Chapter 5
"Peter," Sheriff Todd began as he presented the US Soldier standing before them in the jailhouse, "this is Sergeant Brandon D. Lovejoy. He's the one who will be helping us."
"Directly at least," Sgt. Lovejoy Clarified. "So how long has your wife been missing now Mr. Wallis? It's your wife and her servant that were kidnapped correct?"
"Yes and it's been five days now," Peter answered. "I found footprints leaving my home, but they stopped at the brook. The Sheriff already had a dog sniff around there and the scent stops there."
"Indians can be crafty little devils," Sgt. Lovejoy chuckled. "But don't you fret, Mr. Wallis. We will find your wife and we will bring her home safe and sound. The Indians that took her will taste the cold hard slap of justice."
"As long as you bring Renesmee home," Peter said. "I can only imagine what those savages are doing to her."
"It could be a number of things," Sgt. Lovejoy said. "In my experience, they usually make their white captives slaves or kill them when they don't get their demanded ransom." Peter cringed, but Sgt. Lovejoy ignored him and spoke with Sheriff Todd. "You've not received any kind of notification of ransom from any of the Indian tribes nearby?"
"Not at all," Sheriff Todd answered. "There's only one tribe really close to us and I already spoke with them and searched the grounds. Mrs. Wallis isn't there. I had the dog sniff around for her and he couldn't catch even a whiff of her."
"I'd like to visit them one more time regardless. They might know something more than they're letting on. Do any of them speak English?"
"A few of them do. I know the chief does. They told me they saw large wolves prowling the area around that time, but I doubt that's relevant."
"Certainly not," Sgt. Lovejoy agreed. "Not to our missing person's situation at least. I would recommend keeping an eye on that problem, though, especially your farmers. Wolves do love to nab things that aren't theirs."
"Sergeant," Peter said, getting Lovejoy's attention. "Can we please stop this idle chatter?"
"You're right, of course." Sgt. Lovejoy nodded his head and walked over to the fresh pretty new map the Sheriff had hanging in his office and looked at the Washington landscape. "My colleagues and myself have kept a detailed map of what Indian tribes are where. The big one is the Spokane Indians here," Sgt. Lovejoy pointed to a spot just ten miles outside of Spokane, Washington. "While I wouldn't rule it out, it's highly unlikely they would've done it. We've managed to keep them under our thumb since killing their horses and introducing them to God. Granted it's Catholicism, but given they're damned regardless, we can't concern ourselves with that. We have a very small military base out there and we've messaged them to look for her at the Spokane reservation. They'll send a letter letting the base in Seattle know what they find, but we can't waste time waiting for that answer."
"Like I said, I already asked the Indians near us and they don't know anything."
"Yes, we have their location documented too. Then out east we've got a hefty collection of tribes scattered about but the one that causes the most trouble, according to Forks, are the Quileute Indians. If I remember the mayor's telegram correctly he said, 'it's a good thing they trade us salmon or we would never put up with them'." Sgt. Lovejoy chuckled.
"Can you tell them to look for her?"
"No, I won't send them to the Quileute Reservation. From what I've been told, they're violent and aren't easily dealt with. I can only imagine what might happen if we send less than a professional out there to reason with them."
"Are they the ones that took Renesmee?" Peter jumped.
"I doubt it," Sgt. Lovejoy said. "While they're more uppity than the Spokane, they are still very far away: too far away for them to be a reasonable suspect. That does not mean we will rule them out, though. There are several other tribes near them, but I couldn't get much information on them. Port Angeles never really deals with their Indians, so they don't know much about them. 'They leave us alone, we leave them alone and everybody is happy,' to quote their mayor."
"So are we going to go to each individual tribe and look for her?"
"That's our only real option. It may be tedious, but it's what we have to do and we'll start with the Indians nearest us. What do they call themselves?"
"Taka-something. It's so long I can't remember it for shit."
"That's alright, I can never remember all of them either."
"So when do we leave?"
"My men and I will begin the search tomorrow after we replenish supplies."
"I'm going with you."
"Absolutely not, Mr. Wallis," Sgt. Lovejoy asserted. "This needs to be handled delicately and by professionals. You need to stay home and wait-"
"All I've done thus far is stay home and wait. I'm sick of it! That's my wife out there and it's my responsibility to protect her. I'm going with you."
