Chapter Fourteen

Bella

I watched Jasper wave us off to the Res, he was going into Port Angeles while we were out but promised to be home by the time we got back and much to my surprise Charlie had given him the spare key so he could let himself in! Things were improving all round and I promised myself to enjoy the barbecue for Charlie's sake.

I hadn't been on the Res for a long while but nothing had changed, I guess it rarely did and the barbecue was in its usual place outside Old Quil's house. Just about the whole village had come with a while pig spit roasting and tables laden with salads, pies, cold cuts, and enough bread and cheese to feed an army. But then looking at the number of young men hovering around waiting to eat I thought maybe there wasn't too much there after all.

I recognized Jake talking to a young couple Charlie named as Sam and Emily Uley. He saw me and came running over to give me a hug followed by Billy and Harry who looked old and frail after his heart attack.

Harry put his arms around me,

"It's been too long Bella."

Then stiffened and I thought he'd seen my ring, was he going to have something to say too? Thinking that being my dads best friend gave him the right. He pulled back with a concerned expression on his face,

"Where have you been Bella?"

"Sorry? College Harry remember?"

"I mean before you came here."

"At dads, why?"

He shot Billy a look and the two of them went off talking together while Sue grabbed Charlie to come meet her cousin who was visiting leaving me alone with Jake.

"So you've got a boyfriend Charlie says."

"A fiance actually Jake."

I held up my hand wriggling my fingers and he glanced at the ring,

"So where is he? Too good for us?"

"No, he wanted to give me some time with Charlie and his friends but I wouldn't expect you to understand. I can leave if you prefer."

"No, I'm sorry Bella, come meet the guys, you already know some of them."

Harry

I had been shocked when I smelled Bella, how had she been close enough to a vampire to get its scent on her? I asked Billy just to be sure and he said he smelled it too but now we had a problem, Charlie had told him that Bella was engaged but her fiance didn't come with them, he had business in Port Angeles. Not that that in itself meant anything but as he described the guy to Billy it became startlingly obvious that she was engaged not to a man but a vampire. Charlie moved off talking to Sam and Sue leaving us free to talk about the problem with Old Quil.

"If its true he is a vampire surely we have to do something, after all Charlies a friend, a good friend and we know what it means if she marries one of them, she's as good as dead, or worse."

Old Quil looked back at his cabin where his mysterious guest had arrived in the middle of the night before shaking his head.

"I'm afraid there is nothing we can do Harry. Charlie isn't one of us and nor is his daughter. We have no guardians so what would you have us do? Go up against one of them without any weapons? Do you really think we could overcome a Cold One without help from guardians?"

"Then we should contact a guardian tribe, explain the situation and ask for help."

There was the sound of footsteps behind us and a stranger joined us looking grim. Old Quil glanced at him and he nodded once curtly,

"Harry, Billy, this is Johnny H."

I looked staggered at the young man who stood observing us without speaking or smiling, this was the leader of the guardians. The most powerful man in our world, his word was law and no one ever went against his decisions.

"I heard your conversation and thought I should join you. It seems you have a vampire problem. Is the vampire involved with a girl from the tribe?"

"No, she's the daughter of a close friend of the tribe though."

"Has the vampire threatened the tribe? Come onto tribal lands or approached a member of the tribe?"

"No, he hasn't been near, we smelled his scent on the girl or we wouldn't have known about him."

"So tell me your grounds for seeking help from the guardian tribes."

"A vampire is involved with the daughter of a close friend, surely a part of our duty is to protect the innocent."

Johnny H looked at Billy curiously,

"You were a guardian?"

"No I was too young but my father was, an Alpha."

"Yes I remember him, an honorable man who understood his duties only too well. Did he not teach you what it meant to be a guardian?"

"Yes, he spoke of his pride."

"Then you will understand that the role of a guardian is to protect the tribe from the vampires, the tribe not outsiders."

He stressed the word tribe,

"If we were to extend our duties to cover all humans we would destroy ourselves trying and cause an all out war between ourselves and the vampires."

"You mean we should just ignore Bella Swan's plight?"

"Bella Swan is not a member of the Quileutes or any other Native American tribe and therefore she does not come within our remit. The Quileutes will do nothing and neither will the guardian tribes and if I hear that any of you have warned Chief Swan or his daughter about the vampires, breaking your silence about the guardians and their adversaries or attempted to intervene in the relationship I will withdraw the protection from the Quileutes leaving you open to attack by the Cold Ones. Believe me, if the Volturi find out you have passed knowledge of their existence to humans they will take matters into their own hands and kill the Swan's themselves. The choice is yours but I would think very carefully before leaving your wives and children vulnerable for the sake of an outsider."

Johnny walked off to join the barbecue leaving us with a dilemma,

"Do you think he would make good on his threat Quil? Would he really leave our tribe vulnerable to attack by the vampires?"

"I don't think Billy I know. He will do everything he has to in order to protect the secret of the guardian tribes and their fight with the Cold Ones. Don't let his youthful looks or quiet voice fool you for a moment, when it comes to duty he is as hard and unbending as steel. We must leave Charlies daughter to fend for herself, the vampire hasn't attacked yet so maybe he has no intention of doing so. If he does then we must act as surprised and shocked as Charlie himself."

"But it means Charlie will lose Bella, she's all he's got."

"She's a grown woman who must make her own choices and live with the consequences of doing so. The Quileutes will not become involved, I'm sorry Billy, Harry, but I have spoken."

Bella

There was an undercurrent at the barbecue and I felt several pairs of eyes on me as we sat eating, these included Harry, Billy, and the stranger that Jake had introduced simply as Johnny, a visitor from another tribe up in Alaska. He seemed very interested in me although he only spoke to say hi. Dad didn't seem to notice but then he spent most of his time talking to Sam and some of the young guys who were helping out with heavy chores for some of the elderly residents of Forks over the coming winter. They chopped wood, got groceries, cleaned snow from doors and paths and sorted out simple maintenance jobs. It was an attempt to integrate the two communities and dad thought it was going really well, one of his better brain waves! Personally I was glad when he finally suggested we leave, I was missing Jazz and getting fed up of the constant stares from dads closest friends as if there were something terribly wrong with me. I didn't think I would be coming back to visit in the future, not if today was anything to go by.