Chapter Twenty Nine
Charlie
Jasper and Bella appeared a few minutes after Harry left and I looked at him again in a new light. He was tall and strong but very pale skinned and his eyes were a strange shade of gold. Suddenly he looked less like a man and more like some kind of ghost or spirit. I shook my head to clear it of such fanciful thoughts and climbed into the back seat of the car careful to rest on my good shoulder. The Cullen house was well out of town and I'd never visited before, only passed the almost concealed driveway most days on patrol. The drive was long and wound among huge trees but at the end was a surprisingly modern glass and wood house which seemed to be on three levels with a lawn running down to the river at the back. Carlisle was waiting on the porch and raised a hand in welcome as I struggled out of the car, would I be glad when my shoulder was healed!
"Chief Swan welcome. Do come in."
I took the steps slowly suddenly realizing that if my supposition was right I really was putting my head in the lions mouth. As we walked up the stairs to the main living area I looked around, there were a few paintings on the wall but my attention was taken by a very old and very big hand carved cross. It made my idea seem a little stupid when I recollected what I knew about vampires, which was only what I'd seen on the TV and in films I discovered. In the lounge sitting with a book was his wife Esme, we had met at one of her committee meetings when I gave a talk on hiking safety and I'd found her a charming woman. She put the book down and stood holding out her hand to shake mine,
"It's very nice to see you again Chief Swan. Please sit down or would you prefer to talk in private? I could bring you coffee up to Carlisle's study if you'd prefer."
I thought about this but decided if I was going to make a complete ass of myself I might as well do it in front of them both.
"I'd love a coffee Mrs Cullen but I'm here on a rather delicate matter which I think you might both want to hear."
She smiled at me as if amused,
"I would offer you something stronger but I think my husband, the doctor, might disapprove. Well please sit down."
I sat rather uncomfortably on the edge of one of the arm chairs and cleared my throat.
"I really wanted to get your advice or at least ask you about something but now I'm here I don't quite know how to begin."
She smiled at me and Carlisle leaned forward, a slight hint of amusement on his lips,
"Perhaps I could make it a little easier for you. I would guess it has something to do with your attack and the questions you've been asking with regard to it and I think it would be easier if you called us Carlisle and Esme."
I nodded,
"Fair enough Carlisle, its Charlie by the way. You're right of course. I think perhaps you know a little more about it than you have been willing to say. Its my suspicion that you know who attacked me and Billy Black. I guess you heard about his attack?"
"Ah yes Charlie, Doctor Anderson rang me. It's noticeable that you say who not what."
"I think it was a wolf but I also think that maybe this wolf...well..."
"You think that all you believed was reality is perhaps flawed. That stranger things are living in Forks than you imagined. In short Charlie you believe the Quileute legends of the spirit warriors and if they exist then perhaps your attacker was one of them, a man in a wolf's body. The trouble with believing that is that it also means the Cold Ones exist and if they do then we are the only possible candidates. Following that it concerns you that if you aren't going crazy, which you have considered as a viable alternative, that your daughter is getting involved with one of the fabled Cold Ones. How am I doing?"
"You aren't laughing in my face or calling for a strait jacket and I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse Carlisle."
Esme came back in at that point with a steaming mug of coffee and a slice of cake on a plate with a napkin and I couldn't help smiling as I took it from her with a smile of thanks.
"Well if I'm not crazy then I think I've just accepted coffee and cake from a vampire and not even felt for a crucifix, I didn't bring one with me by the way. I hope I haven't offended you with that reference."
"No Charlie you haven't, we have our own cross which I'm sure you saw as you came up the stairs."
"Yes it looks very old."
"It is, it was carved in the 17th century by a minister who lived in London, England."
"You seem to know a lot about it and that's rare with something so old."
"Oh I know much more about that particular cross Charlie. I could take you to the spot where the tree it was carved from used to grow. I can tell you how long it took to carve, I can even tell you the name of the minister, his church and his address although the house is long gone."
I thought about that but I wasn't ready to ask the obvious question, not yet.
"So say I do believe in the Quileute Legends of the spirit warriors, are you telling me that the young men on the reservation change into wolves and protect the tribe from the Cold Ones, vampires?"
"Yes, the legends are a true account of the tribes history and the gene is passed on through the generations down the male line."
"So if they are still changing as you say then you are the Cold Ones?"
"Yes Charlie we are but let me try to reassure you, we are rather unusual vampires because we live on animal blood only and that's why the Quileutes allow us to live here without trying to kill us. We have a treaty in force, it has been for a long time, we don't attack the humans and they leave us in peace."
"So you don't kill humans or change them or whatever the hell it is vampires really do?"
"No, we don't, so Bella is in no danger from us or Jasper, in fact she is probably the safest of all because my son Jasper would kill anyone or anything that threatened her."
"I can see he's very fond of her but as for killing..."
"Sorry for interrupting you Charlie but do you remember the story she told of the bear attack when she was a child?"
"The one where the angel saved her and gave her the tooth, yes I remember, why?"
"It actually happened but the guardian angel was in reality more of a dark angel, it was Jasper. She drew him to her when she was in danger and he saved her life. Since then he's been waiting to meet her again."
"It was him? Just a second, how old is he? And you, you know all about the cross, did you carve it? Are you really that old?"
"We stop ageing when we are changed Charlie. Jasper was turned during the Civil War and hasn't aged since then. As for me? No I didn't carve the cross but I watched it carved as a child, it was my father's handiwork."
"So you're telling me you were born in London in the 17th Century?"
"Yes, so you see I am a very old man who has seen a lot through the centuries."
"Did you change all your children?"
"No, not Alice or Jasper. They joined us because they heard of our way of life and wanted it for themselves but let's get back to the subject at hand just for a while then you can ask anything you want Charlie. Our fate is now in your hands."