"Peter," Sheriff Todd said, "I must insist you take the Sergeant's advice and stay here. There's a lot that could go wrong and it wouldn't be right of Sgt. Lovejoy to allow a civilian to go along."
"It doesn't matter that I'm a civilian, it's my wife we're looking for. I don't care what you say, Sgt. Lovejoy. I'm going with you to look for Renesmee." Sgt. Lovejoy sighed heavily to himself and said nothing. If the man really insisted, then he'd let him go but he would not be responsible if anything happened to the pig farmer in his quest to become a white knight.
The whole town was bustling about the Sergeant Lovejoy and the three men he'd brought with him from Seattle. It was a treat to have visitors from the big city up north and the Tavern owner's wife was keeping the soldiers entertained with beer and whiskey. Late that night as the Tavern owners wife was cleaning the bar between drink orders, a man walked in that she didn't recognize. He was quite a handsome man, but she thought it was rather strange that his hat was drawn so low over his eyes.
"Can I help you?" the wife asked when the traveler came in. He shook his head and began to meander around the bar looking for what she assumed were women of questionable morals and taste. The wife harrumphed under her breath and ignored the man.
As the stranger searched the bar, he overheard all the talk about the pig farmer's wife and her servant being kidnapped. He had no interest until he heard the names of the victims: Renesmee Wallis and Caevia. He only knew one couple that would be crazy enough to name their daughter Renesmee and that was the Cullens. What in the hell was Edward Anthony Mason Cullen's daughter doing so far away from home? The man would sooner let his right foot wander away from him. The stranger walked up to the wife and took a seat. He kept his hat drawn down so his fresh red eyes weren't visible, but made sure his charming smile was clear. The wife was flabbergasted and blushed.
"What's your name, young lady," the stranger asked.
"Oh," the wife giggled, "you charming devil you. I'm no young lady."
"You lie to me," the stranger said, pretending to be surprised. The woman was hardly haggardly. She was a lovely lady, but she certainly looked her ripe age, but flattery got one a long way.
"Oh, never," she continued to giggle. "I'm almost fifty."
"By God, you look twenty." The woman giggled more and gently swayed her rag.
"Stop," she said with a smile.
"But please, fair maiden, do tell me your name."
"It's Mary," she answered.
"Such a virtuous name. Your husband is a lucky man."
"Make sure you tell him that when you see him."
"Most certainly," the stranger answered. "Mary, I must ask."
"Ask me anything kind stranger, but only after you've told me your name."
"Garret," the stranger answered.
"Okay, now I'll be an open book."
"Excellent," Garret replied. "I've heard around town that a woman has gone missing. Renesmee was her name?"
"Yes," Mary said in sadness. "She and her slave Caevia. She insisted that woman wasn't a slave, but it's hardly like she paid the woman."
"What was she doing here in the first place?"
"Oh, she came here from Chicago to marry Peter Wallis. The poor thing was only here barely more than a week and married three days when she was taken away by Indians."
"By Indians?" Garret repeated.
"Yes, the horror of it all! Sgt. Lovejoy just came down from Seattle and will be helping us look for her. I don't suppose you've seen a young woman with reddish hair and an Indian woman in your recent travels?"
"I can't say that I have. How long ago was she taken?"
"Five days ago," Mary answered.
"That's quite a long time," Garret said. "Thank you so much for your help, Fair Maiden."
"You're very welcome handsome stranger," Mary teased. Garret said his goodbyes and left the bar.
He stood still a moment, looking for Renesmee's scent. It was hard to track since it was so old, but it was there. He followed it as best he could, staying slow when he passed any humans, but once outside the town limits, Garret began to run and follow the smell until he reached a pig farm outside of town. He smelled a number of things, least of all Renesmee. The land reeked of pigs, apples, and something like a faded smell of wet dog. There was a man in the house which he assumed to be Peter. Then he realized there were a few people in the house, one of whom was clearly a soldier. Garret kept quiet as he searched the property for any clues as to where Renesmee was. He smelled wet dog near the fence and front door, but the smell went away when he reached a creek near the house. Whoever had taken her knew what they were doing. Any scent they had would be washed away and he wouldn't know if they went East or West. He ran around the forest trying to relocate the smell, but it never came back up. There would be no finding Renesmee and Caevia short of a tracker of Demetri's caliber and Garret wasn't holding his breath Aro would be so generous with Demetri's powers, especially given he was almost certainly still sore over the debacle 39 years ago. Nothing ruffles Aro's and Caius' feathers more than going somewhere with the intent of trying a coven for treason only to have living breathing proof that the crime in question wasn't a crime at all pop out of nowhere when Alice and Jasper decide to come back home. He'd been making his way to that barren tundra Katrina and her coven call home, but he'd have to turn around and go to Chicago. Katrina would understand once he explained.
