All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer
Dollybigmomma freaking rocks the beta scene!
Chapter 25 – Duck and Cover
EDWARD
We made it back to the cave just in time to see Oliver trying to change Jacob's diaper. Monkeys and shit, you know what happened next, right? That little bastard threw a handful right at me. "Stop throwing shit!" I yelled.
Polly decided to back me up, squawking, "Stop throwing shit!"
She didn't like Oliver that much, since he liked to poke and spook the birds. Anytime something was yelled at him, she picked it up immediately. Bella was not pleased with Polly's swearing, but technically, it wasn't swearing, because it was referring to shit, not calling someone or something shit. I didn't point that out to her, because I had a feeling she would tell Oliver to throw more shit at me.
Bella quickly cleaned Jacob up in the cave water, and Oliver as well. Sam followed me outside to the waterfall. I knew he needed a break from that little monkey bastard. I knew he drove Sam just as crazy as me. "Hey, boy, sorry about leaving you behind this morning." I realized I was talking to him like Bella talked to the chickens. Maybe I was nuts.
BELLA
I got to making breakfast, once the baby and Ollie were cleaned up. I really was getting sick of eggs and wanted to see if that field of grain had survived the storm. I suspected it was some kind of wild wheat, and we could make bread and pancakes, maybe even muffins, if I just had some damn wheat of some kind to make flour. But no, Edward was too worried about the mountain lions attacking. The field wasn't even on the mountain! We still had yet to find the goats as well. I was getting really worried about them.
I served everyone some scrambled eggs, just as Edward returned. I noticed the scowl he gave Ollie. I would have to talk to him about being nicer to him. Otherwise, he'd probably end up getting poop thrown at him again. He sat down with Sam and ate his breakfast in silence. Once he was done, he read his letter from Alice and let out a sigh.
"I'm going to help you get the clay ready for throwing," he said and slipped out after kissing me on the top of my head. He seemed sad, and I wondered why that was. It worried me. I pulled out my letter and read the short section for the day. She basically told us to focus on getting the clay pots ready and for me not to go off looking for the goats on my own. I rolled my eyes. It was crazy how she always seemed to know what I was thinking. I hoped to meet this Alice someday and ask her why I couldn't do so many things.
Edward used some rocks and a piece of the old tarp from the roof of our hut to make a soaking bin for the clay. I lined it with a section of one of the sheets and then loaded the clay into it, covering it with enough water to start breaking it down. It needed to be softened so the rocks and tidbits trapped in the clay could settle out, and then it needed to go through the process of settling, straining and curing before I could begin working with it.
Edward seemed very distracted today, and it was starting to worry me. Once the clay was set up, he started polishing some of the sections of the sheet metal he had found. He used his machete to chop at it, breaking it into smaller sections. I was about to ask him what he was doing when he walked over to a wall of the cave and angled a piece of it just right, catching the rays and reflecting the sunlight in from the hole above.
"This will give us more useful room in the cave and better light during the day," he said wedging it up into some roots.
The chickens saw the freshly illuminated section of cave and scurried over looking for bugs. Polly squawking, "Be nice and share!" led me to believe they'd found some.
Ollie found the sheet metal entertaining. He kept swooping down in front of it and jumping back up, watching the light in the next room go on and off. Yeah, so glad we didn't have light switches right now.
EDWARD
Alice wanted me to tell Bella everything, before we had sex. I wasn't really planning on having sex with her tonight, but I was hoping to get off. Jesus, I didn't want to tell her. She barely thought I was sane as it was. I thought it might be okay to just get off with her and not have sex. They were two very different things. Besides, I thought Bella deserved a special night if we did decide to have intercourse. I suspected she was a virgin and was surprised by her forwardness at the waterfall. I definitely enjoyed it and would have enjoyed her more, if it weren't for those meddling kids!
I laughed to myself, thinking of Scooby Doo. I loved watching that as a kid. I always tried to figure out who the culprit was before Thelma. I thought she was so cool, because she always knew. I'd wanted to be a detective for a while. My mind reading would've come in handy, but my parents pushed me to be a doctor. I struggled with what a saw in everyday people's minds. My father didn't want that for me. He knew I needed a career where I was too focused to listen to anyone, and the adrenalin of having a life in your hands on the surgical table was enough to keep me focused.
