I was trying to read between the lines of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. It was near impossible to decipher the complicated words. More than once in the passed hour, I've gotten bored and my eyes kept traveling to Jasper who was cradling a sleeping Renesmee in his arms. He was currently looking out the window, watching for Bella who had gone out to do me a favor.
I've been doing nothing but reading since yesterday to keep my mind off of things that I wasn't supposed to be thingking about. So far, Edward has shown absolutely no signs of suspicion and I was secretly proud of myself for blocking my thoughts so well.
I heard a soft yawn from Renesmee and looked up to see her stir and open her eyes. I watched, curiosity evident in my expression, as Jasper's face transformed when he smiled down at the child.
"Good morning," he whispered to her. She blinked and smiled brilliantly.
"Shame that you're awake," he continued, "You're Auntie Rose is going to come and take you away from me."
I listened and sure enough, upstairs it sounded like Carlisle was finished talking to everyone about a 'matter of great urgency'. I had also been reading to block them out, not sure I wanted to know what was wrong.
"But she won't," Jasper said conspiritorially, "If she thinks you're still asleep. Will she?"
Renesmee stifled a giggle and shook her head. Jasper put a finger to his lips.
"Shh. She's coming."
"Jasper?" Rosalie asked, coming down the stairs followed by Jacob, Alice, Seth, Quil, Emmett and Embry, "Who are you talking to?"
At the angle he was turned, I was the only one who saw his face go blank with shock. I closed the book.
"Me, of course," I smiled. It was good that my highly amused smile was real since Jasper and I didn't exactly do much talking to each other. Rosalie eyed me suspiciously but seemed to buy it when Jasper turned and shot me a grateful smile.
"Any luck?" Seth murmured to me, gesturing to the book. I shook my head.
"Nada. It's like a foreign language."
Just then, the door swung open and Bella walked in, plucked the book out of my hand and replaced it with one she had taken off the shelf upon entering. I looked down at the cover. Jane Eyre. I flipped through some pages and sure enough, it was understandable.
"Thanks," I said earnestly, my eyes flashing toward her oversized handbag. For everything.
She replied with perfect nonchalance, "Not a problem." She looked around and frowned. "Where's Ed-"
The door opened again and in stepped Edward...holding a cat carrier.
"Mon Dieu!" I exclaimed, "What is that horrid smell?" Edward shot me a peeved glare.
"What does it look like?" he snapped. I eyed the jerking cat carrier warily, getting up to take a closer look.
"Cool," Seth laughed, wrinkling his nose, "My mom hates cats."
Edward turned the glare on him. "I know."
Esme and Carlisle had come down, exchanging a look upon seeing the box. They're expressions got a chuckle from Emmett and I had to admit it was funny. Carlisle blinked at the box several times and Esme stared blankly, trying to make sense of it.
"Edward, what-"
Carlisle didn't get to finish his sentence. I'd stuck my finger through a hole in the small gate and the cat inside went berserk. It let out a high pitched shriek and thrashed around violently. I jumped back, appalled.
"Est-il sauvage?" I gasped, discreetly giving the cat a wide berth and tucking myself into Seth's side. By now, Renesmee had lifted her head, frowning at the feline. Edward brought the cat up to eye level and hissed at it, glowering when it hissed right back.
"It's domestic," he answered me, "But in a way, yes, it's wild."
"I just want to know what it's doing here," Quil put in, giving the cat an odd look.
Edward sighed with a martyred expression and proceeded to tell us how Bella's father, Charlie, had called him up to ask him to take care of Mr. Whiskers. Apparently, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson had a long living feud with Mr. and Mrs. Kent concerning the Jacksons' cat, Whiskers, and the Kents' dog, Jack. The Kents' have been complaining that Whiskers has been harassing their dog forever. The Jacksons' argue that he wouldn't have to if Jack would stay off their property.
"He's asking for it!" Edward mimicked Mrs. Jackson.
While the cat lovers of the neighborhood suggest that the Kents' move or get rid of the dog, the dog lovers say it's blasphemous and the cat should go instead. With both halves of the neighborhood at each other's throats, the authorities had been called and it was decided that the pets be removed to look at the situation impartially. The Kents have gotten some friends to take Jack in for a while but the Jacksons were having a hard time finding a temporary home for Mr. Whiskers.
"I wonder why," Jacob muttered sardonically.