As Jacob had promised the two, Renesmee and Caevia were given freedom to walk around the tribe whenever they wanted to. It gave Caevia the opportunity to ask questions of the women. None knew exactly how to get to Forks, but they all knew all too well about the grimy smelly man that traded beef with them for salmon. She couldn't believe that seemed to be the only pale face these people ever dealt with from that town, but that seemed to be the case. The meat monger evidently always came with a grouchy old man that, according to the older women, was a very young boy when the Quileute were forced to release their pale faced slaves. If Seth or Leah weren't able to translate for any reason, that old man was the one to translate in poor Quileute that he barely remembered anymore. She also asked about Embry. The women spoke highly of him. His father was cousin to Jacob's father and his mother was a very sweet Makka women: the man came from a happy home while it lasted. Sadly, there had been a disagreement between the Quileute and the Hou tribe that led to a huge battle in the woods. The Quileute rose victorious, but at the cost of Embry's father's life. Many children lost their fathers that day, many wives widowed. The disagreement was eventually settled through a marriage of Jacob's older sisters Rebecca and Rachael to the chief's sons, but it didn't erase sadness from the loved ones lost. Embry's mother was dead now as well. She had died two winters before. That had been a very bad winter.
"He seems to have moved on at least," Renesmee said when Caevia translated the story to her.
"I admit I envy him. I envy a lot of these people. Such loving families," Caevia said.
"Don't think about it," Renesmee said. "It makes you melancholy."
"I'll stop then," Caevia said.
"Are we still weighing our options of how to get out of here?" Renesmee asked.
"No one knows where Forks is exactly. The best answer I got was somewhere south of here. I suppose the best we can do is just go south and hope we find a town."
"When do we leave then?"
"You can leave now as far as I'm concerned," Leah said as she passed by. "Come with me and I'll even show you how to get there."
"You know how to get there?" Renesmee asked.
"Of course I know how to get there," Leah barked back.
She motioned for Renesmee and Caevia to follow her. They stood from their spots at the fire pit where they'd been seated and followed after her. Sara noticed Leah walking away with the two. She first went to the group of women they'd been sitting with and asked what was going on, but the three were speaking in English so no one knew. Sara went to look for her husband and when she found him, she asked him if Forks was south of the tribe. When William confirmed it was, Sara hurried to look for Jacob. She looked all over but couldn't find him until she looked in his tent to find him sleeping. She woke Jacob up gently and told him what Leah was doing when he was awake enough to understand him. As soon as she said it looked like Leah was taking the women to Forks, he nearly leaped from his blanket and made a mad dash to go after them. Caevia managed the lead the women halfway to Forks before Jacob intercepted them and immediately began yelling at Leah.
"What are you doing?!"
"I'm showing them to town. These two are so desperate to get there that I thought I'd show them the way."
"How'd you know where we were going?"Caevia interrupted.
"Mother saw you going south and figured out where you were going. It's a good thing she did. Do you know what could've happened?!"
"They'd leave?" Leah answered flippantly.
"The towns people know you! They'd see you leading them and they'd assume the worst!"
"They wouldn't be wrong," Caevia said.
"It doesn't matter!" Jacob yelled back at Caevia before returning his attention to Leah. "Leah, let me put this in a way even you would understand. If we bring Renesmee to Forks, that means more pale faces will come and try to change things or take more from us and if that happens, it'll be all your fault!"
"As I had previously mentioned, Renesmee and I won't tell the people a thing. We'll tell them we got lost in the woods and just need a cart so we can go back home. It doesn't need to get any more complicated than that."
"There, as she said," Leah agreed.
"What are you talking about?" Renesmee demanded from Caevia.
"We're trying to get Jacob to let us proceed to town and we'll just tell the people we got lost in the woods and need a cart back. No one gets in trouble and we can go home."
"Tell him that-"
"You," Jacob suddenly interrupted, looking right at Caevia. "Even if we took you all the way to town, I don't think you'd go."
