Chap 10

A/n: I know you want to hear back from Edward and the boys but that would defeat the purpose wouldn't it?! But I'll try and hurry so you'll know- obviously they all live happily ever after or whatever- what kind of author would I be if I killed off the guys without giving them any semblance of a chance! So have faith and hold on!

BPOV

"Hello ladies; my name is John Russell and these two lovely ladies beside me are Bethany Lewis and Ruth Fisher. As you are well aware today we will be running the trials for the current dogs on the rescue team. Now it is my understanding that you three actually own these four animals?" His question was pointed to no one in particular, but Rose answered being the oldest and immediate leader for the three of us.

"That is correct sir."

"I see. Well let's get started then shall we?" he said with a smile; I suppose to prevent us from becoming too nervous…yeah right!

The girls and I followed along behind the directors, who had turned and began walking back towards the front door. One of the ladies who was very petite with dark brown hair and dainty features turned back to us. As I recall her name was Bethany.

"We will be doing the mock course outside in an area where the dogs have fewer experience…although according to Eleazer these dogs seem to know the mountain like the back of their…paw?" Her features came out in a puzzled sort of way, forcing me to stifle a giggle. She had a point in her question though, what would you call it when you are using a humanly statement in reference to an animal?

Alice answered, "Yes we have been made aware of the fact." Giggling she ended, "And yes, I am quite positive that if we forced the dogs to get lost they would still know exactly how to get home." Our dogs were just that good, and that's not a boast- it's the truth.

We continued our walk out into the deep snow and cold windy morning, bringing our jackets closer about our necks and faces so as to block out some of the onslaught. At a certain point a few yards away from the entrance, John turned back around and shouted over the howling wind.

"Over there you can make out a guy standing by the trees. He is where you will start with each dog. He will also provide you with the samples of scents for the dogs to sniff out. Also there are bright red ribbons that are being posted around the perimeter of the area, all of the human subjects will be on the inside- if you pass one your out of bounds, don't worry there are no penalties for that, just needed information for the three of you. We have a rather large area set up and multiple people scattered around, mainly for assistance for you if needed, but also to add to the difficulty for the dogs..." When he paused he looked around him, his shoulders hunched against the wind, which had suddenly picked up.
"I hope this wind won't do any damage for this trial session." John said turning back to us and the other two board members.

"Don't worry sir, it will stop by the time we hitch up the dogs." Alice retorted confidently. The befuddled expression from John, Bethany, and Ruth, was rather funny, but to be expected when you don't know Alice.

Rose yelled over to them, "It's okay she does that a lot. But fortunately for today she is right most of the time."

We went back into the large stone building to retrieve the dogs. The board members turned the other way to the woods to guarantee that everything was as it should be.

Opening the doors the wind howled suddenly, angry that it could no longer attack, and the heating in the main room welcomed us with open arms.

We walked over to the dogs, my sisters a little more gracefully than myself, and unhooked their leashes. I went over to each dog and tightened the vest around their upper bodies, making sure that the red portion was clearly visible. Alice came along behind me and was putting on two of the snow booties, while Rose did the other side. The booties were there to protect the pads on the dog's feet, as they were easily susceptible to freezing.

After about five minutes of preparation, we were ready to roll.

I had Jake's leash in one hand and Seth's in the other. Alice was holding onto Sam's leash and Rose held Leah's.

We trudged through the heavy laden snow, noting that the wind had officially died, yet small flurries were trickling down, making it a beautiful morning for being outside.

As we walked my thoughts turned to Edward and the guys, wondering if they were doing anything fun or at all. I glanced at my watch before we made it to the medium height guy John had pointed out to us earlier. 9:00 AM.

We stood side-by-side waiting for further instructions. We had chosen beforehand who was to go first and it came down to Rose and Leah first. After them would be Jake and I, Sam and Alice, and finally Seth and myself- we drew straws and I got the short one.

"Alright ladies," the guy said having finished a conversation on his 2-way, "who's up first…it doesn't really matter to us, I just have to tell the boss so they can record-"

"Um…we know its okay you don't have to explain." Rose spoke cutting him off, trying not to seem rude to what appeared to be the 'new guy'. "I'm going first, Rosalie Hale and Leah."