So Charlie had offered to keep him. But not only was Whiskers a handful but Seth and Leah's mother, Sue, refused to come near Charlie if he didn't get rid of the cat.
"Charlie assumed, since there are a lot of us, we would be able to take care of him," Edward finished.
There was silence for a moment as we all took in the extremely odd tale.
Rosalie broke the silence, "Absolutely not."
"Rose," a few people warned as she crossed the room and snatched the box from Edward.
"No, no, no," she said in a tone one would use when chiding a child, holding up a finger, "Do not 'Rose' me. There are five dogs in this house. The last thing we need is a cat. And if we kill it, there's no more dispute. So everybody's happy."
"Except for the Jacksons," Emmett piped up.
"Besides," Bella added, "What will we tell Charlie?"
"We'll blame curiousity!"
Rosalie made a mistake just then. She had jabbed a finger at the cat carrier in her zeal, not looking at what she was poking. It felt like it happened in slow motion. Rosalie landed her finger on the lock, causing it to snap and the door to open with a small creak. At first, nothing happened, causing us all to peer into the dark box with wide eyes. Mr. Whiskers chose then to make his grand entrance.
The black cat leapt out of the crate. I yelped and fell back onto the couch as it streaked through the room and up the stairs.
"Oh, no," I heard Alice murmur. She raced up the stairs, followed by everyone else.
I soon found out the reason for Alice's distress. We got upstairs just in time to see the feline from six feet under dart into Alice and Jasper's room. She stormed down the hall and we all crowded through the door behind her. The devil's favorite pet seemed to shoot us a smug look before sauntering through a door to the right of the bed.
Alice shook her head slowly, staring after Whiskers in disbelief.
"It's in her closet," Emmett stated the obvious.
"Good," Rosalie said, "Then we'll never see it again." Jacob cut her a look.
"What do you have against the cat, anyway?" he asked.
"What have I got against it? Have you smelled the thing?"
"Well, someone's going to have to go get it," Alice said defiantly, "And it's not gonna be me."
"It's you're closet," Seth pointed out.
"Yes, but if I go in there I'll end up strangling it."
Just when we had decided to leave him and let him come out when he's hungry, the little demon came darting out again, right pass us and into the hall again. This time I surged to the front of the group, letting out a gasp of horror when Whiskers made a beeline for my room.
"After it!"
I tore to the end of the hall and froze in the doorway at the sight before me. The living apocalypse was lying down on my bed. Making a big show of stretching and rolling around.
"Ew! You little-"
I made a grab for the- hell, the devil himself. But Whiskers was faster than I'd given him credit for and he leapt off the bed, and jumped out of the window, landing on the sill outside.
"NO!"
In order for the next turn of events to be understood, I must explain myself. Almost three months and I still didn't know my own strength. So every time I close my window, it slams. Needless to say, the frame is weak.
And so, when we all let out the cry of denial, the sheer vibration of our collective shout travelled through the room and slammed the window shut.
"Wait, wait, wait," Rosalie held out her arms before we could rush forward, "This is a good thing. Now we can blame stupidity!"
It occured to me then that over the course of eighty years, some of Emmett's good humor was bound to rub off on Rose.
"We're not killing the cat, Rosalie," Edward muttered as we crowded around the window.
The hell-cat looked out below, and looked back at us, seeming to actually gloat.
So long, suckers!
We contemplated what to do as Whiskers built up the courage to jump.
"Open the window. Open the window!" Esme panicked.
"No, wait! If we open it, we could scare him into jumping," Bella reasoned.
"Well, then somebody go down there to catch him!"
All eyes turned to Edward. He scoffed.
"Why me?"
"You are the one that brought it in," I deadpanned. Edward shot Carlisle a pleading look. He shook his head, eyes twinkling with amusement.
"She's right, son," he clapped him on the shoulder, "It's only fair."
When we were able to see him from the window, Quil said, "Ready?"
Edward rolled his eyes, "As I'll ever be."
I flung the window open and the trifling cat just...stood there. It gave a disdainful glare with it's golden eyes and jumped back into the room, slinking out of the open door.
We all gaped after it silently, not believing the little trouble maker.
Well. I knew what was keeping me busy for the next three days.
A/N: There it is! I honestly don't know where this came from...but it did and I said "Well, something had to happen in those three days." So I think there will be one more chapter before the actual 'back to Seattle' chapter. Hope you enjoyed!
Your CuTii3Pii3 ;)