"What may I ask makes you think that?" Caevia demanded cruelly.
"Embry," Jacob said simply. It was all he needed to say, really. But Caevia held her head high.
"I'm not like you or your puppies. It takes more than a handsome face and a kind smile to tie me down anywhere."
"Embry is more than a handsome face and a kind smile. Even you can figure that out after meeting him."
"Who cares," Leah said. "Let them go and we can all be happy."
"I won't be happy and neither will Embry. We'd follow you two to the ends of the land if it's what you really needed from us. I know she's scared right now, but Renesmee needs to stay with me. She wanted a life of her own where she can be happy with a man that loves her. I'll be able to give her that and more. As far as I can tell, you're a cranky old hag that needs someone to lighten her up."
"Caevia, what's going on?"
"He's daring us to try and go to Forks. He thinks we won't call his bluff."
"What is his bluff? Why does he think we won't go to Forks?"
"He thinks that we wouldn't be able to leave him and Embry behind." Renesmee stopped to think a moment, then looked at Caevia seriously.
"Would you?" Caevia looked at Renesmee wide eyed.
"Of course I would!"
"You have your answer," Leah persisted. "They've agreed they would go into town and never look back. Can you argue with that, Jacob?" The look Jacob gave her made Leah step back, but it wasn't due to rage in his eyes. Something there was heartbreaking to see. Renesmee could see it too. He looked stern and stood tall as ever. If she were honest with herself, she'd admit he was even handsome. But his eyes betrayed a hurt she couldn't explain.
Jacob didn't say anything. He was sick of arguing, especially with Leah and Caevia. He looked at Renesmee and knew she saw something. He knew she saw hurt in him, even if he stayed cold and hard outside. So instead of yelling at Leah or telling Caevia she was wrong or anything else that popped into his head, he just walked over to Renesmee and gently pushed her back in the direction of the village. Leah began yelling and so did Caevia as they followed him, but Renesmee didn't fight him at all. Her body just wouldn't let her. Even when his hand touched her back, she made no motion to stop him or push his hand away. It was so gentle and she realized she didn't mind the touch at all. The walk back to the village took longer with Leah and Caevia yelling at him, but after a few moments of him flat out ignoring them, Caevia eventually stopped. Leah took longer to cool down. When they got back, Embry walked over to them, having heard from Sara what had happened. Now he just wanted to know the 'why' behind it.
"Why were you showing them to Forks?" Embry asked Leah.
"They asked me to," she said bluntly before walking away.
"What did you want to go to Forks for?" Embry asked Caevia. She found she couldn't seem to answer him.
"That's what I thought," Jacob said when Caevia went several seconds without being able to answer.
Following that day, Jacob never left the women alone, at the very least not alone with Leah. Caevia was trouble enough. He didn't need Leah making everything worse just because she was letting her disdain for pale faces color her perception of Renesmee. Jacob made sure Seth was always free to give him English lessons but also made sure Renesmee was always within his field of vision. Embry took every opportunity he could to spend time with Caevia, even if it was just offering her fish he'd caught in an attempt to impress her. Jacob noticed something that was bothering him, though. He noticed Renesmee never seemed to eat anything. Were that not strange enough, he'd only seen Caevia offer her food once and after one refusal she never offered again. When he tried offering her food, she would push it away and Caevia would tell him to leave Renesmee alone. Jacob tried getting Embry to ask Caevia what was going on, but when he asked, Caevia told him it wasn't her place to explain that to him.
"What does that mean?" Jacob almost yelled when he'd come back to tell him.
"You're guess is as good as mine. She told me it wasn't her place to tell me and that was that. She wouldn't tell me anything else. Maybe you should have Sokajili look at her. Maybe she's sick or something."
"Maybe. Keep Caevia busy while I take Renesmee to Sokajili."
"No way, Jacob. Last time I distracted her for you, she completely misunderstood it. I'm still trying to fix that."
"She's already forgiven you, so just take her aside somewhere and keep her busy."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Go on a walk, teach her how to fish, go cliff diving, go have sex on the beach for all I care, just keep her busy."
"Alright," Embry said, pondering only for the briefest of moments whether or not he might be able to make the last suggestion a legitimate possibility but he pushed it to the back of his mind immediately. She might kill him if he even thought about suggesting it. Embry went to them first and kneeled down to Caevia's level as she helped Sara clean some clothes. Renesmee was also helping, but she was still trying to figure out how to do it exactly the way Sara was doing it. "Caevia," Embry said.
