The reference to Mary's first encounter with Esme and Carlisle comes from Faith & Love by MikiInBlueJeans here on FF
The image of have of Edward as referred to in this chapter comes from Saudade by Haemophilus Leona
Beta: The incredible and amazing kiwihipp
(Update 10 May 18)
Chapter 23: Tested Beyond Our Measure
Just over half an hour later, three wolves and Sam showed up.
"Thank you for coming Sam," Carlisle greeted. "We appreciate your support of us."
"One wolf is guarding Charlie at his place," he stated abruptly.
With five wolves to the pack, that would mean that they had left their own land unprotected. It was unnecessarily generous of them.
Continuing, clearly skipping formalities, he informed us, "Charlie's sleeping. One will stay here to guard Bella. The two others will come with us."
On one hand, the lack of protocol would probably have Ephraim rolling in his grave. On the other hand, I was appreciative that Sam was ready to work together and wanted to figure it out as fast as possible.
"Victoria probably told Riley about you, so try to stay upwind to keep your cover," Carlisle requested. "Our kids are in Seattle trying to stop the young ones Victoria has made since our last engagement with her. We informed Alice of our need for them to come home, but they might not make in it time."
"What do we need to know?" Sam asked crisply.
"We believe that since Riley called us, he will speak on Victoria's behalf. I will speak on behalf of our family. The goal is to agree to a truce or a disbandment of some kind."
"Is it possible that he's a decoy?" Sam inquired.
"Yes," Carlisle stated. "That's why the protection here and at the Swan's."
"Victoria?" he questioned.
"Perhaps," Carlisle replied.
They talked terrain and strategy and possibilities. I texted the kids the same urgent message once more, making sure that I purposefully decided to send the message. We were running out of time.
The deadline for when Carlisle needed to leave was getting closer, and the kids were still nowhere in sight.
"I'm going to lock up the house," I explained to Sam. "It would be safer if the wolf was in the house with me, presuming he's agreeable."
Sam appeared to be considering it before he spoke. "It will be uncomfortable for you both."
"I am well aware of that," I agreed with him.
Carlisle looked slightly distressed with the idea, but said nothing.
"Well," Sam stated after a thoughtful pause. "If it can offer some additional protection, then yes." As he spoke these words, he stared directly at the wolf, as if giving him instructions.
Grabbing onto Carlisle's hands tightly, I then kissed him on the cheek briefly.
"I'll be back soon, love," he promised.
The words did little to assuage my fears. He is a skilled fighter, he will keep himself alive I reminded myself, but thoughts guaranteed nothing. Yet, he had to go.
"Hope and faith," I told him as he began to run off.
"Hope and faith, even with our lives," he agreed the wind carrying his words back to me with three wolves running behind him.
These words gave me courage to face my fears. He might die today. I might die today. But we were willing to risk ourselves and each other on hope and faith, and with those qualities came love. Everything we had gone through pressed upon these next moments. Although I was scared and anxious, we had already decided that these were the moments that would be worth it. This was where our words met our actions. I would be Mrs. Carlisle Cullen, mate, and wife, and mother.
My back straight and with a posture that was reminiscent of Rosalie, I opened the back door for the wolf, and went inside. Moving furniture, stacking some things, I generally tried to protect our belongings, just in case. While I moved at the fastest speed I could, the wolf stood in the entranceway simply watching me. When the room was situated the best possible, I went back to the entranceway, closed the door, entered the keycode, and the shutters came down covering every window and door.
Then we sat together waiting.
The wolf whined occasionally, while I focused my senses entirely outside of our home.
Knowing adolescent boys as I did, I was betting that my companion didn't like being left behind, so took his whining as nothing more than his way of complaining.
At one point, I thought about offering him something to eat or drink, but then I didn't know how he would consume it, so we just sat and waited.
Seven minutes past four I heard the gaits of the kids running and no sounds that might indicate that they were followed or some other danger.
"My kids are coming," I let the pup know.
After entering the keycode and the shutters retreating, I stepped outside, while the wolf stayed in the living room.
"Carlisle and three wolves went to where the Calawah River divides right to the east of Forks," I greeted them pleased to see them unharmed. "He was instructed to come alone, but Sam and two others are hiding nearby in case Riley didn't come alone as he said he would. Bella is upstairs asleep, so one wolf is here and one is protecting the Swan's residence."
"Emmett with me. Rosalie and Alice with Esme protecting Bella," Jasper ordered and ran off.
As soon as us girls were in the house, I closed the shutters again.
"Really, Mom?" Rosalie complained before the shutters were completely down.
"Please, Rosalie, behave," I admonished in our quick subhuman murmur adding, "I was grateful for companionship." Then switching to a tone I assumed the wolf could pick up, I told them, "I was worried that you would not make it in time."
"We almost didn't," Rosalie hissed out.
"What happened?" I asked only slightly quicker than a human speed, not wanting to be rude to our guest, but unable to completely contain my anxiousness.
"Alice saw that you sent the text, but not why," she explained. "We rushed back to the Jeep as quickly as possible only to find that someone had disabled it. I can repair it, no problem, but it would have taken too long, so we ran the whole way."
