband it was clear on her face that she too was feeling enormous strain.

"Where are Emily's parents?" Edward asked, breaking into their thoughts slightly, he had been surprised that no one had thought about them as yet so he had to ask. It was Sue who answered.

"Her mother was killed in a car accident last year, her father died when she was very young." Sue said, holding the hand that was closest to her. "She came to live with us, her mother was my sister." She explained.

"How is Sam?" Harry lowered his voice and Edward didn't bother to tell them that the enhanced hearing of the wolves, even when in human form, negated any chance that they would not hear the whisper.

"Grief stricken, but as long as Emily survives, he will be ok." Edward told the family. Leah sneered, but Edward could read her mind. Though she loved Emily as her cousin, and a friend, a secret part of her wished she wasn't in the picture and Sam would return to her. She didn't yet realise that if Emily died, Sam would soon follow. As soon as they all phased at the same time, she would though. She wasn't an evil person, just someone who was deeply in love with someone who loved someone else. Edward sighed, it was complicated and in a way painful to see into these minds. They had all the faults and strengths of ordinary humans, and the added ones of being wolves as well, the joint mind especially gave Edward what could be described as a mix between a headache and strained eyesight.

"What caused him to phase inside the house?" Sue asked, "I thought Sam had more control than that."

Edward explained about the nomad and that he had escaped so far, the family all nodded but he could read that they were not really listening to him. The two youngsters knew all about it, and their parents were busy thinking other things.

"Jake will have to lead the pack until Sam gets over this." Harry said out loud. "Sam won't be of any use until Emily is on her feet again." They all agreed, Edward could have told them that the decision had been made some time ago between the two wolves, in fact as soon as they realised what had happened when they had phased at Charlie's. Neither Jake nor Sam had any intention of telling Harry that the council of elders was now obsolete, they respected the elders but wolf business was for the wolves to sort out, not the humans.

"You go back and let the council know what has happened, Harry." Sue told her husband. "I'll stay here with Emily for a while."

"I'll stay too," both Leah and Seth said.

{Great! The whole house will stink for weeks!} Rose complained, she and Emmett had retreated to their bedroom to get away from the wolves. Jasper had tried to dampen the moods of the people gathered in the living room, with limited success, and had eventually retreated to join Alice in their room when the Clearwaters arrived. The volatile emotions of Leah and Sam were just too much to deal with when Sue and Harry both arrived, one worried about the girl and the other worried about everything else.

"Would you like something to eat?" Esme asked on the floor below. Bella gasped.

"I left the oven on!" she said. "The pies!" It would just be her luck that the house would burn down! She really was so accident prone, but in this situation no one could blame her for forgetting the dinner.

"I'll call the station, one of the men can swing by and make sure the oven is off." Charlie said with a small laugh in his voice.

"Before you do that Charlie." Edward left the office and took the phone out of Charlie's hand before he could even press speed dial #1.

"What?" Charlie jumped back as Edward seemingly appeared out of thin air in front of him.

"I think someone else ought to go." Edward said. Emmett and Rose volunteered and jumped out of their bedroom window and headed to the Swan house {Anything to get away from the stink!} he read Rose's parting shot.

"Why?" Charlie asked.

"Because the kitchen is covered in Emily's blood, Dad." Bella sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Emmett and Rose have gone." Edward told them. "You know it would be much easier if the wolves all had phones." He turned to Jacob, who was busy keeping an eye on Sam in case he lost control again.

"We don't really need them." Jacob said. "We can communicate over a huge range, and don't have to worry about losing signals and such like."

"So, contact Jared and ask him to come here." Edward said. Jacob frowned.

"Why?" he asked.

"No reason. I just want to make a point." As Jacob headed to the front door Edward stopped him. "No, I mean do it in human form."

"We can only communicate in wolf form." Jake objected.

"Exactly. What if, for instance, four or five of your boys were at Port Angeles this afternoon and the nomad headed that way, there just wouldn't be any way of letting them know so they could block his way and take him out."

"But we can't exactly carry phones when in wolf form." Jacob said. "We can't even carry clothes, which is a pain."

"Why can't you tie your shorts to your leg or something?" Bella asked. "You know, before you phase. That way you could keep the phone in the pocket and if you phase too quickly, like this afternoon, you can always go back and get the phone after you change back."

Edward followed the Alpha's thoughts as he tried to work out how to make it work.