I had helped a lot of people, until Tanya happened. I just wished I could get her thrown into a mental hospital and get my name cleared. Alice told me it would happen one day, but not for a long time. She told me that going to help my friend, Ben, in Florida would be the key to it all, but I never made it. Was that part of the plan? Did she know things would end like this? I let out a sigh. Of course she did. She packed the damn trunks, didn't she? I just didn't understand why she would send me on a crashing plane to be stranded on a deserted island. If anything, that would make me crazier than I already was.
EMMETT
I drove up to the address I'd been given over the phone. It was a large gated estate. I buzzed in and parked across from the doorway, getting out and looking around, before a large mean-looking guy opened the door. "Mr. Cullen, this way, please."
I gave him a tight smile, because the dude freaked me out a little.
"Ms. Hale is in the front parlor," he said opening a door.
I walked in to see a blonde woman looking over some papers on a coffee table.
"Please have a seat, Mr. Cullen," she said waving her hand toward the seat across from her. I noticed a large scar running up her arm and did my best not to stare.
"Please, call me Emmett, Ms. Hale," I said as I sat down. She looked up at me and smiled. From a distance, I doubted anyone would have noticed the scars that covered her body, since she had covered them with makeup, but as close as I was to her, I could see several covering her face and running down her neck. "So, you think you know why Alice wanted me to talk to you?"
"Yes, you say you don't want to be sent on a wild goose chase. She sent you here, so I could reassure you it's not." She reached next to her and grabbed a silver cane. She stood up slowly, and it looked like it was painful. I quickly stood and offered her a hand. She smiled a soft beautiful smile, thanking me. "You see, Mr. Cullen..."
"Emmett," I reminded her.
"Emmett," she said my name smiling wider and it made my chest pinch in excitement. "You see, Emmett, I used to be a beautiful girl." I wanted to protest, but I didn't want to interrupt her, either. "My father had married Mrs. Brandon a little after my seventeenth birthday. I was aware I had a stepsister and knew she was in a mental hospital, and that had caused the divorce between her parents. I was told she was wicked and that she cursed people that didn't do as she said. I was never to talk to her. I was never going to meet her, so I had nothing to worry about." She let out a deep sigh and pulled a book off of a shelf next to her.
"She called me one night. She was upset and in tears, and she begged me not to go to a party my friend, Nathan, was having. I thought she was crazy, but she wouldn't give up. She called me for three days, and I finally told my father what was happening. I was stupid. I was annoyed by her and told her to stop calling me. My father got her phone privileges cut off." She sat back down.
"The night of the party, I went without a second thought, though my stepmother watched me worriedly as I left. She told me to be careful. She was afraid Alice would hurt me. They thought she was jealous of me. They were wrong. This," she motioned to her scarred body and leg, "happened that night. She had tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. My parents thought it was Alice's doing, but I knew better. So when I turned eighteen, I started to visit with her. She cried when she saw me looking like this, and I told her I was sorry I didn't listen. I promised I'd never take her for granted again. I wanted to take her home with me, but I couldn't. I was still under the care of nurses, not fully able to care for myself, so they wouldn't release her to me.
"Everything I have now is thanks to Alice. I follow her investment advice to the 'T' daily, and she's never let me down. I finish my last bout of physical therapy next week, and then I'll finally be able to bring her home to live with me. She's not crazy, Mr. Cullen. She's gifted. If she says your brother is alive, then he's alive. We just need to listen to her, so we can go get him."
She opened the book, and I saw it was several maps of the Bermuda Triangle. "She says he's about here," she pointed to a section on the map, and I realized all the papers on the table were of the latest storm that had passed through there. She was pointing out where I'd be going to find my brother. "Oh, and one more thing, Emmett," she said with a smile. "We'll be coming with you. Apparently, Edward is a dear friend of hers, and she insists he's not crazy, either. So, do you mind telling me why Alice believes Edward isn't insane?"
I let out a sigh. This was a long nasty story, and I'd always covered for Edward. I didn't really want to share it now, but the look she gave me, let me know there was no way I was leaving without telling her. I just hoped she would still want to help me after she knew it.
A/N: Thanks for reading and please review! The pottery stuff is all Dollybigmomma. I don't know jack about that stuff. As I said, she is the one you want to get stranded with on the island. She is freaking awesome!