"I have a good feeling so far about the meeting," Alice said at a human tone and speed, and then added in our quick murmur, "On our way back I saw Carlisle and Riley meeting. Since I have seen Riley in person once and three times in a vision with someone else, I expect that I will be able to tune into him better going forward."
Hopefully, the wolves couldn't understand us at our subhuman speed. There was no need to inform them on what was essentially family business.
"Any luck in Seattle?" I asked Rosalie at a human pace forcing myself to slow down.
"Not a scent," she reported tersely at the same pace.
I looked at her worryingly.
"Exactly," she agreed, her own anxiousness beginning to show.
Needing to find a less worrisome topic, I told her in a conversational human tone, "You know Bella finished her finals. She is officially a high school graduate," my eyes moving towards Bella's room in an attempt to distract us.
"That's great Mom," Rosalie said half-heartedly.
"Can we not get into that now, Rose dear?" I asked almost pleading.
"Yeah," she agreed. "I'm happy for Bella, though."
"I'm glad as well," I beamed my pride in her apparent.
Rosalie closed her eyes and stopped breathing, assumingly giving her whole attention to the sounds outside of the house.
Taking a look at Alice, she was statuesque, portraying not the slightest twitch, not even facial expressions. It appeared that she was giving her whole concentration to focusing on what she could see through her gift. She would warn us if we were in danger.
The last time we had sat down as a family to discuss what we would do after the summer had not gone well.
"It seems that Bella has decreased her options to Western Washington University and Central Washington University," I had told the family, as way of introducing the topic. My tone had made it evident that I was pleased with Bella's choices.
"Seriously?" Rosalie had growled. "Out of all the schools in the nation? Didn't she get into Dartmouth? I don't want to go to either of those places!"
"You've gone to Dartmouth before, Rosalie," I had reminded her gently.
"That's not the point," she had countered. "I swear that girl has a screw loose. Who in their right mind turns down Dartmouth for some Washington University school?" she stated as if Bella's choices were contaminated.
"She said that she could always do an Ivy League school in the future. For now, she wants to stay near her father. She knows her time with him is short, and she wants to make the most of it while still going to college. At the same time, she considered the number of sunny days of where she got in, their location in terms of attracting others of our kind, and relative distance to hunting grounds," I had explained hoping that Rosalie could see how Bella had done an excellent job of considering the needs of the rest of the family and not just herself.
"If Charlie matters so much to her, then she should go to the community college in Port Angeles or something and live with Daddy," Rosalie had sneered.
Everyone else at the table had sat quietly saying nothing.
"Rosalie," I had warned. "What is going on with you?" I had asked my voice concerned, but also unwilling for her to continue throwing a strop about this.
"Come on, Mom? Really? She gets everything she wants. We'll just cater to her whims because good ol' Eddie convinced us to leave her. We're doing our bit. We're going to Seattle. We're dealing with Victoria. Our lives are on the line while she's sitting pretty. Worse, she doesn't even want to stay human. Despite Eddie's treatment of her and him still missing in action, she keeps saying that she wants to become one of us. Carlisle said that he'd turn her, even against Eddie's wishes and my opinions. Blah blah blah. Now she gets to decide where I got to school." By the end, Rosalie's tone had been livid.
"Rosalie," I had chided.
"It might be fun," Alice had offered, but she sounded really doubtful.
"Don't go there," Rosalie had warned Alice giving her an icy stare.
"It seems like we aren't going to agree right now. Let's leave it a few days. You're welcome to talk to Bella, each of you. Perhaps the five of you could discuss the pros and cons of each university. All right?" Carlisle had stated in his stern fatherly tone.
"Sure, fine," Rosalie had muttered, even though she clearly hadn't let go of whatever was bothering her.
The subject had been dropped and strategies regarding them going to Seattle had been discussed instead, but we still hadn't come to a resolution. Understandable, Carlisle was reluctant to overrun Rosalie. We both, really, were hoping Rosalie would come around.
My mind came back to the problem at hand, as Rosalie let out a loud huff. Rosalie and her loathing of Bella's university choices was a problem for another day. As I kept watching Alice, I was slowly becoming as still as her. Then she relaxed and her eyes focused on the room.
"I have a good feeling that they'll all be okay," Alice proclaimed softly.
As the next few minutes passed, the tension seemed to decreased.
Suddenly, Alice put her hands out in front of her. "No! Jasper stop! Don't!" she screamed. Shortly after the wolf howled.
Rosalie looked up at the ceiling. "Is that door secure?" she asked tensely.
The fact that, despite everything, Rosalie was looking out for Bella pleased me.
"Yes," I let her know, "the moment we got the call from Riley."
Right then the door handle moved, but given the door was locked, it remained closed. Then some indeterminate sounds could be heard. If I had to guess, Bella was walking around.