"Oh ok." His shocked expression was quickly replaced with a smile and report through the radio in his hand. "Rosalie Hale is up first with Leah….No the dog is Leah…yes sir…" he turned to Rose and whispered, start getting ready. As he finished reporting to the person on the other line Rose unhooked the leash and called Leah up to the starting line, snapping on her own vest at the same time.

"Annnndd…Go!" he called short and quick, starting the watch at the same time.

Alice and I squeezed hands tightly, anxious of the outcome. We could see other people through the dense trees darting about behind Leah, but luckily all the dogs were used to this, as we did it in practice as well.

7 minutes and 51 seconds later the radio announced- "Finished!" Alice and I yelled huge grins on our faces. Okay one down three to go.

I unhooked Jake's leash and placed it in one of the many pockets on my pants. I patted my leg and led Jake up to the starting line, the guy handed me a blue piece of fabric that I brought down to Jake's nose. He took a whiff and nudged my hand clearly signaling that he got the scent. I placed the fabric in one of the other many pockets and waited with baited breath for 'go'.

"Go!"

Jake and I were off.

He ran and ran nose in the air, not needing to stop; I gathered that he knew which way he was going.

After a few seconds he slowed and finally paused nose to the ground. He went over to the nearby tree, sniffed, then walked to the opposite side. As I was about to pull out the fabric he was off again, forcing me to sprint to catch up.

His nose was to the ground in focus and determination. He occasionally would pause at a tree, turn slightly another way and pick up his speed again.

My nerves were starting to get to me, I hadn't looked at the watch on my left wrist to know when we started, but I was hoping it was not as long ago as it felt.

Two turns and pauses later, Jake began barking excitedly. I turned around a tree and found a girl in full gear smiling and reporting the time on her stop-clock.

I ran up to Jake in glee- he had managed to blow Leah's time out of the water and got a 5.16! I grabbed for the sock in one of the pockets on my hip and began playing with Jake.

We bounced up and down turning in circles fighting for the sock in my hand.

The girl turned to me, "Okay if you'll follow me I'll take you to the location they have set up for the finished dogs."

I followed her with Jake on my heels, placing the holy and worn sock in the pocket from whence it came.

With a five minute walk completed, we came upon same pop-up tents, a table, and an area set up with mat, food, and water for the dogs.

Rose was sitting on a bench beside Leah, who was wagging her tail happily at the sight of a friend (Jake), and barking with a little vigor and joy coming through her tone.

Jake wandered over to one of the crates beside Leah's and began drinking sloppily his fill of water. Satisfied he came over to Leah and lied down peacefully on the black mat that covered the thick and wet snow.

"Miss…" I turned around at the sound of a voice and was granted the sight of a tall and slender, man with dark brown hair. "Which of you are going to be assisting the final dog?"

"Oh that's me." I said, understanding immediately what he was going to say and do.

"If you'll follow me I'll take you back to the starting line."

"Okay thanks."

I was kind of bummed that I wouldn't get to see Alice and Sam finish, but we would all share stories later, so it wasn't too much of a big deal.

The guy led me over to a yellow and red Police officer snow-mobile; climbed on first then held his hand out for me to use as a balance to climb on behind.

I grabbed his large tan hand, held on firmly, and swung my leg over the back end. A flashback came to me as I remember the last time I got on…well off is a better word, and thereby kicking Edward. Oh what a great start to that relationship! I thought bitterly. But hey it was going good so far, for not really being anything.

Between five and ten minutes later we swung around to the front again, finding Seth being held by one of the many people dressed in black today, and stopped the vehicle. I swung off carefully, again using the guy's hand as leverage to my balance problem, and successfully removed myself from the machine with no incident to speak of.

I went around to where Seth was eagerly waiting and detached the leash from its hook on the collar and guided Seth to the starting point.

Much the same as before I was handed a piece of fabric, yellow this time, and allowed Seth to catch the awaiting scent. But unlike the last time I glanced at my watch 10:30- wow time really flew!

I waited for the word 'go' my pulse pounding behind my ears, adrenaline pumping through my veins once more. Oddly though, I was far more relaxed my second time through, even though it was with two completely different dogs.

"Go!" cried the voice from somewhere to my left and before I could get my bearings Seth took off like a bat out of hell; hopefully he was following the right scent.

