Lost and Found

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews.

Part Seventy Two-Esme and Sarah

Sarah sat upright in the bed with Bella's help and held the glass of water limply in her hands as she sipped it through a straw. It had been two days since Carlisle had administered the cure and she was making a slow recovery. Her fever had gone down and her body had regained a more normal temperature. However the whole experience had left her feeling weak and fragile. "Thank you, Bella." Sarah mustered up a tired smile as she passed the glass back to Bella, who then helped her to lean back on her heaped up pillows. "Is there still no word from Jake?"

Bella's face paled as she shook her head. Jacob had been gone for three days now, along with the rest of the pack. Carlisle had told her a little of what had happened but he refused to divulge much more than basic information. He told her and Rebecca that it wasn't his place. He assured them that when the pack and Ephraim returned then all their questions would be answered. Sarah saw the anxious frown crossing Bella's face and she sighed. She was still having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that Ephraim was alive and well. It was physically impossible and she couldn't understand how he had survived for so long. Carlisle had admitted that Ephraim still had the looks of a young man in his prime, rather like Carlisle himself, but he wouldn't be drawn on how this was even possible.

"I know you miss him." Sarah said gently as she reached out toward the younger girl. Bella took Sarah's proffered hands and held them carefully in hers. "But even though Ephraim's return has been a shock to the system, in a way I'm glad that he has."

"Why?" Bella questioned.

"Jake and the others need guidance. They have been doing their best, but even during the worst of my illness I saw the toll it was taking on my son as he tried to keep everything together." Sarah sighed wearily. "Billy has been no help and the others have only been drip feeding the pack bits of information. You know yourself what unnecessary chaos has been caused by it." Sarah grimaced as she remembered how badly she had acted toward Bella on occasions when she was fed the wrong information. "I wish now that things had been handled differently."

"That doesn't matter." Bella said gently.

"Yes, it does. I accused you of all sorts of things, especially betraying my son with Samuel Uley. Now I can see more clearly I feel ashamed for letting Sue's penchant for gossip get the better of me. I could blame my illness but that would just be an excuse. I am so very sorry, Bella." Sarah apologised with tears in her eyes.

"Apology accepted." Bella could feel her own tears forming in her eyes. She really wanted to change the tone of this conversation; she was feeling depressed enough without Jacob by her side. Instead she tried to distract Sarah. "Do you feel up to having a visitor? Esme Cullen would love to see you."

"She's the one who tried to save my life." Sarah said slowly. Her tears began to spill down her cheeks. She had often lamented the fact that she couldn't thank the female vampire who had risked her own wellbeing to try and save her life. It was only now that they were all truly aware of what a huge sacrifice Esme had made at the time. "Yes, I would like to thank her personally."

"I'll go get her then." Bella released Sarah's hands and fluffed up her pillows so the older woman was more comfortable. "I'll be back in a moment."

As Bella turned to leave, Sarah stopped her. "Bella, I'm so glad that you and my son found each other." She whispered.

"Me too." Bella's smile faltered as she finally left the room to seek Esme.

Sarah was blinded by Esme's beauty. Bella hadn't exaggerated when she had described Esme to her. She suddenly felt old and weary looking in the female vampire's presence and had difficulty in expressing what she wanted to say. Esme seemed to understand Sarah's dilemma. She had witnessed Leah acting the same way when she had first come to live with them. It took her a while to get used to the otherworldly beauty of the vampires, but after a while Leah had said that she got used to it and saw beyond their glittering façade and saw the people inside. This statement had really endeared Leah to the Cullen's, her words made them feel more human.

"It is good to see you looking so well. We have all been worried. I thought of you often over the years." Esme said kindly.

"And I you." Sarah replied nervously as she fiddled with her lank hair. It really needed washing and she felt ashamed of her physical appearance.

Esme noticed her discomfiture and reached out to touch Sarah's hair reverently. "I envy your hair and your beautiful tan skin. I tire of looking so anaemic all the time. Do you know I tried to spray tan myself once." Esme revealed with a hint of humour in her tone.

"You did?" Sarah questioned. Esme's surprising revelation made her nervousness disappear.

"It was a disaster." Esme confided. "My skin is tough and rather like cold marble. The tanning spray just rolled off my skin and left dirty looking streaks behind. As much as I tried I couldn't get it off. I had to hide myself away for over a month before the darn thing began to fade. I can tell you I was the butt of the other's jokes for a long time afterwards."

Sarah let out a little laugh and she put her hand over her mouth, worrying that Esme would be offended. But when she dared to glance at the other woman she saw a twinkle in Esme's eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh."

"I wanted you to." Esme assure her. She fell silent for a moment as an idea occurred to her. "Sarah, how do you feel about getting up for a while? I have booked a makeover team to come to the house to give everyone some girl time. I thought it would prove a good distraction for Bella and Rebecca. Rosalie is already setting things up. Would you care to join us?"