I had put a small circular window, too small for any adversarial creature to be able to crawl through, in her room, up high, nearly above her bed, in fact. Two of the bathroom walls were outward facing. I had replaced the glass and put in heavy materials to blocks sounds, her heartbeat for instance, from being heard outside. I had high narrow and wide windows that were triple glazed bulletproof glass in the bathroom letting in defuse light. It was only in this moment, despite the shutters that had come down over the whole house, that I was beginning to wonder if the windows would be good enough to ensure her obvious human indicators stayed away from listening ears.
'A watched pot never boils' had nothing on sitting in a room barricaded from the outside, waiting for your enemies bent on your destruction to rip through the metal and glass only capable of slowing them down. I focused, as it seemed that Rosalie was, on any sound that we could hear and on the wolf. After a minute or so of howling, he seemed to settle down. I could only hope that was a sign of peace rather than resignation. Seconds ticked by, each longer than the last.
Then, without warning, I heard the unnatural movement of trees and the sound of our kind jumping trunk to trunk. I was grateful that I had decided to reinforce the roof prior to our choosing to make Forks our next home in 2002. The point of doing so had been to protect us from attacks. Jasper wanted extra measures with the wolves so close. I have never before been so grateful for my son's capacity to see danger at every turn.
Since yelling out, Alice had resumed her deep concentration of the future. I was no longer sure if her stillness was a reassurance that all was well. She could be just as lost in watching Riley, Victoria, Jasper fighting, or the Swan's home being attacked. She was bound to miss things. She was not infallible.
Therefore, as the sounds grew nearer and I knew that the approaching vampires were less than 100 yards away, I held my breath and stilled myself, allowing every part of me to prepare to defend my daughters. As I did, I could begin to hear the sound of paws running quickly to our home with an urgency and fervency I had never known them to have, even when we had hunted Victoria together. I looked over at the wolf in our home. He looked back and seemed to point his nose to the keypad.
"Are you sure?" I asked him.
He nodded and his look was pleading.
"Let's wait till they're closer, just in case," I told the wolf in my motherly tone.
He seemed to roll his eyes at me like my children do when they believe I'm being overly protective.
The movement in the trees stopped, as if the approaching vampires were waiting to pounce as soon as the doors were opened.
"Please unlock the shutters," I heard Carlisle ask.
Hesitantly, as I was uncertain that he wasn't speaking under duress, time ticked by at an ever slower rate, as I moved at a sluggish human pace, giving the pack time to arrive. How ironic this moment seemed that I was waiting for wolves to help protect those I loved. By the time that the Quileutes were within 50 feet of the back porch, I was at the keypad and put in the code. Immediately, our wolf was up and moving towards the back door. Rosalie was right behind him. We gave him room to exit and then Rosalie and I together, preparing to fight, stepped out onto the porch. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight before me.
In the trees were our men with ripped clothes and skin showing. Emmett's skin was broken on his chest and arms with what looked like claw marks. It reminded me of the state he had been in when Rosalie had brought him home. I went to say something, but the corner of my eye caught Carlisle staring at me shaking his head no. I closed my mouth and evaluated Rosalie. She seemed frozen in shock.
I wanted to comfort her, but given that Victoria might be coming our way with newborns as support, I didn't. Instead, I watched as the wolves made a half-circle around our men and Sam, in human form, stepped out of the trees.
"I thought you were honourable Carlisle Cullen. I thought that the treaty meant something to you. Explain yourself before I order my men to rip you apart," Sam bellowed.
"If I wanted the mutt dead, he would be dead, instead of just fine, chomping at the bit to take another piece of me," Emmett claimed back loudly.
"I think Seattle heard you, Emmett," I chided him. "Given Victoria, Riley, and newborns, perhaps softer calmer voices would be more appropriate right now?" I regulated my voice to the volume and tone I expected from him.
"Sorry, Mom," he uttered with some decreased volume. "The mangy mutt–"
"We will speak to our allies and friends respectfully, especially after one was left here to help protect me," I scolded him.
"Sorry, Mom," he muttered dejected.
Carlisle looked like he couldn't adore me more, and Jasper was smirking.
I swore the wolves were chuckling.
Turning to Sam I told him, "Sam, I know you to be a reasonable man. Obviously my son here did something to cause an upset. Would you mind telling me what happened?"
He looked at me calculatingly.
Rosalie began to stir.
"Do you want to stay here with me or go up with Emmett?" I asked her in our quick murmur.
"I'll stay," she stated determinedly, even though I could tell that it was hard for her to be parted from Emmett. "Just to be safe."
"Everything with Riley had ended," Sam began to inform me. "When Carlisle got to the trees, he scaled one, and travelled towards us in this manner. Just when he reached us your son," he spat the word, "leapt at Paul with no provocation breaking his left front leg, jumped back into the tree, and then the three of them darted tree to tree here."
I looked at Emmett. "True?"
"Yes, but it was Jasper's idea," he whined.
I looked at Jasper accusingly.
"There was a great likelihood that Riley could see us. I was concerned that if we did not attack, it would give the him the idea that we were working together, which might change Victoria's tactics. This way we appeared, for all intents and purposes, weak, cowardly, and the enemies of the wolves. In fairness, I had a hard time convincing Carlisle that the wolf would heal just fine, using you being in danger as leverage," his report was brisk and contained no apology.