His nose was to the ground when I caught up to him (he had slowed to reclaim the scent). I followed him with my eyes, urging him on if necessary, but mostly allowing him to do the work. He suddenly darted through the trees again, once more catching me off guard.

I chased him down, trying to maintain steady breathing in the cold environment. My lungs were protesting far more than when I was with Jake, but that could be because he was going slower, who knows.

I found him once more beneath a close nit set of trees, when a flapping caught my eye. Several trees down, a red ribbon was flapping in the gentle breeze, announcing that we were reaching the perimeter of the area. Seth shot off again, luckily to the right running parallel to the dancing ribbons.

Not thirty seconds later, barking reached my ears, quite a distance from where I was. I urged my legs forward and found Seth sitting, having seen my approach, in front of an older man.

Seth's tail was wagging proudly, a grin clearly etched on his face. I looked down at the man who was sitting at the base of a tree and he too was smiling, but at Seth and was speaking fluently through his two-way.

He turned to face me, giving me the thumbs up for approval. I was giddy and started prancing with Seth. I pulled out the ratty sock from my pocket and slung it around for him to try and catch before our game of tug-o-war.

The older man, who looked like he was balding on the back of his head and head wrinkles around his eyes, stood up and brushed himself off,

"Follow me," he said.

Seth and I turned around and followed him through the trees.

"By the way, can you tell me what his time was?" I asked, unsure if they were allowed to give me an answer.

He turned around, glanced at me, than at the watch, then announced, "6.45"

"Yeah!" I jumped and pranced, showing with my actions and praise that Seth did well. Although he clearly had no idea why I was jumping up and down, but if he got praise he was happy either way.

****

At the finish station, Alice and Rose sat waiting, surrounded by three large dogs, all of whom looked sound asleep.

"Shh." Alice giggled, "Don't wake up our champions."

I nodded and continued over to where every one sat. Seth trotted over to a near-by water bowl and slopped up happily. I collapsed into a chair next to Rose and closed my eyes, exhausted after the morning's events.

"Congratulations girls!" John's voice said. I opened my eyes and all three board members were standing before us all smiles. "That was some of the best search and rescue training I've seen in a while, and some of the best times too!"

I sat up straight at his praise grinning from ear to ear. All of our months and years of hard work paid off. Alice and Rosalie had similar expressions of relief and joy.

"We are finished, so if you would like we can put the dogs in the back of the truck and give you all a lift back to the center?"

"That would be wonderful thanks." Rose answered.

I pushed myself out of the fold up chair and went over to the slumbering dogs. I nudged Sam, who raised his head quickly, waiting for instructions. I snapped my fingers and pointed to the cage labeled 'Sam' and he jumper up following orders. I clicked the latch to lock so the cage would stay closed- not that he would get out if it did, but it was just safer that way.

I repeated the same steps to Leah and Jake. Seth was already in his cage, seeing that I put Sam in his. Besides Seth was already in his cage drinking, it seemed like he thought 'Why bother getting out now?'

Two colossal men came over and picked up the cage filled dogs with ease, lifting them into the bed of the black pick-up truck. All the other equipment was placed around the cages or into a trailer parked behind the truck.

When everything was picked up and put away, we all climbed into the cab. The interior was large and roomy. The seats and consol were tan leather with an occasional silver outlined accessory; the back had wide seats and cup holders for all. There were even back seat air controllers!

Rose was seated in the middle, Alice and I taking the window seats. The two buff men were seated stiffly in the front seats, looking all business in their black snow suits.

"Umm, you both look rather uncomfortable. We have enough room back here if you need to recline the seat or move it back or something." I said, slightly concerned for our rigid friends.

The guy in the passenger seat just chuckled. "Its okay miss, we are fine. Just think of us as… taxi driving body guards."

We all laughed.

***

The 'taxi-driving-body-guards' parked the truck in front of the large edifice that was our training facility.

We all climbed out and turned back to grab anything that belonged to us and then turned to the bed of the pick-up. I glanced back noting that all the dogs were placed gently on the ground beside the truck on the snow banks. Many people came up and began emptying the bed of the pick-up with any thing that might belong to the three of us or Eleazer or Carmen.

Once everything was unloaded four large guys- two of which were are drivers- picked up the cages holding our dogs and carried them into the building, the three of us following along behind.

