Midday Clouds - The Charlie Swan Story

Chapter 36 (New Moon 25)

The phone rang again at 6:30am. This time it was the station.

"Chief, I'm sorry to wake you so early, but we've got an update you're going to want to know about," said Jan, who was finishing off the night shift. She filled me in on the report, and I was groggily strapping on my holster when Bells came charging down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" I asked, surprised to see her up so early. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Yeah. I have to go see Jacob," she replied.

"I thought the thing with Sam—"

"That doesn't matter, I have to talk to him right now."

"It's pretty early," I said, trying to slow her down, to get some time to figure out what exactly had changed in the past 12 hours. "Don't you want breakfast?"

"Not hungry. I'll be back soon, okay?"

I thought of Bells out there in the woods, all alone. "Straight to Jacob's house, right? No stops on the way?"

"Of course not, where would I stop?"

"I don't know," I said, remembering what Janet had just told me over the phone. "It's just... well, there's been another attack—the wolves again. It was real close to the resort by the hot springs—there's a witness this time. The victim was only a dozen yards from the road when he disappeared. His wife saw a huge gray wolf just a few minutes later, while she was searching for him, and ran for help."

"A wolf attacked him?"

"There's no sign of him—just a little blood again. The rangers are going out

armed, taking armed volunteers. There're a lot of hunters who are eager to be involved—there's a reward being offered for wolf carcasses. That's going to mean a lot of firepower out there in the forest, and it worries me." I pictured the adhoc militia marching its way through the trees. Not anywhere I'd want Bella around. "When people get too excited, accidents happen..."

"They're going to shoot the wolves?" she asked.

"What else can we do? What's wrong?" I hadn't known Bella to be worried about the wildlife around these parts. "You aren't turning into a tree-hugger on me, are you?"

I could see the look of terror on her face.

"Look, honey, don't let this scare you. Just stay in town or on the highway—no stops—okay?"

"Okay," she repeated in a weak voice. "I've got to go. "You aren't going out there after the wolves, are you, Dad?"

As much as it pained me to think of shooting an animal, as the Chief of police it was my duty first and foremost to keep the people of Forks safe. "I've got to help, Bells. People are disappearing."

"No! No, don't go. It's too dangerous!"

"I've got to do my job, kid. Don't be such a pessimist—I'll be fine." It was nice to think of my daughter caring about my safety—especially given that all she'd seemed to care about since she moved here was Edward—but it was the risk that came with the job. "You leaving? Bells?"

"Maybe it's too early to go to La Push," she whispered. I was worried I might have scared her a little too much by telling her so much about what was happening with the wolves, but if it kept her safe, it was worth it. "I agree," was all I said before stepping out into the rain, shutting the door behind me.

—

"Chief Swan. You'll head the northern operations with the Forks volunteers, while I'll take the southern with my men," Sgt. Smith told me when I reached the station. There were already a half-dozen or so citizens milling about, armed with old hunting rifles and shotguns. One of the McElroy boys had even shown up with a pellet gun, which I promptly seized.

"Sounds good to me. You be sure to let me know if you find anything, I'll do the same," I said, patting my radio. He nodded, we shook hands, and I led the rag-tag team into the woods. Before I got two steps, however, I heard a familiar voice.

"Charlie!" Harry called as he hustled up, his rifle in hand. "Hold your horses. I'm coming with."

I could see on the relieved faces of the other men that they were glad to have at least one Quileute man along. I was crestfallen.

"Harry, I don't know-"

"It's okay. The test results came back—I'm alright," Harry said with a smile. "Doc just said I needed to get more exercise. Figured what better way to do that then this, hey?"

I looked at him skeptically. "Seems a pretty quick turnaround time on those tests."

"Oh, no, Sue had them expedited, she was so worried. So. We going after some bears or what?"

"Well, we're looking for wolves, actually." A grave look sunk into my old friend's face. "What, Harry, scared of a few pups?"

"Oh Charlie, you're lucky you've got me along for this," he said, lightening up a bit. "My kung-fu is strong, after all."

"I'm glad to have you along, Harry. Really. Just take it easy, alright?"

"You got it. Now let's get a move on, hey?"

And with that, we marched our way into the woods.

—

I pulled up to Billy's house later that day, exhausted from a morning spent jumping at the slightest movement in the leaves, but without spotting a single wolf. Hell, we couldn't even find any tracks, even with Harry along with us. I'd just dropped him off at him and Sue's place, as I could tell that the hiking had taken more out of him than he was willing to admit.

Billy had left a voicemail telling me I should come by. He seemed apologetic enough, and I was never one to leave a hatchet unburied. I arrived with two pizzas, and was happy to see that Jake and Bella seemed to be getting along just fine. Jake had cut his hair and put on a few pounds of muscle since I'd last seen him. I wondered if the the "gang" that Bells had been referring to had really just been a few of the rez boys getting really into working out.

Things were amicable enough between Billy and I. We both basically just pretended that the tiff we'd had on the phone the day before hadn't even happened. As nice as it was to see him, I couldn't help but think of how much easier, how much more comfortable my time spent with Harry recently had been. Though I couldn't blame Billy—since his accident he had been prone to some serious pains, which, from what I remember of my mom's last few weeks, can really change a person.

I finally managed to get Bella's ear when we got home.

"What's going on, Bella?" I demanded before she could escape up the stairs. "I thought Jacob was part of a gang and you two were fighting."

"We made up."

"And the gang?"

"I don't know—who can understand teenage boys? They're a mystery. But I met Sam Uley and his fiancee, Emily. They seemed pretty nice to me." She shrugged. "Must have all been a misunderstanding."

Well, that was news to me. "I hadn't heard that he and Emily had made it official. That's nice. Poor girl."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"Mauled by a bear, up north, during salmon spawning season—horrible accident It was more than a year ago now. I heard Sam was really messed up over it."

"That's horrible," she echoed before finally retreating into her bedroom.

I thought of how devastated I would be if something like that were to happen to Bells. How guilty I would feel. She had already had to visit the hospital four times since she moved in with me—and I am counting the one in Arizona—and I couldn't help but feel like a failure of a dad in that regard. I was the damn chief of police. It was my job to keep people safe, and yet my daughter, the one person I cared most about, kept getting injured. I resolved myself to do whatever I possibly could about this wolf situation. And to make sure that no harm would ever come to Bella ever again. 

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