Sam's eyes darted between Jasper, Carlisle, Emmett, and then me, his mouth ajar. An instant later, all four wolves sprinted away, and Sam transformed into his wolf form shredding his clothing.
"Are we following?" Jasper asked Carlisle.
"You and I, yes. Emmett, get into the house and have Rosalie help close up your wounds. Esme batten up the hatches again," he ordered as they moved away. "We're to keep our distance. No engagement unless we are left with no other options," he told Jasper firmly.
"Understood," was the last thing I heard before their voices were too far away.
Rosalie brought Emmett into the medical room Carlisle had hidden away on the first floor.
I closed the back doors and locked the house down.
"Do you need help?" I asked Rosalie from the keypad at the back door.
"Yes, since he's being a big baby," Rosalie replied.
As I passed Alice, she didn't even acknowledge I was there. I let her be, assuming that she needed to concentrate, and interrupting her might distract her.
Rosalie had already torn off Emmett's shirt. The wounds on his chest went from his right shoulder to his left hip. There were also deep gashes from his left shoulder down his arm. His wrist look like it had separated from his arm and his thumb looked to be barely hanging on.
"One leg and look what he did in retaliation," Emmett complained.
"I thought you were faster than that," Rosalie admonished.
"He caught me off guard. They're quick. When he stumbled a little to his left, I let go, and he threw me off his back, all because I didn't want to hold onto his chest and accidently crush his ribs," he defended himself. "Should of, though, ungrateful mutt," he muttered. "His jaw went to get my arm, but I moved it too fast before he clamped down, while his right paw slashed my front." His tone, although irritated, made it sound like he was proud of himself.
"Hold still," Rosalie commanded.
"How can I help, Rose?" I asked her.
"Help me bring the chest wounds together so that the venom can do its job."
I came near and did as she requested. When it would begin to bind together, she would lick the outside, creating a seal.
"How did you learn to do that, Rose?" I asked quietly as we worked.
"I'm not sure you want to know, Esme," she replied even quieter.
"Teeth play?" I asked cautiously.
She shrugged. "It seemed instinctual after an accident. I felt bad for days, but we learned it did the trick."
"I see," was all I could figure to say. After a few minutes I added, "Good thing you did. It's serving us well now."
Rosalie just nodded, but there was a small grin threatening.
His arm was harder to repair, as it was in worse condition.
"What about not taking unnecessary risks?" I asked Emmett, concerned that the lesson he had claimed he had learned from watching Rosalie fight hadn't really penetrated.
"It was a calculated risk. I wasn't supposed to get hurt," he claimed. "I wouldn't have either, if I hadn't been so generous to that fleabag," he added indignantly.
"Every physical action with others carries some inherent risk Emmett, even wrestling," I pointed out. "I appreciate your willingness to follow Jasper's plan, but please be careful of your actions. We can't afford to lose you." At the last sentence I looked at him poignantly, and he hung his head.
"Yes, Mom," he said sincerely.
While we had spoken, I had held his shoulder, while Rosalie had insured that his injured arm was in the socket correctly. Then we worked together on the gashes. I held his arm while she mended the wrist. Lastly, I held his hand, while she reattached the thumb.
He turned over and we made sure he had no wounds on his back. She tore his pants leaving him in only his boxers as we checked over his legs.
"I'll leave you to check the rest," I informed her. "I'm going to check on Bella."
"He's going to need to hunt soon. She shouldn't be near him till afterwards," Rosalie stated firmly more for Emmett's sake, surely.
Emmett looked like he was going to protest.
"Just as a precaution, babe," she told him softly and with great tenderness, but it was clear that she wasn't budging on the issue. "You're eyes are darker than coals."
"Fine," he grumbled. "Can't have another lunging accident now can we?" He chuckled, but I knew he was upset.
Nothing had changed with Alice as I passed her once more.
Unlocking Bella's door, I entered, finding her asleep in her bed. Locking the door behind me, I sat in her chair at her desk and allowed her rhythms to calm me. There were too many things to worry about, but none of them were solvable in this moment. Right now, my girls were safe, Emmett was healing, Carlisle had returned to me, there had been no immediate attack, and thus I had to hope that Carlisle's talk with Riley had brought us one step closer to a resolution.
It took less than an hour for Carlisle and Jasper to return. As I heard them approach, I left Bella in her bed, locking her door as I left. It was an unusual door because when it was locked it created as close to a perfect seal as was possible. Going to open the shutters and unlocking the front door, I found Emmett on a couch and Rosalie on the ground next to him holding his right hand with all the furniture back to their regular spots. Fortunately, I could hear nothing of concern accompanying Carlisle and Jasper.
As soon as Jasper's feet hit the porch, Alice was up like a bolt and to him.
Carlisle came in looking worse for wear, but his eyes lit up when he saw me. He put his hands on my face and then ran them down my arms pulling me in close. He nuzzled his head into my hair and took in deep gulps.
"We need code words for the future," I told him. Needing to offer him something helpful, I explained myself, "When you asked for me to open the shutters, I couldn't be certain you weren't doing so under threat. Gaits are identifiable, tree jumping is not."