At the door we were met with Eleazer, Carmen, Tanya, Kate, and Irina; all of whom had excited grins plastered on their faces. Max and Juno were nipping along at their owner's heels, tails wagging jubilantly at the sight of their fellow K-9 companions. In my peripheral I acknowledged that Mike, Tyler, and Eric were in the background casually in the entrance of the hallway that led to the kitchen. I ignored them and brought my focus back to the excited group in front of me and my sisters.

The assistants left subtly after placing their packages down. I turned to give them thanks, which they acknowledged, and then bent down to release the caged animals.
Free from their prison they ran and jumped around the room wrestling and releasing pent up energy with Juno and Max.

"Just think Tanya," I heard Alice start, "In a short while you are going to have to start training for these things too." We all laughed when her smile dropped and her face went pale.

"What not looking forward to having to control Max over there?" Rosalie jibbed.

"Not really. I mean if Bella and Rose can't even keep him under wraps how am I supposed to?"

"Oh it's not that hard, just show him a firm hand." Eleazer piped up.

"Oh really? You seem like you are experienced in this area. Have you dealt with Max? I'd like to see you put forth your…what did you say…'firm hand'." Tanya supplied and taunted. Smiles and smirks were on every face surrounding Tanya and Eleazer.

I glanced at Rose, sending her a wink. She caught my look and grinned wickedly.

"Fine I will." Eleazer said smugly.

He walked over to where Max was playing eagerly with Seth, a robe caught between both their teeth.

"Max come!" Eleazer called out commandingly. Seth quickly let go, but Max just looked at Eleazer curiously then began trying to coax Seth into playing again. I gave the motion to Seth for him to 'sit' and instead of only Seth following the command every dog did, causing us all to snicker, and then laugh out loud when Max sat about thirty seconds later.

Eleazer tried his command again. "Max Come!" he called more sharply than before.

Max grudgingly came over to Eleazer and sat next to his left leg.

"Max heel," was the next command that was ordered. This time Max followed orders the first time given. We watched in silence as Max followed closely to Eleazer as they swept around the room in a giant circle.

"Max sit." Max just stared. "Sit!" In a very cute fashion Max tilted his head to the side.

'Ugh!' a grunt from Eleazer, who turned back to our group, "He does know the command 'sit' right?"

We giggled- as we were all girls- "Yes," came Tanya's answer.

Max was now turning his confused face between Eleazer and Tanya, seeming to try and understand what was going on.

Eleazer turned back to Max and placed one hand on his back end forcing him into a sitting position while he gave the command at the same time.

After five more minutes of going over the basic commands, which was difficult to watch without laughing, Rose turned to me and winked, repeating the same gesture to Tanya. The three of us had been furiously working with him, so he was warming up to our commands, and even learning a few tricks in between.

Rose separated herself slightly from the group and gestured for Tanya and me to do the same. We slowly moved over to where she stood, directly behind Eleazer, and gave the hand signal for a basic command, 'up'. (We were starting to wonder if Max was partly deaf, as he replied better to hand signals than vocal commands. Tanya and I mentioned this to Carmen so that we could get him checked, but had not been able to since that time over a week ago.)

I smiled when Max caught sight of this and easily followed the command, Eleazer let out a shocked gasp as he was currently trying to get Max to lie down. Eleazer turned back to us with a very confused expression, but quickly turned back to repeat the command again.

Picking up on Rose's idea, Tanya went through the hand motions for 'roll over'. Max wagged his tail happily, dropping to the floor and rolled over every time the motion was presented.

Eleazer's face was growing red with frustration and embarrassment.

At this point Kate and Alice had discovered what the three of us were up to and stifling their laughter with their hands held up to their mouths.

I chanced a look at Carmen, who was suppressing her own giggles, but also trying to show some sympathy for her husband. This caused my stomach to twinge with guilt, here we were trying to explain to Eleazer how difficult he was to deal with, and yet we were now easily presenting hand commands and watching as Max would follow them with ease.

Every time Eleazer would look back at us our motions would desist and innocent expressions would occupy our face.

I was nudged in the rib by Rose, who whispered for me to have Max 'chase his tail'. A trick I taught him just for the fun of it, playing around with the idea that he could be partially deaf- it was one of his first tricks, and one of his favorites.