"What?"
"I don't suppose I could take you for a walk could I?"
"A walk?" Caevia looked at him strangely, then she glanced over Embry's shoulder to see if Jacob was watching, which he was. "Just tell me what he wants with Renesmee."
"You're good," he said with a small laugh.
"I have to be," Caevia answered. He noticed her tone was gloomy. He wondered why.
"Well now I have to take you for a walk so we can talk about what's bothering you all of a sudden."
"Nothing's bothering me. What does Jacob want with her?"
"Okay," Embry sighed, "Jacob's concerned that Renesmee isn't eating. It's bothering him a lot and he wants to take her to Sokajili so he can examine her and see if she's sick."
"She's not sick," Caevia said bluntly.
"What about me?" Renesmee asked after having heard her name.
"Evidently Jacob's concerned about the fact that you're not eating and he thinks you're sick, so he wants to take you to the medicine man to find out what's wrong with you. I told him nothing's wrong."
"You didn't tell them-"
"I haven't said a word."
"Thanks," Renesmee answered and then turned her attention back to laundry.
"As I said, she's alright. Tell Jacob his concern isn't needed and Renesmee isn't in need of a medicine man."
"At least let Sokajili take a quick look at her. It would make Jacob feel a lot better."
"I don't care what does and doesn't make Jacob feel better."
"Listen, Caevia," Embry started with a sigh. "When Jacob, Quil and I are wolves, we can hear each other's thoughts. We can feel what the other is feeling and know exactly what each other is thinking. So I've been dealing with Jacob's concern for a few nights now and it's leaving me and Quil on edge. If not for Jacob's peace of mind, at least let Sokajili examine Renesmee for mine." Embry tried giving her what he imagined were pleading eyes. Caevia stared at him for a moment and felt her resolve melt. What could this Sokajili really know? If he examined Renesmee, he wasn't likely to find anything off, so what was the harm.
"Renesmee," Caevia said, getting her attention. "Maybe you should let the medicine man examine you just so Jacob will leave you alone. It's not like he'll find anything anyway."
"That'll just worry the man more," Renesmee said. "He'll keep insisting there's a problem."
"Maybe we should tell them you're half vampire," Caevia said quietly after one quick glance around making sure neither Leah or Seth were around to hear them. "It might even make him let us go since their opinion of vampires is so low."
"They might kill us if they knew that," Renesmee said.
"They won't," Caevia said.
"How do you know that?" Renesmee asked.
"I just know," Caevia answered. Caevia returned her attention to Embry. "She'll see the medicine man, but only if I'm there with her. Is that fair?"
"Fair enough," Embry answered. "I was hoping we could go for a walk though. Jacob might've been the one to put the thought in my head, but now that it's there, I'm really eager."
"You're certainly a persistent man," Caevia smiled. "Renesmee," Caevia said and looked back at Renesmee. "Let's just get it over with. I'll be there the whole time."
"Fine, but not a word out of that man's mouth goes un-translated."
"Fine with me," Caevia said as they stood up. It wasn't exactly what Jacob was expecting, but at least Caevia had convinced Renesmee to see the medicine man. Sokajili was mixing herbs when they all stepped into his tent and Jacob voiced his concerns.
"She's not eating you say?" Caevia couldn't help but notice the mildly suspicious tone to his voice. The old man motioned for Renesmee to sit on the little matt and Renesmee did so once Caevia translated for her. Sokajili started with the most basic method to diagnosis: checking her temperature. She was still much warmer than other people like himself yet she still felt the same as Jacob. "She feels like she's running a fever yet she's showing no symptoms of ailment."
"So there's nothing wrong with her?"Jacob asked a little frustrated. Caevia translated everything for Renesmee as the men spoke.
"There's nothing wrong with her. There's something strange about her, but there's nothing wrong with her." Caevia suddenly stopped translating when he used the word strange.
"What's going on?"
"Hold on, I need to clarify something before I keep telling you what he said. What do you mean there's something strange about her? What are you implying?" Sokajili looked at Caevia strangely. If there was a doubt in his mind that something about the girl wasn't entirely human or something just wasn't right, that was swept away by Caevia and her tone.
"I see you already know what I'm referring to, whatever that may be."