Carlisle held onto me tighter as if I had not spoken.
Rosalie gave us couples some time before she stated emphatically, "We need to hunt."
"Can we ask the wolves to protect Bella?" I asked uncertainly.
"Yes, I suppose we can," was Carlisle's answer.
Peering at him, he looked defeated. He seemed unable to speak, instead lost in his thoughts.
"Jasper?" I asked tentatively.
"Riley got into Bella's room and took some of her clothing," he informed us.
I gasped.
"Charlie wasn't hurt, but he got past the wolf guarding on the way in."
My eyes grew. Her clothing missing meant they had her scent. What Victoria might want with her scent terrified me.
"And all five on the way out," Jasper continued. "Carlisle and I followed his trail, but it disappeared on the highway, most likely due to the result of him stealing someone's car. There was no blood on the ground, but I doubt whoever it was will survive. Charlie will have either a missing person's report or a gruesome death of a local. That's assuming the car was local. It might have been someone just passing through."
Looking grim at the news, I tried to consider if there was anything we could do. "Are things smoothed over with Sam?" I checked.
"We didn't get a chance," Carlisle answered his tone grieved and deeply upset. "We came straight home."
"We need to hunt," Rosalie reiterated. "Preferably large game."
Carlisle sighed.
I found it endearing how human he behaved, even at a time like this.
"Yes, Rosalie, we do," he agreed seeming to come back to himself. "First, though, we must secure Bella. The sun will be rising soon. I will need to confer with Billy Black, and if possible, I'd like her to go to Emily's. Please be a little more patient."
She nodded unhappily.
"In the mean time, can you please fill us in on how your meeting with Riley went?" I asked gently, seeing the stress in him.
He nodded and pulled me over to a sofa, placed me in his arms, and held me tight.
"He stayed on one side of the river and I on the other.
'I got your note,' Riley stated with a smirk. 'Clever thing you did, converting two of ours to your diet. It's great propaganda to gain more followers and thus spies.'
'We wish to live in peace, Riley. I intend you no harm,' I informed him. 'We did not convert your coven members. They came of their own free will and left of their own free will. They simply abided by our territory rules while they were in it.'
His smirked increased. 'Yes, Victoria told me that your lies are very persuasive and to guard myself. Clearly, killing our newborns isn't enough. You might have fooled those two idiots, but you won't fool me.'
'I do wish you would see reason, Riley,' I told him. 'The Volturi will come because you are not controlling your newborns, and they will not hesitate to kill your entire coven. We have been simply trying to help your newborns learn the rules.'
'You can say what you want old man. I know the truth, and you speak nothing but lies,' he insisted. 'Are you truly offering to hand over your human pet in exchange for us leaving your coven alone?'
'I am willing to agree an amicable solution,' I replied.
'Amicable, huh? What we leave, you get all this territory to yourself, and keep the human that Victoria desires? If you were more willing to share, we wouldn't have this problem,' he stated calmly and then snorted.
'She only wants this human because my son killed her mate. There is no need to get yourself killed for someone else's vendetta,' I told him.
'Lies!' he snarled back. 'She loves me. We are mates. She had no one of consequence before me,' he insisted seething.
'I was there, Riley. I fought against her previous coven and her mate James. We killed James in defence to ourselves.'
'So you brought me out here, what? To convince me of lies? You're not offering anything.'
'Are you sure, Riley? Certainly you have doubts to Victoria's true intentions. Will you not just walk away?' I pleaded with him.
'I have no doubts,' he told me defiantly. 'Did you lie to your messenger, then?'
'I'm willing to let the past be in the past. Victoria leaves us be and we'll leave her be,' I offered.
'Not good enough,' he retorted.
"With great reluctance and sadness I concluded with certainty that there was no other options left to us, so I told him 'We are willing to bring the human Victoria seeks to the field where her former coven and us first met.'
'Who's we?' he asked sceptically.
'My family and I will bring the girl,' I let him know.
'And the wolves?' he challenged.
'Are built to destroy our kind and will not hesitate to kill all whom they see as their enemy,' I informed him.
Riley looked at me sceptically. 'Victoria said that they focused on her and did not attack you.'
'Well, the girl Victoria seeks they see as one of their own. She has offended them in ways we have not.'
Riley seemed to be considering that. 'Will it not offend them if you give up your pet?'
'Very likely,' I told him.
He smiled broadly. 'Well then perhaps they will do the honour of disposing of you.' Then he snickered. 'I agree to your terms and will see you in a week. Same time as tonight in the field you said.'
'Agreed.' Then I turned and walked towards Jasper and Emmett who were well hidden."
"You agreed?" I seethed.
"You knew it was a possibility," he said in an attempt to soothe me.
"As a last resort," I retorted.
"He killed Bree and Diego. I am not Edward, so I could not read his mind, but I am nearly sure of it. We are out of options." He sighed heavily and wrapped me in closer.
The silence between us all was suffocating. Time passed slowly, as no one was willing to speak.
Rosalie stared at him. Once the sun had cleared the horizon, she asked through clenched teeth "How about now?"