I began rotating my hand, with a single finger in the air, in a circular motion. Around and around at a slow speed that began to build. Instantly catching my motion Max began spinning in circles, chasing his tail in exuberance.

"Aaagggg!" cried Eleazer startling Max and the other dogs at his outburst. "I give up!" He yelled throwing his hands in the air and storming off in the direction of the kitchen.

As he left the room a roaring laughter filled the room. Tears filled our eyes and arms wrapped around stomachs at the pain that was being caused by the lack of sufficient oxygen.

Carmen walked gracefully over to our small group, which now included Irina, as she had seen out of the corner of her eye my fast hand motion catching on to what had been going on.

A few of us had fallen onto the floor, others were being supported up by someone next to us, and others simply bent over, all expressing our emotion at the hilarity of the situation.

"Ladies, I can't believe you would do something like that!" Carmen scolded.

"But I have to say, 'Bravo', and thank you for proving a rather good point." She stated with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Tanya, it seems rather clear to me now that we need to get Max a hearing test." She stated, causing a few of us to sober up a little.

Our giggles subsided, a few bursting forth that had yet to be released; that was until Eleazer walked back out into the large 'arena' area, and all was lost to our raucous laughter once more.

***

A little while later, after lunch was served, and our story explained, Alice spoke up after glancing at her phone.

"Oh no, we missed a call from the guys!" she said rather gloomily. She dialed her voicemail and listened to a message left by them.

When she hung up she started, "They were planning to take us skiing!" was her reply to our awaiting curiosity. A round of 'aww' filled the room by the other girls that weren't my sisters.

Alice glanced back down and began clicking buttons. Her head popped up a few minutes later filling us in on their idea to take us skiing to relax after our morning, but it had already been 11:00 when they sent the text and then the call was sent at 12:35.

"We must not have gotten the text or call because we were out of area; I mean even here we have bad reception. Oh well I hope they had fun." Alice said disappointment evident in her voice.

"Wait they went with out you?" Kate questioned curiously.

"Yeah why?"

"Well why didn't they wait till you could go?"

"Well I did say that we weren't sure how long it was going to take, so maybe they decided to have some fun. Besides I think the three of us would have rather them had fun then lying around in their hotel with nothing to do." Rose and I both nodded our agreement- that wouldn't have been fair to them.

After the banter between us girls we went back to our lunch or whatever was occupying our time at the moment. Suddenly a yawn rippled between my sisters and me causing everyone in the room to laugh.

"Maybe we should go home and catch up on some zzz's" Rose offered, Alice and I nodding our reply.

We went back into the main room and fastened the leashes to our dogs. They went willingly along beside us and we all trudged out into the awaiting cold and snow.

Four dogs piled into the back and three sisters piled into the front we left for home.

***

I climbed the stairs to my bedroom, Alice and Rose following behind. I could vaguely hear the patter of multiple paws dispersing around the house, one or two following us.

I pulled on my very comfy cotton pajama shorts and a random t-shirt out of my dresser drawer. I slipped my hair into a comfortable ponytail as well and went over to Alice's room.

"Hey when are we getting up?" I asked, wondering if we had anything planned.

"Well unless the guys call, we don't have anything planned so… whenever." She answered, also intuitively answering my hidden question.

"Okie-doke," was my reply. But before I left for the comfort of my soft warm bed- that I could faintly hear calling my name "Bella…Bella…"- I noted Alice's pouting lip.

"Hey what's up?" I asked Rose coming up behind me and leaned around me resting against the other side of the door frame.

"Well, it's just it's been a few hours since we've heard from the guys, whether actually talking to them or not. I guess I'm just a little disappointed. I wish they texted or called again." She explained voicing her thoughts.

"Well you have to remember #1 they are skiing- you know how much fun that it is and how it is easy to get caught up in what your doing, #2 they are in the mountains and you said yourself that there is bad reception everywhere, so maybe they can't, and lastly #3 they are guys, that we aren't dating, do you honestly think they are going to remember to call constantly?" Rose said seeming to put Alice at ease and causing both of us to giggle at her last statement. "So let's get some sleep and we can call them later."

"Okay." Alice responded.

So we slept. Ahhh, the relaxing feeling of a pillow and comfy blanket, after a wonderful day that was not quite over, so why did I get this ominous feeling that something bad was going to happen. Wow, I sound like Alice now, I thought.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-