Alice and I were outside her niece's apartment in Biloxi. She was going to introduce herself as a new neighbor and hope Elenora, her niece, would agree to meet with her again, coming over for coffee or tea.
There was an open apartment in the building, which Alice had quickly snapped up, covering all the windows in curtains to block out the sunlight. Days had proven to be a problem here, although we had enough cloudy ones to make do. After finding her records at the asylum, her birth date in 1901 and death date in 1920 were both listed, it was simple to take her name, Mary Alice Brandon, and find family in the area. There was more than one family named Brandon in Mississippi, but the library had an article from the newspaper about the fire in the asylum that covered for her disappearance.
Only one patient fell casualty to the blaze that tore through one wing of The Mississippi State Insane Asylum. Many more were injured, suffering from smoke inhalation and small injuries resulting from the evacuation. Mary Alice Brandon, native of Biloxi, is believed to have been in the room the fire spread from. Whether she, herself, was the cause of this incendiary disaster, or another culprit was to blame, is not clear at this point. Damage to the asylum is estimated at $2,000 and expected to take most of the year to repair. In the meantime, patients are being relocated to the East State Hospital in Meridian.
In Biloxi, there was only one Brandon family. We were able to visit Alice's grave there, next to her parents', Jean and Norman. With that information we had been able to find other family, notably her sister, Cynthia, and Cynthia's daughter Elenora.
Cynthia was buried in the same cemetery as Alice and her parents, under the name Cynthia Olson, alongside her husband Richard. It was only after discovering their wedding announcement in the local archives that Alice had learned of her sister at all. She was a few years younger than Alice and had passed a handful of years earlier at the age of ninety-six.
Her daughter, by no means young at eighty-six, was still living on her own. The archives had also allowed us to follow the birth of Elenora's children, and a couple of her grandchildren, born to the daughters that had stayed in Biloxi.
"Hello?" the door was answered by a small woman with wispy grey hair. Her face was deeply lined, but most deeply at the corners of her eyes and mouth. It made me smile to see them. She was tentative when she saw strangers, but smiled when she met our eyes. "How can I help you?" Her voice had a rasp that reminded me of tobacco smoke.
"Actually, we were wondering if we might be able to help you," Alice said in a cheery voice. "I'm Alice and this is my husband, Jasper." My heart filled when she called me her husband. It had been months since we'd left Bella, and we had become even closer in her absence. A ceremony and a ring were the only things missing to proclaim our married status to the world at large. The ring was taken care of. She wore a placeholder now, but I had something to give her when the time was right. "We just moved in down the hall. We wanted to introduce ourselves and let you know we're here if there's anything you need."
Elenora looked up at me and smiled. "New neighbors. How lovely. I'm Elenora White and was just making myself a pot of tea. Would you care to join me?" She turned, entering the room.
Alice bounced on her toes once with glee before following Elenora into her apartment. "What a lovely use of the space, Mrs. White." Her one-bedroom was as tiny as the one we were sharing, but Elenora had divided it using screens and furniture to create the illusion of more rooms.
"Why thank you, Alice. It's a lot to clean," she said with a sigh, but Becky usually comes to help with that." The kettle on the stove whistled and Alice bustled up to the burner.
"Let me get that for you," she said, filling the pot.
"Thank you, dear. Are you liking the neighborhood? I'm glad to be so close to so many things." Alice and Elenora chatted about the nearness of the amenities, her daughters who still came to help her from time to time, and a little about her deceased husband, Eric.
"He was almost as handsome as Jasper when he was young. He courted me so diligently. Mother loved him from the start, but my father never thought he was good enough for me. Daddy always thought the world revolved around me, his little girl." She shook her head and sipped her tea. "It was the only thing Eric and Daddy had in common," she said with a giggle.
Alice joined her. I could feel Elenora's eyes taking me in more and more often, her nervousness and awkwardness increasing as the tea cup emptied. I offered to pour the ladies another, rising as I did so.
"I should go and continue unpacking. Alice, why don't you stay and keep Mrs. White company?"
"Elle," she insisted, not for the first time. "Or Elenora, if you must."
I kissed her cheek and heard her heart flutter. Carlisle would have my head if I gave the poor old woman a heart attack. "Very well, Elle. You keep Alice occupied, and don't listen to anything she tells you about me."
They ladies laughed as I saw myself out.
"How do you not swoon every time he kisses you?" Elenora asked as I closed the door.
I couldn't hear Alice's answer.
We spent several weeks in that building, tracing Alice's family from Elenora and trying to get a lead on the elusive Daniel, who had changed her. We were having no luck on the latter and were preparing to move on, in search of nomads who might be able to help us, when Bella called. She mustn't have planned it because Alice started bouncing only a few seconds before snatching the ringing phone from my belt clip.
"Hello? Bella! How are you?"
I could hear her through the speaker. "Great, Alice. How is it going? Carlisle told me you were looking for your family."
"Yes! I found my niece, Bella. Her name is Elenora and she is the sweetest lady you ever met."
"That's great, Alice! I'm so happy for you!" I couldn't sense Bella's emotions, but her honest glee was unmasked in her voice. "I miss you both and wanted to make sure you're coming home for Thanksgiving. I'll be there for a few days and really do want to see you."
