Chapter Thirty Seven

Caden

While one of the two bears and the man waited with Charity and me the other bear ran off towards the snow trac we had stolen. He had picked Charity up and refused to put her down though she was screaming for me and struggling in his arms. Uncle Charlie lay on the snow as the red of his blood crept outwards staining the white to crimson. I got up, his blood staining my hands, feeling I had failed and begged for the man to hand me my cousin.

"Stand there and be quiet. Joe will be back with the snow trac in a few minutes and we'll take you back to the village where our leader will decide what to do. If I were you I'd be praying hard that he doesn't order us to finish you off half breed."

I could see there was nothing I could say or do, I wasn't strong enough to take on the bear who was watching me closely. All I could think about was Uncle Charlie lying dead in the snow and how brave he had been trying to protect us from the bears. I felt I'd failed him by not running away fast enough but with Charity's weight in my arms I just couldn't.

The trac drove up and stopped, the bear, now a man again driving but he got out and opened the back.

"Get in."

The man with us pushed me forward and I climbed into the back relieved when he pushed Charity into my arms sobbing and clutching Daisy close to her chest calling out in between for her mommy and daddy. I tried to calm her and found to my relief that although I wanted to cry myself I was able to stop her screams and sobs enough that she could breath properly again and her face lost the redness that had begun to scare me.

"Good job we thought to bring gas with us, I knew this old thing was almost empty, good job they didn't pick the snowmobiles, they were full and ready to use."

The driver hopped back in and started the vehicle again and I saw they were going to leave Uncle Charlie out here.

"Please take him back with us. Don't leave him out here, he'll be eaten by something."

The two men laughed,

"You think we're going to worry about a dead leech lover? Shut up and look after your little cousin or I'll make you two walk back in the cold."

The other man had remained a bear and was already loping back the way we had come. I just hoped these strange changelings didn't eat human beings or he might turn back and eat Uncle Charlie. Why couldn't I be like dad, strong and fearless, able to fight these strange men and beat them? If I could Uncle Charlie would still be alive and we'd be going home.

By the time we got back Charity was sleeping but she was restless and I just hoped she hadn't seen Uncle Charlie bleeding out on the snow. As I picked up Daisy from where she has slipped to the floor with the jolting I saw the corner of her dress was stained red, it was blood from my hands and I tried to wipe it off but just succeeded in smearing it further. I had wiped my hands on my jeans but I could smell the tang and it made my throat hurt so badly although there was no way I could bear the taste of blood right now, it would make me sick to my stomach.

Annie

The relief I felt as I saw my son stride across the square was immeasurable, he had arrived not a moment too soon. Atiqtalaaq however didn't look quite so happy and grabbed Johnny's attention before I could speak to him. I followed them into the meeting room and listened in silence as he told my son what had happened while he was away. The Quileute story was explained and then he justified his actions and to my unease Johnny seemed to agree with them.

"So, the Cullens are taking human children? I find that hard to credit but the Quileutes brought them here as living proof. As for the hybrid, they are rare. I wonder what happened to the human girl, did they say?"

"No, just that the baby was stolen from her at birth by its sire to be brought up with the leeches."

"And you have places of safety organized for the children?"

"Yes and I was going to hear the report of our men who went back with the Quileutes and then send them in to destroy the Cullen coven once and for all."

Johnny nodded,

"Strangely enough, now would be an excellent time to act, I hear the Volturi are busy concentrating on problems among their own kind. It would seem they don't even know what is going on here, or what the Cullens have been up to. The policeman concerns me though. I don't quite understand why they brought him here, after all he would have no idea where the children were taken. Did you ask them for an explanation? I don't like the idea that the pack went behind the backs of the elders, it is a bad move. I have to wonder why you have not been able to contact them either. Still as I say this could be a good opportunity to rise up against the vampires."

"That's exactly what I thought. We should take action against the Cullens in any case. They cannot be allowed to think they can steal children or attack innocent women."

Deciding I couldn't remain silent any longer I moved forward,.

"I would like to be allowed to speak please."

"Annie this is guardian business you have no right to..."

Johnny quelled him with a single look,

"My mother is an elder and wise for many years on this earth. Please go ahead."

Atiqtalaaq glared at me but I was used to that and ignored him.

"Certain things puzzle and concern me my son, not least of all the part the police chief played in all this. I wanted to speak to him myself but I was prevented."

Johnny frowned,

"By whom?"

I glanced at his second in command then went on,

"Perhaps it would be wiser to demand an explanation from the Cullens as to their actions before deciding what is necessary."

Atiqtalaaq laughed loudly,

"And give them warning of our coming? You are going soft old woman."

The silence was icy as he realized he had just insulted his commander's mother.

"I meant..."

Johnny put up a hand to silence him.

"Where are the children? I want to speak to them before sanctioning any action."

I let Atiqtalaaq explain their escape but he had more news even I was not aware of and when he had finished speaking I was outraged,

"You allowed the murder of a human? That is against all our laws."

"He was a leech lover, Sam Uley told us that at the outset and he was trying to take the children to the Denali coven. We all know of their affiliation to the Cullens."

"He should have been brought back alive Atiqtalaaq. It is not for us to dispense summary justice. I will speak to the guardians involved when they return."

We heard the snow trac pull up outside and went to meet it seeing the two children in the back with one of the young men he had sent to track them down. The little girl was asleep but it was quite obvious she had been deeply upset by whatever she saw and I prayed it wasn't the death of the man. Atiqtalaaq tried to maneuver my son away, making the excuse the children were too tired and upset to be troubled anymore tonight but as the young boy Caden got out of the vehicle he looked at Johnny.

"Who are you?"

Johnny squatted down to talk to Caden on the same level.

"My name is Johnny, I am the leader here."

"Then you are a murderer and a kidnapper. They killed my uncle."

"You saw the man killed?"

His eyes flickered to the two young men standing uneasily by the trac,

"Yes, they killed my uncle in front of us and then left him in the snow to be eaten."

A single word had hit us all hard, Uncle. The police chief was related to the hybrid boy? This brought up a whole raft of new questions that had to be answered.