He took out his phone and dialled Billy Black.
"Good morning, Mr. Black," Carlisle greeted him when the phone connected.
"Good morning, Carlisle. What I can I do for you?" he asked gruffly as if the question would expedite Carlisle leaving him alone.
"I was hoping that a friend of Bella's, Emily, could meet us at the border on one-oh-one and keep Bella in La Push all day?" Carlisle explained
"She can't drive her own truck?" he asked, as if he was offended.
"We do not wish to leave her unattended," Carlisle explained cordially. "She will drive her truck, yes."
"Let me see. I'll call you back."
"Of course, Mr. Black. Speak to you soon."
As soon as he closed the phone Emmett asked, "So, where are we going hunting?"
We all agreed that we couldn't go far, but our first priority would be to get Emmett a carnivore, he requested a bear, not to mention that the Jeep was still near Seattle. Our options weren't great. We were in the midst of trying to come to a consensus when Carlisle's phone rang.
"Emily agreed," Billy said as soon as it connected. "She'll meet Bella there in an hour. When she's ready to leave La Push, we'll escort her home and someone will stay outside guarding her."
"Thank you. We appreciate your willingness."
"Sure, sure."
Then he hung up.
"I had better go wake Bella," I told the family while I rose. "Please wait to talk strategies after we've left the house," I pleaded. "We have a whole week to prepare."
Everyone nodded reluctantly in agreement.
Unlocking the door, I entered. Going over to Bella's bed, I shook her shoulder slightly. "Bella darling, plans have changed. I need you to get up now."
She made strange sounds like she wanted to talk but grunted instead. Eventually she rolled to me and opened her eyes.
"Darling, we need to hunt after last night. Carlisle called Billy and we are to drive you home. We need you to drive your truck to the border where Emily will meet you and take you to her house."
She opened her eyes more and seemed to be more awake. "Is everyone okay?" she asked groggily.
"Emmett got hurt a little," I told her softly.
She gasped and her eyes got big. She looked like she was going to run out of the room.
I put a hand on her shoulder.
"But," I continued, "he's fine now. He's resting on the couch. He needs to hunt, as do we all. Please, for our sake, give him a little space as to not be too tempting to him. His body is using up a lot of resources in order to heal."
Her eyes grew larger. Then understanding settled in and a little sadness.
"He's grumpy about it as well. Get showered and dressed. I'll have breakfast ready for you. We need to be at the border in an hour."
"Okay," she answered her reluctance to obey clear. Nevertheless, she moved towards the shower.
Leaving and closing the door behind me, I went to make her some oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins and honey.
When she got to the bottom of the stairs she greeted everyone, "Good morning. How you going Emmett?" she asked concerned.
"All in one piece," he said playfully.
"He's healing fine," Carlisle stated.
"Good to hear," Bella said.
She hesitated as if considering whether or not to obey my request, but then came into the kitchen looking tense. Once she was settled, she ate her oatmeal quickly.
"Thank you for giving him space, Bella," I told her soothingly. "I know it's hard."
She simply nodded and took another bite.
"Can I come over tonight?" she asked me as we left the kitchen.
"Not too much excitement for one night?" I teased.
"I feel safer here," she explained.
"I'll call you when we get back home. Emmett particularly needs to find carnivores. It might take a while. If it's past ten in the evening, then I'll call in the morning."
"Okay," she answered dejected.
I gave her a hug attempting to reassure her where words would surely be insufficient.
Carlisle drove his car, while I sat in the back seat with Bella.
Once we left the drive, Carlisle spoke softly, "Bella, would you like to know what happened last night?"
"Yes, please," she said eagerly, but with some trepidation.
"I went to attempt to convince Riley and, by extension, Victoria to leave us alone. I was unsuccessful. Perhaps after graduation and Alice's party we will have a chance to tell you what we believe we will do next."
She nodded, but her body appeared dejected while her lips were in a thin line.
"Emmett attacked Paul on Jasper's suggestion to show Riley that we are not working together. Paul hurt Emmett in protection of himself. Later Riley was able to get into your room and take some of your clothes. The wolf protecting your father was unable to stop Riley, as he basically stayed in the trees. Your father is unharmed. He never even woke up."
Bella nodded with tears falling.
"Bella?" he asked worried.
"I just wish it would end. I just want those I love to be safe."
"As do we, dear," I told her patting her knee.
"We need you to heal, Bella, and to keep yourself safe. You are much more breakable than us," Carlisle stated emphatically probably trying to make sure she didn't repeat her actions in Phoenix.
"Please keep yourself safe," I pleaded. "I could not bear to lose you."
She nodded. "Okay, Esme."
"No Phoenix shenanigans, lady. You hear me?" I told her using my motherly voice wanting to make Carlisle's and my position was clear.
Her cheeks reddened. "Yes, got it. Any ideas I have I'll bring to the discussion after the graduation party."
"Good to hear. I'll hold you to that," I told her sternly.
"I know you will," she answered with a smile that was more sad and frustrated than anything.