Sarah patted her greasy hair into place. The thought of having her hair freshly washed and pampering herself a little after weeks spent in bed was so tempting. "Yes, I would like that." She finally agreed.

"Good. I was hoping you would say yes." Esme replied with a pleased smile.

"This is ridiculous." Paul Lahote complained as all the blood began to rush to his head. He was trying to form a complicated yoga pose called the One Handed Tree Pose. He had never felt so ridiculous in his life. He heard his brothers snickering as they all sat around the open campfire. Paul wobbled as he began to lose his balance. Being upside down for so long was making him feel faint. It was hard maintaining his equilibrium with one hand splayed on the ground as his left arm took all the strain from his bodyweight. The muscles along his arm quivered as his long legs scissored in the air. "This is not fucking funny."

Jacob snorted with amusement as he watched Lahote struggle to maintain his insane pose. He knew that Ephraim had deliberately ordered him to do a full yoga workout as punishment for losing his temper so often. Yoga was supposed to calm the mind and get the person to remain focused. On their trip Paul had already lost his cool three times, over stupid things. The pack was used to his quick temper, and usually ignored him. But Ephraim wouldn't put up with it. He said it interfered with the cohesiveness of the pack, and if they were in a real fight than casualties could occur because of one loose cannon.

"How long do I have to do this?" Paul huffed irritably.

"Until you have managed to gain the focus you need." Ephraim said calmly as he hid an amused smile.

Embry reached out with a long stick and gently tickled Pau's underarm. Lahote cried out as he lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground. "You ass, Call." He cursed as he quickly regained his footing and tried to chase his tormenter. But he found that he couldn't move. Ephraim's Alpha order remained firmly in place. He muttered under his breath as his wolf forced him to stay in place and continue to pose. This time he did the head to foot pose where his long body curled in on itself. He pulled a sulky face as the others collapsed with laughter when they saw his dirty toes touching his nose as he bent his body over.

Ephraim watched the packs interactions with a keen eye. He had deliberately taken them all away from their normal stomping grounds so he could observe each wolf individually and assess their strengths and weaknesses. With Lahote it was obvious. His quick temper was holding him back. He needed to learn control and focus. Seth was another easy one to read. He had such a kind heart, but sometimes this led him to make poor decisions as his brothers took advantage. He often got the short end of the stick because of it. Ephraim wanted him to man up a bit and stand up to his brothers. While he was discreetly watching the others he bit down into the cooked leg of the deer he was eating. That was another thing that had surprised him. The young wolves had hopeless survival skills. In their wolf forms the pack could actually hunt and kill prey if they needed to, but in their human forms they seemed unable to perform the most basic skills. Ephraim knew times had changed, but had been discouraged to see that these young people had grown up relying on modern technology too much. If faced with real danger and they and their loved ones were forced to flee into the wild, they would have no chance of finding basic water and hunting and cooking the food.

So on top of watching how the young wolves worked as a pack and as individuals, Ephraim took them far afield so he could teach them all how to hunt and survive in the wild with just the clothes on their backs and weapons which they made themselves from natural materials. He was thankful that they were all fast learners. Jacob especially impressed him with how quickly he mastered any new skills. Ephraim was pleased to see the boys adapting to their new environment. They followed his orders without complaint, mostly. There was really only one member who was constantly giving him trouble and that was the oldest, Samuel Uley.

Ephraim turned his full attention to Sam. As always he sat apart from the others. He appeared thoughtful as if he was lost in his own head. It had been very clear upon first meeting him that Sam had a big problem with Jacob, who had taken over the leadership of the pack from him in recent times. Initially Ephraim had thought this was the reason behind their animosity. But he soon learned there was more to it than that. It boiled down to the age old problem of love. Jacob Black and Samuel Uley loved the same girl.

There was more catcalling from the young wolves as they continued to taunt Lahote as he tried another pose. Ephraim laughed along with them as he finally signalled for Paul to relax and take a bite to eat. A relieved smile crossed Paul's face as he hurriedly joined his brothers and snatched a piece of deer meat from Quil's hands. "Let that be a lesson to you." Ephraim called over to Paul.

Paul just saluted him as he wolfed the deer meat down as if his life depended on it. Ephraim shook his head in amusement as he resumed eating himself. He had to admit he was enjoying running with a pack again. He had spent too many years alone in exile. He hadn't yet told the young wolves about his past or why he had suddenly returned to the home of his birth. Since leaving La Push on their hunting expedition there had been silent agreement by them all that no questions were to be asked until Ephraim was ready to tell them his story. Now the time was almost upon him. He felt Jacob's eyes on him and he turned his head to meet the younger man's astute gaze. Ephraim knew that Jacob could sense his dilemma, even though he didn't understand it.

"I need to talk with you alone, young Alpha." Ephraim said in a low voice. "Run with me?"

Jacob nodded. He gulped down the last of his food before following his ancestor further away from the others. On silent agreement they both phased and began to sprint through the forest. While they were gone Sam slipped away on foot and began to make the long journey back to La Push alone.

A/N-thanks for reading!