"Of course we're going to be there, Bella." Alice sounded exasperated. "Did you think I'd miss the chance to see you?"
"Maybe," she said a little sadly.
She looked at me and shook her head. "I'm not upset with you, silly girl. You did what you had to do. I was foolish to think we could change your mind." Her eyes blurred for a moment. "Oh, Thanksgiving," she murmured.
"Yes, Alice?" Bella asked, stuttering slightly.
"We're going to have a great holiday, Bella," she said confidently. Her emotions didn't match her tone though. Although she was confident, she was also anxious, concerned.
"I thought so. Jasper is there, right?" she verified.
I chuckled. "Yes, I can hear you just fine." I spoke loud enough for the phone to pick up my voice.
"Oh, good."
"Okay, Bella, as much as I love hearing from you, this phone call is making me miss you more," Alice whined.
"She was doing just fine until you called," I told Bella. "Now I think she might spontaneously combust if she doesn't see you."
"And you know how bad that is for our kind," Alice retorted.
Bella's laugh came through the phone, making both of us smile and long to see her. "Well, you will see me — in just a couple weeks. I'll be at the house on Monday."
"Not until Monday?" I asked, curious.
Alice shook her head, indicating I should stop.
"Yeah, I'm having dinner with Charlie and Sue. Seth should be there with his girlfriend. Charlie was telling me all about her, how good she's been for Seth."
"Julie's a real nice girl, Bella. You'll like her. Did Charlie say anything else about her?"
"Just that she'd bullied Seth into moving back with Sue. He accepted on the condition that she get Leah's old room. Dad said Sue would have accepted them sharing a room if it brought Seth home."
I laughed. "I doubt she would have accepted that. I'm glad to hear they're both well. And you? Classes are good?"
"Um, yeah. Classes are good. I should probably get back to the paper I'm supposed to be writing."
"Oh, Bella," Alice pouted. "Don't hang up. We won't talk about stinky classes. We can talk about boys!" She brightened, but I fumed. I didn't want to hear about Bella with other men.
"I... I've had a couple of dates, but none of them were really my type."
"How's that?" Alice asked.
"They had pulses, can you believe it?" she said indignantly, making both Alice and I laugh loudly.
"You are so silly. You make sure those human boys treat you at least half as well as we did," Alice ordered.
"If they don't, they don't get second dates," Bella assured her.
"Good. We really do miss you, Bella," Alice murmured.
"I really miss you too, Alice. It's not really class without you in the desk next to me, not chatting with you over lunch. I swear, I'm actually learning something."
That made me laugh and Alice scowl. "You learned with me."
"Just not Math or Science," Bella retorted.
"No, much more interesting subjects," Alice agreed.
"Oh, Alice, how am I going to make it through two more weeks?"
"The same way you made it through the last two months," I told her. "Just like we will. I just wish we got you for longer over the holiday."
Alice shook her head again. What was she trying to tell me?
"Yes, well, we'll make the most of the time, won't we?" Bella answered. "Goodbye, Alice, Jasper. I love you both."
"I love you, Bella. And miss you so much!" Alice sang into the phone.
"Goodbye, Bella. We'll see you soon." I felt empty when Alice hit the call end button.
After indulging in the morose feeling for a moment, I shook it off to ask Alice. "What's happening at Thanksgiving?"
"She's coming home!" she said happily. "I don't want to tip her off that I know, or change her mind in some way, but she's coming home!"
"She just told us she's coming home." I really didn't understand Alice's excitement.
"She's coming to Carlisle." Alice spun in a circle. "She's going to ask him to change her." She squealed with glee. "They're going to be such a cute couple. I knew this was the best ending." She continued to dance.
There hadn't been any significant changes in Bella and Carlisle's relationship before she left, and neither had mentioned anything since. I grabbed the phone and called our father.
"Hello?" he answered, apparently not at the hospital.
"Carlisle, have you talked to Bella since she left?"
"Just yesterday actually. She was calling looking for you and Alice." His voice was chipper. "We never told her you were leaving as well."
"Right, she mentioned that. We just talked to her, too."
"Doesn't she sound great?" he asked, cheer in his voice. "She was so enthusiastic, telling me all about her classes, her professors. She's really enjoying it."
She hadn't seemed to want to talk about class with us. Something was up. "Yeah, she seems really happy. Excited to see us at Thanksgiving."
"Yes! She wanted to make sure I was going to be here Sunday. I thought it was odd, where else would I be?"
I bit my lip. Minx. "Yes, about that. I think Alice and I might be a little late getting there. We're going to detour a bit on the way back, try to find some nomads who might know Daniel."
"That's a good idea. You won't dally too long, though. Bella doesn't have that long a vacation." He worried about us missing her. I wasn't going to be the one to tip him off. Alice was practically vibrating next to me, listening to our conversation.
"No, we'll be there Sunday night or Monday morning, for sure."
"Good. I miss you and Alice as well. This house is seems extra large when it's empty."
"It won't be empty much longer," I assured him.
"It's going well then?" he brightened.
"Yes, I'll let Alice tell you all about her niece." I handed the phone to Alice.
Bella was coming back to Carlisle, to ask him to change her. And he didn't know it. He was in for quite the surprise.
Thanks again to Sharebear for beta reading.