We pulled up to the Swans, retrieved Bella's truck, and followed her to the border to meet Emily. It had been unsettling to have what could only been Riley's scent lingering in the air. If he had gotten into Charlie's house, despite the wolf on protection detail and our family's plan, then what chance was it that we would all make it out of the confrontation next week unharmed? We had no better options, but for the first time Bella being protected by the wolves didn't seem like enough.
Carlisle got out of the car and went to speak with Emily. We could hear at least two wolves hiding in the trees.
"Bella punched Jake for not being respectful of her. Can I trust you to keep her safe and Jacob in line?" Carlisle asked Emily.
Bella looked like she wanted to burn holes in Carlisle and be buried alive at the same time.
"Sure, Dr. Cullen," Emily stammered.
"Can I also trust in your discretion?" he asked probably for Bella's sake.
"Sure, Dr. Cullen. Bella will be fine with me."
Carlisle handed her a piece of paper. "This is my cell number. We will be up in the mountains and out of cell range most of the day, but if you leave a message, I will get it as soon as I can."
"Okay," she agreed clearly nervous.
"Thank you, Emily." Carlisle gave her one of his winning persuasive smiles that has convinced millionaires to hand over huge sums of money for new hospital wings.
"You're welcome, Dr. Cullen," she told him her eyes glazed over.
"Was that necessary?" I teased my husband when he got into the car.
"No," he smiled, "but I wished to take every precaution I could."
"That seemed like more love than faith," I told him smiling.
"Hope, faith, and love, my darling," he retorted.
"Oh, yeah?" I asked with a teasing tone.
"Hope that she will be all right, faith that we will get through this, and love for all of my family."
"We are being tested beyond our measure," I told him solemnly.
"Yes," he agreed and with a sigh added, "I just hope we pass the test."
"As do I," I answered.
"I heard what you said about needing a code, Esme. It's a good idea, and I'm glad you were precautious," he stated earnestly.
"Thanks," I said softly glad he had heard me.
We drove the rest of the way in silence holding hands, clinging onto each other desperately.
When we returned to the house, everyone was ready to go, probably due to Alice's assistance. We travelled slower than usual all keeping to Emmett's pace. His injuries were prohibiting his natural speed.
Emmett hunted first, allowing Alice to assist him in finding a bear. Later, after we all found deer, apart from Jasper who had caught the scent of a wolf, Emmett had been able to find another bear, this time without assistance. Even after Emmett was able to travel at his usual pace the hunting took longer than usual, because we never travelled far from one another, just in case. It was almost like Bree and Diego were still with us.
"Are you sure he killed them?" I had asked Carlisle as the six of us were searching out a herd of deer.
"Fairly certain," he had replied sadly.
"Why would he do such a thing?" I had asked grieved by the whole thing. "Diego trusted him and went to talk to him, because he felt that he owed Riley something. I don't understand."
Carlisle had looked over at Jasper and they had shared a look. Then Carlisle had tightened his grip on my hand. "Most likely because Riley and Victoria would see them coming with us and changing diets as a betrayal, and spies are not welcome."
My face had contorted in confusion. They had not betrayed Riley or Victoria, and they weren't spies.
"Esme," Jasper had stated his voice hard, "the way that Carlisle leads this family is not how vampires live. Victoria sees them as her property, since she made them. Her venom runs through their veins. Them doing anything less than harming us or dying trying is a betrayal."
Emmett, Rosalie, and I had blanched, while Carlisle had frowned. How to wrap my head around the idea that Carlisle would consider us property was beyond me.
"Did Maria see you that way?" I had asked Jasper softly, after some time had passed, hoping I hadn't offended him.
"You already know that's the case," he had simply replied.
Yes, he had told me the stories and explained that to me, but somehow it looked different from this angle. Diego and Bree weren't a story with a happy ending. Two young sweet kids had died, taken from this earth, because we had invested in them. Suddenly Jasper's and Carlisle's arguments and Carlisle's insistence with Diego that he not go back to Seattle took on a different meaning.
Abruptly, I had stopped in my tracks, causing Carlisle to stop with me. Turning to him, I had accused him, "You knew this might happen. This is why you warned Diego."
"There was a possibility," he had replied sadly, but without remorse.
"Then why bring them home? Why not just let them be?" I had demanded.
Emmett, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper had all stopped and circled back round to us. They had given us the illusion of space, but they each had looked concerned. Rosalie and Emmett especially had looked nervous. None of them had ever seen us actively fight, after all.
Jasper's faux calm had touched me and I had focused on my irritation hoping he would get the message. Fortunately, seconds later I had heard a quiet, "Yes, ma'am, just trying to help," along with a gentle chuckle.
Still Carlisle had said nothing, so I had just waited looking at him, imploring him to explain himself.
When Carlisle had finally spoken he sounded defeated but resolved. "I didn't want them to be forced to fight our family. Teaching them our ways and giving them freedom from Victoria seemed to me like the best option for them and for us."
Sighing heavily I had said, "But by taking them in, we signed their death certificates."
