200 Years Without The Cullens

Chapter 18-Something of a Legend

Recap:

"Are you the daughter of Charlie Swan?" she asked slowly.

"Yes," I replied with a confused frown, "Why? How did you know?"

"He's something of a legend," she said with a smile.

"How so?"

***

"Everyone in the town knows that story Bella," Katrina said, seeming happy to know something we didn't.

We sat down, for Katrina's comfort, and she settled back to tell her story.

"After you and Charlie left each other, he spent most of his time alone. He buried himself in work, and never saw anyone. His fishing rod, they say, gathered more cobwebs in his ten years of depression than the haunted houses ever do. He locked your bedroom, and never let anyone in. He was surviving. He wasn't living. Not really.

"One night, Charlie was off-duty, and was sitting at home. The story says that he was pouring over photographs of you, but it was centuries ago. What he actually did that night, nobody really knows. It makes it sadder to think that he was remembering his long-gone daughter though. And it's a sad, but beautiful story.

"Anyway. Charlie heard a shout from outside, and he looked up, only to see the blinds that he always kept down, shutting out everyone and everything that reminded him of you. He heard the scream of a woman, and then the shouts of men. He heaved himself up from his chair and opened the blinds.

"He was met by a blaze of orange fire. The house opposite him was alight, and he could just make out the silhouette of a woman in the window. He stood up quickly, throwing his chair back and knocking over his beer can in his haste to get out and help, spilling it's contents all over the kitchen floor. He grabbed some rope that was laying by the front door, and ran outside.

"The screams got louder, and the sounds filled his ears painfully. He fought his way through the throng of people, shouting profanities as he went. He looked up at the building to the woman, and let out a sigh as men and women alike began to throw buckets of water up at the flaming house. Of course, it didn't help at all.

"They say that he thought of you, Bella, and that you kept him going that night. Of course, it's impossible to know for certain, but it could well be true. They say that he mumbled your name several times as he committed his rather heroic deed.

"Charlie wanted to go and grab his ladder from the shed to the right of his house, but he could see through the window that the woman would be burned alive if he wasted so much time. Instead, he pulled off his jacket to reduce the risk of his clothes catching fire, and he shouted up to her.

" 'Catch the rope!' he cried, throwing it up. Her burnt, bleeding hands fumbled to catch it, but failed. He tried once, twice again, but to no avail. He tried one last time, this time aiming to get the rope right into the room. His thrown was good, and the woman who was, at this point, unknown, managed to grab onto the rope, which was, quite literally, her life-line.

"Rather than trying to get her down using the rope, Charlie told her told fasten it to something strong. The story says she tied it to her burning bed, but that can't be true, because the rope would have been smouldered in seconds. Anyway, she fastened it to something, and Charlie tied it around his waist, before climbing up. The story doesn't specify whether he climbed up the rope or the building itself, so use your imagination.

"He reached the top, and the flames were nearly swamping the entire room. Charlie untied the rope quickly and retied it around the woman's waist. Ignoring the fire, which had begun to lap around his leather boots, he lowered her down very slowly. Mrs. Stanley, who I believe you knew Bella, caught the woman, who's hair had been singed slightly, and looked after her. By now, the focus of the people below was on Charlie. The fire-brigade still hadn't arrived, and Charlie was just about to climb down himself, when he heard the faint whimper of a girl.