I wandered into the woods, leaving the clear yellow light of the strangely sunny day in the clearing behind me. Maybe Alice's blurred sight would be wrong about the snow. I hoped so. The sky was mostly clear, though the wind whipped furiously through the open spaces. In the trees it was calmer, but much too cold for June - even in a long-sleeved shirt with a thick sweater over the top, there were goose bumps on my arms. I walked slowly, trailingmy fingers over anything close enough: the rough tree bark, the wet ferns, the moss- covered rocks.
Edward stayed with me, walking a parallel line about twenty yards away.
"Am I doing this right?" I called.
"Perfectly."
I had an idea. "Will this help?" I asked as I ran my fingers through my hair and caught a few loose strands. I draped them over the ferns.
"Yes, that does make the trail stronger. But you don't need to pull your hair out, Bella. It will be fine."
"I've got a few extras I can spare."
It was gloomy under the trees, and I wished I could walk closer to Edward and hold his hand.
I wedged another hair into a broken branch that cut through my path.
"You don't need to let Alice have her way, you know," Edward said.
"Don't worry about it, Edward. I'm not going to leave you at the altar, regardless." I had a sinking feeling that Alice was going to get her way, mostly because she was totally unscrupulous when there was something she wanted, and also because I was a sucker for guilt trips.
"That's not what I'm worried about. I want this to be what you want it to be."
I repressed a sigh. It would hurt his feelings if I told the truth - that it didn't really matter, because it was all just varying degrees of awful anyway.
"Well, even if she does get her way, we can keep it small. Just us. Emmett can get a clerical license off the Internet."
I giggled. "That does sound better." It wouldn't feel very official if Emmett read the vows, which was a plus. But I'd have a hard time keeping a straight face.
"See," he said with a smile. "There's always a compromise."
It took a while for me to reach the spot where the newborn army would be certain to cross my trail, but Edward never got impatient with my pace.
He had to lead a bit more on the way back, to keep me on the same path. It all looked alike to me.
We were almost to the clearing when I fell. I could see the wide opening ahead, and that's probably why I got too eager and forgot to watch my feet. I caught myself before my head bashed into the nearest tree, but a small branch snapped off under my left hand and gouged into my palm.
"Ouch! Oh, fabulous," I muttered.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Stay where you are. I'm bleeding. It will stop in a minute."
He ignored me. He was right there before I could finish.
"I've got a first aid kit," he said, pulling off the backpack. "I had a feeling I might need it."
"It's not bad. I can take care of it - you don't have to make yourself uncomfortable."
"I'm not uncomfortable," he said calmly. "Here - let me clean it."
"Wait a second, I just got another idea."
Without looking at the blood and breathing through my mouth, just in case my stomach might react, I pressed my hand against a rock within my reach.
"What are you doing?"
"Jasper will love this," I muttered to myself. I started for the clearing again, pressing my palm against everything in my path. "I'll bet this really gets them going."
Edward sighed.
"Hold your breath," I told him.
"I'm fine. I just think you're going overboard."
"This is all I get to do. I want to do a good job."
We broke through the last of the trees as I spoke. I let my injured hand graze across the ferns.
"Well, you have," Edward assured me. "The newborns will be frantic, and Jasper will be very impressed with your dedication. Now let me treat your hand - you've gotten the cut dirty."
"Let me do it, please."
He took my hand and smiled as he examined it. "This doesn't bother me anymore."
I watched him carefully as he cleaned the gash, looking for some sign of distress. He continued to breathe evenly in and out, the same small smile on his lips.
"Why not?" I finally asked as he smoothed a bandage across my palm.
He shrugged. "I got over it."
"You . . . got over it? When? How?" I tried to remember the last time he'd held his breath around me. All I could think of was my wretched birthday party last September.
Edward pursed his lips, seeming to search for the words. "I lived through an entire twenty-four hours thinking that you were dead, Bella. That changed the way I look at a lot of things."
"Did it change the way I smell to you?"
"Not at all. But . . . having experienced the way it feels to think I've lost you . . . my reactions have changed. My entire being shies away from any course that could inspire that kind of pain again."
I didn't know what to say to that.
He smiled at my expression. "I guess that you could call it a very educational experience."
The wind tore through the clearing then, lashing my hair around my face and making me shiver.
"All right," he said, reaching into his pack again. "You've done your part." He pulled out my heavy winter jacket and held it out for me to slide my arms in. "Now it's out of our hands. Let's go camping!"
I laughed at the mock enthusiasm in his voice.
He took my bandaged hand - the other was in worse shape, still in the brace - and started toward the other side of the clearing.