He had looked at my hand and then looking into my eyes he had implored me, "No, that is not the case. If they had headed my warnings and stayed clear of Seattle, then they might still be alive. They were good kids who were mistakenly loyal to whom they thought they could trust, and it cost them their lives."
Jasper's options would have been to kill them or leave them alone. Carlisle wanted to save them from their fate, and perhaps he would have succeeded, if they had stayed or had, at least, believed Carlisle that it was not safe to return to Seattle. It was compassionate and charitable of him and just like him, but there was something there that I could not name. He was acting from a place that was unusual for him, and, yet at the same time, it reminded me of our first encounter with Mary. I suspected that whatever emotional change Jasper had felt from Carlisle was being demonstrated in these events. I wasn't sure if I liked it.
Eying him speculatively all I could see in his eyes was his request for me to see his choice for what it was: his attempt at helping them and protecting us. "It upsets me, Carlisle, that we might have played a part in their demise," I had told him.
"We gave them a month of games and banter and not killing humans. That must be worth something?" he had challenged me gently.
"Yes," I had agreed. "It is. Yet, it is not enough. I wish it would have ended differently."
"As do I," he had told me heartedly. "As do I," he had repeated softer than a gentle breeze.
"No more bringing them home, Carlisle, please for me. My heart cannot take it," I had pleaded my voice quieting.
"All right, my love, for you," he had agreed clearly upset by my state. "And I am sorry for the heartache this has caused you."
"I lay any heartache I feel at Victoria's feet. You were only trying to help." Then I had wrapped him in my arms.
"Am I helping or harming?" he had whispered into my ear.
"Helping," I had whispered back. "Your intensions are noble."
"I wanted a family, not a coven," he had murmured to me, "but I am afraid, and it is hard not to exert my control when it is in my grasp."
"True, but we love and respect you more for not doing so, when we know you could."
He had pulled back and had looked into my eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, absolutely certain," I had stated definitely.
Nodding, whatever uncertainty had been left on his features dissipated. He had grabbed my hand and we had started running off, as if the conversation had not happened.
Alice had spent much of the time when she wasn't hunting searching for Victoria. From their visit to Seattle, the kids had guessed that Victoria had about nine or ten newborns. Alice had seen glimpses of people being stolen off the street and corralled into a large white van. Alice had said there could have been up to sixteen people in the van. She also had confirmed that once Diego had met up with Riley she had no longer been able to see Diego's future.
"I can't say with absolute certainty that it happened, as it was fuzzy, but it looked like Victoria tore him apart piece by piece for information, while Riley held him down," she had told us.
When she had said that, I was so disgusted that I had a sensation like wanting to be sick. Carlisle had held me, while Jasper had eyed me speculatively.
Once the family had recovered some, Alice added, "I saw Bree find Fred and decide to tell him what she found out, and then there was a flash of her hiding behind him, but haven't been able to see her since."
Disbelief and grief ripped through me. Although it had been their choice to go back to Seattle, despite Carlisle's and Jasper's protests, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty for what Alice had seen had happened to them. Not to mention that I didn't want to imagine what it had been like for Alice to watch Diego's end. Given how closely Alice and Jasper had travelled together and the looks on Alice's face, I suspected that Jasper was aiding her in telling him of every detail Diego had confessed. It was horrible to realise that Jasper had suspected this might happen, and his reasoning for not wanting them to meet the Quileutes, and what he was forcing Alice to experience, so that he could better strategise. I couldn't grasp how Jasper could think in these ways and be so gentle and kind, but without doubt I was not cut out for these realities.
The other topic of conversation that had come up while we hunted had been the Volturi and if they would visit our corner of the world. As Alice had never met any of the Volturi leaders, she couldn't tell us if they were sending someone, but Jasper wanted us to plan for a yes. Unfortunately, despite Alice's efforts, she had not been able to pin Victoria's plans more definitely, which irritated her. Despite the scarcity of information Alice had relayed, Jasper appeared more prepared as we returned from our hunt.
Once we got back into range for cell service, I had a voicemail from Bella letting me know that she had gotten home safely to Charlie's and was looking forward to seeing us tomorrow, which was now today, since it was only a few hours from sunrise by the time we got home.
Overall, as we came in viewing distance of the house, I believed that the hunting trip had been successful. Other than Carlisle and my heavy exchange, I had enjoyed hunting together, even with the extended length of time it had taken. We had not yet resolved how to make amends with the Quileute protectors, although Carlisle would certainly be calling Billy Black after the sun rose.
We'd only been home a short while and began discussing strategy for the upcoming meeting with Victoria when Rosalie spat, "If that idiot ever comes home, I'm going to make him pay for having us fight his battles without him."
I looked over to Carlisle, and he shook his head.
It had been too long since we had any contact with Edward.
Carlisle and I looked at Alice as if to ask, "any chance he's going to show up?"
"Still in Brazil in his attic room best I can tell, it's really fuzzy though, like he has stopped making decisions at all," she reported.
That wasn't good, but that wasn't today's problem. And we had enough problems as it was; there was no need to borrow any.
A/N: I want to thank everyone who's still with me and offers me encouragement. Your words and feedback have really made a difference. You are greatly appreciated!
