Chapter Sixty

Carlisle

When Eleazar called to tell me he had been asked by Alice to fly down to Boulder and see Charlie before returning to Denali I knew why, Charlie had a gift and they wanted to know what it was.

"I couldn't refuse Carlisle, not after all he and his daughter have been through but I thought you should know."

"Thank you my friend, perhaps you could call here and see Carmen on your way back. It would be interesting to hear what you discovered."

"I think that depends on Charlie, I wouldn't break his confidence but if I can I will tell you of my findings."

I went to speak to Esme who was cooking something to tempt Kat to come down and interact, up to now she refused to leave the bedroom or even move from the corner she had found as a refuge.

"No luck my dear?"

Esme shook her head,

"She is so scared, so angry, and I think she believes that monster really was her father and loved her. It's so sad Carlisle."

"Well all you can do is keep trying Esme, you'll get through to her eventually."

We turned as Carmen came downstairs frowning,

"Is there something wrong?"

"You mean something else don't you? I don't think I have ever met a more difficult and angry little girl in my life...human one that is."

"Well in fairness she has every reason to be angry, after all we know what happened to her, or at least some of it."

"What do you mean some of it Carlisle?"

"Well what do we know about the poor child? Where he took her from, what her real name is, how old she is."

"Well maybe if we can get her to trust us she can answer some of those questions Carlisle."

"She will Carmen but its going to take time, perhaps a long time. After all what reason has she to trust us? We just stole her from the person she seems to think of as her father."

Esme

I didn't like the idea of Kat being alone so I left Carmen to finish cooking and went upstairs to be with her. As I got to the last step I heard a terrible crash and ran in to find her with a chair in her hands and the mirror hanging on the wardrobe door now scattered in pieces on the floor.

"Why did you do that Kat?"

She retreated to her corner cowering as if about to be hit,

"I want to go home, you can't keep me here and I won't look at your tricks, I know what I look like."

"Kat, how long were you with him? Do you remember your life before the cellar?"

She glared at me through her rats tails.

"I want to go home. You can't keep me here. He'll find me and Ellie, and Aggie, and then you'll be sorry."

"Who is Aggie? Is there another girl? Kat if there is you must tell me."

She sat down her mouth scrunched up and her arms crossed, I wasn't going to get any more out of her willingly so I tried a shot in the dark,

"Did he call the baby Aggie or did its mother?"

She looked at me scowling,

"Daddy chooses all our names, except Mama, he always called her Mama."

I could see she knew something more about Mama but I pretended not to be interested.

"She had another name though. I knew it."

"Oh?"

I was trying to sound disinterested but I now knew Kat wasn't her real name and the baby was called Aggie. She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve before she continued,

"It was Sophie."

"Did she tell you or did daddy?"

She snorted,

"If daddy told me it wouldn't be true would it? I told you he chooses names for us. I want to go home now."

"Wouldn't you rather stay here? You aren't locked up, there's plenty of food and drink, its warm, and you could have a shower and fresh clothes if you liked."

She shot a look at the bathroom door, so she had explored a little while she was alone, well the only way out for a non vampire was via the bedroom door so I wasn't too worried.

"Would you prefer a bath? I could get you some clean clothes and then after wards perhaps you could tell us about daddy and your life."

Now a look of cunning appeared on her face,

"Why do you want to know? I don't want your things, I'm not a charity case."

"Where did you hear that?"

"I know lots of things, daddy used to talk to me before Mama came and then Ellie turned up and spoiled it all."

"How?"

"She tried to act like my mom, she wasn't my mom."

"Maybe she was just trying to look out for you."

Kat didn't answer me but I could see she was thinking about what I'd said.

I went back downstairs a little while later, Kat had fallen asleep curled up like an alley cat in the corner which was beginning to smell rather awful. I would have to confront her about using the bathroom facilities when she woke up and have the carpet removed. Replacing it wouldn't be a problem as it was a neutral color but if the floorboards got soaked then the smell would never go away and it was only a rental property. Carmen and Carlisle were busy talking about Charlie.

I was sad he had been forced into becoming a vampire but then it did mean Bella wouldn't lose the last remaining member of her family. I hoped Eleazar found that he did have a gift that helped him control his newborn blood lust because he might be the only one who could get through to Bella although I foresaw a battle royal between himself and Jasper unless Jasper recognized him as an ally and not a threat.

I sat down with them and joined in the conversation,

"How is our little fire cracker?"

"Asleep for now thank goodness. I hate to hear her sticking up for the bastard who did this to her."

Carlisle smiled at my language, I rarely swore but when I did I really meant every word.

"What do you think did happen to her Esme?"

I knew what Carmen was alluding to, we knew Renee had been raped and the girl who gave birth to the baby so the chances were that Bella had been too which was a terrible thought in itself but what about Kat? From the things she said and the way she spoke I didn't think so. I was of the opinion that she had only been physically abused and I told them so.

"I think perhaps that's why she can see him as her father and why she is talking to us. She feels we are the enemy and she refuses to allow us to say anything about the man who did this except that she had been there the longest, even longer than the young woman who gave birth to the baby. I'm just hoping she will understand that we have no wish to harm her, that we want to help."

"Let's just hope Jasper can help Bella through such terrible memories because if not I don't think he will be able to cope, he's very much in love with her."

When the phone rang a few hours later I went back upstairs to see if it had disturbed Kat but she was still asleep, her dirty head cushioned on her grimy arms. When she woke up she was going to have a shower even if I had to drag her under the water myself. Leaving her once more I went back down as Carlisle handed the receiver to Carmen.

"Was it Eleazar? What did he say?"

Carlisle smiled and I felt the tension ease a little,

"It would appear that Charlie is a shield, a rather powerful one at that."

"A shield? You mean like Renata?"

"Not exactly, it seems he can shield himself and probably others too which means he can hold his own against Jasper if necessary. Alice and the others are coming back with Eleazar and Charlie is determined to see his daughter. I think it might be wise to give Darius a heads up, especially as they are in a motel. I understand from him that Peter has managed to keep everything under wraps up to now but if there is a showdown between Jasper and Charlie things could become awkward to say the least. If it were possible I would suggest moving Bella out of the motel but the only way to do that without upsetting her further would be to put her to sleep and they think that would be a very bad idea at present."

"Well maybe Charlie's shield could cover them all, hide them from the humans."

"We'll just have to wait and see my love."