"The phones would have to be in watertight bags." He said. "We often have to run though water, it IS Forks." He paused, "I'm not sure it would work though. If we tied something to our leg then phased the tie would be too tight."

"Here!" Alice appeared with a couple of leather strips and a few head bands and a watertight plastic bag from their supplies. They often carried essentials that way, as water provided no barrier to them either, no matter how fast, deep or wide. "Go and try it." She pointed out towards the trees. Jacob shrugged and headed off.

"Most of us are almost out of clothes." Sam said, coming out of his funk enough to take a slight interest in the surroundings. "If this works it could help us at least keep dressed, but as to the phones," he continued. "Most of us can hardly afford the clothing, a phone is a luxury we will just have to do without."

"We will pay for them!" Esme said, returning to the living room, a huge platter filled with sandwiches in her hands.

"That's very generous of you Mrs. Cullen, but…"

"Wait Sam, before you say anything," Bella took a deep breath, but just at that moment Jacob wolf appeared out of the trees, if it was possible for a wolf to smile he would be. He turned and they all saw his back leg had a rolled up pair of shorts attached to it. He shook his leg a couple of times, the bundle stayed in place. He disappeared back into the trees and in seconds came out, zipping the fly closed.

"What were you saying Bella?" Jacob came into the house and flopped inelegantly onto the sofa, he grabbed a sandwich and devoured it in two bites, reaching for another almost before he swallowed.

"The Cullen's have friends in the vampire world," she explained, they all nodded. "Most of them don't follow their diet, but the ones who come to visit will promise never to take a human life in the area, how will you know which are friends and which are not?" she asked.

"If they have red eyes then they are enemies." Paul said, Bella jumped at his voice, evidently she had forgotten the angry young man who was sat silently on the floor, he got to his feet and grabbed a half a dozen sandwiches. He stuffed one in his mouth, gesturing for Bella to continue.

"Some of them may be persuaded to change, but not if they are pulled apart and burnt!" Bella scowled at Paul who grinned.

"Nice snack Mrs. C!" he said, ignoring her argument.

"Listen!" Bella glared. "Not all vampires are bad! You should all have phones so you can communicate in human form as well as in wolf, and if possible it would be nice if you could take a picture of any vampire you catch and send it to the Cullen's BEFORE you burn the pieces, though I can't imagine it to be pleasant, at least if you don't burn the bits they can be put back together, and if one of them IS a friend he may be willing to spread the news not to mess with the tribe… or else!"

{Not a good idea,} Edward thought, he could read the minds of his family, they agreed. If they told the wrong person and news got back to the Volturi brothers of a pack of werewolves in the area Caius would have a squad of guards on their way to wipe them out before they could explain they weren't infected with the werewolf venom.

"The Cullen's are rich, I don't mean by Forks standards," she said as the Native Americans all rolled their eyes at her as if to say, Well Duh! "I mean by Donald Trump standards."

Paul scoffed. "Who would live here, in this way if they had a choice?" he asked. "I mean this house is great and all, but hardly a palace, and they all go to school, why is that?" Edward could tell that the others all agreed, the tribe had long been trying to figure out why the Cullen's acted as they did.

"Living in a palace would draw attention to them." Bella said in a voice that matched the DUH look the boys had given her earlier.

"I like working to save lives, the rest of my family suffer through high school so that I can." Carlisle told them, "We must never draw attention to ourselves, if the humans were to find out…" he shook his head.

"Anyway!" Bella stood in front of the boys, her hands on her hips, between them and the platter of food, to make sure she had their attention. "The point is, the Cullen's are willing to pay for phones for you all, they can really afford it." Jake was shaking his head and Bella glared at him. "Don't you dare!" she pointed, "I know exactly what you are going to say, but I'll remind you what you said to me the other day," Edward frowned, what had he said? "Do you remember?" Jacob sighed and nodded.

"There are worse things in the world than having a whole new wardrobe forced upon you, you know," Edward could see they were sat in Bella's truck at the time, with the clothes she was wearing he guessed it was the day she went to collect her watch from him. At the time Jacob was trying to understand why she wouldn't accept the gifts that the Cullen's were trying to give her. He had thought that if he ever was in such a situation he would gladly take whatever was offered and thank the person. However it WAS different now.