"I'm not agreeing with or confirming anything. I'm asking you to tell me what has you so suspicious of her. You don't strike me as having contemptuous feelings towards her."
"Absolutely not," Sokajili said. "Quite the opposite in fact. I'm rather fond of the girl thus far."
"She's not a girl," Caevia started, but she caught herself. It was bad enough she'd told these people she was immortal. She didn't need to let that slip about Renesmee too.
"You're right of course. I mean this woman. If my nephew loves this woman, then that's good enough for me. Jacob, she is not ill, but I won't tell you there's nothing to worry about. Caevia, I can tell you know what's really going on. For Jacob's sake, I would like to ask that you be upfront with him about it."
"It's not up to me to be upfront with him. Renesmee has asked me to remain silent and I will."
"Caevia, what's going on?"
"Sokajili is telling Jacob you're not sick, but we have a problem. He knows something's up with you. He seems to be going off pure instinct."
"So he knows I'm half vampire? How?"
"He doesn't know that specifically, but he knows there's something different about you. He's asking me to tell Jacob the truth and put him at ease."
"Telling him everything wouldn't put him at ease," Renesmee said. "It won't put me at ease either."
"You know my offer still stands."
"I told you Caevia, I won't drink your blood. I don't care how thirsty I get. Just tell them there's nothing wrong with me and tell them to drop it."
"Alright." Caevia looked at Sokajili, then Jacob. "There's nothing wrong."
"That was an awful long conversation to have when there's nothing wrong," Sokajili said.
"There was a lot for me to translate to her. You've said yourself she isn't ill, so it's time we dropped the matter."
"Whatever it is that you're not telling me, I want to know it now. I can't help her if you don't tell me what's wrong," Jacob said.
"She doesn't need you to help her, she needs you to let her go home!"
"That's not it," Jacob said stubbornly.
"You can think whatever you want, then. She's just fine." Caevia looked at Renesmee. "The medicine man's done. We can go back to Sara now."
"Okay," Renesmee answered and stood. "I might feel better if I had a bath. I'm filthy and I can feel it."
"I'll see what I can do." Caevia looked right at Jacob. "She would like to get clean, so any bathing accommodations you have would be greatly appreciated."
"There's a creek we usually use near here," Jacob said. "I'll see if mom would mind going with you."
"That won't be necessary. I'll go with her," Caevia said.
"No," Jacob said. "I don't trust you."
"Come on, Jacob," Embry said in Caevia's defense.
"Quiet, Embry. Until you get her to calm down and stop trying to get Renesmee to leave, I don't trust her."
"I don't care if you don't trust me."
"And I don't care if you don't care!" Jacob snapped back at Caevia. She actually jumped back a little, not expecting the outburst. "I'll get mom and she can show you were the creek is." Jacob left the tent to go get Sara and once he was gone, Renesmee looked at Caevia who was still a little shell shocked.
"What was that about? What did he say?"
"He said he'd get his mother to go with us, I said that wasn't necessary, he said he doesn't trust me, I told him I don't care, he said he doesn't care that I don't care."
"He's really losing his patience with you I take it?"
"Any patience he had to begin with," Caevia said. "The sooner I get you out of here the better." Caevia looked at Renesmee and saw the look she had on her face. She looked uncertain and she also saw a look of failure, as if she were ashamed of herself. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Renesmee admitted. "We'll never get out of here will we?"
"We'll get out of here, Renesmee. I'll make sure of it. Even if we'll just have to make a run for it, we'll get out of here. In fact," Caevia started, "we'll do that tonight. We know how to get to town now. We'll just make a run for it."
"Will you need any supplies?"
"We'll worry about that when we get to town." Jacob came back then with his mother by his side. She smiled sweetly at Renesmee and offered her hand.
"Come with me and I'll show you where the creek is." Renesmee looked at Caevia.
"She said she was going to show us to the creek." When she knew what she was told, Renesmee looked at Sara again and eventually took the woman's hand.
The three women walked to the creek that was just outside the village. No one was in it at the time. Bath time was usually a group thing and done every other night before everyone went to bed. When they got to the creek, Sara stripped to nothing as if it were completely natural to do so. Then she started rubbing her arms to warm up a little. It was chilly fall weather. Sara instructed them both to do the same, but removing their clothes took much longer. After seeing the work and trouble their clothes caused, Sara insisted she retrieve them fresh leather clothes once they were clean. Caevia and Renesmee refused and insisted they could just wear their original dresses.
