Chapter Forty Seven

Harry

When the stranger came to find me I knew Charlie had got a message to Johnny H even if he hadn't spoken to him personally. My two "guards" stiffened as the stranger approached the cabin and knocked on the door.

"Yeah?"

"I've come to collect Harry Clearwater, he's wanted at the council meeting."

"Well he's sick so I guess the meeting will have to go on without him"

I heard a sudden noise and the door burst open with a crash before the calm voice came once more,

"That was a warning, do not mess in guardian business. Now go home both of you now, before I lose my temper"

There was a scuffling sound as my two guards scrambled for their shoes then the noise of running feet and the inner door opened to reveal the stranger looking amused.

"Harry Clearwater?"

"Yes"

"Are you well enough to attend the council meeting?"

"Yes I'm fine. Did Charlie get to Denali?"

"I'm sorry, I can't answer any questions but Johnny H had requested that you speak with him if you are well enough"

I grabbed my jacket and followed the stranger out of Emily's and over to the village centre and the bonfires. Standing with his head bowed and arms crossed on his chest was a young man who could only be our leader. He looked up as I approached and held out his hand,

"Harry, I'm glad you are recovered enough to join us. I would be very grateful if you could tell me what really happened the night the wolf pack was destroyed."

I nodded and took a seat close to him aware all eyes were on me and most were hostile as I began to speak. I was ashamed of the tribes actions but I held nothing back, telling him everything I knew for sure and then what I suspected and the icy silence when I finished speaking had me shivering.

The young man looked angry and disappointed and shook his head looking directly at Old Quil, Sam, and Billy, who were seated close to each other.

"Do you have any rebuttal to Harry's story of the events?"

"We did what was necessary to rid ourselves of our enemies."

"You lied, you manipulated, and you decided that in order to gain your ends the life of an innocent girl was a price you were prepared to pay."

"That's not how we saw it"

"Obviously not but I don't see any other interpretation of the facts, the girl is dead to her world, now a vampire herself and your pack is dead. The price you were willing to pay was unacceptable."

"I feel the pain of my brothers and sister but the vampires are gone so they didn't die in vain."

Sam was unrepentant even now.

"But they did. They thought they were fighting for the tribes survival, its safety. Instead their deaths have lost the tribe its only protection and killed a human. Perhaps you can find a way to justify those consequences but I cannot. Nor can I forgive the lies, to others of your tribe, to your friends and to me."

I waited, wondering what Johnny H would do about the Quileute actions because there was no way he was going to allow such deeds to go unpunished. The others realised this too and their faces became tense and worried.

"I cannot undo the wrong you did to the girl Bella Swan, there is no power that can turn her human again and so her father loses his daughter as she loses her humanity. I can however make sure that such a thing never happens again and I will."

Sam

Harry had betrayed us just as we feared he would and now it was all up for the rest of us.. I had no idea what Johnny H would see as a fit punishment but from Quils sober expression he was expecting the worst.

"If it were just the pack who had disgraced the tribe then perhaps something simple could have been done but these actions were agreed with the very elders whose job it is to guide the tribe in the ways of our peoples. Instead you corrupted all that was good in the Quileute tribe and brought disgrace down on not only yourselves but all guardians. We must be not only just and wise but seen to be these by others. One corrupt tribe could bring all down with them and we have worked too hard over the centuries to allow such a thing"

"It was my idea and mine alone"

"Do not lie to me Samuel Uley. Even if it were your idea to begin with the elders had to agree to the actions. Or are you telling me that the elders had no idea what was planned?"

I was about to say yes when Quil flashed me a look that stopped me in my tracks then answered the question himself,

"The elders approved the actions and if everything had gone as intended you would not be here now. The Cullens would be destroyed and the Quileutes free from the horrors of the guardians."

"You see it as a horror? Your young men phase to keep you safe, they should be honoured for that not treated as some kind of monsters. This tribe has been allowed to get away with too much over the years. It was thought you were knowledgeable enough and wise enough to look after yourselves but I see that was wrong. Every guardian tribe keeps the peace in its area if threatened but they do not go out of their way to cause such trouble. Your actions could have ignited a war between the guardians and the vampires. Ironic since it was your tribe who made the treaty with the vampires in the first place. A treaty that although it worried me I condoned and for many years it has worked, there have been no vampire attacks close to the reservation or the town. The Cullens proved that such a treaty could work but now...how will the vampires trust any of us after your betrayal?"

"We do not need their trust but their destruction so the guardians are no longer needed and our young people can live their lives as they should."

Johnny H turned to me,

"Is this the way you feel Samuel?"

"I think it should be a man's choice whether he phases or not, we shouldn't be forced into it."

"I see, then I think I can help you. Matthew"

The second of the two men who had accompanied Johnny H closed his eyes and bowed his head, his lips moving but no sound escaping. It was quiet and there was a feeling of expectancy in the air, almost like the static before a storm.

It was several minutes before Matthew raised his head again and looked at his leader nodding just once.

"The Quileutes are no longer a guardian tribe, no more of your young men will phase and those who have already done so will find they no longer have the power to do so."

"But we are unprotected now."

"You cannot have it both ways. If any of your tribe wish to join others they will be made welcome, any that stay do so on the understanding that they are alone. As for the elders, Quil, Sue, Billy and Sam, you will join me in Denali and any of the tribe who wish to stay here in Forks can elect new elders for the tribe but I would advise against staying. There are those of the vampires who will be looking for revenge and when they find out the tribe is unprotected they might well come looking for that revenge. We will be leaving in the morning, I have someone I need to see first and any who wish to go back with me may do so. I expect the elders to be here ready to leave at first light. Harry, I am sorry your wife is included in the elders punishment but you are free to stay here or join her as you wish."

He turned then and walked away flanked by the two companions and the silence in the village became deafening as the implication of his words sunk in.