Edward followed his thoughts as he struggled to find a reason NOT to accept the phones, being able to see from Jacob's point of view gave him a sudden insight into why Bella had been upset. It wasn't just that she didn't have the things herself and he could buy them, it was because it made her feel less worthy because she could not get them herself. Esme had been right all along, it was all to do with being brought up poor, but proud. Not having material goods was a hardship, but at the same time they were filled with pride at their ability to cope with whatever life threw at them without things that others saw as essentials. The fact that Jacob had been unable to understand Bella's attitude before and was suddenly confronted with his own reluctance to accept allowed Edward to understand even better than if he just had been able to read Bella to start with.

"It isn't the same." Jacob finally said, unable to articulate any better his objections to the Cullen's generosity.

"No, it is just the same!" Bella insisted.

"I'm not married to him." Paul almost snorted his drink through his nose when Jake said that, it even brought a smile to Sam's face.

"That isn't the point. Remember what you said about Emily?" Sam got to his feet, his shoulders hunched menacingly. Jacob glared at him.

"Sit down!" he snapped, Sam growled and Bella rolled her eyes at their behaviour.

"It wasn't anything like that Sam," she poked him in the chest until he looked down at her and registered what she was saying. Edward was uneasy the whole time he was close to her, this was… after all… the wolf who had hurt his own imprint through losing his temper. "Jacob pointed out that Emily not only works, goes to school and runs her own house, but that she does it without any financial help." She wiped a hand over her face and sent an apologetic look at Edward. "I can see it all from the other side now, all this time I have been complaining that they wanted to buy me things and I wouldn't allow it. All they are trying to do is help! Are you all so macho and independent that you can't accept a little help when it is offered, if not for you then for your families?"

Sam sat back down and put his head in his hands. "I've really failed her haven't I?" he mumbled into his hands.

"Emily loves you!" Bella said, putting a consoling hand on his shoulder, "Take it from me, I know. I would rather live in poverty with Edward than in riches without him. You are her everything. She would do anything for you, and she knows you would do anything for her."

"You are all looking at it wrong." Charlie spoke up from where he was sat in the armchair. "The wolves, you all, are like a police force. Since the day Sam phased there hasn't been a single reported crime in the whole of the reservation lands." Edward grinned as he realised where his father-in-law was going with this. "You patrol, and even when it's visitors that are causing the problems, like those surfers the other week who were speeding up and down the roads. I KNOW one of you had something to do with their change of attitude. I'd pulled them for speeding three times so I know that I had no effect on them… they spend a day at La Push and suddenly they are going 5 miles under the limit. Policemen get paid. If the elders and council can't afford it, then why shouldn't the Cullen's help out? I know Carlisle has donated generously to the hospital since he arrived, he also gave money to the school and the church to pay for Pastor Webber's new roof. Why shouldn't they donate to the tribe, and you can all draw a modest wage for the hours and hours you put in patrolling and keeping the peace?"

It was the longest speech anyone except Bella had ever heard Charlie make… ever. As with Bella, the Cullens were all amazed at how he cut through the minutiae and got to the heart of the problem. Edward could read the minds of the young men and realised that put that way they would actually accept the stipend offered, especially if it was controlled by the council. Any wolf who then stopped phasing, in order to be able to age with his imprint, or for any other reason, would be able to find a job and stop drawing the money.

{Are we still going to set up the charity?} Esme asked. Edward nodded. It wasn't like they could not afford the money anyway. Alice had foreseen a large oil strike made by a company called Solo in 2 days time and they had been busy buying shares in the company since she had had the vision. When the news broke they could sell the shares and cover the cost of the charity with some to spare from the profits.

Bella yawned and his attention zeroed in on her (though truthfully it was never very far away anyway). She was sat on the sofa with him, leaning heavily into his side. He glanced out of the window, it was full dark, only the remaining snow provided any illumination that human eyes could discern and even that was patchy as it reflected the full moon.

"Ready to get home?" he asked.

"It's still early." She said, even though it was obvious she was exhausted, but he settled back down, willing to wait forever until she told him she was ready to move, as long as she was in his arms in the mean time.