Chicago's weather was similar, overcast in the fall cold. By the time the Cullens had come to Chicago, the city was almost completely recovered from the Great Fire. It took years and was at great expense, but the city looked better than ever. Yet despite the beauty, despite the extravagance brought to the city by the World's Fair back in 1893, there was still a feeling of remaining terror from H. H. Holmes. Edward could remember all too well a time when Bella had gone to the World's Fair with Renesmee, Esme, Alice, and Rosalie, when they'd lived down in Champagne Illinois, before they'd moved up to the big city officially. Bella and Renesmee were waiting for their turn on the Ferris wheel when a man with a large moustache that called himself Dr. Holmes commented on Bella and Renesmee being so beautiful and complimenting how they could be sisters. When they'd all returned from the world fair a week later and Edward heard the memory in Renesmee's mind, he thought nothing of it. But when the newspapers came out with the story of the evil Dr. H. H. Holmes and his house of torture and horrors and the picture in the paper was the very man Renesmee remembered, he went rigid. It was far from Edward's choice to go to Chicago, but Carlisle insisted on moving there since the city was in desperate need of a good doctor.
Edward was alone at the house with Bella and Rosalie. Jasper and Emmett had gone to Boston with Esme and Alice to look at homes in the Hamptons. They'd lived in New York City, but never the Hamptons, so it would be a nice change of pace. The move wouldn't be official until they visited Renesmee and let her know they were moving and where to. Rosalie and Bella were sitting on the couch in the drawing room with Edward while he played the piano. Rosalie and Bella's relationship, while still not perfect, had improved substantially since Bella was changed following Renesmee's birth. At the moment, they were quilting a blanket together that they would bring to Renesmee when they visited her in Washington as a wedding gift. All they'd heard of the new state so far is that it was a miracle the inhabitants haven't drowned in the rain. They were all still extremely upset that Renesmee had 1) insisted on leaving, 2) had insisted on going somewhere so far away and 3) had married a complete stranger and made it impossible for them to come to the wedding. However, Bella didn't want to be upset with Renesmee anymore and instead focused her attention on wedding gifts. Rosalie and Bella had started this quilt this morning and were nearly done with it, but they stopped when the piano music suddenly stopped and Edward went right to the front door of the home.
"Get in here now!" Edward yelled as he opened the front door. Garret ran in shortly thereafter as Bella and Rosalie came into the entrance hall.
"Edward, what's the matter?"
"Bella," Garret came to her and was briefly welcomed with a kiss on the check. "Obviously Edward knows already, so I'll just speak with you. I passed through Olympia on my way to Katrina's home and overheard that Renesmee and Caevia were taken by Indians."
"What?!" Bella and Rosalie both screamed suddenly.
"Garret tried to find them, but he couldn't," Edward said.
"And where is that husband of hers?" Rosalie yelled. "What is he doing about this?"
"A soldier named Sergeant Lovejoy has been called to Olympia to help look for her. When I looked around the house, Lovejoy had a dog at the house so it could track Renesmee's and Caevia's scents."
"Do they know what tribe took here?" Bella asked.
"No, they don't know. All I can tell for sure is whatever tribe took her, they reek of wet dog."
"They could all smell like wet dog for all we know," Rosalie whined.
"Rosalie, you stay here and wait for everyone to come back home. Bella and I will leave for Washington now."
"I'll try calling the hotel Esme and the others are staying at. I know they have a phone, so once I get a hold of them, I'll tell them to come home immediately."
"You do that," Edward instructed. "As soon as everyone's back home join us in Washington. Bella, pack a few things and we'll leave immediately."
Bella ran upstairs to hers and Edward's bedroom and packed a few clothes for them to wear and came back downstairs with those things in a matter of seconds. Edward and Bella didn't bother with the train station. They could worry about arriving in a normal fashion once they were actually in Washington. Whatever means of transportation there was to get to Olympia from Seattle, they could use it once they arrived. Just running, they arrived in Washington within a matter of 23 hours. They arrived first in Spokane, where Edward heard thoughts of Soldiers that had received a telegram from Seattle informing them to look for Renesmee on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Edward and Bella decided to look for themselves and left the instant Edward read all their minds and knew none of them had an idea who Renesmee is. When they got back to Spokane, they found a service that traveled to Olympia, but it wasn't scheduled to leave for another two weeks. So Edward bought a cart and two horses that he and Bella could use to arrive in town discreetly and immediately left for Olympia.
