Chapter Six

Carlisle

I'd known Chief Swan for a year now and I thought I knew him but it was a different man I saw now, after getting the news that his daughter was coming home to live. I hadn't even known he had a daughter until Alice broke the news a couple of weeks before he told me with a huge smile on his face. It had taken some time to get used to Alice's gift, it was somewhat unnerving to be told everything before it happened but we were getting there. When she first turned up with Jasper in tow I thought they were a couple but she soon put her straight. She had seen Jaspers past and his possible futures and had come to his rescue. She knew about my family and our slightly strange diet and had wanted to join us but first she had put herself in Jasper's way. His gift or curse as he saw it was feeling the emotions of others and as a killer working for a psychotic bitch like Maria that wasn't a good thing, He had strength though, will power enough to break free of her and try to make a life of his own but it was torture feeling the fear and pain of every human he killed in order to feed. Alice, kind hearted as she was thought that persuading him to join her in her hunt for the Cullen family would solve his problems too and when Alice made up her mind she usually got what she wanted. Jasper had learned to trust her as they travelled and once she was sure he was ready she introduced herself to us, him too.

The rest of the family fell in love with Alice instantly, there was nothing to dislike about her although her excess of energy was a little startling. The feelings towards her silent reserved companion on the other hand were mixed. Esme was, as always, her sweet natured self treating him like a bird with an injured wing while Rose kept her distance unsure what to make of him. Emmett just treated him like another friend and Edward who I thought we might have a problem with confounded us all. His coldness towards Jasper melted as soon as he understood that he and Alice were no more than friends. This seemed strange to me until Esme very quietly pointed out that Edward was very taken with Alice and it wasn't long before the two of them became more than friends. I had begun to despair of Edward ever finding a mate after the fiasco when I turned Rose for him. I had thought she would be perfect but for some treason the two of them never hit it off, in fact the best that could be said was that they tolerated each other. Once he and Alice became close however Rose seemed to relax and the three became close friends. Jasper was always the outsider although we all tried to involve him in the family, he did however work hard at becoming an animal hunter and I like to think this gave him some relief, some peace in his life.

The day Alice announced that Chief Swans daughter was coming home I was startled and at the clinic that day I asked one of the nurses about the Chief.

"He's certainly a loner Gladys."

"Its a sad story Dr Cullen. He married a strange girl and she left him soon after their daughter was born. I don't think he's seen her for years. It had quite an effect on him and he's not looked at another woman since. Such a shame him being a handsome man but there you go"

When I got home that evening I told Esme what I'd heard and she nodded sagely,

"Something like that must scar a man. Fancy having a child and not seeing it grow up, I do hope Alice's vision is correct"

Alice's visions weren't always reliable, not where human beings were concerned. People changed their minds or others intruded and the future changed. As she herself had warned us she only saw the future as it stood at that time, with the decisions the people involved had made, but people changed their minds all the time and that changed the future as a result.

Jasper

I felt uneasy and wondered if it had anything to do with Alice's visions of The Chiefs daughter, Ihad the distinct impression she wasn't being entirely honest with us, she had seen more than she was willing to tell us perhaps? I spoke to her about it but she just smiled that bright childlike smile of hers,

"If there is then its something that doesn't matter just yet. In the meantime what about coming to hunt with us?"

I shook my head in reply,

"Rose already agreed to help me with the bike, Emmett is great with computers but he doesn't know one end of a wrench from the other."

I liked working with Rose now that she and I had settled our differences. I think when I first arrived she was scared that I might put the family at risk with my history but as the months had passed and nothing terrible happened she had relaxed and we had become firm friends especially once she found out I was into classic bikes, Harley's especially. Rose was a master mechanic, she kept all our cars in top condition and you could often find her with her head under the hood wearing greasy overalls. I had bought a FLH Electra Glide 1966 which I had found in bits in a barn and Rose and I had been busy rebuilding it.

"What do you think of the news?"

I looked up from the bench where I was rebuilding the gearbox

"What news?"

"Chief Swans daughter coming back."

I shrugged,

"I don't think it will bother us much do you?"

She hesitated then wiped her hands on her thighs before pushing a stray wisp of her blonde hair back,

"I'm not so sure. Why tell us at all?"

"Maybe she thought it would be nice to know there would be a newcomer in town, or at school if she's young enough. How old is she anyway?"

"I don't know but I get the impression she'll be going to high school. I just get suspicious when Alice throws out random things because inevitably they aren't random at all."

"Well, we'll soon know I guess, not that it will make any difference to the family."

She walked over to where I was working and put a hand on my shoulder,

"Just be careful Jazz. Alice was looking at you when she told us."

"Me?"

I just laughed and went back to my task dismissing Roses fears and suspicions as her usual reaction to any newcomers in town.

Alice

I wasn't sure how much I should say because things could change in a moment but I didn't think they would and if Isabella Swan moved to Forks then it would have quite an impact on the family. I mulled it over while Edward and I hunted but as always he read the disquiet in my mind although I never let him read my thoughts like the others, well sometimes the others, they had all worked out their own defences which frustrated him greatly at times. None of us wanted him trampling through our minds unbidden. His worst experience had been when we first arrived and he tried to snoop on Jaspers thoughts. Jazz took him on a ride through his own personal chamber of horrors and by the time Edward broke free he looked green. Neither of them ever said what had happened but I guessed it had something to do with Jaspers time in Maria's army.

"What's eating you sweetheart?"

I shrugged,

"I don't know, just uneasy about the Swan girl coming to town."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure yet. I think I'll speak to Carlisle when I get back, see what he thinks"

Edward hated it when I used Carlisle as a sounding board instead of him but I preferred Carlisle's unbiased view of the world. I just wished his view of the family was equally as unbiased but he never seemed to see Edwards weaknesses, a result of knowing him for so much longer than the rest of us I guessed. But as soon as we got back I left Edward with Emmett watching the Ice Hockey game and went to find Carlisle who luckily was alone in his study.

"Alice, I thought I might get a visit from you, what's the matter?"

I shut the door and took the seat opposite him leaning forward although I knew this was the one room in the house which was sound proofed from vampire hearing.

"I think we might have a problem."

"Really? With what?"

"Chief Swans daughter. I'm not sure yet but I think there might be some friction between her and Edward."

"Friction? Why? They don't even know each other and will only meet at school. Edward can keep his distance if he doesn't like the girl."

"But I think he will like her, or at least I keep seeing him drawn to her but I can't see why."

"Are you jealous?"

I shook my head laughing,

"No, I know Edward loves me its not that, but I don't know whether to warn him or the others or just see what happens."

"Well if there is going to be a problem then I guess the others should know. That way they can keep an eye on things and intervene if necessary."

"I guess so but I can't keep it from him and he's not going to be happy if he knows we are babysitting him."

"Well he'll just have to grin and bear it, we can't afford any trouble in Forks Alice."

So it was decided, I would warn everyone to watch out for my mate when Chief Swans daughter arrived, just in case I was right.