Sue and Harry came down the stairs just then, Leah was still in the room with Emily, she had been praying for hours for the girl to get better, her thoughts a turmoil of guilt over the way she had treated her beloved cousin. Sam was sat up there too, holding the unconscious girl's hand and wishing she would wake so he could see that she was holding her own against the damage he had caused her. He didn't expect her forgiveness, he didn't believe he deserved it, and his mood had so depressed Jasper that he and Alice had left to go hunting over the Canadian border for a while. Alice's visions, of course, were absent, while ever the wolves were in residence, and she had actually developed the vampire equivalent of a headache trying to see the future past their interference and so had been eager to go.

Esme and Carlisle offered the pair their bedroom to use until such time as Emily was awake and ok to be moved. Sue accepted but Harry headed back to the reservation to let the other council members know what had happened and what the Cullens had offered the tribe.

Emmett and Rose, had returned after their clean-up of the Swan house and Carlisle and Esme, had all been working hard at the computers, getting the charity board up and running, as well as making sure that the advert for the truck would be in place somewhere where Jared or one of the pack would see it. Just because Sam and Jacob had agreed to be paid by the council for their hours didn't mean the Cullen's weren't determined to help even more, if they could get away with it.

Charlie had left a couple of hours ago to finish up cleaning his house. Bella had, at first, offered to go help him, but they all knew that she would be more of a hindrance than a help because if she saw any blood she would faint again, maybe even injuring herself this time. He had an early shift the next day and so would not return until late afternoon at the earliest.

She yawned again, "Would you like to lay down upstairs?" he asked, not really understanding why she refused to go home.

"I just feel that I should be here until she wakes," Bella said around an even larger yawning fit.

"Why? Her family is happy with the way she is responding to treatment… what more can you do for her than we have already done?"

"It isn't about what I can do for her, I think I've done enough… don't you?" she sounded bitter and guilty all at the same time. He wished Jasper and Alice were there, they could probably give him some insight, he was sure, as it was he was totally in the dark about her thinking, as usual.

"What do you mean?" he asked, stroking her hair in what he hoped was a soothing way.

"It's my fault she is in this condition!" Bella said, suddenly she sobbed and he folded her in his arms.

"How can it possibly be your fault?" he was genuinely astonished that she would think that.

"Why was the nomad where he was? Because I smell too good! Then it was because I screamed and startled Sam that he changed so quickly, with Emily close by. Usually it's me that gets hurt when bad things happen, but this time she did, because she was in my house!"

"That's ridiculous Bella." Jacob walked back into the house at that point, he had been sat outside, away from the stink of the vampires and keeping in touch with his brethren in their hunt for the missing nomad. Edward growled slightly at him, under his breath. He agreed with what the boy said, but didn't like the way he said it. It had however stopped Bella from crying and she scowled at him.

"It isn't ridiculous, it's true!" she stated.

"It could have happened at anytime, anywhere. Emily and Sam were just unlucky. If they had been on a picnic out in the wilds and he had seen the vampire he would have changed just as quick, it's built into us. Emily could have got hurt miles away from any help. At least as it was she got to a doctor fast."

"But…" she started to say, Jacob interrupted her.

"No buts, Bella. It wasn't your fault, in fact if you want to look at it that way, you DID get hurt, it's just very lucky that it wasn't too serious this time." She put her hand over where the slight scratch was.

"He's right, Bella." Sam was stood at the top of the stairs looking down to the living room. "It could have happened at any time, we have all been very lucky that we haven't hurt someone before. Especially me, I didn't know what was happening to me so I didn't know that I was supposed to go off into the forest until I could control myself. I could have killed someone so easily. I'm sorry you got hurt too though." He looked back towards the room Emily was still in. "Why don't you let your husband take you home, you need some rest. The Pack is patrolling the forest around town and the reservation, we will let you know as soon as someone catches the nomad's scent." He nodded to Edward {Take her home, she's exhausted and it won't do her any good to be here if something goes wrong.}

"Nothing will." He wasn't sure that the wolves ability to hear such a pitch carried over into their human form as their ability to hear from a distance did, but Sam grimaced and nodded in such a way that he suspected it did.

Bella struggled to her feet. "We will sleep upstairs," she said. Edward steadied her, knowing that she wouldn't thank him for picking her up and carrying her to the top floor bedroom when the others were watching. She kicked off her shoes and laid in the bed. Edward covered her with the counterpane, she held out her arms in a plea, and he slipped his own shoes off and joined her in the bed. She cried into his shirt, whether through guilt still or just tiredness he didn't know but he held her until she stopped crying and fell into a deep sleep.