By the time they arrived, there was talk of Sgt. Lovejoy's return from the Indian reservation south and how, as Sheriff Todd had said before, they knew nothing of Renesmee and knew nothing of who might've taken her. From reading the minds of the townspeople, Edward already knew exactly where Peter Wallis lived and he and Bella went straight there. When they arrived at the house, Edward was far from impressed. A house on a hill surrounded by apple trees and more pigs than even Edward could count. No one was home when they arrived, so they let themselves in and waited for Peter to come home. There were several jars of apple butter and apple pie jam on the counter near the stove stacked on top of each other. Renesmee almost certainly made those. Edward and Bella could both smell the overwhelming smell of wet dog that still remained even after such a long time. It was nightfall before they finally heard a horse coming towards the house. When the man walked in, (Edward assumed it was Peter) he looked horrified and fell over.
"Who the hell are you!" the man screamed.
"I'm your father-in-law!" Edward yelled right back. "You are Peter Wallis, correct? You married my daughter Renesmee?"
"When did you get into town? Renesmee never said you were coming," the man answered as he hurried to stand back up and correct himself. Edward had a quick look over the man and was exceedingly unimpressed. He was a mousy timid man and struck Edward as a complete simpleton unworthy of his little girl. The man's frazzled thoughts did little to change Edward's opinion for the positive.
"What's important is where my daughter is. What's this I'm hearing around town that she was taken by Indians? For your sake, there had better be a different Renesmee Wallis with a servant Caevia in this backwater town."
"Edward," Bella said sternly. "You're not helping anything. Please, Peter, forgive him. He's very concerned as we all are."
"Yes, I understand," Peter managed to say in a trembling voice. He was still recovering from seeing these people unexpectedly in his house. "I just got back not long ago with Sgt. Lovejoy from the tribe south of us. They don't know anything."
"We heard the Spokane don't know anything either," Edward said.
"How would you know that?" Peter asked.
"We passed through Spokane on our way here and a soldier told us about the matter," Edward lied. "I thought nothing of it when the soldier told me he and his men had just returned from the Spokane Reservation looking for a young woman until he told me the young woman's name is Renesmee Wallis."
"I deeply apologize for this," Peter said suddenly. "I never meant for this to happen. I should've brought her with me into town that day. I promise I'll find her and get her back."
"For your sake," Edward threatened, "you had better."
"Edward, please," Bella said.
"We'll be staying here with you until further notice."
"You're welcome to the guest bedroom upstairs," Peter hurried. "I'll be leaving with Lovejoy tomorrow to look for her at a Reservation an hour's horse ride away from us. He's told me we'll be stopping in towns near those reservations from there."
"I don't care how you do it. I just expect you to find her." Edward looked at Bella. "We'll go upstairs and let him get ready for tomorrow."
"Mr. Cullen," Peter called. "I do wish it were under different circumstances, but it is a pleasure to meet you and your wife. When Renesmee is home again, we'll have a big dinner and get acquainted properly." Edward said nothing and still looked at Peter with little more than contempt. He took a hold of Bella's hand and took her with him upstairs so they could speak alone.
"Edward," Bella said when the door was closed and they were alone. "We should look for her ourselves."
"You heard what Garret said," Edward said solemnly. "There's no smell for us to follow. She could be anywhere by now. And if we go looking for her, she'll insist on coming back here." Edward groaned. "We never should've let her go. We should've bought her an apartment in the city so she was close or something. Anything but let her come here."
"Edward, she insisted. There was no changing her mind on the matter. We can't keep her in a little bubble for forty years and not expect her to want to get out of it. What's done is done. All we can do now is hope for the best and wait for the others to get here. We should tell him the others are coming."
"We don't need to tell that pig farmer anything. As far as I'm concerned, when Renesmee gets back, we're taking her with us. I'll rip that damned marriage license in half myself and obtain a divorce for Renesmee. He's not laid a hard on her, so a divorce won't be difficult."
"Edward!" Bella said. "You're being unfair to the man. We can't make these decisions for her anymore. She's a grown women and she needs to make her own decisions. What we need to focus on first and foremost is getting her back." Edward inhaled a deep breath to help him relax.
"You're right," Edward finally said. "We'll worry about getting her back first."